Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor

3 reviews

minimicropup's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The Energy: Flighty. Passive. Fitful.
The Scene: 🇺🇸 Modern cliffside mansion in Malibu, California
The POVs: We follow a struggling writer who gets a ghostwriting offer they can’t refuse. We also have journal or novel draft entries from an unknown author. 
 
🐕 Howls: Overstating as mystery/thriller. Main character’s apathy was insufferable sometimes. ‘Romance’ elements…not insta-love, but Olivia’s reaction to male attention was eye-rolling ick. Why so much hand action (everyone always grabbing at or squeezing hands)? 😆
🐩 Tail Wags: Low stakes light read that didn’t feel tropey.  
 
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🎬 Tale-Telling: First person, what you read is what you get. It’s plot-driven but heavy on the character scenes. It read melodramatic but tongue-in-cheek acknowledged when it was being cliché or convenient. 
 
👥 Characters: Olivia was so passive, just waiting for something or someone to just fix her problems while lamenting missed opportunities. Her ‘romantic’ life dominated the story and there was a lot of indecision and a total lack of passion. Someone described her as a wet blanket – agreed! The character development felt rushed near the ending. 
 
🤓 Reader Role: Observers at Olivia's side, privy to her thoughts and experiences along the way. 
 
🗺️ Ambiance: Set through nuanced body language and strategic placement of objects within scenes. Focused on setting the vibes instead of the atmosphere. Not my favourite world-building style but it didn’t detract from the story.   
 
🔥 Fuel: What’s the dynamic between Olivia and her employer? How much will she put up with for this job? How will her personality and choices lead to success or failure? Is she in danger? Why is she continuing despite all the red flags?  It’s low on the mystery, most of the fuel is about the character intentions and what will happen next. This skirts close to being too contrived, but it’s more like Olivia is so indifferent that things keep happening to her and she goes along with it. 
 
📖 Cred Rating: There’s plausibility in the drama but leans more to soap opera-esque. 
 
🚙 Journey: Light-hearted, fluffy escape. The plot looped back on itself but was still enjoyable in its simplicity and commentary.

Mood Reading Match-Up:
  • Contemporary fiction with work and romance drama 
  • Rich people behaving badly, living life sadly (cathartic?)
  • Sprinkling of metafiction elements
  • Light themes and commentary about wealth, entitlement, arrested development, authorship, character development, taking initiative, and storytelling.
 
Content Heads-Up: Car accidents. Drug use (brief mention). Alcohol (casual drinking). Loss of a parent. Animal neglect/death (
pet fish
). Sexual content (pressured, uncertain but technically consenting, mention). Drugging (brief; on page). 
 
Rep: Cisgender. White, Jewish, and ambiguous Americans. Heterosexual.
 
👀 Format: Library Digital
 
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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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4.0

 Finished reading: November 19th 2023


"Whatever I was going to do next, I wanted it to belong completely and only to me. I wanted to write the rest of my story my own way."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Park Row in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I've been meaning to try this author for quite some time now... I was going to pick up one of her historical fiction titles first, but then I came across her newest book The Fiction Writer and I decided to change my plans. Then again, I can never resist a story with a bookish angle... Add the promise of a gothic mystery and a connection to the classic Rebecca, and I HAD to read it straight away. And what a successful first introduction it turned out to be! I absolutely loved my time with The Fiction Writer and the parallels to the original classic definitely took the story to the next level.

I'm going to keep this review short because The Fiction Writer is one of those stories where it is best to go in blind for the plot to have its maximum impact. What I can say that if you have read the classic Rebecca, you will definitely spot the many parallels and references along the way. I myself finally read the classic earlier this year, and it really made me appreciate the way this story was woven together even more. I wouldn't say that it's absolutely necessary to read the original before tackling this story, but it will most likely enhance your reading experience if you do.

The story is mainly told through the eyes of Olivia Fitzgerald, who has been struggling with her writing career as well as her personal life. I can't deny that I had mixed feelings about this character and she could get rather frustrating at times, but she did play her role very well. Did I want to yell at her for ignoring all those obvious hints along the way? Most definitely. But I guess that is partly what her character is all about. The twists and turns are very well done though, and the gothic feel is most definitely present. I could have done without the love triangle vibe and cheating, but I guess that is partly the parallels being at play again.

The writing style itself is extremely engaging, and it was very easy to keep flying through the pages. The short extracts of the The Wife manuscript did slow down the pace a little, but once you understand the importance of those pages it becomes easier to appreciate them for what they add to the plot. I'm not sure if the ending was completely satisfying though, but that might just have been me... Either way, I've become an instant fan of Jillian Cantor's writing and I will be looking forward to dive into her backlist next. 
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mtnest's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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