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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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:
Complicated
It’s the trip of a iifetime…..but only if she can survive it.
After her career as a TV anchor flamed out and her fiancé broke off their engagement, Rory Aronov found herself unsure of where life would take her. When bestselling but eccentric mystery author Generva Ex offered her the position of “main character”, which entailed Rory spending time in Italy letting Generva probe her past and present to use as the inspiration for the main character in Generva’s next book, Rory accepted. Now that Generva has finished, she has gifted Rory with an all-expenses paid three day trip on the luxurious Orient Express traveling to Cinque Terre, Rome and Positano. It seems like a dream come true, until Rory discovers that Generva has invited several other people to take the voyage too….Rory’s brother Max, former nerd and now CEO of a biotech company on the verge of producing a vaccine to prevent and reverse Alzheimers’; her lifelong best friend and de facto sister Caroline, a social media influencer manquée who recently started working in sales for Max’s company and with whom Max has always quietly been in love; her ex-fiancé Nate, an international crisis mediator whose struggle to overcome a professional failure led to his walking away from Rory, a decision he has come to regret; and Gabriele, Generva’s lawyer who is along to make sure the foursome’s trip proceeds according to their itinerary and without problems, and with whom Rory had had a fling while working with Generva. The tensions are thick, and only get worse; Rory begins to question Generva’s motives for orchestrating this reunion, and that is before problems arise. Is this trip a reward, or a punishment? Can relationships be revived and repaired, or will they not survive the voyage? What exactly is Generva’s end game?
Settings don’t get much more glamorous then the coastal towns of Italy and the famed luxury train known as the Orient Express, and the descriptions (though I wish there had been more of them) certainly added to my enjoyment of the book. With its tip of the hat to Agatha Christie’s well-known novel which also set its mysterious happenings on the Orient Express, The Main Character sets up a series of unexplained events happening amidst a group of people, some of whom clearly knew one another prior to boarding the other train while others…who knows? Rory is living in uncertain times, and the last thing she wants is to have to deal with the emotional entanglements and baggage with which she has been presented. As the story unfolds, we find out about Rory’s childhood, her relationships past and present with her travel companions, as well as her father’s history and how it impacts and is impacted by what she is working through. It’s not easy to forgive those who have hurt you, but it is equally difficult to resist the power longtime relationships (even imperfect ones) can have. The reader will come to suspect different people of various misdeeds as information presents itself, and it is as hard for the reader as it is for Rory to decide what is truth, what is fabrication, and who can be trusted. Fans of Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ruth Ware and Finley Turner will find this an appealing addition to their TBR pile….it is a twisty thriller with a gorgeous backdrop. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for allowing me early access to the novel.
After her career as a TV anchor flamed out and her fiancé broke off their engagement, Rory Aronov found herself unsure of where life would take her. When bestselling but eccentric mystery author Generva Ex offered her the position of “main character”, which entailed Rory spending time in Italy letting Generva probe her past and present to use as the inspiration for the main character in Generva’s next book, Rory accepted. Now that Generva has finished, she has gifted Rory with an all-expenses paid three day trip on the luxurious Orient Express traveling to Cinque Terre, Rome and Positano. It seems like a dream come true, until Rory discovers that Generva has invited several other people to take the voyage too….Rory’s brother Max, former nerd and now CEO of a biotech company on the verge of producing a vaccine to prevent and reverse Alzheimers’; her lifelong best friend and de facto sister Caroline, a social media influencer manquée who recently started working in sales for Max’s company and with whom Max has always quietly been in love; her ex-fiancé Nate, an international crisis mediator whose struggle to overcome a professional failure led to his walking away from Rory, a decision he has come to regret; and Gabriele, Generva’s lawyer who is along to make sure the foursome’s trip proceeds according to their itinerary and without problems, and with whom Rory had had a fling while working with Generva. The tensions are thick, and only get worse; Rory begins to question Generva’s motives for orchestrating this reunion, and that is before problems arise. Is this trip a reward, or a punishment? Can relationships be revived and repaired, or will they not survive the voyage? What exactly is Generva’s end game?
Settings don’t get much more glamorous then the coastal towns of Italy and the famed luxury train known as the Orient Express, and the descriptions (though I wish there had been more of them) certainly added to my enjoyment of the book. With its tip of the hat to Agatha Christie’s well-known novel which also set its mysterious happenings on the Orient Express, The Main Character sets up a series of unexplained events happening amidst a group of people, some of whom clearly knew one another prior to boarding the other train while others…who knows? Rory is living in uncertain times, and the last thing she wants is to have to deal with the emotional entanglements and baggage with which she has been presented. As the story unfolds, we find out about Rory’s childhood, her relationships past and present with her travel companions, as well as her father’s history and how it impacts and is impacted by what she is working through. It’s not easy to forgive those who have hurt you, but it is equally difficult to resist the power longtime relationships (even imperfect ones) can have. The reader will come to suspect different people of various misdeeds as information presents itself, and it is as hard for the reader as it is for Rory to decide what is truth, what is fabrication, and who can be trusted. Fans of Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ruth Ware and Finley Turner will find this an appealing addition to their TBR pile….it is a twisty thriller with a gorgeous backdrop. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for allowing me early access to the novel.
This has a great premise but unfortunately the execution fell flat for me. I stopped reading at about 25%. Although I don’t mind stories with unlikeable characters, these characters seemed a little too uniformly unlikeable and I didn’t find the different POVs to be that distinct. I think it would be good for thriller fans looking to read a book with a strong setting (Italy), that pays homage to Agatha Christie, and a cast of characters hiding lots of secrets. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion!
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
After losing her job, and getting dumped by her fiancé, Rory agrees to become Ginevra Ex’s main character. It’s how Ginevra writes her books…she digs into a persons life, and then builds the book around them. But Rory has nothing to hide so why not? The hundred grand doesn’t hurt either! When they finish their work together, Ginevra sends Rory on a lavish train trip as a thank you. What Rory didn’t expect, was to see her brother, her best friend, and her ex fiancé also on the train. As she reads the arc of the book, Rory feels like something is just not right.
This was such an intriguing idea for a book! I loved that Ginevra would choose a person and write her story around them and their life. It was obvious from the start that everyone here was hiding something, and I loved following along as Rory tried to piece together the lies. I aways love a book in a book, so that added to this story, though I wish we got to see a bit more of the final book! It was so interesting to see how each of the characters connected to the story in the end, and I truly enjoyed this book!
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
slow-paced
The plot was slow and wasn’t keeping me invested.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this! I really loved all the lush descriptions of the food, the scenery etc on the train and in Italy. I thought it would be a murder mystery and well, there were some mysteries going on, and someone did end up dead, but I wouldn’t strictly call it that. At first the whole family connection felt kiiind of contrived to me, but how it played out was interesting to me. I didn’t expect the historical aspect of it, but I liked that as well. I also didn’t guess who the bad guy(s) turned out to be but it ended up being very fitting and sad.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC.