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agathe_athena's review against another edition
4.0
Leo is an aspiring novelist who is writing to his friend Hannah, helping her with her latest novel by giving her feedback and suggestions on her chapters as she writes them. Hannah’s book is about four people who meet in the reading room of the Boston Public Library, after their individual projects are interrupted by a woman’s scream. The four strangers become friends, but then a woman is found murdered in the library. Soon it becomes apparent this death is somehow tied to one of the four, but they might all be in danger. Partway through the new book, Leo’s communications with Hannah also turn sinister. Will the author be in danger along with her new characters?
This was an interesting mystery within a mystery, that really plays with the idea of writing mysteries. It is often self-aware of the tropes it is using, as it is an author writing a mystery about an author writing a mystery while being a part of a mystery and then something sinister happens with the original author. It was fun, and I enjoyed all the mysteries. There were some inconsistencies scattered throughout that keep it from being a perfect read, but its still really enjoyable.
This was an interesting mystery within a mystery, that really plays with the idea of writing mysteries. It is often self-aware of the tropes it is using, as it is an author writing a mystery about an author writing a mystery while being a part of a mystery and then something sinister happens with the original author. It was fun, and I enjoyed all the mysteries. There were some inconsistencies scattered throughout that keep it from being a perfect read, but its still really enjoyable.
allthemisfits's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book to the point that I finished it in 2 nights because I absolutely had to see what happened next. I’m a little iffy on some plot points and I totally figured out what was happening within the “letters” but otherwise it was a good story with interesting characters. Very interesting and unexpected take with the structure of the “letters.” Recommend if you like a good whodunnit!
clairegraham0712's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those books where I really wish we could award half-stars. If I could, I would give this 3 1/2 stars. The concept is very original and VERY meta (there is a frame story that is too complicated to explain but works well) and I liked the format of the novel (it alternates between regular prose and epistolary tradition). That being said, I found some of the characters difficult to understand and their dialogue was very mundane in some parts of the novel.
kaylee_misch's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting concept, and intriguing characters, but whoever edited this book and whoever then approved it for printing did a terrible job; I lost count of how many typos and misplaced or outright missing words there were in my copy. An unfortunate distraction that kept breaking my focus on the actual story. But aside from that, I enjoyed the story and the unique format it was told in.
ncase66's review against another edition
3.0
It was really an interesting premise with the letters at the end of every chapter but the ending really didn’t do it for me.
kbowman132's review against another edition
4.0
Very clever and original story! The book starts off fairly slow and I wasn’t sure where it was going but I’m so glad I stuck with it. I’ll be looking for more books by this author.
rachelwebber's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
ribbonthing's review against another edition
5.0
gaga voice: brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique