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kgraham10's review against another edition
1.0
NPR promised witty and in-depth character portrait of an ex-junkie police officer trying to put her life back in order with a murder mystery.
It was a self-pitying introspective dive on a miserable person. Plot was thin. Read the first third and then the end.
It was a self-pitying introspective dive on a miserable person. Plot was thin. Read the first third and then the end.
meganmilks's review against another edition
4.0
A quick, absorbing read -- very enjoyable if perplexing at times. Felt the protagonist didn't quite cohere -- her internal observations a bit too programatically Schulman-like, her total technological illiteracy hard to believe. Still, MAGGIE TERRY is a remarkably taut dramatization of many of Schulman's ongoing themes: accountability, community responsibility, the necessity of telling the truth -- and an ex-cop detective novel that both illuminates and is critical of police culture in a post-BLM context.
theoceanrose's review against another edition
3.0
It started out using big words to an extent that really felt unnecessary. It didn't continue that way thankfully, but then I noticed that the main character would be in a certain place/situation, and then suddenly, she was somewhere else, and I was left thinking, "wait, what happened?" There were transitions, but they were consistently very short, which threw me off. Then, at the end, they revealed "who did it" but I didn't feel like they really tied everything together.... I suppose this book just fell short for me.
cbthebooktrotter's review against another edition
3.0
I can see this book not being for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe because I had no expectations and so when I read it I just enjoyed the read. It’s not a regular murder mystery, if anything is more focused on the rehab of Maggie. I found myself really liking the character and routing for her success. It was a different book and I like different. I was quite pleased with the whole of it. Had I wished I knew more about Maggie’s life at the end? Yes, but maybe it opens up for a potential sequel.
booksellingandbagels's review against another edition
4.0
Whew! This is the first book of Schulman's I've read, and I think it was a solid introduction. I especially appreciated her insights re: sobriety and addiction, and I never could've predicted the ending.
aimiller's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a fascinating and by turns gorgeous and humanly frustrating; the characters are so, sometimes painfully real, and Schulman manages to render every character in stark light. The titular Maggie Terry's struggle through not just her addiction but a whole new reality on the other side of rehab, a new world full of gentrification and loss of love as well as the troubling past of her career as a cop, really strips bare the consequences of refusing to talk to one another, on all sides--and while that in its more trope forms I know can be a turnoff for many readers, in this case it's so painfully realistic that it's not Plot Convenient but more just... how people are when they're traumatized and socialized in a world that so rarely allows for honest conversation. Definitely recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Drug abuse
Moderate: Incest and Sexual violence
axmed's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
“He asked you to help him kill her.” Craig would have simultaneously believed and disbelieved everything she said, at this point, since he clearly felt he had a lunatic on his hands who was incompetent and yet capable of anything.
"Honey, lower that thing. No, sweetheart, we are still a democracy. What are you watching? You are too young to watch the news. Hold on.”
"Whoever had thought up date night for long-term couples should have been shot on the spot."
"Honey, lower that thing. No, sweetheart, we are still a democracy. What are you watching? You are too young to watch the news. Hold on.”
"Whoever had thought up date night for long-term couples should have been shot on the spot."
for_esme_with_love's review against another edition
2.0
This book was recommended to me by the staff of an anarchist book store, and I really wanted to like it. I love the mystery genre, but it is challenging to find a whodunit story with a diverse cast or radical politics. Because of this I was looking forward to reading a mystery published by a feminist press. I tried to like Maggie Terry, I really did, but it was a struggle to finish. While I appreciated Schulman's diverse characters, as well as her commentary on addiction, police violence, gentrification, and the Trump administration, unfortunately these people and themes were not successfully woven together to create a good novel. The plot was minimal and none of the characters were likeable or interesting. The worst offense that Schulman committed was the solution to the mystery which did not make a shred of sense. The only things that inspired me to finish the book were the rave reviews I saw on Goodreads, and unfortunately I came away feeling like I had wasted my time.
moreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I don't usually like to compare one book to another, but Maggie Terry is so much like a Claire DeWitt novel if Claire decided to get sober, I can't help but make the reference. This is a really incredible book, a fine detective novel in its own right and achingly spot-on about the process of recovery. I could read an entire series about Maggie.