Reviews

A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

sonham's review against another edition

3.0

Eine Pandemie ist in London ausgebrochen. Menschen sterben wie die Fliegen, doch Stevie Flint überlebt die Krankheit. Nicht so ihr Freund Simon Sharkey, den sie tot in seinem Bett findet. Sie glaubt nicht, dass er eines natürlichen Todes gestorben ist und macht sich auf die Suche nach seinem Mörder.

Eine Dystopie gepaart mit einem Krimi - genau mein Ding. Doch leider hat die Geschichte zu viele Schwächen, um mich wirklich zu überzeugen. Die Protagonistin ist zu oberflächlich, ich konnte ihr die enge Beziehung zu ihrem verstorbenen Partner zu keiner Zeit abnehmen, sie wirkt zu distanziert, zu emotionslos, man erfährt zu weniger über ihre Zeit vor dem Unglück.
Zudem gibt es zu viele Nebenfiguren, deren Verbindungen untereinander verworren und nicht ganz nachvollziehbar sind.
Ich habe am Schluss nicht wirklich verstanden, was genau eigentlich passiert ist und warum sich die Dinge so entwickelt haben.

Ein Buch das man zwischendurch lesen kann, aber nicht muss. Ich denke nicht, dass ich die weiteren Bände der Trilogie aufgreifen werde.

claire_melanie's review against another edition

2.0

This was suggested on a list of the best post apocalyptic books of 2014 but to me it was far more standard murder mystery than anything more interesting. The plague "the sweats" simply forms an eerie backdrop to Stevie's attempts to find the killer of her boyfriend. And who it is is no surprise. And she comes through victorious in the end, again no surprise. It was reasonably fast paced and well written so not a bad read but there's other, far better stuff out there.

litwrite's review against another edition

4.0

Not bad - 3.5 stars, very readable but not exemplary. Review to follow.

clairby11xxx's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

unablelemon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Child death, and Murder

tfrohock's review against another edition

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this (and thought I had already rated and reviewed it). Rather than simply a plague survival novel, Welsh embeds a fast moving thriller into the story. Brilliant.

jellybey's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 stars.

I loved the first book I read by Louise Welsh, and quite liked the second one. I love the idea of this one (murder mystery during an apocalyptic plague!) and I wish I could say I quite liked the book itself but that would not be true. Wasn't particularly interested in the actual mystery, found the conclusion of it dissatisfying, and wished there were more plague and less mystery.

itsamyk's review against another edition

4.0

Fast paced and unputdownable (is that a word?). I can't wait for the next installment to be published!

greenmind's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

trudy26's review

4.0

Especially enjoyed the first half, gripping.