Reviews

Looking Glass by Andrew Mayne

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immerjones's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

5.0

rozczytane's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5/5 ⭐️ Do końca myślałam, że druga część serii Naturalista będzie lepsza niż pierwsza. Charakter Theo przeszedł sporą przemianę i został rozbudowany. Tak jak w pierwszej części, książka trzymała w napięciu do samego końca, była wypełniona „naukowym żargonem” - który absolutnie mi nie przeszkadzał i nadał Powiększeniu fajny klimat. Sprawa, którą w tej części zajmował się Theo była nieco inna, niż ta w Naturaliście i chyba bardziej mnie zaintrygowała. Niestety koniec trochę mnie zawiódł. Miałam wrażenie, że był napisany w pośpiechu, a autor poszedł na łatwiznę, bo historię można byłoby zakończyć w bardziej „spektakularny” sposób, który bardziej usatysfakcjonowałby czytelnika, niż taki typowy zwrot akcji.

cmoo053's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ashleygsiler's review against another edition

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2.0

Not as good as The Naturalist. I still really like the protagonist, but the plot of Looking Glass lost the gritty, science-driven crime novel feel and replaced it with a glitzed up CIA conspiracy theory line. Still a page turner, but with a much different feel than the first.

talntd1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious

5.0

picky_book_b1tch's review against another edition

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5.0

Yes!!!! Looking Glass lived up to it's predecessor and was everything I hoped it would be. As I reader, I always worry that a sequel will not be as good as the first. My worries were unfounded. I loved every minute of this one almost as much as the first. I say almost only because there is nothing like the first love, the first intro to a beloved character, story and author. Firsts can never really be duplicated but Looking Glass is an excellent second. The author took everything I loved about the first book and amped it up to version 2.0.

To my delight, Looking Glass has a darker, more sinister feel to it. Maybe it is that the killer targeting kids, maybe it is that a shadowy arm of the government enabling the killer, maybe it was the disturbingly twisted details of the crime scenes, or that my beloved Theo Cray actually grew a set and became more disciplined, careful and calculated. Whatever it was the combination payed off and delighted me. Yeah, dark and delightful really do go together, at least for me.

Theo Cray has grown from the likable, yet naive, un-hero to better equipped more controlled seeker of justice. Theo walked rather than stumbled into this hunt of the Toy Man, thought to be an urban myth but who turns out to be all too real, preying upon children of inner cities.

As with the first in this series, I didn't always understand every detail of the science but appreciated it none the less, after all, we are following a computation biologist who uses science to track his prey. The science and the details are as much a part of the story as the characters. The author continues to push boundaries of reality in creating this thrilling, fast paced and completely unique story that will stay with me for a long, long while. If you are a stickler for realism, details grounded in absolute fact and can't handle creative license, then move right along. This requires the reader have the ability to stretch their imagination and allow the author to work his magic.