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A review by peppermint_kiss
IQ by Joe Ide
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I was ambivalent about this book.
Pros: The main character is very interesting, lovable, and an archetype you don't see much in modern mystery fiction, both in terms of his background and his personality. I actually respected him, which is unusual for me with a fictional character. The writing is pretty good and evocative, with some great laugh-out-loud moments. I enjoyed the locations and everyday activities that were depicted.
Cons: the main mystery was really, really boring to me. It was hard to care what happened. To be fair, that's also kind of how the protagonist feels, but he has to wake up every day and deal with it, whereas I have to choose to pick up the book and keep reading, which was often hard to make myself do. I also found that, while some of the characters were really complex and interesting, some of them just felt like silly stereotypes, so much so that it was hard to tell them apart. The brash hoochie girls, the dumb thugs, the hand-rubbing salesmen - which one was which? Who knows what and who is in what relation to the victim? It's fine if there's more than one character like that, but they should have at least some idiosyncratic, personal traits.
Pros: The main character is very interesting, lovable, and an archetype you don't see much in modern mystery fiction, both in terms of his background and his personality. I actually respected him, which is unusual for me with a fictional character. The writing is pretty good and evocative, with some great laugh-out-loud moments. I enjoyed the locations and everyday activities that were depicted.
Cons: the main mystery was really, really boring to me. It was hard to care what happened. To be fair, that's also kind of how the protagonist feels, but he has to wake up every day and deal with it, whereas I have to choose to pick up the book and keep reading, which was often hard to make myself do. I also found that, while some of the characters were really complex and interesting, some of them just felt like silly stereotypes, so much so that it was hard to tell them apart. The brash hoochie girls, the dumb thugs, the hand-rubbing salesmen - which one was which? Who knows what and who is in what relation to the victim? It's fine if there's more than one character like that, but they should have at least some idiosyncratic, personal traits.