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karlaoliveira's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
blitskater's review against another edition
4.0
3,5 ster, naar boven afgerond. Het lezen van de cormoran strike serie is gewoon achterover leunen en genieten hoe het boek zich ontvouwd. Continue word je op verkeerde gedachten gezet en blijft het tot het einde een mysterie. Het zit weer briljant in elkaar en ook zijn de dialogen in al die restaurants, pubs en theehuisjes soms lang. Het draagt allemaal bij de ontwikkeling van het boek. Aanrader!
nishaali's review
4.0
The Silkworm was one of 2014's most anticipated releases. The book is the second installment in the Cormoran Strike series written by JK Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Having immensely enjoyed the first book, The Cuckoo's Calling, I was looking forward to getting stuck into the sequel.
Cormoran Strike, fresh from his success solving the Lula Landry case in The Cuckoo's Calling is roped into a missing person mystery when the wife of Owen Quine, a has-been author, turns up at Strike's office asking him to find her husband. The now famous private investigator finds himself swept up in the world of literary intrigue as egotistical authors, decades-old rivalry, and domestic un-bliss take over the pages. It soon becomes clear that a manuscript the missing author was working on may hold the key to his disappearance...
The premise of The Silkworm was a nice departure from the celebrity and socialite world we were introduced to in The Cuckoo's Calling. Instead, the reader is immersed in the publishing world, meeting characters that ranged from competitive authors, ruthless agents, tired editors and successful publishers - all of them intriguing and compelling. I really enjoyed the strong characters, both the literary ones as well as the usual smattering of mistresses and partners. The character roll-call was a little difficult to keep track of, but Galbraith helped us by narrowing down the list of suspects nicely. I also loved the rich descriptions of London - as a Londoner I enjoyed being able to picture the exact locations as I was personally familiar with many of them.
The Silkworm also gave us a much better insight into the lives and backgrounds of Strike and Robin which was a welcome breather every few chapters. Their personal dramas and their interactions with others away from work was done well and made the duo more relatable. I found the long-awaited meeting between Matthew, Robin's fiance, and Strike really amusing (JKR recently tweeted that this was one of her favourite chapters to write!)
The ins-and-outs of the publishing world were really interesting to read about - especially knowing it's JK Rowling writing under a pseudonym and that some of the things that happen in the book may reflect her own experiences. The actual manuscript, Bombyx Mori, (Latin for silkworm) which was the focus of the book was fascinating, if a little confusing. But I liked how it showed the immense number of people and amount of work involved in the development of a novel - from conception to release.
There were a couple of the things that stopped the book from achieving a solid five star rating from me. It took me a while to get into the book - truth be told, I began The Silkworm in June 2014 but abandoned it about 60 pages in. It is understandable that with a murder mystery, the characters/suspects must be established first but I think the "crime" which was a huge and gruesome hook came a little too far in. I also felt the "reveal" was a little delayed - Strike and Robin are aware of the culprit a few chapters before the reader yet when the reveal came, it was rushed and I found it a little anticlimactic.
Overall though, the plot kept me guessing "whodunnit" and the pacing through much of the middle of the book kept me turning the pages. This book seemed to set up some significant character development for Strike and Robin which I'm looking forward to exploring in the next installment, Career of Evil, due out in October this year.
Review originally posted on my blog: bookishatheart.com
Cormoran Strike, fresh from his success solving the Lula Landry case in The Cuckoo's Calling is roped into a missing person mystery when the wife of Owen Quine, a has-been author, turns up at Strike's office asking him to find her husband. The now famous private investigator finds himself swept up in the world of literary intrigue as egotistical authors, decades-old rivalry, and domestic un-bliss take over the pages. It soon becomes clear that a manuscript the missing author was working on may hold the key to his disappearance...
The premise of The Silkworm was a nice departure from the celebrity and socialite world we were introduced to in The Cuckoo's Calling. Instead, the reader is immersed in the publishing world, meeting characters that ranged from competitive authors, ruthless agents, tired editors and successful publishers - all of them intriguing and compelling. I really enjoyed the strong characters, both the literary ones as well as the usual smattering of mistresses and partners. The character roll-call was a little difficult to keep track of, but Galbraith helped us by narrowing down the list of suspects nicely. I also loved the rich descriptions of London - as a Londoner I enjoyed being able to picture the exact locations as I was personally familiar with many of them.
The Silkworm also gave us a much better insight into the lives and backgrounds of Strike and Robin which was a welcome breather every few chapters. Their personal dramas and their interactions with others away from work was done well and made the duo more relatable. I found the long-awaited meeting between Matthew, Robin's fiance, and Strike really amusing (JKR recently tweeted that this was one of her favourite chapters to write!)
The ins-and-outs of the publishing world were really interesting to read about - especially knowing it's JK Rowling writing under a pseudonym and that some of the things that happen in the book may reflect her own experiences. The actual manuscript, Bombyx Mori, (Latin for silkworm) which was the focus of the book was fascinating, if a little confusing. But I liked how it showed the immense number of people and amount of work involved in the development of a novel - from conception to release.
There were a couple of the things that stopped the book from achieving a solid five star rating from me. It took me a while to get into the book - truth be told, I began The Silkworm in June 2014 but abandoned it about 60 pages in. It is understandable that with a murder mystery, the characters/suspects must be established first but I think the "crime" which was a huge and gruesome hook came a little too far in. I also felt the "reveal" was a little delayed - Strike and Robin are aware of the culprit a few chapters before the reader yet when the reveal came, it was rushed and I found it a little anticlimactic.
Overall though, the plot kept me guessing "whodunnit" and the pacing through much of the middle of the book kept me turning the pages. This book seemed to set up some significant character development for Strike and Robin which I'm looking forward to exploring in the next installment, Career of Evil, due out in October this year.
Review originally posted on my blog: bookishatheart.com
jacuzinha's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
prof_dr_mochi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
noicky's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
goudaparanoia's review
2.0
I think I would have liked this book a lot more had it not been so long & if I could have kept track of the characters. By the end of it, I felt like I had no idea what was going on.
recovering_my_sparkle's review
3.0
I found it dragged a bit and seemed incredibly wordy. The plot of the book being written about just confused me whenever it was spoken about. But having said that I kept on until the end because I wanted to find out who the killer was - so in that sense it wasn’t too bad!
cecile87's review
4.0
I listened to this book while having to lay low after surgery on my eyes. The reader is amazing in the number and range of voices and accents he assumes, flawlessly bouncing back and forth from one character to another during conversations, sometimes vocalizing as many as four characters in a scene.
Having addressed the talent of the storyteller reader, I will add that the story was a good one, rich with interesting characters and sad revelations about the human condition.
I enjoyed the murder mystery even with what others have criticized as fluff to make a 200 page book into a 400 page book. Yes, there are some scenes I didn’t find so interesting, but oh well. They told me about Strike.
This is my first and possibly only Strike mystery I’ll read as I’m not keen on the misogynistic flavors of the third offering, and I haven’t decided yet about reading the first, of which my daughter has a hard copy. Might watch the BBC version of it when it becomes accessible.
I give it four stars instead of five as I got quite weary of references to Strike’s amputated leg. Go see a doctor and move on already. It doesn’t have to completely taken out of the story, but so many references I found tedious.
Loved Robin as do many others. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying I appreciated the non-gratuitous denouement. I would have been disappointed in a long, dragged out, violent face-off with the guilty party.
I decided to research some of the epigraphs introducing the chapters. Nice work in setting the tone of the book—all those Jacobean tragic plays. Never heard of the term until now. Rowling is well-read and very creative. The only other book I’ve read of hers was the very last Harry Potter volume. It was a good read as well.
Having addressed the talent of the storyteller reader, I will add that the story was a good one, rich with interesting characters and sad revelations about the human condition.
I enjoyed the murder mystery even with what others have criticized as fluff to make a 200 page book into a 400 page book. Yes, there are some scenes I didn’t find so interesting, but oh well. They told me about Strike.
This is my first and possibly only Strike mystery I’ll read as I’m not keen on the misogynistic flavors of the third offering, and I haven’t decided yet about reading the first, of which my daughter has a hard copy. Might watch the BBC version of it when it becomes accessible.
I give it four stars instead of five as I got quite weary of references to Strike’s amputated leg. Go see a doctor and move on already. It doesn’t have to completely taken out of the story, but so many references I found tedious.
Loved Robin as do many others. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying I appreciated the non-gratuitous denouement. I would have been disappointed in a long, dragged out, violent face-off with the guilty party.
I decided to research some of the epigraphs introducing the chapters. Nice work in setting the tone of the book—all those Jacobean tragic plays. Never heard of the term until now. Rowling is well-read and very creative. The only other book I’ve read of hers was the very last Harry Potter volume. It was a good read as well.