nakarinna83's review against another edition
4.0
I added this book to my "to read" list quite some time ago, and just recently checked it out from the library. Based primarily on the title, I figured it would be a simple thriller. I was wrong. It's a thriller on one level, sure, but it's also the story of an aging college professor who is just starting to realize that he's unhappy in his later years. Choi does a great job of striking the balance between showing why Lee's actions make him suspicious to his community (and the FBI) and illustrating the anxiety Lee is experiencing about his current situation. This book is a recommended read for those interested in a complex character study of a man confronted with becoming obsolete in both his personal and professional lives.
lowercasepoet's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
tsuxken's review
I kept getting lost reading, may have been due to lack of interest at the time
hashtag_alison's review against another edition
4.0
This is definitely an interesting take on the thriller genre. It’s got terrorists, intrigue, and scandal, but it’s told from the perspective of an extremely self-involved old man. I had a hard time sympathizing with him. He’s very self-centered and can’t see past the end of his own nose, always assuming everything is about him. As the story progresses and he runs around town avoiding the police and having flashbacks to his married life, you learn that these traits are not a result of his old age or tenure but have informed his entire life, back through his marriage and college education.
It’s a great character study of a character I’m not interested in at all. So I think it’s probably a good book even though I didn’t like it? It came from an article I posted about female authors and so far I’ve been kind of disappointed about how many of them have male main characters (about 4 out of 12 so far).
It’s a great character study of a character I’m not interested in at all. So I think it’s probably a good book even though I didn’t like it? It came from an article I posted about female authors and so far I’ve been kind of disappointed about how many of them have male main characters (about 4 out of 12 so far).
monguse's review against another edition
3.0
This took me forever to finish because the first 2/3 were SO SLOW. I’ll admit that I only read Trust Exercise before this, but Susan Choi has some beautiful prose that goes much better with some weird/avant grande shit. This plot was way too normie for her voice to shine
lisagray68's review against another edition
3.0
Good writing, a book about terrorism and how media can portray guilt so effectively. I found myself skipping over whole portions of description to get to the next dialogue, though. Obviously Susan Choi is a talented author, and I did want to finish it and find out what happened....I just didn't have the patience to read every word!
keliwurly's review against another edition
Slow paced and i kept losing track of what's happening. Maybe it's just me.
risclasa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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