Reviews

The Cold Millions by Jess Walter

km33's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

mariahhanley's review against another edition

3.0

I was excited for this book. It’s set in Spokane (my hometown), historical fiction, and narrated by a full cast. All pluses in my book. But it never really came together for me. I would rate it 3.5 stars- I had a hard time tracking all of the different characters and felt like because of that, some of the characters weren’t as developed as I would have liked. My favorite character was Jules, who we learned about for for one chapter.

spartanjess's review against another edition

3.0

The story was slow to start and while it definitively picked up speed in the second half, I couldn’t help but think it could have been shorter and potentially more impactful. The stories of inequity, injustice, and discrimination are poignant. I listed to the audiobook which was very well narrated but at 11.5 hours long, it’s lengthy.

juliana_aldous's review against another edition

5.0

"In Rockford, Jules told Rye the story of these two places, the Horse Slaughter Camp on the east end of town and Hangman Creek to the southwest. He called them Père Blanc et Mère Blanche, and even though it was French, Rye didn't need a translation: In a city named for the people driven from it, everything called civilization was born of these two parents."

I want to write more later, but this paragraph struck home to me as I live in a subdivision on China Creek in Newcastle, WA which used to be a mining town in the 19th century. The creek was named for the Chinese laborers that were forced out of company-owned buildings and had to build their own camp down by the creek. You scratch the surface of any American town and you might find some unpleasant history there.

The plot of this story--free speech, labor, the homeless, millionaires/billionaires, police brutality, anarchists... set in 1909 has so much to say about the time we are in now. That and a Carnegie library and the novel War and Peace also make an appearance make this one of my favorite reads this year.

vivamonty's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I thought it was fabulous.

zogg's review against another edition

Good book, just not what I need right now

momwrex's review against another edition

5.0

A novel built on the labor struggles of the early 20th century in the Pacific Northwest. Great subject, interesting characters (some fictional, some historical).

lissir's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Solid historical fiction about a unique point in time that is not all that different from our own. I enjoyed how the author told the story through their various characters. It was a big gruff, but so was the era.

sukeyrh's review against another edition

DNF. Being born and raised in Spokane, the history he wrote was very interesting, but the pacing was so slow I got bored quickly.  Having so many different pov didn't help.  I found I wasn't paying attention enough to remember what everyone was doing.  After listening to about 25%, I decided to move on.

knkennedy's review against another edition

challenging inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75