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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I really quite enjoyed this book. It had a whole lot of weird going on as well as a healthy dose of everyday family drama. It had so many elements - psychics, government agents, mobsters, con artists, romance and puberty. It has a broad appeal. Reminds me a lot of a great heist movie crossed with the Incredibles.
I'm happy I stumbled across this one.
I'm happy I stumbled across this one.
Good, light fun.
Poor Uncle Buddy. Interesting that Grandpa Teddy, the charlatan, is in many ways the most talented of the clan.
Poor Uncle Buddy. Interesting that Grandpa Teddy, the charlatan, is in many ways the most talented of the clan.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I went into listening to this book with some expectations from the description of it. I wasn’t however expecting such a slow burn. The characters are revealed in such a way as to surprise the reader with the outcome at the end yet in the same sweep giving the story a sense of coming to a close. I guess what I really want to say is that for a while I was frustrated with this book because I felt cheated. Nothing was happening,I felt as impatient as Franklin. But finally once the switch in character perspective happened I felt drawn in. And the book gained SOME kinda momentum I was in it! The way everything tied everything together. It was all about the reveal for this book. Just as Teddy would have wanted!
I really liked this and it was very readable, I just didn't love it. Or I wasn't in the mood for it, because it took me several weeks to get through it. I kept putting it down and reading other books. It's not the book, it's me. I think most readers would find this charming and full of surprises. I'm not sure why I found it to be a bit of a chore. Too many characters?
Fun, though mildly preposterous. Just go with it.
This book felt like a supernatural Carl Hiaasen caper with the characters from Arrested Development. (There are striking similiaries between Buster/Buddy and Gob/Frankie - it was easy to imagine casting the same actors for these roles.)
I deducted a star because the plot culminates in an over-the-top action sequence, but otherwise it was really solid. What's NOT to like about a family with special powers (astral projection, seeing the future, human lie detector, etc.) that heavily flirts with organized crime and is peppered with dysfunction? In not taking itself seriously, this book provides pure escapism.
This book felt like a supernatural Carl Hiaasen caper with the characters from Arrested Development. (There are striking similiaries between Buster/Buddy and Gob/Frankie - it was easy to imagine casting the same actors for these roles.)
I deducted a star because the plot culminates in an over-the-top action sequence, but otherwise it was really solid. What's NOT to like about a family with special powers (astral projection, seeing the future, human lie detector, etc.) that heavily flirts with organized crime and is peppered with dysfunction? In not taking itself seriously, this book provides pure escapism.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book snuck up on me in all of the best ways.
The Amazing Telemachus Family was disgraced on national TV years ago and hasn’t been the same sense. A generation later, and minus the family matriarch, Teddy and his now-grown children Irene, Frankie, and Buddy view their psychic gifts as more curse than blessing. Add into the works a mob boss calling in his due, a secret government program, plus all of the trappings of the early 1990s and you have the recipe for a raucous new novel by Daryl Gregory.
Full review here: https://rachelmans.wordpress.com/2017/06/18/spoonbenders/
Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
The Amazing Telemachus Family was disgraced on national TV years ago and hasn’t been the same sense. A generation later, and minus the family matriarch, Teddy and his now-grown children Irene, Frankie, and Buddy view their psychic gifts as more curse than blessing. Add into the works a mob boss calling in his due, a secret government program, plus all of the trappings of the early 1990s and you have the recipe for a raucous new novel by Daryl Gregory.
Full review here: https://rachelmans.wordpress.com/2017/06/18/spoonbenders/
Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
A fun book. If you're looking for a book that features a family similar to The Bluths from Arrested Development mixed with The Sopranos except most of them are psychic in some manner then look no further!
The Telemachus family are an interesting bunch to read about. The story is shown through the point of view of most of the family members. This is almost like a comedic version of the Sopranos. The mafia is involved and characters all find themselves in absurd situations. This takes place in the 1990s which is great era to read about with the start of the internet boom.
The ending came together nicely in a sort of Own Meany kind of way. Enjoyable new book.
The Telemachus family are an interesting bunch to read about. The story is shown through the point of view of most of the family members. This is almost like a comedic version of the Sopranos. The mafia is involved and characters all find themselves in absurd situations. This takes place in the 1990s which is great era to read about with the start of the internet boom.
The ending came together nicely in a sort of Own Meany kind of way. Enjoyable new book.