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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
mysterious
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Had hoge verwachtingen, vond m eigenlijk een beetje langdradig
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I mostly really liked this book! At book club, however, there were some inconsistencies and annoyances that bother me more than I thought they did. Overall, I would recommend this to any mystery and/or true crime lover!
A good thriller that brings in questions of contemporary societal expectations and how they warp perspective.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(2.5 stars)
Okay...
Makkai is obviously a skilled writer. Her sentence structure, the way she lays out a story, all stellar. Even when I wasn't enjoying the plot, I could appreciate her writing.
But the plot...Half-baked, overly ambitious, and not as impactful as it is trying to be. References to cultural movements don't make a book compelling, it is the way you have these conversations. The way she engages with cancel culture, the Me Too movement, institutional racism, grooming, sexual harassment, etc is lackluster. I feel like Makkai takes on too much with tackling these topics so nothing really is given its space. With so many important issues, it can become clear which topic is given the time to really be explored and which are just glossed over. Topics like these can be connected and have overlap, but when some are consistently given less time it can make it feel like some issues are more important than others.
Along with this, the perspective of the book feel so off for so much of it. Bodie as a narrator means that you are constantly getting an outsider perspective that values some experiences over others. Having a flawed character is normal, but having her as the only source of information is borderline infuriating. Especially when you feel like Bodie is not giving you the whole story. Bodie also is pretty high and mighty about some things and then totally denies other experiences.
I will most likely read more Makkai, but I found this project disappointing. The book is unbalanced and long, so plot heavy at the end when it goes so slow at first. The cultural commentary is not quite what it could be. The end is unsatisfying, not just the end of the case but the end of the book.
Okay...
Makkai is obviously a skilled writer. Her sentence structure, the way she lays out a story, all stellar. Even when I wasn't enjoying the plot, I could appreciate her writing.
But the plot...Half-baked, overly ambitious, and not as impactful as it is trying to be. References to cultural movements don't make a book compelling, it is the way you have these conversations. The way she engages with cancel culture, the Me Too movement, institutional racism, grooming, sexual harassment, etc is lackluster. I feel like Makkai takes on too much with tackling these topics so nothing really is given its space. With so many important issues, it can become clear which topic is given the time to really be explored and which are just glossed over. Topics like these can be connected and have overlap, but when some are consistently given less time it can make it feel like some issues are more important than others.
Along with this, the perspective of the book feel so off for so much of it. Bodie as a narrator means that you are constantly getting an outsider perspective that values some experiences over others. Having a flawed character is normal, but having her as the only source of information is borderline infuriating. Especially when you feel like Bodie is not giving you the whole story. Bodie also is pretty high and mighty about some things and then totally denies other experiences.
I will most likely read more Makkai, but I found this project disappointing. The book is unbalanced and long, so plot heavy at the end when it goes so slow at first. The cultural commentary is not quite what it could be. The end is unsatisfying, not just the end of the case but the end of the book.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Really, really good
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated