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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found it dry and quite boring. I didn't even care about the twist.
If you like mysteries/thrillers, The Substitute is for you! I was guessing who did it all the way through- and was wonderfully surprised at the ending. I'm not sure why I didn't see it coming up. I was sad to read about how the children in this book were treated by the adults/parents in their lives, so it was hard to read at times. The book hit a little close to home as the main suspect, Warren, is a middle school science teacher... just like my husband!
I found the unnamed narrator to be too precocious and annoying. I gave up about 75 pages in and then read the last chapter to see what the twist was.
This one is kind of strange. There are two
different storylines, one in third person
and one in first person. It seemed like both
storylines had loads of mentally disturbed
and dysfunctional people. Oh, the story
is cohesive at least, except I thought this
was way too long overall.
The ending does resolve "who did it" but it
is just sort of plopped out there so that
you don't feel it is as climactic. And again
because this is overly long I'm not sure
I cared much any more.
Oh, well.
different storylines, one in third person
and one in first person. It seemed like both
storylines had loads of mentally disturbed
and dysfunctional people. Oh, the story
is cohesive at least, except I thought this
was way too long overall.
The ending does resolve "who did it" but it
is just sort of plopped out there so that
you don't feel it is as climactic. And again
because this is overly long I'm not sure
I cared much any more.
Oh, well.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One narrator was very compelling and interesting while the other wasn't nearly as much. The mystery of who the unknown narrator is was well done, though, and didn't feel forced. Slow in parts, but interesting enough to keep me reading all the way through.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not much for thrillers, but this was pretty creepy (I'm a fan of that!)
I think the reason I don't do thrillers normally is because they are super obvious about foreshadowing and/or more interested in keeping you on your toes or going for a twist than making things make sense. Everyone has ridiculous emotions and reactions to the events taking place.
This was so much better than that.
I loved the unknown narrator, and my blood ran cold when I realized who it was. The ending was just so sweet, and also just so disturbing. The twists in retrospect were just to throw you off the trail but were also well done and subtle, so it didn't feel cheap.
Nicoles. We're a creepy bunch.
I think the reason I don't do thrillers normally is because they are super obvious about foreshadowing and/or more interested in keeping you on your toes or going for a twist than making things make sense. Everyone has ridiculous emotions and reactions to the events taking place.
This was so much better than that.
I loved the unknown narrator, and my blood ran cold when I realized who it was. The ending was just so sweet, and also just so disturbing. The twists in retrospect were just to throw you off the trail but were also well done and subtle, so it didn't feel cheap.
Nicoles. We're a creepy bunch.