Reviews

The Innocent by Ian McEwan

beatrice0607's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.25

evergreenarbor's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

something_sinister's review

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

eriynali's review

4.0

favorite ian mcewan book so far... very wannabe graham greene, but i was ok with that. as always i was left wanting on some details and overwhelmed with other trivialities. generally though, it was a pageturner with some depth of character and left me wanting more.

omtesouro's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced

3.5

Buena y entretenida novela de espías que hace que sigas leyendo con tensión a medida que se acerca el final...

ebreeze's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

leonard assaulting maria and then it being moved on from in a chapter was weird!

jacki_f's review against another edition

4.0

Leonard, the titular "innocent", is a telephone technician who travels to Berlin in 1955 to work a secret project to intercept communications from the Russian embassy. He acquires a German girlfriend - his first - and settles into life in Berlin. However there are indications that things might be about to go wrong for him. His girlfriend's ex is a violent thug who shows up every now and then to beat her up. He has a new, mysterious neighbour who is showing too much interest in what Leonard is up to. And his boss is also all too interested in what is going on in Leonard's life.

I spent the first half of this book wondering where the book was going and why I was reading about such unpleasant characters. Then, around the halfway mark there is a major event which dramatically shifts the direction of events. The second half is much more of a thriller and the ending comes together in a very pleasing way. A cleverly crafted story.

andrewsutton's review

informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jana_kemp's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

3.25

So gross. So so disturbing 

ebokhyllami's review against another edition

2.0

Hmm... Not what I expected. Well written, but NOTHING happened?! Was looking forward to an exciting spy novel, there was a murder and lost love... Hmm.. Read it through only because of the language...