Reviews - The Long Way Home

1.3k reviews for:

The Long Way Home

Louise Penny

3.9 AVERAGE

booksinbama's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

fatoodles's review against another edition

4.25

mysterious sad slow-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: No

I never thought I'd be able to forgive Peter for what he did to Claire.....but I understand him a little better now. I understand their relationship a little better.

I am so interested to see what is next for Gamache and three pines.
I'm glad there are still many more books to enjoy.

annathompson1010's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective slow-paced

ursalita's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

zmull's review against another edition

3.0

My need for order has kept me from reading books out of sequence in the past. Recently, I've been trying to break that habit. The fact is I got an ARC of the new Louise Penny and I knew she'd won a ton of awards and was curious. So, I gave it a shot. I read book 10 of 10 without having read any of the others. Was it a success? Hard to say, actually. The Long Way Home feels like an extended epilogue for something that's gone before. It wasn't hard to grasp the characters and their relationships, but it was clear I'd missed a lot. I don't consider this to be a failing and wouldn't base my opinion on it. Just an observation.

The plot however is open for criticism. The central device is a group of six paintings that magically dole out clues and insights whenever the story needs them to. The rest is filled out with scenic detail and about 50 croissants. The ending makes very little sense and felt horribly tacked on.

I can't deny being charmed by the book despite the weakness of the mystery or the stasis of the characters. The idyllic setting does most of the heavy lifting, but there's clearly some magic here. Not sure if I want to dip back into the series or not.