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A review by ajb24
The American Boyfriend by Ivy Ngeow
1.0
*My copy of this was an uncorrected proof*
The most un-suspenseful, non-romantic "thriller" I've ever read. Absolutely bizarre ending that comes out of nowhere. The narration felt detached from all the action. Plot points were set up, but I never felt emotionally invested or interested in anything that happened. Everything was vague and confusing until the end where in the last 20 pages we get a ton of backstory for side characters (their stories add context to the boyfriend's history) that has no emotional impact because it's the end of the novel???
But like, hold on, the more I think about this the more annoyed I get. We spend a majority of the novel waiting for Carter (the boyfriend) to show up. We basically don't learn ANYTHING about Carter until the last 20 pages?! The climactic confrontation happens for seemingly no reason. We only learn the context AFTER the confrontation from random side character POV chapters.
I thought I might rate this higher because I usually like stories with mother/child dynamics. There were a couple moments where I thought the descriptions of JoJo were cute. But again, the writing suffers from emotional detachment. Everything is just stated...like, we get told details about what's happening or what Phoebe's thinking or who her family is, but I don't care. That sounds harsh but I don't know how else to explain how I felt like I was getting told a story without being immersed in it.
The most un-suspenseful, non-romantic "thriller" I've ever read. Absolutely bizarre ending that comes out of nowhere. The narration felt detached from all the action. Plot points were set up, but I never felt emotionally invested or interested in anything that happened. Everything was vague and confusing until the end where in the last 20 pages we get a ton of backstory for side characters (their stories add context to the boyfriend's history) that has no emotional impact because it's the end of the novel???
But like, hold on, the more I think about this the more annoyed I get. We spend a majority of the novel waiting for Carter (the boyfriend) to show up. We basically don't learn ANYTHING about Carter until the last 20 pages?! The climactic confrontation happens for seemingly no reason. We only learn the context AFTER the confrontation from random side character POV chapters.
I thought I might rate this higher because I usually like stories with mother/child dynamics. There were a couple moments where I thought the descriptions of JoJo were cute. But again, the writing suffers from emotional detachment. Everything is just stated...like, we get told details about what's happening or what Phoebe's thinking or who her family is, but I don't care. That sounds harsh but I don't know how else to explain how I felt like I was getting told a story without being immersed in it.