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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF @ 42%— couldn’t get into it, what a bummer. Too many characters that I couldn’t keep up.
Great premise, though I think the execution could have been more suspenseful and in-depth. Having all those characters means I want to learn so much more about them!!
mysterious
reflective
sad
I thought this was a great novel! I truly was captivated and could not put it down. I had some predictions early on and this did not disappoint. This was also the first novel that I tabbed as I was reading and I can say that it added to the enjoyment as well. I would definitely recommend if you are a fan of the And Then There Were None type story!!
This gotta be the flattest mystery thriller in the history of mystery thrillers.
Even calling it a thriller is a stretch actually.
I’ve said It before but I’ll say it again: having multiple POVs is not gonna save a boring book from being boring. On the contrary, it makes the book extremely difficult to read and prevents the readers from connecting emotionally and ultimately carrying about any of the characters.
Authors need to FINALLY realize that and and put more energy on better writing. Until then, throw at least a disclaimer so the rest of us who are not enjoying this type of content could at least avoid it.
Just for reference tho, this has at least 11 POVs, I lost count after that. I still cannot understand why nobody said anything to Peter Swanson at the 3-4 POV mark, like "please consider a more clever way to present your vision because that is just not gonna work”.
So to sum up, the chapters are short and the POV is constantly changing. As a result, people are being killed off and you don’t even have an option, it’s just a passive event.
Then time and time again Agatha Christie and Then there were none gets mentioned and we get more inside information about the author and what he attempted to do than any of his characters and that’s never great.
All in all, no shocking factor, not fast paced, surface level characters, and zero twists.
Also the reasoning of it all made no sense but by that point I just wanted it to be over already so yeah whatever.
Thank you NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for the digital ARC.
Even calling it a thriller is a stretch actually.
I’ve said It before but I’ll say it again: having multiple POVs is not gonna save a boring book from being boring. On the contrary, it makes the book extremely difficult to read and prevents the readers from connecting emotionally and ultimately carrying about any of the characters.
Authors need to FINALLY realize that and and put more energy on better writing. Until then, throw at least a disclaimer so the rest of us who are not enjoying this type of content could at least avoid it.
Just for reference tho, this has at least 11 POVs, I lost count after that. I still cannot understand why nobody said anything to Peter Swanson at the 3-4 POV mark, like "please consider a more clever way to present your vision because that is just not gonna work”.
So to sum up, the chapters are short and the POV is constantly changing. As a result, people are being killed off and you don’t even have an option, it’s just a passive event.
Then time and time again Agatha Christie and Then there were none gets mentioned and we get more inside information about the author and what he attempted to do than any of his characters and that’s never great.
All in all, no shocking factor, not fast paced, surface level characters, and zero twists.
Also the reasoning of it all made no sense but by that point I just wanted it to be over already so yeah whatever.
Thank you NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for the digital ARC.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Would have been 5 stars except for the unnecessary use of bigoted language (in more ways than just referencing the title of old books)
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes