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kate_ontherun's review against another edition
Not for me. Made it 180 PhD in and it was moving too slow.
jacksontibet's review against another edition
3.0
Ultimately, there's just way too much wasted description here. As with what seems like most books these days there are of course multiple main characters who eventually kind of sort of intermingle. It takes awhile to get to the climactic event, which turns out to not even really be that climactic, or at least it doesn't feel so much. Just too much dragging, not enough snappiness.
swordsforhands's review against another edition
2.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
Final rating: 2.5
As a reluctant Las Vegas resident for the past 6+ years, I was eager to read a book that aimed to roll back the glam and neon of the city to reveal the reality of the people actually living in the city. What I got however, was a slow drag of a book that was let down by its punchy, misleading blurb.
So much of the novel was based upon Las Vegas fact, with names swapped out and true stories matter-of-factly tweaked. So much so that I was a bit freaked out by mentions of apartments located on lesser known Vegas streets I've lived on and names and backgrounds of certain characters disturbingly matching people I have met in real life. "Gifty" and its fictional founder Zach Romero takes the place of the real life Zappos and it's late founder Tony Hsieh. Al Wiles takes the place of what I can only assume is the now disgraced billionaire Steve Wynn. If Diofebi did anything exceptionally well, it was capturing the factual intricacies mingled with fiction of the sprawling city and those who had a hand in shaping it. At points however, pages read like laundry lists of as many Las Vegas places and people that could be mentioned on a page. It makes sense as it is a story being told of a city itself, but it became grating halfway through the book when not much had actually taken place.
Which brings me to the writing itself. At first I was enthralled by the characters and the idea of being so invisible in a place so universally known, something I myself experienced as a service worker in the city. However, my fascination quickly became annoyance at the endlessly meandering prose and attempts at Deeper Meaning. I truly tried to give it a chance, but the rating in my brain ticked down from 4 stars 25% of the way to 3 stars 50% of the way to 2.5 stars by the end. The motivations of the cast of characters were lost to me between the sloggy vocabulary and repetitive inner monologues. I love when a story has many seemingly unrelated characters who come together in unexpected ways by the end, but it didn't work for me in Paradise, Nevada. The hook in the book's blurb of a bomb detonating in a casino doesn't even happen until we've almost reached the end...and that whole storyline was oddly fantastical when compared to the attempts to be grittily true to the reality of Vegas.
The novel strove to be a brilliant piece of fiction ripping the truth out of the desert valley of Las Vegas, Nevada. It was trying so very hard to be something that it had the potential to be, but did not succeed in accomplishing. I'm glad that I read Paradise, Nevada, but it was a bit of a letdown.
Final rating: 2.5
As a reluctant Las Vegas resident for the past 6+ years, I was eager to read a book that aimed to roll back the glam and neon of the city to reveal the reality of the people actually living in the city. What I got however, was a slow drag of a book that was let down by its punchy, misleading blurb.
So much of the novel was based upon Las Vegas fact, with names swapped out and true stories matter-of-factly tweaked. So much so that I was a bit freaked out by mentions of apartments located on lesser known Vegas streets I've lived on and names and backgrounds of certain characters disturbingly matching people I have met in real life. "Gifty" and its fictional founder Zach Romero takes the place of the real life Zappos and it's late founder Tony Hsieh. Al Wiles takes the place of what I can only assume is the now disgraced billionaire Steve Wynn. If Diofebi did anything exceptionally well, it was capturing the factual intricacies mingled with fiction of the sprawling city and those who had a hand in shaping it. At points however, pages read like laundry lists of as many Las Vegas places and people that could be mentioned on a page. It makes sense as it is a story being told of a city itself, but it became grating halfway through the book when not much had actually taken place.
Which brings me to the writing itself. At first I was enthralled by the characters and the idea of being so invisible in a place so universally known, something I myself experienced as a service worker in the city. However, my fascination quickly became annoyance at the endlessly meandering prose and attempts at Deeper Meaning. I truly tried to give it a chance, but the rating in my brain ticked down from 4 stars 25% of the way to 3 stars 50% of the way to 2.5 stars by the end. The motivations of the cast of characters were lost to me between the sloggy vocabulary and repetitive inner monologues. I love when a story has many seemingly unrelated characters who come together in unexpected ways by the end, but it didn't work for me in Paradise, Nevada. The hook in the book's blurb of a bomb detonating in a casino doesn't even happen until we've almost reached the end...and that whole storyline was oddly fantastical when compared to the attempts to be grittily true to the reality of Vegas.
The novel strove to be a brilliant piece of fiction ripping the truth out of the desert valley of Las Vegas, Nevada. It was trying so very hard to be something that it had the potential to be, but did not succeed in accomplishing. I'm glad that I read Paradise, Nevada, but it was a bit of a letdown.
serinde4books's review against another edition
1.0
The blurb says this is a “furiously rowdy and ricocheting saga about Poker, happiness, class and selflessness.” It is none of those things!
I struggled with this book. It was very slow moving. At 36% we were still getting character backgrounds and introductions. Nothing had actually happened yet, I almost gave up on it. I gave my self until 50%, if at 50% it hadn’t grabbed my attention or had plot movement I would move on. This book got lucky, there was finally some plot movement at 44%. I wouldn’t say it was great or even attention grabbing, but at least there was some movement.
Where is the bomb? This supposedly exciting event? It’s doesn’t happen until 86%.
The characters are depressing. The word “rowdy” to me indicates some fun plot points. The closet it came to that was when Mary Anne was telling Erica’s toddler his pretend breakfast smelled good.
*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.*
I struggled with this book. It was very slow moving. At 36% we were still getting character backgrounds and introductions. Nothing had actually happened yet, I almost gave up on it. I gave my self until 50%, if at 50% it hadn’t grabbed my attention or had plot movement I would move on. This book got lucky, there was finally some plot movement at 44%. I wouldn’t say it was great or even attention grabbing, but at least there was some movement.
Where is the bomb? This supposedly exciting event? It’s doesn’t happen until 86%.
The characters are depressing. The word “rowdy” to me indicates some fun plot points. The closet it came to that was when Mary Anne was telling Erica’s toddler his pretend breakfast smelled good.
*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.*
tomhill's review against another edition
3.0
3.5- It's difficult to pin a rating to this one. It's uncharacteristically long and uncharacteristically good for a first novel. The author no doubt knows poker and knows Las Vegas, and this lends authenticity and a sense of place to the novel. Diofebi's strongest characterizations are the two poker players in the novel, which makes sense. And compared to some multi-storyline novels I've read, this one hangs together pretty well. Still, there's a lot going on and I also couldn't help but feel at a remove from most of the main characters. On the other hand, it's very well-written and an interesting and creative reflection on Vegas, specifically class and consumer culture.
serraj19's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Strange and weaving. It was impressive, but I wanted more out of a few of the characters. I think that Tom’s story took up a lot of space, but was much less interesting than some of the other characters’. I liked how the characters moved around and through each other and how it all came together in the end. The “spoon river” cameo made a lot of sense to me.
readers_block's review against another edition
4.0
What an interesting and strange book.
A motley cast of characters—including a Mormon journalist, a high stakes online poker player and an Italian immigrant—try to make their way in Las Vegas, all somehow connected in various ways (which are revealed at the end of the story).
This is a character driven book. Yes, there is a (funny and farfetched) plot driving the whole thing, but you come for the meandering inner workings of the characters. I loved Tommaso: knowing the author is an Italian immigrant himself makes his character so real and I found him to be hilarious in unexpected ways. The inner thoughts of Mary Ann really resonated with me. He really does an exquisite job rendering a world that feels so real.
A motley cast of characters—including a Mormon journalist, a high stakes online poker player and an Italian immigrant—try to make their way in Las Vegas, all somehow connected in various ways (which are revealed at the end of the story).
This is a character driven book. Yes, there is a (funny and farfetched) plot driving the whole thing, but you come for the meandering inner workings of the characters. I loved Tommaso: knowing the author is an Italian immigrant himself makes his character so real and I found him to be hilarious in unexpected ways. The inner thoughts of Mary Ann really resonated with me. He really does an exquisite job rendering a world that feels so real.
patkohn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75