Reviews

Wrecked by Joe Ide

cherri350's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

nicovreeland's review

3.0

This is one of those books (I’ve read two of them this month) that starts out as a mystery, but by the midpoint, the mystery has been solved and the whole second half is just an action movie. That’s not my favorite kind of mystery.

old_nikon_fm's review

3.0

Four stars for the audio version as this really works well with a great rendition by Sullivan Jones. I'd say 3 stars overall as a book.

tylovesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

mcf's review against another edition

4.0

The fact that I didn't like this as much as I did the first two IQ novels in no way means it's not good. It's just slightly more conventional than those incredible efforts -- not bad, but below the extremely high standard Ide has set for himself. I think in large part my issues with the book stem from its very conventional (if extremely dark) subject matter: abuse at Abu Ghraib with some romance on the side. Because Ide is a tremendously skilled writer and observer, his examination of the abuses in question is more sophisticated than most, as is his clear-eyed look at the impact violence has on people, both its victims and its perpetrators. That said, however, in the other books, this would be clear without being said; here, however, it is spoken, either out of a newfound absence of faith in the reader or a concern that the story itself hadn't made Ide's point clearly enough.

ANYWAY. It's still good.

mnyberg's review

2.0

By far my least favorite of the first 3 IQ novels. The majority of this book focused on violence instead of the intellect of the characters. The other books were certainly gritty, but sheer violence as the main plot wasn't the focus of the books. The main character, IQ, even takes a more minor role and my favorite character in the books, Dotson, is relegated mostly to the bench.

mehitabels's review

2.0

I really enjoy this series, although topping the first book is gonna be hard.

Really tough scenes, violent and awful, especially from the Middle East.

plusrich's review

3.0

Too many perspectives with not enough pay off for using them.
Parts of this were very good and unusual in the genre.
Other bits were lame or unbelievable.
It averages out in this one but makes me wonder about the long-term viability of the series.

nixieknox's review

3.0

I was a little worried because I read some not-great pre-pub reviews, but I liked this as much as the last one. The torture/violence was hard to read, but I liked the story and all the supporting characters stories as well. Especially love Deronda!

thegoodmariner's review

3.0

It kind of feels like the series is spinning its wheels a little with this one, although I still like the characters enough to see what the next book holds.