one4ale's reviews
16 reviews

The Ponson Case by Freeman Wills Crofts

5.0

A wonderful detective story. Unlike the ones I usually read, the detective was just a guy (which I liked). He wasn't a genius or a neurotic or some other thing, just thorough and perceptive; I think this worked best for this book. It really let me believe I was there alongside the characters figuring it out as it happens, instead of having random wild twists that make no sense. The twist that was in the book was "sensational," but I could easily accept it.
Also, I really enjoyed the shifting perspective to the female lead as she investigates herself. Probably some of the best sections of the book, if you like competent characters.

Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims

4.0

Re-read this by listening to the audiobook, even better than I remembered. I think the music was a nice touch, and getting to hear the author read his own work was good too.

The Candy House: A Novel by Jennifer Egan

5.0

Incredibly fun as just as good as the first. Every chapter had a unique writing style and keeping track of every character was actually fun.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

4.0

One of my favorite Christie Mysteries. Poirot novels are always a fun read for me (because I love the mystery genre) and she’s not the world’s best selling author (barring God and Shakespeare) for nothing. This is the 4th novel in the Poirot series but besides a few unimportant references they’re all pretty standalone. The killer reveal in this one literally made me go :0 it’s just a very interesting plot line.

The Oracle Year by Charles Soule

4.0

Phenomenal. I already knew him from 8 Billion Genies, but this exceeded all expectations. I could hardly put this book down without immediately wanting to see what's next, and not for a moment throughout the first half did I have a moment of peace without anxiety for Will and Hamza.
A lot of times I don't know how to feel about a story because I know it ends well. More or less, everything ends as you think and the meat of the story, the journey, is the only thing that makes it worth it. Endings are hard to land for me and it was my biggest fear reading this; Soule landed it, I think.

I think a lot of the critiques made by others are valid. I think a lot of the critiques made by others made me wonder if we read the same book. Here's mine:

Critiques

Spoiler

- The women related to Will could've had more to do. Miko's role is mostly to be the voice of reason to him and Hamza, and support Will, and Leigh's role is mostly to be the Witness to Events as a Lois Lane trope and again to support Will. Neither of those things are bad on its own, and they're fun to read and get to know in their own right. I just think it could've leaned more on other aspects of them, especially towards the end. The Florida Ladies and the Coach were great, though, I loved them.
- Kind of a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ending? Everything wraps up nice and neatly into basically paradise, but that's kind of the point of the predictions so it's whatever.
- The final bad guy is a Central Asian terrorist with a nuke.

tl;dr: Good book, has issues, would read again after forgetting the plot in time. Find a library and read it.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

4.0