dreynoldsbook's reviews
112 reviews

The Trespasser by Tana French

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is the second time I’ve tried Tana French and not finished it. I find her style grating. She tries too hard to be hard. Although she’s not a bad writer,

Maigret's Holiday by Georges Simenon

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Maigret drinks a lot of  pouilly fuisse and ignores people in this novel but he gets there in the end. Authentic as ever but Maigret can be a bit too dour.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

In a world where barely anything lives Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who ‘retires’ androids to make money to buy a real life animal. It’s another Dick novel that addresses question of what is real and what is fake. It’s full of ideas, amusing and thought provoking. Such as a machine that can set your mood.

I didn’t care for the last part of the book. The climax of the android story seemed rushed and the whole Mercer thing wasn’t my favourite aspect to the novel.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another fascinating and compelling novel by PKD. Full of Intriguing characters (male and female) and dialogue with memorable philosophical passages. Not least the one regarding Emily Fusselman’s rabbit!

The narrative in PKD’s novels always confounds your expectations. He avoids the obvious or predictable.

Ubik by Philip K. Dick

funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A mind bending often amusing satire. On what I’m unsure! Sometimes it seemed a bit random. I suspect Dick wrote it as ideas came to him and went with the flow. 

Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I read a few of this author’s novels in the early 2000s. I’m sure they were better than this! I enjoyed the first 50 pages. But once the initial mystery was revealed it went downhill quickly.

Miguel de Ruyter might have a swashbuckling name and mysterious past but he’s dull as ditchwater. He’s wrenched away from his family and is really annoyed about it apparently. You wouldn’t know it. The dialogue is stilted and it’s full of cliches. The science is completely OTT and may was well be magic. Making everything mind bogglingly beyond belief is no substitution for a good plot and fully developed characters.

In. by Will McPhail

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I preferred the humorous first half of the book to the maudlin second half. There’s a bit of an odd message. Man fakes sadness because he can’t feel anything. Then he is sad because of tragic turn of events. So, he had that coming. But now he’s a real person so that’s okay. 🤷‍♂️

I think the cafe life had something going for it personally.

The Infatuations by Javier Marías

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Marias had such a unique voice. This novel is half recounting a story and half imagining what might have happened, might have been said. It’s very cerebral and philosophical. It’s not going to appeal to every reader. Especially in an age where long meandering sentences are frowned upon. Marias is definitely a storyTELLER. Reading his novels is a nice change of pace from the contemporary norm .

The only problem I found was that everyone spoke in a similar  dry and analytical manner. But you have to accept that it’s quite a stylised novel, not naturalistic.

Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The main character and her alter ego Rebecca is/are a wonderful creation. Her voice (voices?), is constantly engaging and funny. As a consequence the novel is a delight to read. Entertaining throughout. It could have been in bad taste but never is. It’s funny about mental illness but not by laughing at those supposedly ill. 

The Best of Our Spies by Alex Gerlis

adventurous informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The first two thirds of the book are  good spy thriller stuff with a mix of fact and fiction. At times character seemed to be sacrificed for the plot and it was often contrived. The character of Nathalie wasn’t very convincing. I think the author was reluctant to portray her as a nazi so it seemed like that was behind her when the novel started. But then her actions didn’t make sense.

It was difficult to care too much about the last third of the book with secondary characters having suffered far more than the main protagonists.