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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun read. A lighter talented mr. Ripley.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Two young and poor gay men are in Venice, hoping to scam a wealthy man. At the beginning this appears to be yet another glitzy crime caper, I thought at first Bollen might be ripping off Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley", but very soon I realized I was reading a very moving and powerful work of literary fiction. I loved this book so much that I find it difficult to start reading anything else.
Bollen's characters feel very real; he has a particular gift for dialogue. He also does a great job at capturing the atmosphere of Venice with all its sodden, reeking glorious beauty.
Bollen's characters feel very real; he has a particular gift for dialogue. He also does a great job at capturing the atmosphere of Venice with all its sodden, reeking glorious beauty.
mysterious
tense
Interesting how this novel has the sort of ending I desperately wanted Bollen’s The Destroyers to have and yet as a whole A Beautiful Crime is just so meh. There is no doubt in my mind that Christopher Bollen can write his ass off and I appreciate the level of research he did for this book, but that’s really where my admiration ends. I was entertained by the plot and liked the characters well enough at first, but somewhere around the halfway mark I definitely lost interest in both.
So basically skip this and read The Destroyers instead. ✌️
So basically skip this and read The Destroyers instead. ✌️
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Minus stars for the rape scene
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape