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kgraham10's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this but the writing is clunky. The plot is very thin. I ended up skimming a lot.
halkid2's review against another edition
3.0
Ex-pats + mystery + quirky characters don't quite add up for me in this one.
Strangers in Budapest strikes me as a mystery more than a standard novel. It draws heavily on the author’s own experience living in Budapest during the 1990s — feeling like an outsider, relying on the ex-pat community, and witnessing the lingering effects left by Nazi and Soviet occupations.
The story focuses on a young entrepreneurial American couple (Annie and Will), and their newly adopted baby, who have relocated to Budapest to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by a more free Hungarian society. It turns out translating opportunity into success is more difficult than either of them expected.
Add to this a couple of interesting characters:
• like Edward, an older Jewish American, who has traveled to Budapest to hunt down the son-in-law he believes killed Edward’s ailing daughter for insurance money.
• And, Bernardo, a Latino businessman and philandering husband who wants Will to rejoin the corporate world.
• And, Stephen, a handsome but mysterious translator, born in the US but now exploring his Hungarian roots.
Many of these characters also come with long-hidden personal secrets regarding past family tragedies. And of course, when some secrets get revealed, the reader discovers some unexpected connections between characters.
The book builds toward a very suspenseful conclusion. But the question remains, why didn’t I like it more?
I think it’s because there were so many elements included that had no apparent reason for being there. Like a completely unexceptional pickpocket event, barefoot Roma children selling flowers on the street, or some Hungarian history awkwardly forced into cocktail party conversation.
At the conclusion, I simply felt the author wandered too much. Perhaps she was a little too interested in wanting to share her own cultural impressions, from living in Budapest, and simply lost sight that those experiences also needed to be pertinent to the book she was writing.
Strangers in Budapest strikes me as a mystery more than a standard novel. It draws heavily on the author’s own experience living in Budapest during the 1990s — feeling like an outsider, relying on the ex-pat community, and witnessing the lingering effects left by Nazi and Soviet occupations.
The story focuses on a young entrepreneurial American couple (Annie and Will), and their newly adopted baby, who have relocated to Budapest to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by a more free Hungarian society. It turns out translating opportunity into success is more difficult than either of them expected.
Add to this a couple of interesting characters:
• like Edward, an older Jewish American, who has traveled to Budapest to hunt down the son-in-law he believes killed Edward’s ailing daughter for insurance money.
• And, Bernardo, a Latino businessman and philandering husband who wants Will to rejoin the corporate world.
• And, Stephen, a handsome but mysterious translator, born in the US but now exploring his Hungarian roots.
Many of these characters also come with long-hidden personal secrets regarding past family tragedies. And of course, when some secrets get revealed, the reader discovers some unexpected connections between characters.
The book builds toward a very suspenseful conclusion. But the question remains, why didn’t I like it more?
I think it’s because there were so many elements included that had no apparent reason for being there. Like a completely unexceptional pickpocket event, barefoot Roma children selling flowers on the street, or some Hungarian history awkwardly forced into cocktail party conversation.
At the conclusion, I simply felt the author wandered too much. Perhaps she was a little too interested in wanting to share her own cultural impressions, from living in Budapest, and simply lost sight that those experiences also needed to be pertinent to the book she was writing.
rachelleahdorn's review against another edition
1.0
Unlike other reviews, I thought this was poorly written, unconvincing and depressing. Well, I suppose the latter is indisputable.
The main character is whiny and weak and had a white savior complex unalloyed with any actual skills, wisdom or thoughtfulness. I was unable to identity with her and her actions annoyed me throughout the book. I only finished the book because I didn’t bring another on my vacation.
The main character is whiny and weak and had a white savior complex unalloyed with any actual skills, wisdom or thoughtfulness. I was unable to identity with her and her actions annoyed me throughout the book. I only finished the book because I didn’t bring another on my vacation.
vcallgood's review
2.0
Strangers in Budapest is an atmospheric look into how our pasts shape us and how our choices affect others. Keener deftly depicts life for expatriates, Will and Annie, who are trying to incorporate themselves into the business world of Budapest in the 1990s. Things go awry when their friends stateside ask them to check in on the elderly man who is using their apartment in Budapest. Edward, a Jewish-American who faught in World War II, is in Budapest seeking answers about his daughter’s death. As the two stories begin to converge, the characters reflect on the choices that lead them where they are and what those choices mean for their futures.
jeanneblasberg's review against another edition
4.0
Having been an ex pat in Zurich for three years, I truly appreciated Keener's capturing of the psyche of the stranger. Living in a city both as a tourist and a resident is filled with contradictions - you can't help being drawn to a city's history and struggle to reconcile its brutal past.
There is a feeling of escapism and hiding that permeates the book and creates a very tense mood. I praise Keener's ability to achieve this.
There is a feeling of escapism and hiding that permeates the book and creates a very tense mood. I praise Keener's ability to achieve this.
amymorgan's review
4.0
Thank you Edelweiss for my review copy of this book. Annie and Will move to Budapest with their infant son Leo in order for Will to try to launch a new business bringing phones and communication to all the people of Hungary not just the wealthy. Annie agrees to the move in order to support Will's dream and also to get away from the pesky social worker who wants to be too involved in their lives after their adoption of little Leo was finalized. Annie is not entirely happy in Budapest because she feels without a purpose having been a volunteer working with homeless men back in the states.
After a mysterious fax from their old neighbors in the states that happened to be from Hungary Annie and Will are asked to check on an elderly man staying in secret in their old apartment in Budapest. Will does not want to get involved after meeting this man but Annie feels drawn to help him and so continues to go to his apartment. The man reveals to her that he is hiding in Budapest to track down his son in law who he believes murdered his daughter. Sje was stated to have overdosed but the old man doesn't believe it. His wife has left him and then passed away, his daughter is murdered or so he believes and his other daughter and friends think he needs to let it go but he just cannot.
He drags Annie into helping him find his son in law and they discover a connection from a mysterious stranger that is all of a sudden everywhere Annie turns. Far away from home in an unfriendly and unforgiving country, far from friends and family and with no support from her husband who wants her to leave this old man alone Annie must decide what to do.
The writing in this novel was good but there were some places where the plot seemed to drag a little and it felt like it was missing something in the middle and then boom everything came too quickly at the end. But this was definitely good for a quick amd easy read!
After a mysterious fax from their old neighbors in the states that happened to be from Hungary Annie and Will are asked to check on an elderly man staying in secret in their old apartment in Budapest. Will does not want to get involved after meeting this man but Annie feels drawn to help him and so continues to go to his apartment. The man reveals to her that he is hiding in Budapest to track down his son in law who he believes murdered his daughter. Sje was stated to have overdosed but the old man doesn't believe it. His wife has left him and then passed away, his daughter is murdered or so he believes and his other daughter and friends think he needs to let it go but he just cannot.
He drags Annie into helping him find his son in law and they discover a connection from a mysterious stranger that is all of a sudden everywhere Annie turns. Far away from home in an unfriendly and unforgiving country, far from friends and family and with no support from her husband who wants her to leave this old man alone Annie must decide what to do.
The writing in this novel was good but there were some places where the plot seemed to drag a little and it felt like it was missing something in the middle and then boom everything came too quickly at the end. But this was definitely good for a quick amd easy read!
andrea_reads_theworld's review against another edition
1.0
I have one thing to say about this book and and to the deep knowledge the author seems to feel she possesses about Hungary and Hungarians after a brief one year spent there some 24 years ago - 'szia' is a Hungarian word and not one that the Hungarian language 'adopted' to sound American as the author falsely assumes, 'so typical of Hungary to adopt a greeting for hello that sounded like good-bye in America. It was yet another example of opposites embedded deep in the Hungarian psyche, where losers were winners and winners never won' (p288).
abookishtype's review
2.0
Will and Annie might be at loose ends in Budapest, but the elderly man they check on during a heatwave has no questions about what he is in the city to do in Jessica Keener’s Strangers in Budapest. Will and Annie are in the city to try and get Will’s cell phone business up and running. Unfortunately, Will keeps hitting dead ends. Meanwhile, Annie only has her jogging and intermittent parenting to occupy her. But Edward Weiss, the elderly man they meet one hot day, is in the city for vengeance. I’ll be blunt. This little summary makes the book sound a lot more interesting than it actually is. I was frequently frustrated with the way the plot fails to progress in any meaningful way for most of the book...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Edelweiss for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Edelweiss for review consideration.
literally_laura's review
3.0
Not a bad book at all... But not great either. Fascinating to see how the different lives and stories weave together. Altogether a more realistic depiction of how people might act in certain circumstances. I really enjoyed the piecemeal descriptions of certain events (in regards to Tracy, but I won't say more and ruin anything). For every thing I enjoyed, there was something I didn't enjoy. Will was not developed very well. Edward's sections were written in short, choppy sentences, most likely to depict his fractured state of mind. I've seen this done well, but this wasn't it. I feel like things with his health were either not researched very well or there was something pretty big left out. Agnes felt unnecessary.
I won't caution anyone away from this book, but I can't say I recommend it either.
I won't caution anyone away from this book, but I can't say I recommend it either.
airwreka's review against another edition
1.0
This had to be the slowest, dullest, least interesting "thriller" book in the entire world... and that's putting it nicely! There are so many things to talk about- the characters, the story, world building, writing style. Where to start?
Characters: The only character in this book who is remotely three dimensional is Edward, and that's not just because he's a little portly. He's the only character who has more than a singular drive in this book but even then it's a short leash of his free will. Will has to be the singularly flattest character I've ever read. It feels as though he was a background character with one line that was accidentally promoted to a main character spot. He has no drive, no motivation, no ties to the story apart from being the reason they went to Budapest in the first place. His sole venture in life is money, and not even his family and young son can stand in the way of his blatant greed. Annie isn't much better- if not worse in some ways. She has no life, just runs and checks up on Edward every other day, and yet she still has to hire a nanny because she's too incompetent to take care of her only (adopted) child. She also has this weird "white female American privilege sympathy" card that she plays whenever she sees anyone that could remotely be in need of help. Her inner monologues drone on and lead basically nowhere.
The story: This is supposed to be a thriller? The story is so slow moving that there's hardly a story at all. When introduced to title characters, I knew who was who within that moment, and it didn't get any better. And there's so much world-building (which I will touch on in a moment) that it just felt like filler content that had no purpose in the story at all. There's no fanciful language, and it bounces between Edward sweating and her sweating and too much wine to be socially acceptable... it's an absolute mess of awful nothingness. That's to put it lightly.
World-building: the singular redeeming quality of this entire novel is the author's ability to capture the enchanting beauty of Budapest. Obviously, she has spent time there with the intricate descriptions of archways, stained glass windows, floorboard patterns, and the streets. The people of the country- the background characters- have more depth than the main characters both in looks and in personality. A certain nightclub scene will attest to that. Descriptions of traffic are detailed, and the common-folk are viewed as actual people. But there's SO MUCH world-building that it's truly filler content and plays no part in the story at all.
Writing style: Any time characters are mentioned the writing is bland, boring, slow, and overall lethargic. It was physically painful to try to pick up this book, and because of that, I put this in my DNF (did not finish) pile.
Characters: The only character in this book who is remotely three dimensional is Edward, and that's not just because he's a little portly. He's the only character who has more than a singular drive in this book but even then it's a short leash of his free will. Will has to be the singularly flattest character I've ever read. It feels as though he was a background character with one line that was accidentally promoted to a main character spot. He has no drive, no motivation, no ties to the story apart from being the reason they went to Budapest in the first place. His sole venture in life is money, and not even his family and young son can stand in the way of his blatant greed. Annie isn't much better- if not worse in some ways. She has no life, just runs and checks up on Edward every other day, and yet she still has to hire a nanny because she's too incompetent to take care of her only (adopted) child. She also has this weird "white female American privilege sympathy" card that she plays whenever she sees anyone that could remotely be in need of help. Her inner monologues drone on and lead basically nowhere.
The story: This is supposed to be a thriller? The story is so slow moving that there's hardly a story at all. When introduced to title characters, I knew who was who within that moment, and it didn't get any better. And there's so much world-building (which I will touch on in a moment) that it just felt like filler content that had no purpose in the story at all. There's no fanciful language, and it bounces between Edward sweating and her sweating and too much wine to be socially acceptable... it's an absolute mess of awful nothingness. That's to put it lightly.
World-building: the singular redeeming quality of this entire novel is the author's ability to capture the enchanting beauty of Budapest. Obviously, she has spent time there with the intricate descriptions of archways, stained glass windows, floorboard patterns, and the streets. The people of the country- the background characters- have more depth than the main characters both in looks and in personality. A certain nightclub scene will attest to that. Descriptions of traffic are detailed, and the common-folk are viewed as actual people. But there's SO MUCH world-building that it's truly filler content and plays no part in the story at all.
Writing style: Any time characters are mentioned the writing is bland, boring, slow, and overall lethargic. It was physically painful to try to pick up this book, and because of that, I put this in my DNF (did not finish) pile.