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therainbowshelf's review against another edition
I choose my books somewhat at random, which makes me pick up books I might hate because there have been several times when a book I thought I'd hate turned out to be a fun book. I'm bailing on this one because I really hate popularity contest books, and so far this book has hit every checkmark for why I hate them.
labarrec's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 I still really don’t understand what happened, and I don’t think I really like riddles in books but…I was perfectly content to be along for the ride.
alongreader's review against another edition
3.0
Jewel Van Hanen created the social media app; a video sharing app where the user's face must be in view at all times, rigorously policed for bullying or trolling. It's a safe place for millions. And for just a few of those millions, Jewel changes the world, inviting them to one of her many homes for mentorship and scholarships and everything they need to make their lives great. Last year, she vanished from the public eye...but this year, she's back, and she plans to make this year's festivities the best ever. Six teens, from various backgrounds and levels of engagement with the app, arrive at her opulent mansion...and discover they are now part of a game, winner takes all. With new challenges and rules showing up all the time, can the teens figure out Jewel's game and win?
Hmm. How to review this.
The writing style is great. Breezy, fun, enough description to picture things without overwhelming the reader. The mansion is crazy; I'd never be able to think of that many rooms, let alone describe them so clearly.
Sadly, the story itself is only so so.
The story is written from three different points of view. But there's no headers to tell us who's who, and they don't follow in any consistent way; it's not #1, #2, #3, #1 and so on, it could be #2, #1, #2, #3, #3, #1 and so on. Every time the chapter changed it took me a while to figure out whose head we were in now. And for me, personally, everyone sounded the same; I traditionally have trouble telling people apart anyway, but it was especially bad in this one. I had to keep notes to remember who was who.
I also couldn't really follow what was going on at the end, so I'll ignore that.
I've read a few 'locked house' mysteries now, and I certainly enjoyed the setting and setup of this one. Jewel wasn't trying to get revenge on anyone, which is refreshing. The teens worked together where necessary and used their best skills to good effect; no one was trying to undermine anyone else at any point, and that's unusual too.
The author says that one of the characters is ace and that she says it once on 'screen'. I don't remember that, and I usually notice ace rep as it's so rare. Also, the character explicitly gains a boyfriend during the novel. I know that ace people can and do have boyfriends/girlfriends, but I feel the rep could have been a little clearer. That is just my personal opinion on it, I'm very interested to hear yours.
Overall I enjoyed this, but it did confuse me and I feel the characters could have been better defined.
Hmm. How to review this.
The writing style is great. Breezy, fun, enough description to picture things without overwhelming the reader. The mansion is crazy; I'd never be able to think of that many rooms, let alone describe them so clearly.
Sadly, the story itself is only so so.
The story is written from three different points of view. But there's no headers to tell us who's who, and they don't follow in any consistent way; it's not #1, #2, #3, #1 and so on, it could be #2, #1, #2, #3, #3, #1 and so on. Every time the chapter changed it took me a while to figure out whose head we were in now. And for me, personally, everyone sounded the same; I traditionally have trouble telling people apart anyway, but it was especially bad in this one. I had to keep notes to remember who was who.
I also couldn't really follow what was going on at the end, so I'll ignore that.
I've read a few 'locked house' mysteries now, and I certainly enjoyed the setting and setup of this one. Jewel wasn't trying to get revenge on anyone, which is refreshing. The teens worked together where necessary and used their best skills to good effect; no one was trying to undermine anyone else at any point, and that's unusual too.
The author says that one of the characters is ace and that she says it once on 'screen'. I don't remember that, and I usually notice ace rep as it's so rare. Also, the character explicitly gains a boyfriend during the novel. I know that ace people can and do have boyfriends/girlfriends, but I feel the rep could have been a little clearer. That is just my personal opinion on it, I'm very interested to hear yours.
Overall I enjoyed this, but it did confuse me and I feel the characters could have been better defined.
remigves's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
3.0
hitbooksnotgirlz's review against another edition
3.0
It was entertaining and the characters were pretty great. A few of them were endlessly clever, and I couldn’t get enough of their constant witty banter. But for some reason, the story just felt kind of anticlimactic. I don’t know. I liked it, but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.
zu_reviews's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to try this as a thriller without the murder and mayhem and I was not disappointed! It delivered on a mystery with twists and turns changing the game (literally). I only wish the mystery felt solvable as an observer, but it didn't really.
bibliobrittish's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 - This is not the sort of book I would normally read, but Claire Kann wrote it, so obviously I needed it. I have no regrets. What an adventure. The Marvelous grabs you from the beginning with a vaguely dystopian-Willy Wonka premise (but what social media-driven plot isn't?) and doesn't let go. Kann's riddles were a step above, and her characters! Stella for life. In a weird way, I’d comp this to Gideon the Ninth though they’re very very different books.
juicygreenmom's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
blqb00kworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.0
haileyannereads's review against another edition
2.0
I came so close to just giving up on this book. The first part just wasn't really catching my attention. But then I got so far into it and I'm stubborn, so I wanted to know how it would end.
Honestly, I just didn't like some of the characters. And I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to dislike them? I don't know. Some of the "witty banter" was just annoying to me.
The whole mystery of the book was okay, but so confusing. I'm honestly not sure I really understand the ending.
I keep going back and forth between 2 and 3 stars, but for now I'm settling on 2. That may change at some point.
Honestly, I just didn't like some of the characters. And I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to dislike them? I don't know. Some of the "witty banter" was just annoying to me.
The whole mystery of the book was okay, but so confusing. I'm honestly not sure I really understand the ending.
I keep going back and forth between 2 and 3 stars, but for now I'm settling on 2. That may change at some point.