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libbith220 's review for:
Every Last Fear
by Alex Finlay
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This is the type of book that should be done in one sitting, because once I took a break, I didn't really want to come back. I ended up finishing it because it was a quick read, but I wasn't actually that interested in what happened.
One of the biggest issues I had with this book was the characters. The blurb posits Matt as the main character, but that never really felt true. There didn't seem to be a main characters -- and not in a fun ensemble cast way, but more like we were adrift in the story. None of the characters felt fully formed, and I couldn't really bring myself to care about them that much. Agent Keller, who seems to be featured in his next book, would have made a great main character. Unfortunately, I never really understood her vibe. I truly could not describe her personality to you, she was just kind of there to go through the motions. The attempts to make her have more character were small and didn't add up to a cohesive person.
Not only were the characters all rather lame, there were WAY to many of them. It was hard to tell who was important and who wasn't, and I found myself forgetting names quite a lot. (Reading through my notes reveals even more characters than I thought!). Maybe if they were interesting I would have a better time recalling them, but they all just floated right out of my brain whenever they weren't around. The worst was Matt's friend group, which seemed to exist to fulfill a diversity quota, and didn't add anything to the plot.
The plot itself was rather lackluster to me. The author relied on mini cliffhangers at the end of each chapter to keep you reading, which felt clever at first, but then just became a bit tiresome/irritating. The mystery was decent, but I didn't really care about it. I enjoy in mysteries when the characters try to guess what happens, find out they were wrong, and then use that information to keep figuring things out. There was none of that here; what was intended to be twists and turns was just information piling up, so there was no fun to it. The ending made sense and wrapped everything up, but I didn't care enough for it to be impactful.
The author also would over explain subtle gestures quite a lot -- trust your reader to pick up on what you've planted! We're not dumb!
To sum up: average writing, flat characters, and and uninteresting mystery. Don't think I'll be returning to this author anytime soon.
One of the biggest issues I had with this book was the characters. The blurb posits Matt as the main character, but that never really felt true. There didn't seem to be a main characters -- and not in a fun ensemble cast way, but more like we were adrift in the story. None of the characters felt fully formed, and I couldn't really bring myself to care about them that much. Agent Keller, who seems to be featured in his next book, would have made a great main character. Unfortunately, I never really understood her vibe. I truly could not describe her personality to you, she was just kind of there to go through the motions. The attempts to make her have more character were small and didn't add up to a cohesive person.
Not only were the characters all rather lame, there were WAY to many of them. It was hard to tell who was important and who wasn't, and I found myself forgetting names quite a lot. (Reading through my notes reveals even more characters than I thought!). Maybe if they were interesting I would have a better time recalling them, but they all just floated right out of my brain whenever they weren't around. The worst was Matt's friend group, which seemed to exist to fulfill a diversity quota, and didn't add anything to the plot.
The plot itself was rather lackluster to me. The author relied on mini cliffhangers at the end of each chapter to keep you reading, which felt clever at first, but then just became a bit tiresome/irritating. The mystery was decent, but I didn't really care about it. I enjoy in mysteries when the characters try to guess what happens, find out they were wrong, and then use that information to keep figuring things out. There was none of that here; what was intended to be twists and turns was just information piling up, so there was no fun to it. The ending made sense and wrapped everything up, but I didn't care enough for it to be impactful.
The author also would over explain subtle gestures quite a lot -- trust your reader to pick up on what you've planted! We're not dumb!
To sum up: average writing, flat characters, and and uninteresting mystery. Don't think I'll be returning to this author anytime soon.