Great premise but no canvas. This fast-paced book is overflowing with developments but is so generic it never brings home the tension or horror. And ye...moreGreat premise but no canvas. This fast-paced book is overflowing with developments but is so generic it never brings home the tension or horror. And yet there is plenty of those.
It may be a personal thing but this is why this never worked for me: There is no canvas to the people and events, no backdrop. This could be anywhere, anytime contemporary. No landscapes, a mix of names that don't refer to a certain setting even police procedure is kept to a bare minimum so that this can be situated in any developed, civilised country.To me this takes away so much of the reading pleasure and also distracts from the vividness of the characters. A thought occurred: is the author angling for a movie or series deal?
Yet in the second part of the book, there are allusions to what could be Scandinavian weather conditions or the Hollywood lifestyle, take your pick. Also this start moving even faster; did the publisher demand lesser pages, a swifter ending? Because at times it becomes incredulous, things formerly explained are let passed unchallenged.
So not for me, due to the writing. Admittedly the content is good. My first and last Carrisi.(less)
I picked this up on a whim, 2nd hand, because of the Avebury connection, a place I've visited twice in lovely Somerset. I was expecting, hoping for a...moreI picked this up on a whim, 2nd hand, because of the Avebury connection, a place I've visited twice in lovely Somerset. I was expecting, hoping for a mistery that would stick close to these surroundings but that wasn't to be.
Instead I read a mistery that proved annoying at times but remained unputdownable.
Annoying because of the bland characters, unanswered yet obvious questions at certain stages, the protagonist hopping on one train and plane after another without the accounting resources. Likewise concerning hotels or hire cars; the few hundred quid he might have combed off a deceased baddie don't quite cover it... The writing style is adequate but unremarquable.
Unputdownable though because the pace of events is complex, unexpected and never slacks down. The mistery unravels slowly, the cinch of it to be fond on litteraly the last page.
Will I be hunting down another Goddard? No. Would I pick up another Goddard? Probably, in a huff of annoyance ;)
love reading up on my teenage idol, this larger than life character. Insightful but not to be considered 'objective' I suspect. thoroughly enjoyed the...morelove reading up on my teenage idol, this larger than life character. Insightful but not to be considered 'objective' I suspect. thoroughly enjoyed the read as I heard his motormouth doing the talking in my head :)(less)
A disappointment. Great premise but poorly developed. There is also the archetyping of characters: men are mostly blundering fools or evil, women tend...moreA disappointment. Great premise but poorly developed. There is also the archetyping of characters: men are mostly blundering fools or evil, women tend to be the wise ones. Won't be reading more of this.(less)
May contain spoilers if you intend to read, but I wouldn't recommend wasting the time.
After reading 2-3 books by Barbara Vine and thoroughly liking th...moreMay contain spoilers if you intend to read, but I wouldn't recommend wasting the time.
After reading 2-3 books by Barbara Vine and thoroughly liking them, expectations were high but ultimately doomed. After some fifty pages into the story the outline of the tale and unfortunately even its outcome were all to clear and no real surprises in store.
Two female protagonists, contemporary, drab Jenny and the more sophisticated... already her name escapes me?! share a certain naiveté towards life, love and men. The whole tale is hung up on these parallels and -spoiler alert!- neither gets what she wants.
Background is rural East Anglia, a flat country (my least favourite in the UK) and the book is riddled with isolated, uncommunicative characters that I found hard to empathise with.
The 'bad' woman is an over the top dragon, it's quite the enigma why she survives that long in a murder mistery and her actual end is half an accident anyway, forever shrouded in a bit of a mistery that I couldn't feel bothered about.
Not going to waste much words on this one. Aweful writing, not a spark of depth or originality. Characters: wet cardboard is too much praise. All over...moreNot going to waste much words on this one. Aweful writing, not a spark of depth or originality. Characters: wet cardboard is too much praise. All over impression: tedium and mediocracy.
This is one of those books that incite dangerous thoughts along the line of: Let me rewrite this and it would improve vastely. Because there is so much potential but the author totally fails to deliver. Ugh...(less)
another huge trek, fearing the author will never be able to finish this epic as the plot keeps thickening and widening... when the next book will be a...moreanother huge trek, fearing the author will never be able to finish this epic as the plot keeps thickening and widening... when the next book will be available - and I fear this might take years or simply never occur - will I still know who the hundreds of characters were and what they were last up to? I doubt it... so, mixed feelings, after reading the six books back to back.(less)
Love the genre, had high expectations of this one, my first Canavan. Unfortunately, this turned out impossibly shallow. This feels as if this is aimed...moreLove the genre, had high expectations of this one, my first Canavan. Unfortunately, this turned out impossibly shallow. This feels as if this is aimed at a teenage audience that is not rated as very demanding, a bit of an insult in itself. Sometimes expectations are raised, but never met. At this point, I don't think I'll bother with the sequel, perhaps I'll try the prequelling trilogy, that's supposed to be better. No priority reading though.(less)
I didn't like or get? the movie. Years later, I stumbled upon Middlesex, one of the most original, moving and rich books I read in the last decade. Tu...moreI didn't like or get? the movie. Years later, I stumbled upon Middlesex, one of the most original, moving and rich books I read in the last decade. Turns out they had the same author, so I decided to give it a go. I suppose it is not a spoiler to say the book offers no more insight or explanation than the movie. Fair enough, but nothing much else seems on offer either, not counting tireless tedium, that is. the POV varies from a 'we'(male neighbours, sometimes as adolescents at the time of the suicides, at other times as adults looking back on events) over (to me utterly pointless)various people who fleeting crossed paths with the sisters to omniscient. Anecdotes, observations and platitudes abound, leading nowhere (that I am able to see). On the final page, the reader gets treated to the trite observation, and I quote "But this is all chasing after the wind. The essence of the suicides consisted not of sadness or mistery but simple selfishness. ..." This supposedly from men who've been obsessing over these litteraly elusive girls for decades. No insight either, in why the authorities would allow such a tragedy to unfold or why the parents never had to explain their own odd behaviour. Very unsatisfactory. So, I'm none the wiser, why this debut was such a success, to the extend it was turned into a movie. If anyone feels they can enlighten me, please do. I would never read Eugenides again, if this had been my first taste. That said, Middlesex bought him so much credit with me I'm almost looking forward to the Marriage Plot. Not for a while though. ---
Eugenides came to my city recently to be interviewed about the Marriage Plot. It went awry. The man hadn't slept much after a crowded book presentation the previous night in Amsterdam. In Antwerp, hardly anyone bothered to show up and the interviewer (who is generally good) kept pestering him with the 'wrong' questions (about the obvious similarities of one of the MP's protagonists and a recently deceased friend of his)so it was not very instructive or insightful as a whole.(less)
Well written and fun while it lasts, yet utterly forgettable, unlike its author Will read the installments of his (auto)biography but unless reliably...moreWell written and fun while it lasts, yet utterly forgettable, unlike its author Will read the installments of his (auto)biography but unless reliably recommended, will not bother with Fry's novels anymore; life's too short, booklist too long :)(less)
Marie France
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