yoneb_26's review against another edition
3.0
Having read all of Sophie Hannah's Culver Valley series and some of her short stories and really enjoying them, I was really excited to read this. I'm not even sure how to review it! I almost feel like I need to re-read it to work out what happened, but I don't want to read it again because it was so all over the place. It was just kind of weird, the characters were just all too strange and unrealistic. I kind of enjoyed it, but have mixed feelings about this one.
areti22's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
leyendoconamor's review against another edition
4.0
Me gustó mucho Un juego para toda la familia y el final era el que de alguna forma me esperaba, pero creo que podrían haber pensado algo mejor.
La historia es muy buena y creo que los personajes, a pesar de muchos ser irritables, también son excelentes (incluída Justine, que al principio me parecía insoportable pero me terminó gustando), la forma de narrar de Sophie Hannah también me gustó.
Lo único que podría criticar es que los capítulos son demasiado largos, por lo que por momentos se me hacía pesada la lectura; prefiero los capítulos cortos. Otra cosa de la que podría decir algo es que todo el tiempo tenes que estar atenta a lo que pasa, sino dejás de entender la historia, pero supongo que eso no es malo, solo que yo sentí que no me daban tiempo para respirar o asimilar la información.
El resto, todo excelente. Me encanta la forma en la que está intercalada la historia de Justine Merrison con la de la familia Ingrey en los capítulos.
Es un libro que recomiendo mucho, aunque no sea de los mejores o de los que te cambian la vida.
La historia es muy buena y creo que los personajes, a pesar de muchos ser irritables, también son excelentes (incluída Justine, que al principio me parecía insoportable pero me terminó gustando), la forma de narrar de Sophie Hannah también me gustó.
Lo único que podría criticar es que los capítulos son demasiado largos, por lo que por momentos se me hacía pesada la lectura; prefiero los capítulos cortos. Otra cosa de la que podría decir algo es que todo el tiempo tenes que estar atenta a lo que pasa, sino dejás de entender la historia, pero supongo que eso no es malo, solo que yo sentí que no me daban tiempo para respirar o asimilar la información.
El resto, todo excelente. Me encanta la forma en la que está intercalada la historia de Justine Merrison con la de la familia Ingrey en los capítulos.
Es un libro que recomiendo mucho, aunque no sea de los mejores o de los que te cambian la vida.
tobyyy's review against another edition
1.0
Lord. What in the world did I just read.
Trippy. Gothic. Mind games. And just too much going on to maintain suspension of disbelief. Like literally none of the characters felt like they could possibly be real.
430+ pages and all the time spent reading that, that I’ll never get back.
Trippy. Gothic. Mind games. And just too much going on to maintain suspension of disbelief. Like literally none of the characters felt like they could possibly be real.
430+ pages and all the time spent reading that, that I’ll never get back.
tvnguyen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
My brain could not wrap my head around what exactly happened in this book, but at the same time, I somewhat enjoyed the ride. Justine's family dynamic with Ellen and Alex is great and their supporting each other throughout the plot was nice to see. I got really confused because I did not know who to trust and I think the author did a really great job at that. To be honest, I wish there were more to Anne Donvaband's side of the story. The buildup was amazing, but the payoff wasn't great in my opinion. It was a lot of information since Hannah included two different written stories in one book, which is an interesting concept, but it was a lot to take in. I personally wanted Anne's backstory to be more dark.
jodar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
An unsettling mystery novel in which the narrator seeks to uncover the motivation for someone who is harassing her family – and the narrator herself specifically – in a very weird way. The reader encounters truth and falsehood, toxic fantasies, and happy and unhealthy relationships within and across generations.
The psychological uncertainty and creepiness kept me immersed in the story; however, the narrator’s solution to her dilemma was morally repellant, even though it wasn’t wholly unexpected. At the very end of the story, some falsehoods are maintained and kept secret from the outside world.
Perhaps this is an appropriate sort of mystery novel for a post-truth era in which some believe that there are bad lies and good lies but that it is naive to endeavour to live in truth.
The psychological uncertainty and creepiness kept me immersed in the story; however, the narrator’s solution to her dilemma was morally repellant, even though it wasn’t wholly unexpected. At the very end of the story, some falsehoods are maintained and kept secret from the outside world.
Perhaps this is an appropriate sort of mystery novel for a post-truth era in which some believe that there are bad lies and good lies but that it is naive to endeavour to live in truth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Murder
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
sharong's review against another edition
2.0
I normally love Sophie Hannah's books but this was a huge disappointment, so dull . The writing was not up to her usual standard , the dialogue was stilted meaning that all the characters were entirely unbelievable
charlotteyoungs's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hjulia5's review against another edition
4.0
The suspense and twists and turns throughout were great, and the characters were nicely developed. My complaint would be that the reveal at the end, which was essentially that the mother was nuts and roped her husband into doing weird things to maintain her delusion, was a bit stiff. We didn't get to see that character of the mother develop at all or learn a lot about her.