Reviews

Double Fault by Lionel Shriver

peppercoco's review against another edition

1.0

Not a fan. Her books are very well written and the chracter portrayal is detailed and engaging. But oh my god so depressing theres nothing in this book to make you feel good at all. Depressing self absorbed people i didn't really want to read about.

kategolledge's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

sandramifsud's review against another edition

4.0

Love Tennis?
Love Reading?
Love Lionel Shriver?
You'll love this book.
OK...You'll love it, regardless.

marryallthepeople's review against another edition

1.0

I could be being unfair to this book as if I had picked it up unknowing as to whom the author is, I might have given it a better chance. Interesting that this was the book immediately before Kevin which is one of my "favourite" books of all times. Sadly, this one didn't grab me and neither did the tennis subplot.

mrbadger63's review against another edition

2.0

If the main character wasn't such a deplorable, egotistical, waste of writing this book might have been enjoyable as at least it was well written and impeccably researched. I just had absolutely no reason to care and was usually bored to tears by the same argument being reenacted between two people repeatedly to no avail

kins315's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

nocto's review against another edition

5.0

I picked this up at the library in preference to the "Kevin" book which falls into the category of books I think I might enjoy but have heard too much about from too many sources to bother with I'm talking slightly tongue in cheek but I've been disappointed by books with clouds of hype emanating from them before and so, well, I don't exactly steer clear of them or refuse to read them, but I tread carefully.

This proved to be an excellent read though. Well written on the whole. The odd sentence stopped me in my tracks with either a typo, a missing word, or some odd stressed word meaning that I couldn't make head nor tail of it.

It's the story of the relationship between two tennis players, both hoping to make it as professionals. Willy has been dreaming of playing at Wimbledon since she was five; Eric was an Ivy League mathematics major before he picked up a tennis racquet. From the title you can deduce that love's course, as ever, doesn't run smoothly.

Shriver does a great job of keeping the tension up and the plot tight. You want to keep reading because the story is so good. I was worrying about the end of the book because I was thinking back to other books which have carried me along on a wave of words and then beached me with an ending that doesn't really matter. That didn't happen here; the close of the book is as good as the rest of it, pitched at the right level.

Definitely an author to read more of.

megsmarvin17's review against another edition

3.0

Failure is one long no-show, a surprise party where the guest of honor stands you up; a Great Expectations with unraveled lace and a cake full of rats.

I don't really know what to say. Often while reading this I flew through the pages, eager to know what happened, and other times, I skimmed pages, unable to read the thick paragraphs of descriptions. I just think that I am not a fan of Lionel Shriver's writing style. Her prose is often brutal yet beautiful but I often feel like I have to slog through it. I will say that she has an insane knack for writing characters that I feel absolutely no sympathy for. Everyone in this book is an awful person, just like in We Need to Talk About Kevin (which I couldn't even finish). It was interesting to read a book literally centered about my favorite hobby, though. I don't know, I'm just glad I finally finished it.

fireadscrime's review against another edition

1.0

Terrible. I'm still not sure why I finished reading it. Weak plot, terrible writing style that makes individual sentences incomprehensible and a truly dislikable main character. How the author of We must talk about Kevin got this published is a mystery to me.

mandi_m's review

Shriver writes flawed, conflicted characters well. This doesn't pack the punch that We Need to Talk About Kevin does, but still a thought provoking, enjoyable read.