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laurenreadsoccasionally's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really liked the writing - I found the story engaging and the author did a great job of making you feel unsettled throughout. After finishing it, do I have any sense of what was going on? A little, but nothing is clearly laid out and none of the explanations perfectly explain everything for me. I'm also not clear on why the tense changed after part 1 (it does coincide with Jean seeing Ingrid for the first time so I'm sure it's significant and I'm just missing it) . It's definitely weird and I'm not one hundred percent sure how to feel about it, but I will be buying the following books in the triptych.
If more is explained in the subsequent books could be upgraded to 4 stars.
If more is explained in the subsequent books could be upgraded to 4 stars.
bibliobrandie's review against another edition
3.0
I couldn’t put this book down but now I am not sure what the heck I just read. It was really gripping right from the start but then fractured in too many directions and by page 250 I found myself saying whaaaat a lot? I honestly don’t know what really happened in the end. It seems I am supposed to question truth and reality and the self but I don’t know. In the acknowledgements he says this book is “one of a triptych of novels called Modern Ghosts.” I wonder if reading those when they come out will help me to understand this one more. I really liked his writing so I probably will read them.
veganheathen's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars This book took me on a bit of a wild ride. I loved that I wasn't sure what to think many times during the story. The ending fell off a bit for me, or I would have added another star. Jean was a very relatable character for me. I have had some of the same life/parenting struggles; at one point she describes one of her kids and she could have been describing one of mine! I enjoyed the wtf is going on aspect of this book quite a bit. It was fun to think about.
ruth24's review against another edition
3.0
So I finished [b:Bellevue Square|33595663|Bellevue Square|Michael Redhill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494700995s/33595663.jpg|54410622] on Friday and I'm still not entirely sure what happened. I went into it completely blind, knowing only that it had won the Giller Prize last year, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s a mystery set in Toronto. The main character, Jean, is married with kids and owns a bookstore. When people start telling her they’ve seen her doppelganger in Kensington Market, she's just curious at first, but when sh*t starts to go down, she sets out to find her.
I was hooked on the mystery right away, wanting to know how it was all connected. Even after the ‘reveal,’ things were up in the air, and at the end I still wasn’t sure what the ‘truth’ was. Based on the other Goodreads reviews I’ve read, quite a few people were generally confused by the book, some even annoyed. While I definitely didn’t understand [b:Bellevue Square|33595663|Bellevue Square|Michael Redhill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494700995s/33595663.jpg|54410622] completely, I enjoyed it. One of the best parts of the book was how the park at Bellevue Square came alive with its own ‘personality’ and motley crew of characters.
Spoiler
I also liked the psychological, “Fight Club”-esque aspect of the story – that you didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t and how some things were never explained (like what Jean was doing all the time she thought she was at Bookshop). I felt like I was able to be more in tune with Jean’s perspective and attached to the ‘alternate reality' she thought was real. Or was it real?!IMO, [b:Bellevue Square|33595663|Bellevue Square|Michael Redhill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494700995s/33595663.jpg|54410622] was confusing because it’s not your typical general fiction mystery/thriller – it’s literary fiction, so there’s more meandering and mundane life in between the BOOM BOOM SCARE SCARE and it’s also more open to interpretation. To be honest, literary fiction puts me off sometimes for this very reason, but I found [b:Bellevue Square|33595663|Bellevue Square|Michael Redhill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494700995s/33595663.jpg|54410622] to be accessible, for the most part, and an entertaining read.
julia_helen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Not my cup of tea. Didn't really get it. If I have an unreliable narrator I want the mystery element to pertain more to the real world. Writing style was also not for me as conversations were sometimes hard to follow (poorly established speakers), and I didn't find the voices distinct.
andyv's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
kgraham10's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
2.0
Jean Mason has a doppelganger. Or maybe Jean/Ingrid/Inger has a neurological condition described in the book that causes her to have seizures and see herself as other than herself (asymmetrical autoscopy).
Not sure who is the delusion and who is real. Not sure who was killed in the end. Not sure who killed the other people (or were they delusions also?).
Not sure who is the delusion and who is real. Not sure who was killed in the end. Not sure who killed the other people (or were they delusions also?).
emiliejolie's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
sssummer's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 stars rounding down
WOo HOo! I'm free!
This book was way too long, it should/could have been a third or a half of the length without losing what it was going for.
Anyways, conceptually this was unique and undoubtedly clever, twisting around and in on itself. Like a 4 dimensional book. Plus it seems like there is such a wide variety of ways to interpret the story which is also kinda cool.
But I was honestly SO bored and really found characters forgettable/unlikeable. Seriously the amount of times I forgot who Reid or Beatrice or who some of the Bellevue locals were was astounding because it's not like I took particularly long breaks from the book.
I could go on, but also it's probably the case I just wasn't in the mood/headspace for this read.
WOo HOo! I'm free!
This book was way too long, it should/could have been a third or a half of the length without losing what it was going for.
Anyways, conceptually this was unique and undoubtedly clever, twisting around and in on itself. Like a 4 dimensional book. Plus it seems like there is such a wide variety of ways to interpret the story which is also kinda cool.
But I was honestly SO bored and really found characters forgettable/unlikeable. Seriously the amount of times I forgot who Reid or Beatrice or who some of the Bellevue locals were was astounding because it's not like I took particularly long breaks from the book.
I could go on, but also it's probably the case I just wasn't in the mood/headspace for this read.