bkkreader's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
annrhub's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
abrswf's review against another edition
5.0
This book was admirably read, and perhaps the best LeCarre novel I've tried yet. It is a deeply cynical and very believable tale of corruption. The described technology is dated as this book is several decades old, but the story feels current.
missjaward's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
alleelei's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
2.0
The intersection between "fiction read purely for entertainment purposes" and "fiction with non-obnoxious politics" is very small (Mira Grant and Stieg Larsen and Cora Harrison and Tana French, you're ok). This novel does not add to that body of work. Recommend me a spy novel that doesn't come with a massive white savior thing, and I'll mail you some limoncello.
marmoset737's review
4.0
Interesting book - I got a little bored towards the end (things picked up and then sort of ground to a halt) but ultimately made me want to read more of LeCarre's work.
lucy_qhuay's review against another edition
2.0
I must say I was expecting more from this book.
I watched the movie some years ago and I quite enjoyed it, so I thought the book would be a lot better. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
Half of the book is about the police questioning characters that may have had a motive to kill Tessa, such as the husband, Justin Quayle, and other people like Woodrow, who also knew her.
Justin takes a lot of time to even start to investigate his wife's death and there are a bunch of parts about him reading her paperwork and that's frankly boring.
Also, I must say I was confused a great deal. Sometimes I just didn't know if Justin was dreaming about Tessa, remembering things that had actually happened, hallucinating or if it was a flashback scene with the two of them.
That's why I didn't rate this book higher. Other people might enjoy it more than I did, though.