ALISTAIR

Surprisingly Good

Revisado: 11-11-24

At first I couldn’t understand how a story about magically appearing husbands could go on for more than 30 minutes. But this book was so engrossing and enjoyable that I ended up finishing it in 2 days. I don’t want to spoil any of what happens, but I loved it.

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Enjoyable

Revisado: 04-24-24

A thriller with an unlikely hero in a mom of a teen & who also works as a bureaucrat. The characters feel very true despite being kind of cliche. I still really liked them.

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A little confusing but enjoyable

Revisado: 04-23-24

Sometimes the switching of plot lines got confusing, trying to remember what happened in each. But overall it was engaging.

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More a romance than a mystery

Revisado: 02-05-24

If the main character spent as much time thinking about all the clues as she spends thinking about how dreamy Alexander Ashton is, this would be a much better book.

I’m not saying a mystery book can’t have romance, but here the mystery was more just a plot device to get these 2 characters together. And if the romance is going to be so prominent, at least make it a better one! Chaste yet headstrong young lady (who just so happens to be slender and beautiful and have stunning blue eyes) meets gallant yet progressive young man (who just so happens to look fine in his fancy suits). It was so cliche.

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So fun

Revisado: 01-30-24

Clever and action packed. Even with all the clues laid out in front of you, there’s still tons of twists and turns. And I thought I wouldn’t like the meta element where the narrator breaks the 4th wall, but it’s done really well. Overall one of the best books I’ve listened to in ages.

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Heavy handed

Revisado: 01-28-24

All the characters are so dull (except for maybe the fiancé, if only the book was just about her). They lack richness in personality, and the mystery itself isn’t particularly complicated.

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Ending doesn’t make up for the rest

Revisado: 01-24-24

It’s very different in style to modern writing. There’s a lot of unnecessary babbling about topics in an abstract way (an opinion on ghost stories, the famous locked room mystery lecture, etc.) that don’t really relate to the plot. They slow everything down to the point you want to give up. And the characters themselves are just shadows of people. You don’t feel anything for any of them. Also the American accent done by this person is TERRIBLE. But all that said, the resolution is incredibly clever.

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Slow beginning w/ a twisty end

Revisado: 07-08-23

It took awhile for the story to get going & I’m not sure the end really felt worth the slow burn. But the 2 things I did like about the story were (1) that you realize later there were a few clues left along the way and they’re done pretty well which feels gratifying & well thought out & (2) the author did a good job of not falling into cliches. But definitely be prepared for a very slow first half.

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Great thriller/sports epic even for cycling novices

Revisado: 03-25-22

The main character/narrator makes this work. Mostly orphaned by his own parents, his resulting devotion to the friends who become his de facto family as an adult make him believably naive. He wants to stay loyal to the people he loves and think the best in everyone. But without this backstory, it would have been hard to swallow how un-critical he is.

Something I was not expecting is that the sports epic side of the story is just as fun, maybe even better, than the whodunnit side of the story. The whodunnit aspect is still there a little bit. But alone it would have felt a little bare bones. But when I wasn’t trying to solve the mystery, I was consumed with who would win the Tour de France. The personalities and contributions are heartwarming and heartbreaking. I was invested in them like my 10 year old self watching the Mighty Ducks. I’ve never followed cycling in my life. So this was a real triumph on the author’s part to both make the sport understandable and make the competition thrilling.

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Too long, characters felt flat

Revisado: 03-23-22

This mystery was ok but it felt a bit too long. Clues & red herrings weren’t put in casually throughout. It would be a lot of other stuff and then a clue update. But by the time we got the new clues, I was kinda bored and missed them.

Plus the main character doesn’t really grab me, so that didn’t keep my attention. And then all the interchangeable rich-white-dude-with-a-private-club membership were too interchangeable. It took me unto the end of the book to keep them straight because they’re all kinda the same person. So attaching clues to suspects was too hard.

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