Reviews

Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin

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nixbix_reads's review against another edition

2.0

I did not enjoy this book. If you are looking for a thriller, this is not the book for you. It is more a coming of age story about life after the tragic death of the main character's older sister. I found it to be excessively wordy and I felt that this caused the story to drag. I did like the short points of view from other characters.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

asira's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I liked the writing style; like the choice to include POVs from the non-main characters. I’m not sure how I feel about the actual plot though…

khughes200's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-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

4.0

subpolka's review against another edition

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2.0

Two and a half stars, rounded down. I enjoyed the first half of this book - less a thriller than a psychological slow burn, which I dig - but the last chunk made me frown more than once, and the climax? Was nearly offensive in its what-the-f**kery.

See Also: Entire chapters written in patois by a white author, which: No. Just no.

lucasgarner's review against another edition

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3.0

Saint X is a novel with many great ideas, and beautiful, pointed prose, that’s it’s a shame that it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. Author Alexis Schaitkin tends to ramble, a lot, so that the book gets bogged down by details which ultimately don’t really matter. But for a first novel that is this experimental and is so willing to challenge the common narrative, it’s hard to not appreciate what was accomplished with this novel, even though it may not be all that interesting the entire way through.

ajskid's review against another edition

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2.0

Nice idea for a story but WAY to wordy. Nobody needs this much unnecessary details. Especially when the story wasn’t as exciting as you thought initially.