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A review by bookmaddie
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
A quick read that loses steam once a death occurs, making the lack of characterization obvious.
I found the artistic/tarot card mystery more compelling than the who-dunnit mystery that takes up most of the latter half of the book. The art history aspects shined in this story, and as we got away from that, the writing felt rote and unsurprising.
My main gripe is with characterization. The main character, Ann, is drawn with barely any personality, only developing some sense of agency (and cynicism) at the very very end. This comes as a shock, as almost no time is spent in any serious way developing Ann’s personality or showing how she changes because of her whirlwind summer. It all felt very surface-level and unsatisfying. The writing about NYC felt so naive, too.
Admittedly, I skimmed the last third of the novel, just wanting it to be done by that point.
More of a 2.5 star, really. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced digital copy. Sorry it took me so long to get to it!
I found the artistic/tarot card mystery more compelling than the who-dunnit mystery that takes up most of the latter half of the book. The art history aspects shined in this story, and as we got away from that, the writing felt rote and unsurprising.
My main gripe is with characterization. The main character, Ann, is drawn with barely any personality, only developing some sense of agency (and cynicism) at the very very end. This comes as a shock, as almost no time is spent in any serious way developing Ann’s personality or showing how she changes because of her whirlwind summer. It all felt very surface-level and unsatisfying. The writing about NYC felt so naive, too.
Admittedly, I skimmed the last third of the novel, just wanting it to be done by that point.
More of a 2.5 star, really. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced digital copy. Sorry it took me so long to get to it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Drug use