Reviews

El pacto by Michelle Richmond

kmr16831's review against another edition

5.0

Love love love this book. I kept trying to guess what would happen until the very end. Already recommended it to some of my “friends” 😊

paigeworrall's review against another edition

2.0

I enjoyed this book and found the premise intriguing.

However, I found parts to be long-winded at times.

whatkaitreads's review against another edition

Wasn’t interested in what was going to happen next.

trin's review against another edition

2.0

Ludicrously, ridiculously over the top. And yet, compared to the other, very dull domestic thriller ("thriller") I read recently...yeah, I preferred this OTT nonsense. It does not hold up to Fridge Logic at all, and the descriptions of torture were extra shocking in this context and made me deeply uncomfortable. But at least it was fast-paced?

Also, oddly, there was occasionally a beautiful, lyrical passage or piece of character insight that seemed like it belonged to another, better (or at least much more to my taste) book. At one point the narrator shares a memory of his mother taking him to the supermarket as a boy and it was by far my favorite paragraph in this 400-page behemoth. Like a little glimpse of another novel-that-wasn't, but that I would much prefer to read. It makes me kind of curious about Richmond's other books -- but I would need assurances that they are very different from this one.

geniesurreal's review against another edition

4.0

It was a very interesting read, very good character development, and well written drama. The ending had a few twists I couldn't predict so it was nice genuinely being surprised in the last few chapters.

asumprer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

bookph1le's review against another edition

2.0

This book was seriously, seriously weird, as was my reading experience with it. On the one hand, I never really liked the main character as I found him obnoxious, pedantic, and emitting a faint whiff of undeserved superiority. Yet something about the book's chatty narrative style drew me in.

I guess you could say this book is a meditation on marriage and its challenges, ups, and downs. I felt like the cult-like Pact that the characters belong to was a framing device for these meditations on marriage. It's a really weird device, though. It was hard to suspend my disbelief at times, since the cult-like Pact is just so weird, but then I didn't think the book was all that far-fetched given the weirdness of cults that have actually existed.

In the end, I don't even know what to make of this book. It was suspenseful, trying to figure out what was going to happen with the Pact, but it was also oddly detached. I didn't dislike the book, but I don't think I really like it either.

vro521's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

crackedspine's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

knewberr's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75