Reviews

Pielgrzym by Maciej Szymański, Terry Hayes

julie0290's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

anearchou's review against another edition

1.0

DNF at around 75% honestly wasn’t worth more of my time.

marsius's review against another edition

5.0

I am Pilgrim hits nearly every possible trope and cliché of the genre. It is breathless, meandering, and desperately in want for a good editor. Every third chapter ended with a cliffhanger bit of foreshadowing, and I lost track of the number of times our first-person narrator discovered some detail that would change everything forever. And yet, despite all of its flaws, I am Pilgrim is a resounding five-star thriller. Hayes's prose is incredibly engaging. The breathlessness, rather than growing tiresome, instead makes it hard to put down even as your eyelids grow heavier at night or your train stop approaches on your way to work. Yes, this is absolutely a book with flaws, but it is an incredible book with flaws, and it is absolutely worth the read.

rachmc's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

rikkesmith's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

5.0

aoifeallen_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

shailydc's review against another edition

2.0

I really want to love this book since it was so highly recommended, but it was a struggle.

Things that bothered me (may contain spoilers):
- The way Hayes sexually described every woman Pilgrim encountered.
- The bizarre, negative comments on Islam and every country besides America.
- Back stories that were completely irrelevant to the story. I love Ben, but his background added nothing to the story.
- The ridiculous coincidences. Pilgrim goes to Turkey using the Dodge death as his cover and it conveniently connects back to the NYC murder - what? How stupid.
- Pilgrim would say exactly what happened in a situation he wasn't present for and know he's right without having any evidence and the reader just has to believe him. This may be how intelligence agents work in real life, but it doesn't make for good reading.

kaffro's review against another edition

5.0

This book definitely kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. I found I really had to pay attention to details the author was writing about, because later in the book, they would be relevant. And there's a story in the story and I liked that. I would definitely recommend this one if you like crime thrillers!

thr's review against another edition

3.5

I 

jake_king's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Read while travelling in Asia in 2022. Long book and I read slowly so was forgetting parts. The exciting bits were very good