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ellenmorgan's review
3.0
2.5. A whole lot of telling here, and not a lot of showing. Heavy-handed dialogue and unconvincing storytelling.
bibliophilecats's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
emmythatgirl's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
timinbc's review
3.0
My review of Six Wakes included "unfolds with a series of back stories, in which we learn that the characters have a few things in common. The web tightens and everything fits together, but in far too complex a way." Same here.
First half was fine. Then, as reviewer Mogsy notes, "The list of POV characters exploded out of control, bringing in side characters that we’ll eventually find out how they are connected to Mallory but the pathways that ultimately get us there were so convoluted and meandering that it ruined the effect." We jump around in time and between viewpoints. Every time Mrs. Brown or Aunt Kathy appeared I asked myself "which one is this now?"
Calliope was excellent. And points for the explanation of Mallory being a murder mgnet.
And Tina-Stephanie-Ferdinand-grandpa was well done.
Three beefs:
(1) What the heck, how hard can it be to learn to use a space suit? Harder than this, for sure.
(2) The lottery, in which all the right people got "lucky"
(3) A sentient spaceship that hardly talks to anyone? Tsk. Sentient ships are often my favourite character.
If there's another of these, I might give it a miss.
First half was fine. Then, as reviewer Mogsy notes, "The list of POV characters exploded out of control, bringing in side characters that we’ll eventually find out how they are connected to Mallory but the pathways that ultimately get us there were so convoluted and meandering that it ruined the effect." We jump around in time and between viewpoints. Every time Mrs. Brown or Aunt Kathy appeared I asked myself "which one is this now?"
Calliope was excellent. And points for the explanation of Mallory being a murder mgnet.
And Tina-Stephanie-Ferdinand-grandpa was well done.
Three beefs:
(1) What the heck, how hard can it be to learn to use a space suit? Harder than this, for sure.
(2) The lottery, in which all the right people got "lucky"
(3) A sentient spaceship that hardly talks to anyone? Tsk. Sentient ships are often my favourite character.
If there's another of these, I might give it a miss.
chelleanne's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I find this a difficult book to describe. It is fundamentally focused on two humans (Mallory and Xan) who each move to a space station inhabited by sentient aliens to escape their past. As to be expected in a good mystery of this type, their past follows them and so does the mayhem.
I really liked the overall concept of this book. A woman who is always connected to murders and really good and solving them, trying to find the one place where murder won’t follow her is a really interesting premise.
I did , however, struggle with the pacing. It felt at times like it was trying to do to much. Because this book, by its nature does need to invest time in world building, it did at times interrupt the flow of the core mystery. This made the middle of the book difficult to follow in places and a hard slog to get through.
Now that the world is built, I’m keen to give the second book a shot to see if that makes the Mallory’s story a little easier to get into.
I really liked the overall concept of this book. A woman who is always connected to murders and really good and solving them, trying to find the one place where murder won’t follow her is a really interesting premise.
I did , however, struggle with the pacing. It felt at times like it was trying to do to much. Because this book, by its nature does need to invest time in world building, it did at times interrupt the flow of the core mystery. This made the middle of the book difficult to follow in places and a hard slog to get through.
Now that the world is built, I’m keen to give the second book a shot to see if that makes the Mallory’s story a little easier to get into.
noelrk's review
funny
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Way too busy (and not a particularly satisfying mystery, either). Hoping that the second one is better and that with groundwork thoroughly laid, there'll be less expository (and repetitive) writing.
scientist's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
mikeylikzit's review
4.0
This was a fun read. A whodunit of sorts with a cast of interesting, quirky characters, human and alien. Definitely worth a read!