Reviews

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

jenmangler's review against another edition

3.0

What an unusual book. I truly had no idea where it was going all the way up until the end.

amphytrite's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This is the kind of book that if it was made into a tv show it would be one of those ones that makes people who haven’t read the book so mad multiple times but they wouldn’t be able to stop watching

seyahrue's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the concept of this book, but felt the story fell flat in a few places, which is why I’m rating it 4 instead of 5 stars.

I was really enjoying it up until the last 5th of the book where we get the reveal of what’s happening, and then it just felt very info dumpy. I do think it was a really brilliant idea, it just felt like maybe the information could have been revealed in a different way to the reader.

I still had a really great time with this book, and Proctor as a character was great to follow through the story.

cdipierro's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I've rarely finished such a long book I liked so little. I suppose I have to start by acknowledging that the characters and plot were engaging enough to pull me through. For that, I'll have to say the story is a success, but my real issue is the central mystery, which was heavily telegraphed early on and then finally confirmed at a tortuously slow pace. So the rest of the review will be spoilerly:

Why does the reveal of everything being a simulation running in a generation ship feel so tired? No other story immediately comes to mind with a similar premise, yet as soon as Proctor started being drawn to the stars, it was clear as day. Then, of course, all 'the world is not the world' stuff when Proctor's dad was being retired made the simulation angle obvious. The various layers of different characters subverting the original simulation was interesting, but there was a long slog of Proctor's simulated world breaking down around him to get there.

So I was left with a not-so-mysterious mystery and characters pantomiming fake relationships that we see get peeled back as the artifice of the world falls away.

jletra's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Almost too complex a story to keep track. 

wgadd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dolores_lola's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

materialambition's review

3.0

great concept a tad too long … the reveal was somewhat predictable 

bechkit's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Personally felt the auther struggled with the classic show dont tell rule, and his female characters felt 1-dimensional to me. The storyline was pretty cool and I enjoyed the constant wondering over the reality of the world he introduced.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

moderatemac's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0