Reviews with content warning for Murder - Het mysterie van kamer 622

Okay, so this is a bit of a f*ck it 4.5 that is probably not earned by the actual writing, and is definitely influenced by the fact that I've been reading so much dark and deep literary fiction and I just needed something fun. And that was definitely this. A breezy madcap whodunnit about a murder in a hotel during a Swiss bank's annual retreat. Intrigue abounds. If you love "Knives Out" you'll love it. It's also a book within a book within a book, which sounds wild, but it really works and it injects some unexpectedness into what would otherwise be a bit of a routine genre mystery. Do I think it's a genius book? No. But I had a lot of fun reading it. Also *as a Jewish person* there was a really smart send up and implicit critique of the crafty Jewish banker' antisemitic trope that I won't spoil, but I quite enjoyed.

Content Warnings

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

atamano's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious 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

3.0

Content Warnings

paronomaniac's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

sarasbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious 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

3.0

The enigma of Room 622 is about a writer who goes to a hotel in order to spend two weeks relaxing but ends up writing a new book about an investigation. A few years ago, in that same hotel, someone died in room 622 and the police never found the murderer.

I was expecting to love this, since The truth about the Harry Quebert Affair is one of my favorite books. However, this one was very different. I felt like it wasn't by the same author. The writing style was not even close to being as good as his older book. (??) It didn't feel like a novel, it felt like a script. The language was too simplistic, unnatural with no depth. The dialogues almost felt childish and cringey, like they were a way for the author to reveal a certain things in a very obvious and easy way.

I also didn't see the point of the author constantly speaking and referring to his editor as a tribute. I mean it's nice but it doesn't have any connection to the story. (??)

I was very often bored, over it and even thought of dnf'ing it. There are many characters and a lot of information that I found useless and confusing. It really could have been a shorter book!

Also the themes of this book weren't very interesting to me and maybe I wasn't the right audience. It deals a lot with business and bank affairs, which is something I don't really care that much to be reading about. Or maybe it just wasn't presented in an interesting way. (??) I really think this could be adapted into a good movie. I would probably watch and like it. However, as a book, it just wasn't that fascinating.

The last few chapters were way more interesting and there were a few surprising twists I didn't see coming but I wish it hadn't dragged for so long.

Content Warnings

More...