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A review by midnightcomets
House of Cards by Michael Dobbs
4.0
3.8/5 stars
Politics require sacrifice. The sacrifice of others, of course
So...
This is gonna be an interesting review. And probably as complex as that book and my feelings while reading it. I wouldn't say political thrillers are my cup of tea. I was never really interested in politics and how a country should be handled but 1) I was in mood for something corrupted and 2) my brother (who by the way is into politics) asked me to read it and tell him my opinion. I still don't know how I feel about it anyways. Did I like some things? Oh yes. Did I dislike some others? Obviously. Let's do it!
The writing style was rich but also simple. It was changing from poetic to tough very quickly, along with the mood of the characters and totally matched the shade of the book and the plot. It was a big thumbs up for me and especially the quotes in the start of every chapter made me get even more excited for what was going to happen. The plot twists were absolutely mind blowing and the way everyone was falling under Urquhart's feet for the sake of power was making me more eager to turn the pages one by one, devouring the book bit by bit. Too bad most of the characters had very bad surprises upon their way.
What was a big thumbs down for me, though, was the characters. Let me tell you. The way they were built, full of secrets and dark desires, was perfect for a political thriller. The thing is, though, that due to their behavior and want to fulfill their purposes without to care for the rest made me hate them all. I found myself indifferent even for the characters that were supposed to be liked. Francis was probably the character I hated the most, although he is an amazing protagonist for a book like that. I just feel annoyed when I cannot connect with the characters at all, since they play a very important role to my opinion about a book and I was actually sad there was not a single character to like. I did love to hate a lot of them though. Mostly Francis but also Benjamin and some more. The way they were moving the strings of their puppets to lead themselves to their ultimate purpose was both frightening AND fascinating.
Another let down was the way women were treated. I liked the fact that one of the main characters was a strong woman that was willing to uncover a ground breaking mystery but other than that, I could see a lot of sexist vibes and that disturbed me.
Overall, it's a nice book for fans of the kind. If you want to read a political thriller with lots of twists and utterly messed up and corrupted characters, I totally suggest it. If you'd like something with characters you'll root for...Well, I suggest you'd try something else
~Mary
Politics require sacrifice. The sacrifice of others, of course
So...
This is gonna be an interesting review. And probably as complex as that book and my feelings while reading it. I wouldn't say political thrillers are my cup of tea. I was never really interested in politics and how a country should be handled but 1) I was in mood for something corrupted and 2) my brother (who by the way is into politics) asked me to read it and tell him my opinion. I still don't know how I feel about it anyways. Did I like some things? Oh yes. Did I dislike some others? Obviously. Let's do it!
The writing style was rich but also simple. It was changing from poetic to tough very quickly, along with the mood of the characters and totally matched the shade of the book and the plot. It was a big thumbs up for me and especially the quotes in the start of every chapter made me get even more excited for what was going to happen. The plot twists were absolutely mind blowing and the way everyone was falling under Urquhart's feet for the sake of power was making me more eager to turn the pages one by one, devouring the book bit by bit. Too bad most of the characters had very bad surprises upon their way.
What was a big thumbs down for me, though, was the characters. Let me tell you. The way they were built, full of secrets and dark desires, was perfect for a political thriller. The thing is, though, that due to their behavior and want to fulfill their purposes without to care for the rest made me hate them all. I found myself indifferent even for the characters that were supposed to be liked. Francis was probably the character I hated the most, although he is an amazing protagonist for a book like that. I just feel annoyed when I cannot connect with the characters at all, since they play a very important role to my opinion about a book and I was actually sad there was not a single character to like. I did love to hate a lot of them though. Mostly Francis but also Benjamin and some more. The way they were moving the strings of their puppets to lead themselves to their ultimate purpose was both frightening AND fascinating.
Another let down was the way women were treated. I liked the fact that one of the main characters was a strong woman that was willing to uncover a ground breaking mystery but other than that, I could see a lot of sexist vibes and that disturbed me.
Overall, it's a nice book for fans of the kind. If you want to read a political thriller with lots of twists and utterly messed up and corrupted characters, I totally suggest it. If you'd like something with characters you'll root for...Well, I suggest you'd try something else
~Mary