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shreyas1599's reviews
269 reviews
Silent Partner by Jonathan Kellerman
3.0
Decent read. Could have done without the overly descriptive bedroom scenes that became one too many frequent. Understand that the author has a strong inkling to overly describe scenes but overdoing it for “things that happen in the bedroom” was not enjoyable and not contributing anything to the story. The plot was extremely complex and far fetched and a tad slow at times. Too many moving pieces to make sense of in the end. In previous novels, there was a feeling of everything being tied together in the end, but in this particular book there was no such sense of closure. Everything still remained a torrid mess. Anyway, a good weekend read if that’s what you’re looking for.
Still Life by Louise Penny
5.0
Been a while since I found a book that emanated the vibes I’d gotten so used to from Agatha Christie’s novels. The setting of the story, switching the focus of blame across the characters until the final reveal - all hallmarks of an excellent read. I hope I’ve found the author that’ll last me for the next couple of months.
Time Bomb by Jonathan Kellerman
2.0
It was a drag.
I started reading the book in August. Read a bit for a couple of days and completely forgot about it. Found it in my “Currently Reading” list and decided to complete it.
The narrative could be easily compressed into half of what it is. A lot of what happens over the course of the book feels like filler material. The overly exaggerated depictions of settings did not seem to add much in the way of the plot. But I digress. I think it’s a feature of the author’s writing style.
The ending could’ve come straight out of a QAnon conspiracy theory. The only good thing from this book in the series is that the author heavily cut down on his overly descriptive bedroom scenes.
Apart from that, it doesn’t have a lot riding for it.
I guess if you’re in the mood for a conspiratorial read, this one’s for you.
I started reading the book in August. Read a bit for a couple of days and completely forgot about it. Found it in my “Currently Reading” list and decided to complete it.
The narrative could be easily compressed into half of what it is. A lot of what happens over the course of the book feels like filler material. The overly exaggerated depictions of settings did not seem to add much in the way of the plot. But I digress. I think it’s a feature of the author’s writing style.
The ending could’ve come straight out of a QAnon conspiracy theory. The only good thing from this book in the series is that the author heavily cut down on his overly descriptive bedroom scenes.
Apart from that, it doesn’t have a lot riding for it.
I guess if you’re in the mood for a conspiratorial read, this one’s for you.
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
4.0
Decent read. Kept flipping through the pages. Although, at times certain parts felt unrealistic, I wasn’t expecting to read a 100% realistic depiction. I was looking for a page turner - with no boring elements. Not much in the way of character development except the narrator. It’s not a cozy Agatha Christie murder mystery, although I did get the inkling a couple of times but it cleared soon after. The ending was a neatly wrapped present. Overall, a decent holiday read. Might try out more by the author.
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
3.0
I absolutely hated the protagonist. I could not wrap my head around the ending scene where everything is finally revealed. There were elements which made it interesting. However, towards the end, I was just waiting for it to get over. The story was not going anywhere. There was a lot of filler material guised as the protagonist’s state of mind. A decent read up until the end. The ending did not make any sense, whatsoever.
Memory Man by David Baldacci
4.0
My first baldacci book. I was looking for something fast-paced with no beating around the bush. By beating around the bush, I mean long-drawn depictions of everyday activity. Essentially, something that would gloss over all the boring aspects of a detective novel. While they have their place in a book, I was not in search of something of the sort (for the moment). This book satisfied most of my criteria.
A couple of things bugged me. The reasons for the overarching plot did not make a lot of sense. And in a few places throughout the book, conclusions were just attributed to an eidetic memory. While the main character does have an infallible memory, in a few places the attribution gave off the impression of lazy/hurried writing. Nevertheless, my attention was held throughout the book and I kept wanting to sift through the pages.
I enjoyed the read!
A couple of things bugged me. The reasons for the overarching plot did not make a lot of sense. And in a few places throughout the book, conclusions were just attributed to an eidetic memory. While the main character does have an infallible memory, in a few places the attribution gave off the impression of lazy/hurried writing. Nevertheless, my attention was held throughout the book and I kept wanting to sift through the pages.
I enjoyed the read!
The Last Mile by David Baldacci
3.0
While most of what happens in the book seems wildly unrealistic, I kept turning the pages to find out what happens. My interest/mood as of this moment lies in finding page-turners. I can forgive slightly shoddy and unrealistic plots if the writing style is good enough to keep me interested. I guess I’ll try out a few more books by the author.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
4.0
Decent read. Quite different from my usual dabbling in crime fiction. Couple of things I enjoyed:
1. The cooking show was a nice touch.
2. At one stage in the book the writer squeezed in alternating paragraphs between narrating from the protagonist’s story and her daughters story. Rather than devoting separate chapters to each narration. Kind of liked for the way it described multiple things happening in the protagonist’s life.
3. While it was hard to read the gory rape description in the beginning, it drove home the point of the magnitude of struggles early in the story.
Couple of things I did not enjoy:
1. Happy ending? - while I understand that a happy ending after lots of struggle is a nice cherry on top, after keeping it real for a good chunk of the book, I did not think a happy ending was due but I appreciate the reasoning.
2. Still can’t wrap my head around how almost every woman in the country started enjoying learning chemistry? - there is a reasoning provided through one of the viewers in the book but I still can’t comprehend it fully.
1. The cooking show was a nice touch.
2. At one stage in the book the writer squeezed in alternating paragraphs between narrating from the protagonist’s story and her daughters story. Rather than devoting separate chapters to each narration. Kind of liked for the way it described multiple things happening in the protagonist’s life.
3. While it was hard to read the gory rape description in the beginning, it drove home the point of the magnitude of struggles early in the story.
Couple of things I did not enjoy:
1. Happy ending? - while I understand that a happy ending after lots of struggle is a nice cherry on top, after keeping it real for a good chunk of the book, I did not think a happy ending was due but I appreciate the reasoning.
2. Still can’t wrap my head around how almost every woman in the country started enjoying learning chemistry? - there is a reasoning provided through one of the viewers in the book but I still can’t comprehend it fully.
The Fix by David Baldacci
3.0
Still not sure how to rate this book. It has all the elements of a feel good action movie with a happy ending. I’d have preferred a happy ending with some element of despair to add a bit of reality. Although, there’s the fact that a vast majority of the book cannot be defined in the realm of reality. But if you’re willing to forego large bits of realism, it’s a decent read. I kept turning pages to find out what happens next.
Some of the logical leaps to solve parts of the story were not entirely clear. In between it felt like a drag and was kind of clear what the author was hinting at after practically ruling out all other possible suspects in the story.
But nonetheless, a decent read.
Some of the logical leaps to solve parts of the story were not entirely clear. In between it felt like a drag and was kind of clear what the author was hinting at after practically ruling out all other possible suspects in the story.
But nonetheless, a decent read.