Reviews

Red Widow by Alma Katsu

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hilsaa's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

This was an interesting mystery and I liked the spy and intelligence aspect.

I don’t enjoy stories written in present tense. The mix between past tense for flashbacks and present tense for the current storyline did not work for me. I also noticed a couple minor grammatical errors.
We occasionally get to see different character’s perspectives, but they weren’t written differently enough from the main voice to be very effective. I did feel it lacked tension in many scenes that were supposed to be tense. I didn’t feel the threat of danger. If there had been more description and tension, that would have pushed the book to the next level for me. If it had been written entirely in past tense, I know would have enjoyed it more. The ending didn’t really feel like the climax of a story, it was just all kind of flat. But an interesting read nonetheless and overall I liked it.

Content Warnings

jajorgen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

sillytothejoe's review

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3.0

Solid spy novel, though it didn’t blow me away.

cfl97's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

leefinkelstein's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.0

margardenlady's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.5

It was a nail biter, for sure. Lyndsey is our main protagonist and she is a completely human character, with remarkable skills but yet with very human failings. She is aCIA operative asked to head an inquiry into the murder of one of her former informants. The case turns into so much more s it progresses and she carefully uncovers deceit in surprising places. Lots of procedural detail and psychological descriptions.