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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I spent much of this book thinking that all the nay-sayers were wrong. This was fast-paced and intriguing.
I once read a book by a former alcoholic where she described giving oral sex to two different men, men she'd just met in a restaurant on a busy London high street. I read it and I thought, I'm not that bad. This is where the bar is set.
Our main character, Rachel, is a drunk. She is not a happy-go-lucky social drunk. She is a sad drunk. She is an irritating drunk. She is a "get your shit together, girlfriend" drunk. Which kind of makes her a perfect unreliable narrator. The other narrators are equally unreliable (and frankly, unlikeable). But then, I've always been a fan of characters that I can't really stand. They are much more interesting than the ones I can relate to.
So I'm cruising along and just waiting until I can get to that last page, close the book, and hop on my computer to give this FIVE BIG STARS.
And then the last 10% hit. This part was a TRAIN WRECK. It went from interesting, fast-paced, and unique to a stereotypical dime-a-dozen thriller. The writing even seemed to change - from well written novel to cheap beach read. From $29.99 hardback to $5.99 paperback.
From a five star to a THREE STAR.
I once read a book by a former alcoholic where she described giving oral sex to two different men, men she'd just met in a restaurant on a busy London high street. I read it and I thought, I'm not that bad. This is where the bar is set.
Our main character, Rachel, is a drunk. She is not a happy-go-lucky social drunk. She is a sad drunk. She is an irritating drunk. She is a "get your shit together, girlfriend" drunk. Which kind of makes her a perfect unreliable narrator. The other narrators are equally unreliable (and frankly, unlikeable). But then, I've always been a fan of characters that I can't really stand. They are much more interesting than the ones I can relate to.
So I'm cruising along and just waiting until I can get to that last page, close the book, and hop on my computer to give this FIVE BIG STARS.
And then the last 10% hit. This part was a TRAIN WRECK. It went from interesting, fast-paced, and unique to a stereotypical dime-a-dozen thriller. The writing even seemed to change - from well written novel to cheap beach read. From $29.99 hardback to $5.99 paperback.
From a five star to a THREE STAR.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The writing is good, I really like the chapters and point of views. But I just do not care about what happens, there is no wonder about their mediocre lives.
I’m sure Paula is lovely, but I have a bone to pick with her book. The plot twists were disappointing. The 3 narrators all had the same voice. There’s very little nuance, as dialogue and monologue are written in a stream-of- consciousness style in which the characters state exactly what they are doing and feeling at all times. The most interesting character is Rachel, who has about 3 personality traits. You’ll spend half of the book listening to the characters repeat themselves. But the ending is satisfying, which earned this more than 1 star.
J'ai vraiment beaucoup apprécié cette lecture ... un thriller comme je les aime même si à vrai dire, ma note serait plutôt de 4.5/5 que 5/5 (faudrait vraiment pouvoir attribuer des 1/2 étoiles sur Goodreads!). J'ai vraiment aimé le côté "anti-héros" des personnages. On est très loin des personnages de fiction parfaits ou irréprochables et moi, ça m'a vachement plu!
meh. this is the second book i read this year that's like wow look at this crazy woman and this nice man no actually the man is crazy. okay well i always assume the man is evil so now what
It was hard for me to believe a book this popular could be so poorly written. There are tons of narrative problems, such as the use of vague pronouns to artificially create suspense. And I don't understanding this new trend of writing books in the present tense as if the narrator is telling thing AS they happen rather than AFTER they happened, although it created some amusing moments for me as I imagined Megan, Rachel, and Anna with pen and paper in hand writing things down as they had sex or had arguments with others.
But the big problem? Look, you have a limited cast of characters, so clearly one of them is the villain. And at the big reveal, it comes out of nowhere with no real rationale for why this person was a maniac.
I couldn't wait to finish it. What a disappointment.
But the big problem? Look, you have a limited cast of characters, so clearly one of them is the villain. And at the big reveal, it comes out of nowhere with no real rationale for why this person was a maniac.
I couldn't wait to finish it. What a disappointment.
yeah no. im sad. i read this book in like the seventh grade & havent been able to forget about it for like the last two months so i HAD to read it again. i remember loving it in middle school, but i truly hatted everything about it. i wanted to like it so so bad.
the problem is 90% of the book is the characters complaining about how bad their lives are, 10% is about the actual mystery at hand. literally we dont even start seeing the actual mystery until about like 100 til the end. also all the characters complain the whole time but their lives being bad is THEIR OWN FAULT. they make stupid decisions that they did not need to make and it just makes their life a mess. yeah no wonder.
the only good character in the whole entire book is Andy that random guy from the train.
the problem is 90% of the book is the characters complaining about how bad their lives are, 10% is about the actual mystery at hand. literally we dont even start seeing the actual mystery until about like 100 til the end. also all the characters complain the whole time but their lives being bad is THEIR OWN FAULT. they make stupid decisions that they did not need to make and it just makes their life a mess. yeah no wonder.
the only good character in the whole entire book is Andy that random guy from the train.
I liked the book but just like Gone Girl I was not thrilled with the ending. However, it was a great beach read.