Reviews - Rules of Civility

4.92k reviews for:

Rules of Civility

Amor Towles

4.06 AVERAGE

nellyycurrie's review against another edition

4.5

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Really really loved this. A relatively easy ready, from an interesting perspective, about a period of time I find very glamorous and attractive. I just wish there was slightly more explicit insight into Kateys thought processes, maybe more on her background - it definitely felt like she was keeping the reader at a cautious distance

sfmobink's review

4.0

An enjoyable read following the life experiences of a young woman on her own in New York City just after the Depression and before World War II. Fabulous penthouse apartments and seaside mansions, cocktails and high society juxtaposed with a women's boarding house, the secretarial pool and cheap gin/cigarettes. Good characters and plot twists.

cmmainero's review

4.25

adventurous reflective

Plot or Character Driven: Character

skgg's review

4.0

I'm taking off a star for the unconventional dialogue conventions. Otherwise, this was a well-written page-turner!

rkeunen's review

5.0

I absolutely loved Katey's character & found the setting of the book, NYC in the late 1930's to be equally fascinating. The author brought so many interesting characters into the story as well as a few unexpected twists weaving a beautifully written book. Would definitely recommend this book and look forward to more work by Amor Towles.

mitra_anushka's review

3.0

2.5/5

I have really mixed feelings about this one. I read this after [b:A Gentleman in Moscow|34066798|A Gentleman in Moscow|Amor Towles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551480896l/34066798._SY75_.jpg|45743836], and was surprised that the same author can have so much variation in quality and not in a good way. The author chose to write in the voice of a working class woman in 1938 and to say that he failed to bring authenticity to any of these three characteristics is to say the least. Other characters are painted in broad strokes which does the plot no justice. Speaking of the plot, it's crafted in a slice of the life genre but midway the author changes course and tries to make this into a grand romance of sorts, which doesn't really work.

The author tries so hard to come across as a literary connoisseur that it comes off as pretentious (not to mention that he chooses to diss established female authors like Woolf and Wharton). The problem is that in trying to impersonate someone of the opposite gender, the author ends up making her a manic pixie dream girl of sorts and the male gaze is palpable here.

I think the story had a lot of potential that the author chooses to not pursue. I wanted to like this so much because the premise held a lot of promise for me. I did enjoy the descriptions of New York but that might be attributed to the fact that I read this while commuting in NYC from the financial district to the UWS (which the book primarily covers). I immediately knew almost all the places and the references, which was part of the reason why I kept going.