Reviews

Sparring Partners: Novellas by John Grisham

hil4l's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Individual ratings for the 3 short stories:

Homecoming: 3 stars
I'm usually a huge fan of everything Grisham writes and this story wasn't necessarily bad, because Jake Brigance is too good of a character not to enjoy, but due to it being a short story, the plot lacked depth. The premise was good but the delivery was not engaging.

Strawberry Moon: 4 stars
I actually really enjoyed this one. It's a shame it was the shortest of the 3. Grisham achieved in this one what he couldn't with Homecoming - it was short but still packed all the depth and meaning. Had the classic Grisham emotion and stayed interesting throughout.

Sparring Partners: 3.5 stars
I enjoyed this one far more than Homecoming but not as much as Strawberry Moon. Unlike other Grisham novels this story didn't have a single likable character so it was difficult to root for anyone and therefore made me feel disengaged. It was an interesting plot (as all Grisham's plots are) but just failed to leave an impact.

seanpatricklittle's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

A trio of Grisham novels written with typical Grisham prose and pacing.

They were good stories but lacked any serious emotional punch.

kimmeyer's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

The first thing I ever read by Grisham! I most likely the novella about a man on death row.

tarynhens's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

collinaj's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Easy fun, three novellas. Three times the dopamine at a fraction of the time to read. I'll take it!

kristensreadingnook's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

3.5 stars

Thank you @prhaudio for a complimentary audiobook.

The short stories were engaging but all ended very anti-climacticly or on cliff hangars.

spaceforcewife21's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

I think I have outgrown John Grisham. I loved his books through most of my teen and early 20s. Somewhere along the line I found that his books just lost their appeal. However, every once and a while he will write something that sounds interesting and I will pick it up to see if I can enjoy them like I used to. I have yet to find a book of his that meets that level of enjoyment that I used to have.

While I didn't find the book bad as a whole, I just found that I had difficulty picking the book up. I found that I was looking between my book and my phone and most nights the phone won, not a good sign for a book. The first story was entertaining in the beginning. However, the ending was awful. It felt like an incomplete story that he just couldn't make into a book so he took what he had and called it a short story. The second story was probably the best in my opinion. You can tell John Grisham has strong feelings about the death penalty and they really come out in this story. So much so that the story felt manipulative in a way. That being said, this short story actually felt more complete and had emotion. The third story I just couldn't get into. All the characters were despicable and the story again felt like an incomplete story. I had a really difficult time finishing that story even though it was short.

I gave it 2*. The middle story saved the book from a 1* rating.

silverstone's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Interesting read, more toward the end.

novelesque_life's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

2.5 STARS

chimene12006's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.25

"Regresso a Casa": 2/5
"Lua de Morango": 4,5/5
"Velhos Adversários": 3,5/5