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candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
2.0
Having enjoyed "The Irishman," one might think one is in the mood for more wiseguys. Set in south Brooklyn in the early 1990s, City of Margins" is the story of men who are drunk all the time, corrupt cops or mobsters, brutal and violent. The women work their asses off, and few have ever left the neighborhood.
There are enough sparks of connection to keep you reading, but finally, you may be tempted, as I was, to skip to the end to see if any one finds any kind of redemption. I'm sure you can imagine how that goes.
Yes, I can see this as a movie, ad maybe a good one. As a novel, it left me feeling like there was something crawling up my back.
Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader.
There are enough sparks of connection to keep you reading, but finally, you may be tempted, as I was, to skip to the end to see if any one finds any kind of redemption. I'm sure you can imagine how that goes.
Yes, I can see this as a movie, ad maybe a good one. As a novel, it left me feeling like there was something crawling up my back.
Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader.
newson66's review against another edition
3.0
Picked up in a remainder book shop as I'd glanced at the shelf and mis-read it as being a William Boyd novel!
Glad I did get round to buying it as a really competent and well written crime novel, that will doubtless resurface at some point as a modern day noir movie
Published in the UK by No Exit Books who really know their crime.
Glad I did get round to buying it as a really competent and well written crime novel, that will doubtless resurface at some point as a modern day noir movie
Published in the UK by No Exit Books who really know their crime.
totallytales's review against another edition
4.0
If you loved Pulp Fiction then you would love this novel! It's dark and intense, sprinkled with some very funny moments.
Boyle has created an authentic world of tough guys, mean streets, and dark humour. The details of place, people, and actions transport you to Brooklyn. The New York slang weaved throughout is fabulous.
I enjoyed the structure of this novel, each chapter is narrated by a different character with all the threads joining them together is slowly revealed as you read.
It missed out on 5⭐ because there isn't a single likable character in there and I personally like at least one to root for.
Overall, a great example of crime noir, not for the faint-hearted. I will be looking out for his previous books.
A huge thanks to Anne Cater & No Exit Press for gifting me a copy in return for an open & honest review.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Boyle has created an authentic world of tough guys, mean streets, and dark humour. The details of place, people, and actions transport you to Brooklyn. The New York slang weaved throughout is fabulous.
I enjoyed the structure of this novel, each chapter is narrated by a different character with all the threads joining them together is slowly revealed as you read.
It missed out on 5⭐ because there isn't a single likable character in there and I personally like at least one to root for.
Overall, a great example of crime noir, not for the faint-hearted. I will be looking out for his previous books.
A huge thanks to Anne Cater & No Exit Press for gifting me a copy in return for an open & honest review.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
adepy's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This is the third William Boyle book I’ve tried. I still can’t get past the first 50 pages of Gravesend, as I found the characters to be uninteresting. The Lonely Witness was enjoyable enough but kind of a mess. Boyle, like George Pelecanos, writes character-driven crime tales that focus on their distinct urban neighborhoods. I always feel like I should enjoy both of their books more than I do. They always feel like I’m dropping in the middle episode of a well-produced television show that I’m unfamiliar with.
I was getting the same sense for the first 1/3rd of City of Margins. I like the fringe Brooklyn neighborhood, I like how Boyle builds it, the characters were interesting enough. But the execution…I don’t know. It just doesn’t come together for me.
But this time, it did and I’ll be damned if I can explain how. Maybe Boyle has a better grasp of what he is trying to say (this is his fourth book in his Brooklyn series). Maybe I was more interested in the character dynamics and how they related to one another. Maybe I’m just bored. But halfway through, I found myself hooked in the story. By the end, I thought it may be in the running for my best of list.
I think the tragic angles Boyle tried to work in his other ones really hit home here. Perhaps its because he was able to tease out complicated family dynamics with simple prose or maybe because the stakes felt real to me in a way that they didn’t in others. Either way, this one stuck. I don’t know that Boyle will suddenly become one of my favorite authors but now I’m excited to go back and read more of his stuff.
I was getting the same sense for the first 1/3rd of City of Margins. I like the fringe Brooklyn neighborhood, I like how Boyle builds it, the characters were interesting enough. But the execution…I don’t know. It just doesn’t come together for me.
But this time, it did and I’ll be damned if I can explain how. Maybe Boyle has a better grasp of what he is trying to say (this is his fourth book in his Brooklyn series). Maybe I was more interested in the character dynamics and how they related to one another. Maybe I’m just bored. But halfway through, I found myself hooked in the story. By the end, I thought it may be in the running for my best of list.
I think the tragic angles Boyle tried to work in his other ones really hit home here. Perhaps its because he was able to tease out complicated family dynamics with simple prose or maybe because the stakes felt real to me in a way that they didn’t in others. Either way, this one stuck. I don’t know that Boyle will suddenly become one of my favorite authors but now I’m excited to go back and read more of his stuff.
harmless_old_lady's review against another edition
4.0
A winner as gangster books go. A lotta atmosphere and relatable characters
curley_bender's review against another edition
5.0
Grabbed this kind of at random from the library shelf…now I’ve gotta preorder Boyle’s new one. Plus a second copy for a gift. This is the kind of character-based crime I crave. Such a specific and intoxicating sense of place too.
pdx_reader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
missmesmerized's review
4.0
New York in the 1990s isn’t an easy place to live. Several people’s paths cross but fate has decided not to grant them a lucky end. Ex-cop Donnie Parascandolo saves Ava Bifulco when her car breaks down. Ava’s grown-up son and teacher Nick wonders how his mother could so easily trust a stranger when he believed her still to mourn his father’s death. Donnie’s ex-wife, on the contrary, is still mourning since she didn’t get over the suicide of their son Gabe whose suicide note is found by another lost soul, Mikey, a college dropout without any plans or future. Unexpectedly, their lives are linked, yet not only by the encounters, but also by the blood that some of them have on their hands.
“City of Margins” is a perfectly pitched genre mix. On the one hand, Boyle meticulously studies and portrays the inhabitants of Brooklyn, a borough which could hardly have been in a worse state than it was at the beginning of the 1990s. On the other hand, it is a cleverly constructed crime novel which admittedly seems a bit outdated in its style but nevertheless is quite tempting. He creates a lively and gripping atmosphere which makes it easy to enter the plot.
The most fascinating was how Boyle links the different characters. Their stories are narrated alternatingly and only slowly is revealed what connects them. None of them has an easy life, nothing is granted, the need to fight every single day, but they know that this fight will not necessarily end in better times. There is a certain melancholy quite close to a depressive mood, but sometimes, this is just how the world works.
A great read with real depth in the character development.
“City of Margins” is a perfectly pitched genre mix. On the one hand, Boyle meticulously studies and portrays the inhabitants of Brooklyn, a borough which could hardly have been in a worse state than it was at the beginning of the 1990s. On the other hand, it is a cleverly constructed crime novel which admittedly seems a bit outdated in its style but nevertheless is quite tempting. He creates a lively and gripping atmosphere which makes it easy to enter the plot.
The most fascinating was how Boyle links the different characters. Their stories are narrated alternatingly and only slowly is revealed what connects them. None of them has an easy life, nothing is granted, the need to fight every single day, but they know that this fight will not necessarily end in better times. There is a certain melancholy quite close to a depressive mood, but sometimes, this is just how the world works.
A great read with real depth in the character development.