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amandafitz's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
If you love puzzles then you’ll love this book. It has riddles, crosswords, anagrams all tied into the story as clues to solve a mystery. I loved all of the characters and just the theme in general about finding and building you’re own family. There’s a lot of quotes/wisdom sprinkled throughout.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Misogyny, Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexism, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Infertility, Car accident, Child death, and Death
paronomaniac's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is a kind and gentle story. It made me feel happy just reading it as characters navigated (and solved) challenges and difficulties.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, and Grief
Minor: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
Finished reading: March 12th 2024
"The magic was always found in the solving, never in the solution."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Doubleday in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
WARNING: it's another unpopular opinion review!!
I have a weak spot for stories with older main characters and a found family trope, so I thought that The Fellowship Of Puzzlemakers would be a perfect fit for me. I loved the sound of the premise, with the mystery around Clayton's birth parents, the idea of the fellowship and the puzzle element... And I fully expected to enjoy my time with this debut. Sadly, the complete opposite ended up being true, and I somehow I struggled considerably to make it to the end. I seem to be an outlier as most people seem to love this book, but I'll try to explain what did and didn't work for me in case I'm not the only one out there who couldn't quite connect to this story.
First of all, I have to say that I still love the premise of The Fellowship Of Puzzlemakers and the general idea behind the plot and everything that happens. The fellowship and its members are so intriguing, and I enjoyed learning more about how the fellowship was formed and grew over time. The puzzle element was great as well, although I have to say the effect was kind of ruined as they didn't come out well at all in the kindle version. I suspect they would work so much better on paper though! I also do hope that the basic math errors that popped up will be edited out in the final version.
Now, where did it go wrong for me then? It was probably mostly the execution, and not the content of the story for me. First of all, the pace is extremely slow, and I struggled considerably to stay invested and convince myself to keep reading. I kept putting it down to do other things, and you know something is wrong when you rather start cleaning than read another chapter... The fact that the story constantly switches between past and present didn't really help either; dual timelines can go both ways for me in the first place, but in this case it was not the timelines, but the sheer amount of switches combined with the short chapters for me. It made it really hard to connect to the main characters, as I never felt I got to spend any proper quality time with them before I had to switch my brain to a completely different era.
As for the characters... Somehow I was never able to warm up to them. I mentioned the constant POV switches, but this wasn't the only issue for me. There is something almost distant about the way the story is told, and this distance made it hard to make a proper connection to the characters. I never felt invested in what was happening, and as a result I struggled to care about what was going to happen next. The mystery of Clayton's parentage was also a bit too simple, because there frankly aren't too many female characters to choose from in the first place... As a result, the final reveal wasn't all that satisfying to me.
I'm not saying that The Fellowship Of Puzzlemakers is a bad read though, but it definitely wasn't the book for me. I somehow liked the idea behind this story a lot more than the actual execution... But then again, I seem to be in the minority, so don't give up on my account if you like the sound of this debut. Chances are high it will work better for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment
dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I would like to thank NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
After the death of the main parental figure in his life, Pippa, Clayton is at a loss of what to do next. When he discovers that Pippa left him with a set of puzzles that could lead him to find his biological parents, Clayton sets out on this journey where he learns what family ultimately means.
I had some high hopes for The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers when I first requested it back in September. The book’s concept seemed interesting and I thought I would be delighted with a nice cozy read set in England.
While this book didn’t live up to all of my expectations, it wasn’t a terrible read and there’s definitely readers out there who will fall in love with The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers when it comes out this spring.
One of Burr’s biggest strengths in this book is the unique character voices it provides to Clayton and Pippa. Told in alternating timelines (one featuring Clayton’s journey and the other on Pippa starting The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers), each voice gets their own distinct characteristics and personality traits to the point where you’re almost conversing with them as the story plays out. I also thought Burr had a nice writing style and did a really good job with alternating between timelines and how they ultimately sync up with each other.
My main critique with this book is the pacing. You will come to realize that the pacing for this book is very slow and it shows the more you read it, to the point where it feels like the book drags in certain places. I’m not the biggest fan of books with slow pacing, which is why I didn’t really like the book as much.
Nevertheless, while I wasn’t the right reader for this book, that doesn’t mean you won’t like it. Fans of Lessons in Chemistry of the Thursday Murder Club series, there’s a good chance you will like the quirky ensemble of Fellowship members featured throughout the book. If you love unique character voices and don’t mind the slow pacing, Burr’s writing style will be up your alley. That being said, this book wasn’t for me, but it can be a good pick for some readers.
After the death of the main parental figure in his life, Pippa, Clayton is at a loss of what to do next. When he discovers that Pippa left him with a set of puzzles that could lead him to find his biological parents, Clayton sets out on this journey where he learns what family ultimately means.
I had some high hopes for The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers when I first requested it back in September. The book’s concept seemed interesting and I thought I would be delighted with a nice cozy read set in England.
While this book didn’t live up to all of my expectations, it wasn’t a terrible read and there’s definitely readers out there who will fall in love with The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers when it comes out this spring.
One of Burr’s biggest strengths in this book is the unique character voices it provides to Clayton and Pippa. Told in alternating timelines (one featuring Clayton’s journey and the other on Pippa starting The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers), each voice gets their own distinct characteristics and personality traits to the point where you’re almost conversing with them as the story plays out. I also thought Burr had a nice writing style and did a really good job with alternating between timelines and how they ultimately sync up with each other.
My main critique with this book is the pacing. You will come to realize that the pacing for this book is very slow and it shows the more you read it, to the point where it feels like the book drags in certain places. I’m not the biggest fan of books with slow pacing, which is why I didn’t really like the book as much.
Nevertheless, while I wasn’t the right reader for this book, that doesn’t mean you won’t like it. Fans of Lessons in Chemistry of the Thursday Murder Club series, there’s a good chance you will like the quirky ensemble of Fellowship members featured throughout the book. If you love unique character voices and don’t mind the slow pacing, Burr’s writing style will be up your alley. That being said, this book wasn’t for me, but it can be a good pick for some readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Sexism, Car accident, and Death
Minor: Cancer and Suicidal thoughts
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