Srivatsa
The first 50 or so pages were so good to end up...like this?! Hated Meredith's POV and wished there was more of Leo's POV. The decisions Meredith makes throughout this book make my head hurt. I'm sorry this was not a good book.
Very promising theme and setup, however, it suffered from an identity crisis. I love a good isolation trope and one set at a chalet? Sign me up. However, from the get-go, this book did not know what it was. A murder mystery? a thriller? In the end, it was a hodge-podge of both genres which made for a very messy and linear plot. It started out great with a slew of characters being introduced, but by limiting the chapters to a few POV's, we get caricatures of a few characters and once the major arc begins, the reader quickly understands who is the probable victim and quite frankly the murderer. From there, the plot was extremely linear which changed the landscape to a more thriller/suspense vibe. By the 75% mark, the murder is essentially solved and it just leads to unnecessary pages of wrapping things up. Sorry if this review isn't as coherent, but in summary, my major gripes were:
- Not staying true to one genre
- Lack of more POV's
- Very linear plot
Not to end on a sour note, I did like the way the author used the technology industry as a theme. Not many murder mysteries (at least I've read) in recent times have used it, so it was a pleasant surprise.
Promising plot, weak execution
Oh dear, where do I begin? The premise was good, it really had potential but sadly fizzled at the end. My major gripes with this book was the execution. A lot of time was wasted on two central characters who didnt need and quite frankly didn't have a whole lot to flesh out. If attention was given to the plot, particularly given that there are two (maybe three? It's all so confusing honestly) parallel stories, the ending would not have felt so rushed. There were some unanswered story points which begs the question ‘why introduce it?' The twist was rather predictable. Again, just marred by the execution.
Character building: 3
Plot: 3
Writing: 3
Execution: 2
Overall: 2.7
Oof a 2.5! On the plus side it was better than the The It Girl, sort of. I think The It Girl had a better plot, but was way too long which I think is a running theme for her books. She's not as dense as Stephen King but her writing can get pretty repetitive. In this book, atleast 70% of the book was spent in Jack's head with no clear action or plan. The real villain in this book is the paper thin plot. Nothing really happens. For a rather interesting premise, you would think there would be a lot of action and mystery. Well we get none of that. I believe Ruth Ware's strengths lie in her prose and themes - every book has very interesting themes. She's also pretty good in creating an ambiance a la Turn of the Key. I'm just not sure what she wants her readers to take away at the end. With this book and even with One by One, you can see she has done some research on the technical side. But on a grand scale, it's barely used in the plot. I am still unsure on what to categorise this book - is it a techno-thriller? A mystery? An action thriller (they did mention the fugitive)? It didn't commit to any of these in full. That's my biggest issue with this book, it felt average overall. I will look forward to her next book, cautiously.
Oof, this was not her best. Unlikeable characters and honestly a pointless plot. I've usually enjoyed, if not been suprised, with her twists. This one was pretty weak. On the positive side, it was a very quick read. Her writing is just very easy to pick up, so if the plot sounds interesting to you, go for it I guess
Not sure how I feel about this one. It was a cosy mystery with a sprinkle of comedy. I felt like the book never excelled in either theme, as a mystery nor as a comedy. The plot was far-fetched and it could've done without the romance subplots. But all in all, it wasn't terrible, just nothing exceptional.
Ooh this is a hard one. It started out really well. The ambience, the slasher-like chase scenes, especially up until the halfway point. After that, it just got repetitive and it felt like the author wanted to throw in over the top twists and surprises which really impacted the camp for me. Honestly this could have worked really well as a novella, but I did enjoy my time reading it.
Interesting premise where you are wondering who the victim is before placing your Poirot hat on. Having said that, I had 3 major problems with this book:
1. There is not much of a mystery until the 70-75% mark, it is way too slow to get to the character motives
2. Why is it just a single murder when quite literally the entire cast could've been axed? Can we get at least one likable character? I honestly cared for none.
3. This is a more general gripe than a shot at this book, but new-age murder mysteries are morphing into “thrillers with additional POVs”. Where are the innovative murder methods? Where are the trails of clues nudging the reader to the ultimate satisfaction of solving the murder? Where are the alibis? the red herrings? A singular victim and a cast of suspects do not equate to a murder mystery. This book and many others I've read recently (cough One by One cough) tend to dramatize the narrative and dilute the actual mystery. With this plot, you could very easily replace the murderer with anyone else on the island and it wouldn't change a thing; no one's motives felt stronger than the other.
Finally, this book had a very abrupt ending, like the author was on a deadline and she had hours to finish the last few pages. A bit more closure would've been nice.
Great art. But it hasn't hooked me in yet, but I want to know more. Will give vol 2 & 3 a shot before I decide to continue with this series or not.
Koko & Jagger :( This would have been a 5 if it didn't end the way it did. But all in all, very grotesque yet poignant story.
3.75 I guessed it from chapter 2 or 3. It felt a bit dragged out and the psychological part took a while to set in, probably past the 50% mark which is suprising. I did like the last few chapters, however, to those who have read this book, what are those beetles meant to signify?
Okay this is my second SGJ book after My heart is a chainsaw and I think I've cracked it. His writing style is strange. Even the sentence structure at times is very odd. It's like I need a minute or two to make sense of it. Maybe the intention was to portray teen angst, but honestly it was tough to keep up. Too bad as the plot was boring and quite frankly not scary, which I was hoping for.
This is my second book from this author and it was a far better read. Having said that I wish it was edited a bit. I know it's only around 300 odd pages but wow are there so many “huh? I don't remember that item being there” or “did I hear something?” moments where the author is trying to amp up the suspense. By 150th time I'm just waiting for the reveal.
Rowan was also a very confusing character. Shes flawed but also a bit ambivalent; happy and caring one minute while brimming with rage the next. By the end, my only reaction to the twist was “oh okay”. I think I'd had enough of Rowan.
Nevertheless a creepy suspenseful read.
First half: 5/5
Second half: 3/5. It went the psychological route with a rather flat ending. Would still recommend and read again from this author.