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carolinefran's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
anneenichole's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
itputsthebookupontheshelf's review
3.0
DNF.
This story had a great concept, but the execution was a bit off for me. The story started off decent, and I wanted to know what was happening. Unfortunately, this story started to go in other directions and focused on some things that I didn't feel was actually adding to the story. It just took me out of the story a bit and made it hard for me to want to continue reading.
This story had a great concept, but the execution was a bit off for me. The story started off decent, and I wanted to know what was happening. Unfortunately, this story started to go in other directions and focused on some things that I didn't feel was actually adding to the story. It just took me out of the story a bit and made it hard for me to want to continue reading.
ahomelibrary's review
3.0
Book Review — “The Resemblance” by Lauren Nossett (2022, Flatiron)
Currently has 3.38 average & almost 1.7k ratings on Goodreads.
Categories — Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Academic Setting, Greek Life, Southern (Georgia), Crime Investigation (Procedural)
Quick Summary — A fraternity member and student at the Uni of Georgia is run over by a smiling man said to be his exact twin. Marlitt investigates the case, digging into the fraternity and its secrets, much to her own risk.
Review & More Plot (No Spoilers) ⤵️
In what I’d view more as a mystery than a thriller, our POV character is Marlitt, a cop investigating the murder of a fraternity brother and student. He was mowed down at his uni’s crosswalk by what witnesses say was a van driven by what appeared to be his exact twin — but he doesn’t have one!
Marlitt and her detective partner spend a lot of time digging around in the fraternity and Greek life scene while trying to figure out about the victim’s life. Marlitt has a huge axe to grind about Greek life; she’s pontificating about it quite a bit.
This is reflected by some emerging themes such as privilege (a lot of rich or connected people in frats/Greek), brotherhood (the secrecy and hazing, rituals etc), sexism (treatment of women), campus politics, and the elements of blackmail/revenge. Also, loneliness/identity especially in youth + the fragility of life (death, life altering mistakes, etc).
So with all that being said, I read this all in one go this past weekend. I’d say this is a standard mystery procedural on a campus setting flavored by Greek life secrecy. The reveal is a bit almost like a Scooby Doo scene, but overall I was entertained and definitely wanted to finish. Room for improvement would be summed up as “show don’t tell,” as there’s a lot that could be better left for the reader to extrapolate from atmosphere, dialogue, and explanation.
Otherwise, I’d recommend if you think any of the above sounds interesting. I give it 3 stars and hope the author will be following with another release! PS — it’s clear her love of German influenced this book as well. I love to see personal bits from the authors reflected in their work :)
Currently has 3.38 average & almost 1.7k ratings on Goodreads.
Categories — Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Academic Setting, Greek Life, Southern (Georgia), Crime Investigation (Procedural)
Quick Summary — A fraternity member and student at the Uni of Georgia is run over by a smiling man said to be his exact twin. Marlitt investigates the case, digging into the fraternity and its secrets, much to her own risk.
Review & More Plot (No Spoilers) ⤵️
In what I’d view more as a mystery than a thriller, our POV character is Marlitt, a cop investigating the murder of a fraternity brother and student. He was mowed down at his uni’s crosswalk by what witnesses say was a van driven by what appeared to be his exact twin — but he doesn’t have one!
Marlitt and her detective partner spend a lot of time digging around in the fraternity and Greek life scene while trying to figure out about the victim’s life. Marlitt has a huge axe to grind about Greek life; she’s pontificating about it quite a bit.
This is reflected by some emerging themes such as privilege (a lot of rich or connected people in frats/Greek), brotherhood (the secrecy and hazing, rituals etc), sexism (treatment of women), campus politics, and the elements of blackmail/revenge. Also, loneliness/identity especially in youth + the fragility of life (death, life altering mistakes, etc).
So with all that being said, I read this all in one go this past weekend. I’d say this is a standard mystery procedural on a campus setting flavored by Greek life secrecy. The reveal is a bit almost like a Scooby Doo scene, but overall I was entertained and definitely wanted to finish. Room for improvement would be summed up as “show don’t tell,” as there’s a lot that could be better left for the reader to extrapolate from atmosphere, dialogue, and explanation.
Otherwise, I’d recommend if you think any of the above sounds interesting. I give it 3 stars and hope the author will be following with another release! PS — it’s clear her love of German influenced this book as well. I love to see personal bits from the authors reflected in their work :)
kplovesstories's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
indoorg1rl's review against another edition
4.0
A fraternity brother stepped into a busy crosswalk and got struck dead by an oncoming car. Witnesses said the driver looked identical to the victim, and he was smiling. Detective Marlitt Kaplan was the perfect officer to handle the case. Being a local and the daughter of a professor at the university, her professional and personal worlds started to collide.
I picked this up in preparation for its sequel, The Professor, and I must say that I really enjoyed it. Marlitt’s background made her a fascinating character to follow. I was glued to the page (or to the earset, since I was listening to the audiobook), as I needed to know what had happened in Marlitt’s past.
The quality of the scene writing in this one was superb. Marlitt’s dreams were so vivid. I kept playing them in my head like a movie. The scenes would translate really well into big screen!
This was a great opening to a series, with Marlitt serving as a great main character to watch for. The audiobook performance was also terrific, with the ebbs and flows in the narration delivered perfectly.
Moving on to the sequel now!
kayleenso's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
blessedjess's review
3.0
A solid, good detective novel set in the world of academia and fraternities. A hit and run of a young fraternity brother by someone who looks exactly like him has his housemates and detective, Marlit Kaplan, stumped. As she investigates soon she finds herself the target of sinister attempts to derail her investigation. With her past also plaguing her ability to impartially investigate, Marlitt must defy the odds and identify this look-a-like killer. This was just a good detective novel. Nothing stood out to me as being super notable and other than the overdone trope of the dangers of the Greek fraternity system nothing was really negative. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book.