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mikaylanh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Sooo much happening here… and not in a great way. The concept of this was intriguing because I took several art history courses in college (though I don’t typically read this genre, like, ever) but the writing style was really not for me.
1. This being written in present tense IMMEDIATELY turned me off from it. I really struggled through the first few chapters because of this.
2. The number of adjectives and metaphors throughout the book was just over the top and got in the way of the storytelling - very distracting. I personally suck at being concise but this book could have benefited significantly by cutting a lot of this fluff out.
3. I typically love multi-perspectives but there were too many this time. It also didn’t help that characters and names started to sound way too similar to me and got confusing - Jules Roth and Wyatt Ross, Lilian Dassel and Art Basel, Ellis Baum and Bram Bakker… I just had a hard time with this too
I don’t regret reading this and I did still enjoy the heist part so I’m going with a 3/5, but I don’t know that I would recommend it to others unless they’re really passionate about art history or WWII.
1. This being written in present tense IMMEDIATELY turned me off from it. I really struggled through the first few chapters because of this.
2. The number of adjectives and metaphors throughout the book was just over the top and got in the way of the storytelling - very distracting. I personally suck at being concise but this book could have benefited significantly by cutting a lot of this fluff out.
3. I typically love multi-perspectives but there were too many this time. It also didn’t help that characters and names started to sound way too similar to me and got confusing - Jules Roth and Wyatt Ross, Lilian Dassel and Art Basel, Ellis Baum and Bram Bakker… I just had a hard time with this too
I don’t regret reading this and I did still enjoy the heist part so I’m going with a 3/5, but I don’t know that I would recommend it to others unless they’re really passionate about art history or WWII.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Alcoholism
Moderate: War, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Genocide, Stalking, and Trafficking
oxfordcommas91's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m genuinely sad about giving this book 3 stars, because I felt fairly certain it was going to be a 4 star read for me when I was about halfway through. This book had a lot of promise for me - lots of female main characters, interwoven stories, multiple art heists, WWII - all the right themes and ingredients were theoretically there. I was sucked in rather early on and was enjoying watching the story unfold.
Unfortunately the last 25 percent really crashed and burned in terms of my enjoyment. The characters became true caricatures in this last quarter. We had the naive but plucky protagonist and the cartoon psychopathic villain on a collision course. The antagonist was evil for no real reason and the depths of her depravity were confusing at times. And our heroine was one of the dumbest smart characters I’ve ever read. She was the cute blonde in the horror movie who decides to go down into the basement alone when she hears something go bump in the night.
The end only partially worked for me, though there are major plot points that are just left swirling around.
The goods - I was fairly hooked until I wasn’t, Ellis’ character arc (especially as relates to his grandson Adam), female representation in journalism.
Unfortunately the last 25 percent really crashed and burned in terms of my enjoyment. The characters became true caricatures in this last quarter. We had the naive but plucky protagonist and the cartoon psychopathic villain on a collision course. The antagonist was evil for no real reason and the depths of her depravity were confusing at times. And our heroine was one of the dumbest smart characters I’ve ever read. She was the cute blonde in the horror movie who decides to go down into the basement alone when she hears something go bump in the night.
The end only partially worked for me, though there are major plot points that are just left swirling around.
The goods - I was fairly hooked until I wasn’t, Ellis’ character arc (especially as relates to his grandson Adam), female representation in journalism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, and Drug use
Moderate: Cancer, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Medical content
Minor: Vomit and Grief
xlivinglikejen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
cherie17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While this looks like a typical recover-the-expensive-stolen-art thriller, and it is that, it's so much more. The main villain Margaux is larger than life, and the extent of her psychopathy and desire for control made me so excited when a chapter started from her point of view. It's also quite a sexy read. There was one plot point midway through that completely shocked me. The ending was a little predictable, but I was still on the edge of my seat for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Addiction, and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Cancer
Minor: Sexual assault
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