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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Take The Westing Game, a bit of Agatha Christie, a healthy helping of Edgar Allan Poe, maybe a bit of the Robert Parker Spenser novels, and—I don't know—something else with sparkling wit and lively, fully realized characters, and you might get this wonderful, incredibly enjoyable novel. It hits on all cylinders. This is one of those great books that's both plot-driven and character-driven without shirking on the writing. The characters are unique, real, and lovable and just beg for a sequel (and I say this as a person who is usually quite grumpy about how nobody seems to be publishing standalone novels anymore). The writing is full of fresh and unexpected turns of phrase; if I were less tired right now I'd probably go dig up a few to quote.
(It doesn't hurt that it's set very specifically in my own hometown of Boston and it gets it right: there's an extra level of enjoyment from being able to visualize all the action precisely in situ.)
One piece of advice: it helps to brush up on your Poe. We paused at strategic moments to read The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Pit and the Pendulum, all of which helped at one moment or another. You don't have to have read them, but you'll get more of the references, and besides, it was fun to have a pretext for finally knocking them off the list.
(It doesn't hurt that it's set very specifically in my own hometown of Boston and it gets it right: there's an extra level of enjoyment from being able to visualize all the action precisely in situ.)
One piece of advice: it helps to brush up on your Poe. We paused at strategic moments to read The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Pit and the Pendulum, all of which helped at one moment or another. You don't have to have read them, but you'll get more of the references, and besides, it was fun to have a pretext for finally knocking them off the list.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved this book so much because of it's fun mystery and setting in Boston!
I thought the writing and story were engaging. But the final 100 pages of this just spun out of control for me. I think the author tried to do too many things here: intrigue from Tuesday’s past, the overly elaborate game with so many variables, the Arches family history and secrets. It just got clunky and ended up not doing justice to most of the storylines.
This was a fun read. It has some characteristics of a middle grade novel: a dying man's city-wide quest, mystery, a bit of the paranormal, etc. However, it is written for adults. There is some language which made it not quite a 5 star read for me. The writing has quite a bit of humor, and I love the characters.