Reviews

The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson

kmthomas06's review against another edition

4.0

I liked this but I'm not sure I could tell you why. I liked the characters; as weird and rather unlikable as they could be. I liked their quirkiness. I loved the setting of the book. The desert is as much a character as its human counterparts and it made me want to go explore middle of nowhere Utah someday. The plot...is odd. About halfway through the book, the plot becomes even weirder than the characters involved and I'm not sure I really buy it but I also don't think the reader gets the full story so there are a lot of blanks when you read the last page. It fits the story so didn't bother me as much as it normally would.

joaniffer's review against another edition

slow-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? No

1.5

raybradbruh's review

mysterious fast-paced

3.5

decent palette cleanser after reading a metric ton of academic essays. reads more as a noir than the mystery novel i was pitched, but very enjoyable nonetheless. however, i might just be a sucker for some good intrigue and slightly corny metaphors. 

more importantly what the hell is butter brickle?

darbter's review

3.0

Read this because my father recommended it to me & generally speaking, we enjoy a lot of the same books - across a wide genre of them! However, this was just not my cup of tea. I think I was expecting the storyline to build & crescendo at a quicker pace, so I set myself up to not appreciate this book as much as I could have.

jessejane306's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

joellie's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

pamelas's review

3.0

This came very close to being really good, but it fell just short of that for me. The plot seemed unnecessarily complex, there were some odd coincidences within it, and also odd random characters that didn’t really seem to serve a purpose. For the record, I am not talking about the Preacher or some of the area’s residents. They added color, gave the setting it’s sense of place.

But on the good side, the writing is solid and enjoyable. I liked the main character, which is what kept me reading. A tighter plot line and more action happening onscreen rather than off, and this would have gotten more stars from me,

punkrockingnerd's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mm11's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

Quick read with interesting voice. Sounds like a Julius Pepperwood book. The love plot wasn’t developed enough and I didn’t care for the ending but otherwise good read.

ctrl_shift_dlt's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, and Pregnancy