Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Malice

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

crystalisreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad

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

4.5

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jhbandcats's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

I really like all the Kiego Higashino books I’ve read, especially The Devotion of Suspect X. The ending was shocking; I felt like I’d been punched. Higashino is a master of the plot twist. However, I feel Suspect X is the pinnacle of his work and nothing I’ve read since has been quite as powerful. Of course when the bar is set so high, it’s difficult to surpass what’s already the best.

Malice is the first of a different series. It focuses more on plot than character. The man arrested for murder is such an unreliable narrator that it’s hard to see what he’s truly like. We learn more about Detective Kaga, and his guilt and remorse at failing a student who was being bullied back in his teacher days, but we don’t know anything else about him. We know nothing about his private life, his friends and family, his likes and dislikes - his character isn’t developed at all.

The plot, which is explained early on, changes repeatedly. The readers aren’t sure what’s true, and I found it confusing to have to keep rearranging my idea of what had happened. In the end I felt it was more of an overly complicated annoyance than a plot twist. That said, I’m about to start reading the second in the series to see what happens next.

Overall the book was complex and convoluted and, as such, was quite a feat. But I didn’t find it completely satisfying.

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