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A review by billymac1962
Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews
4.0
I can't remember what had originally prompted me to put this one on my to-read list, but it was a book podcaster's review of it that prompted me to read it as soon as I was ready for my next book. She had said something like this: "This book went in a direction that surprised me so much. I had no idea...blah blah". I gather this lady is pretty well read and so this really intrigued me. So I started it with gusto. And really enjoyed it!
Who is Maud Dixon is very well written. There is barely a word wasted in this novel and Andrews' prose and dialogue throughout were flooded into my brain with zero resistance. That is to say that I was very easily absorbed in this (and, if you've been keeping score at home, kids, you know this is no small achievement for me lately), and I just burned through it.
For those of you who have read Verity by Colleen Hoover, you're bound to see this as a bit of parallel: A young editor/writer gets the gig of her life when she has the opportunity to become an assistant to the reclusive and mysterious writer known by the rest of the world as Maud Dixon, author of one bestseller that took the literary world by storm.
The gig is to help with her next highly anticipated novel.
The story moves along like gangbusters and I was loving it for a lot of it. And as a bonus, I was still waiting for that "surprising" direction for the story to take. I could hardly get through the pages fast enough. But as the story hit the 75% mark, I realized, to my disappointment, that that surprising direction had already passed and was a nice turn, but I found it was typical of what you'd expect in most suspense thrillers these days. (I'm jaded.)
Ultimately I found the resolution of the novel a minor letdown only because I was expecting something really mind-blowing, and this is too bad because this had all the makings of a five star read for me. The first half of this book, and then some, is outstanding. I loved the pacing of her writing and her realistic dialogue. And wonder of wonders: a 3rd person past tense narrative!
I do recommend this and will read more from her definitely. If you are a thriller reader and enjoy what's out there these days, Who is Maud Dixon stands even shoulders with all of them.
You can discount my disappointment only because my expectations were through the roof, and yes, I am a very jaded reader with this genre. This book was a ton of fun and I enjoyed it to the tune of 4.5 stars.
Oh, please do not read the book's description from the publisher. It gives way too much plot away.
Who is Maud Dixon is very well written. There is barely a word wasted in this novel and Andrews' prose and dialogue throughout were flooded into my brain with zero resistance. That is to say that I was very easily absorbed in this (and, if you've been keeping score at home, kids, you know this is no small achievement for me lately), and I just burned through it.
For those of you who have read Verity by Colleen Hoover, you're bound to see this as a bit of parallel: A young editor/writer gets the gig of her life when she has the opportunity to become an assistant to the reclusive and mysterious writer known by the rest of the world as Maud Dixon, author of one bestseller that took the literary world by storm.
The gig is to help with her next highly anticipated novel.
The story moves along like gangbusters and I was loving it for a lot of it. And as a bonus, I was still waiting for that "surprising" direction for the story to take. I could hardly get through the pages fast enough. But as the story hit the 75% mark, I realized, to my disappointment, that that surprising direction had already passed and was a nice turn, but I found it was typical of what you'd expect in most suspense thrillers these days. (I'm jaded.)
Ultimately I found the resolution of the novel a minor letdown only because I was expecting something really mind-blowing, and this is too bad because this had all the makings of a five star read for me. The first half of this book, and then some, is outstanding. I loved the pacing of her writing and her realistic dialogue. And wonder of wonders: a 3rd person past tense narrative!
I do recommend this and will read more from her definitely. If you are a thriller reader and enjoy what's out there these days, Who is Maud Dixon stands even shoulders with all of them.
You can discount my disappointment only because my expectations were through the roof, and yes, I am a very jaded reader with this genre. This book was a ton of fun and I enjoyed it to the tune of 4.5 stars.
Oh, please do not read the book's description from the publisher. It gives way too much plot away.