Tangerine in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 15, 2018 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: women-on-the-edge, suspense-thriller, era-mid-20th-c, fiction, psych-psych-psych, r2018-in-2018

I paused, looking out at the blue merging of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and I wondered if there was a word for it, a name, a title, to indicate this strange layering that seemed to be commonplace in Tangier, where everything was something else first, and nothing was ever entirely one thing.

This was another disappointing read. I had really high expectations, since this was so hyped as a literate thriller, a combination of Hitchcock, Donna Tartt, Gillian Flynn, and Patricia Highsmith,

I paused, looking out at the blue merging of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and I wondered if there was a word for it, a name, a title, to indicate this strange layering that seemed to be commonplace in Tangier, where everything was something else first, and nothing was ever entirely one thing.

This was another disappointing read. I had really high expectations, since this was so hyped as a literate thriller, a combination of Hitchcock, Donna Tartt, Gillian Flynn, and Patricia Highsmith, and ... well ... not so much. (Seriously, though, could ANY book live up to that hype? I'm not sure if Highsmith herself could live up to it!!) The only part I agree with is that this feels like it's been done before. Derivative, even. It's not bad, but it's not what I was expecting. I kept looking for some big twist, I even thought I had a big twist figured out, but it just persisted in being very normal. So it's fair to say that this book surprised me, but not in a good way.

This book promised to be more than one thing, to appear as one thing and then unfold to present itself as something else, and it never did. It started out as one thing, and persisted in being that one thing throughout.

I didn't really like Mangan's "voice," either. Or I just didn't like Alice and Lucy. Something.

Also, and I realize this is almost childish of me, but I feel betrayed by that cover! A big part of my excitement was due to that cover. I was in love with the cover, it promised something to me, something that can not be described in words but can only be described in a picture, and it did not deliver.

Additional complaining, which may be a little spoilerish: (view spoiler) Why wasn't ANY of this addressed?? Did Mangan forget which book she was writing? ...more

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Apr 19, 2018 Ginger marked it as dnf

Love the setting, but I'm abandoning this about halfway. Sooo repetitive and heavy-handed. I realized I actually don't care what mystery it's building to, so this will be a DNF for me. ...more

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May 31, 2022 Colleen Chi-Girl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mysteries, audiobooks, women-centered, us-no-amer, 2022, maine-vermont-new-hampshire, africa

***-1/2 stars rounded up.

Set in Tangier in the 1950's, where US and British ex-pats are enjoying and exploring their lives, with the distinct exception of Alice Shipley, who is basically a fish out of water in this very foreign city. She is newly married, now living in Tangier because of her husband's job. Alice doesn't work, is alone all day and often at night, and she knows no one except her neglectful, unaffectionate, slug of a husband. Although recent newlyweds, she and her husband don't see ...more

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Jul 22, 2018 Rachel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I still hate mysteries and thrillers. I gave this book a chance because of the buzz, also the toxic girl friendship always draws me in, and the fact I got it free helped a lot I have to say.

I’m in a weird place that I am still testing the waters in audiobooks and this one I managed to get through without missing anything but the voices were annoying, the accents, the fake accents. The male voices were all the same and the girl voices always *~*so emotional 💖💖*~* and tinged with fear and emotion ...more

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May 15, 2018 Barondestructo rated it it was ok

What starts off as a suspenseful psychological thriller about obsession and murders eventually devolves into a predictable and disappointing mess. Our antagonist, Lucy, is presented as a clever manipulator and the narrative builds towards a Hitchcokian reveal but, instead, her seemingly elaborately constructed plan turns out to be more half-ass seat-of-your-pants in execution, conveniently succeeding on the strength of dumb luck and a bewildering apathy on the part of other key players.

This one ...more

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Jun 28, 2021 Stil de scriitor rated it liked it · review of another edition

Necunoscuta din Tanger ar merita chiar 3.5 stelute. Mai ales pentru ultima parte. La inceput nu mi s-a parut cine stie ce, iar apoi a inceput sa ma prinda. Alice si Lucy sunt doua foste colege, iar Lucy face o obsesie pentru prietena ei. Ba chiar vine la ea in Tanger. Acolo lucrurile iau o intorsatura brusca si actiunea se precipita usor. Nu stiu cum sa descriu cartea asta. Fragilitatea psihica, relatia obsesiva, invidia, minciuna, infidelitatea, trecutul - sunt doar cateva elemente ale cartii.C ...more

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Mar 30, 2018 Beverly rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, gothic, newtome2018

This was a 3.5 read for me.
Thoughts coming shorly.

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May 17, 2019 Pam rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-books-read, crime-fiction, morocco

AUTHOR Mangan, Christine
TITLE Tangerine
DATE READ 05/17/19
RATING 4.5/B+
FIRST SENTENCE Tuesdays were market days.
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Crime Fiction/Harper Collins/2018/ 308 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE SA
CHALLENGE Good Reads 2019 Reading Goal 83/111; Around the World in 80 Countries 2019-2021 - Morocco - 17/80
GROUP READ Beekeepers
CHARACTERS Alice and Lucy
TIME/PLACE 1950's Tangier
COMMENTS Hitchcok-like, Gothic, Very atmospheric story set in 1950's Tangier. Two women meet as roommates i ...more

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