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danubooks 's review for:
The Main Character
by Jaclyn Goldis
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s the trip of a iifetime…..but only if she can survive it.
After her career as a TV anchor flamed out and her fiancé broke off their engagement, Rory Aronov found herself unsure of where life would take her. When bestselling but eccentric mystery author Generva Ex offered her the position of “main character”, which entailed Rory spending time in Italy letting Generva probe her past and present to use as the inspiration for the main character in Generva’s next book, Rory accepted. Now that Generva has finished, she has gifted Rory with an all-expenses paid three day trip on the luxurious Orient Express traveling to Cinque Terre, Rome and Positano. It seems like a dream come true, until Rory discovers that Generva has invited several other people to take the voyage too….Rory’s brother Max, former nerd and now CEO of a biotech company on the verge of producing a vaccine to prevent and reverse Alzheimers’; her lifelong best friend and de facto sister Caroline, a social media influencer manquée who recently started working in sales for Max’s company and with whom Max has always quietly been in love; her ex-fiancé Nate, an international crisis mediator whose struggle to overcome a professional failure led to his walking away from Rory, a decision he has come to regret; and Gabriele, Generva’s lawyer who is along to make sure the foursome’s trip proceeds according to their itinerary and without problems, and with whom Rory had had a fling while working with Generva. The tensions are thick, and only get worse; Rory begins to question Generva’s motives for orchestrating this reunion, and that is before problems arise. Is this trip a reward, or a punishment? Can relationships be revived and repaired, or will they not survive the voyage? What exactly is Generva’s end game?
Settings don’t get much more glamorous then the coastal towns of Italy and the famed luxury train known as the Orient Express, and the descriptions (though I wish there had been more of them) certainly added to my enjoyment of the book. With its tip of the hat to Agatha Christie’s well-known novel which also set its mysterious happenings on the Orient Express, The Main Character sets up a series of unexplained events happening amidst a group of people, some of whom clearly knew one another prior to boarding the other train while others…who knows? Rory is living in uncertain times, and the last thing she wants is to have to deal with the emotional entanglements and baggage with which she has been presented. As the story unfolds, we find out about Rory’s childhood, her relationships past and present with her travel companions, as well as her father’s history and how it impacts and is impacted by what she is working through. It’s not easy to forgive those who have hurt you, but it is equally difficult to resist the power longtime relationships (even imperfect ones) can have. The reader will come to suspect different people of various misdeeds as information presents itself, and it is as hard for the reader as it is for Rory to decide what is truth, what is fabrication, and who can be trusted. Fans of Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ruth Ware and Finley Turner will find this an appealing addition to their TBR pile….it is a twisty thriller with a gorgeous backdrop. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for allowing me early access to the novel.
After her career as a TV anchor flamed out and her fiancé broke off their engagement, Rory Aronov found herself unsure of where life would take her. When bestselling but eccentric mystery author Generva Ex offered her the position of “main character”, which entailed Rory spending time in Italy letting Generva probe her past and present to use as the inspiration for the main character in Generva’s next book, Rory accepted. Now that Generva has finished, she has gifted Rory with an all-expenses paid three day trip on the luxurious Orient Express traveling to Cinque Terre, Rome and Positano. It seems like a dream come true, until Rory discovers that Generva has invited several other people to take the voyage too….Rory’s brother Max, former nerd and now CEO of a biotech company on the verge of producing a vaccine to prevent and reverse Alzheimers’; her lifelong best friend and de facto sister Caroline, a social media influencer manquée who recently started working in sales for Max’s company and with whom Max has always quietly been in love; her ex-fiancé Nate, an international crisis mediator whose struggle to overcome a professional failure led to his walking away from Rory, a decision he has come to regret; and Gabriele, Generva’s lawyer who is along to make sure the foursome’s trip proceeds according to their itinerary and without problems, and with whom Rory had had a fling while working with Generva. The tensions are thick, and only get worse; Rory begins to question Generva’s motives for orchestrating this reunion, and that is before problems arise. Is this trip a reward, or a punishment? Can relationships be revived and repaired, or will they not survive the voyage? What exactly is Generva’s end game?
Settings don’t get much more glamorous then the coastal towns of Italy and the famed luxury train known as the Orient Express, and the descriptions (though I wish there had been more of them) certainly added to my enjoyment of the book. With its tip of the hat to Agatha Christie’s well-known novel which also set its mysterious happenings on the Orient Express, The Main Character sets up a series of unexplained events happening amidst a group of people, some of whom clearly knew one another prior to boarding the other train while others…who knows? Rory is living in uncertain times, and the last thing she wants is to have to deal with the emotional entanglements and baggage with which she has been presented. As the story unfolds, we find out about Rory’s childhood, her relationships past and present with her travel companions, as well as her father’s history and how it impacts and is impacted by what she is working through. It’s not easy to forgive those who have hurt you, but it is equally difficult to resist the power longtime relationships (even imperfect ones) can have. The reader will come to suspect different people of various misdeeds as information presents itself, and it is as hard for the reader as it is for Rory to decide what is truth, what is fabrication, and who can be trusted. Fans of Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ruth Ware and Finley Turner will find this an appealing addition to their TBR pile….it is a twisty thriller with a gorgeous backdrop. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for allowing me early access to the novel.