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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
2.75
Finished reading: May 4th 2024
"That Ghanaian police officers were constantly looking for a handout from the citizenry wasn't even a secret anymore."
I love a good dose of armchair travel when I'm reading, so it's easy to understand why this thriller series set in Ghana caught my attention. I've been meaning to read The Missing American for a while, and I even added it to my 2024 priorities list to make sure I did... And when I was craving a crime thriller the other day, I decided to give in and finally travel to Ghana to meet main character Emma. I fully expected to love my time with this story, but unfortunately I ended up with mixed thoughts instead. Don't get me wrong, I loved both the premise and the Ghanaian setting. The descriptions of the different locations really made the country come alive for me, and it was without doubt one of the highlights of this book for me. It was interesting to learn more about Ghana as well as dive into some of the issues people have to face while living there... The whole situation with the sakawa scams, the priest and corruption in general was fascinating. BUT. And here is where it mainly went wrong for me: there was SO much going on and there were SO many POVs and storylines, and as a result the story felt both overcrowded and the plot lacked cohesion. The plot switches constantly to yet another POV, and there are way too many storylines with some of them appearing completely random. These constant switches ment that I never really got a feel for the many characters in play, and they mostly felt like cardboard copies to me. Emma is supposed to be the star of the show as the series is named after her, but I felt like we hardly spent time with her and I never got to know her as a result. The little I did see was promising, but her character seemed completely buried under all the other storylines/POVs. I also struggled with the writing and pace, which sometimes felt off for me. That said, the premise was intriguing, as was the murder investigation itself and how everything was woven together in the end. It just took a LONG time and lots of sidetracks to finally get to that point, which was a shame. I might still read the sequel for the Ghanaian setting alone though, which made The Missing American worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Violence, Classism, Death, Rape, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, and Sexual content
0ri's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
idogrocker's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Rape
dgrachel's review
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed the mystery aspects, even though this wasn’t at all what I expected. It’s a clever, twisty tale, involving internet scams and high-level police corruption. I enjoyed the setting and the peek at Ghanaian culture. The characters are varied, complex, and interesting, with well developed motivations/motives.
There is one thing that really bothered me and, quite frankly, ruined the book for me so that I doubt I will pick up anything by this author. People often joke about how poorly some men write female characters. For the most part, Quartey does this just fine, with one exception. He writes a sex scene, and he describes the outfit the woman is wearing, including “a tiny triangle of black patent leather over the entrance to her pleasure grotto”. Even two days after reading that part it still makes me want to vomit. There’s also no need for this scene. It could have been removed without any loss of plot or character development and then, I would never have had to read the phrase “pleasure grotto” and I could have died a very happy woman
There is one thing that really bothered me and, quite frankly, ruined the book for me so that I doubt I will pick up anything by this author. People often joke about how poorly some men write female characters. For the most part, Quartey does this just fine, with one exception. He writes a sex scene, and he describes the outfit the woman is wearing, including “a tiny triangle of black patent leather over the entrance to her pleasure grotto”. Even two days after reading that part it still makes me want to vomit. There’s also no need for this scene. It could have been removed without any loss of plot or character development and then, I would never have had to read the phrase “pleasure grotto” and I could have died a very happy woman
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Sexual harassment
solenodon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Rape
Moderate: Misogyny
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