A review by crankyisgood
Orient by Christopher Bollen

3.0

I switched from audio to e-book a little less than halfway through. Audiobooks have not been working for me lately, and I did not like the character voices in this book in particular. Overall, it was an enjoyable book but it took me a long time to feel invested in the characters. Some facets were too unbelievable and I never suspended my disbelief; likewise, I embraced several characters but found others flat or fake. I really enjoyed the artists, who felt very real (while fictional, loved and mocked by the author at once, probably because of the author's experience as an art writer/in the NYC art world. There were some really gorgeous phrases in the book, but other parts were overwritten or mildly trite and losing a few dozen phrases would tighten up the book.