Reviews

The Clasp by Sloane Crosley

amandaep916's review against another edition

1.0

I can't believe I wasted a month getting through that. Don't do it.

melissakuzma's review against another edition

2.0

Damn you, Mindy Kaling and your "everyone cool is reading The Clasp" tweet. It was over-written, boring and had no likable characters. And slow as hell - it took me two long weeks to read. Never again, Mindy.

leanmealone's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.5

kkincius's review against another edition

3.0

3.75 stars

cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition

4.0

A 2015 staff favorite recommended by Andrea. Read her review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1400868199?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sthe%20clasp%20crosley__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold

servemethesky's review against another edition

5.0

It seems I'm in the minority among my fellow Goodreads reviewers for loving this book. I thought Crosley did an excellent job assembling a cast of characters and following them from their college days through their postgrad escapades. Being five years out of college myself, the experience of seeing college friends you haven't seen in ages at a friend's wedding and feeling distant and confused about what your friendship was truly like struck a chord with me.

The love triangle between Kezia, Victor, and Nathaniel was amusing, and I appreciated that it wasn't resolved in any typical, predictable way. Instead, Kezia gets to move on from both of them, knowing that she doesn't actually want or need either one of them.

I also appreciated the literary vibes and references throughout this novel. It made it really fun and entertaining. Would definitely recommend this novel for any millennials with a love of literature. It's an amusing read that'll hold your attention. I flew through it in a mere 5 days. Great job, Crosley!

millermk1229's review against another edition

2.0

This book was dumb--the three main characters were all really unlikeable. It's almost like the author tried so hard to make the characters "relatable" to the 18-34 crowd that the plot fell apart. I couldn't wait for this book to end.

emwood's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

corioreo's review against another edition

4.0

3 stars for the plot. 5 stars for the writing.

joandidionscorvette's review against another edition

Have you ever been reading a book and a character does something that makes so little sense to you that you think you had to have skipped some pages or read something incorrectly? This happened about 200 pages in and I believe this is the catalyst for the actual active plot of the story, but it left me so confused that I couldn’t continue.

Spoiler

Why did Victor lie about knowing where the jewelry was? He didn’t steal anything or do anything wrong, the family just wants to know where it was being kept. Why bother lying? Maybe it’s class anxiety and he thinks they’re accusing him of stealing because they’re filthy rich? But that didn’t track for me based on the dialogue. Is he that paranoid, or even that self involved, that he couldn’t just let the family know where the mother’s jewelry was hidden? It seems like he perceives the situation wildly inaccurately. It was just confusing.

I just fundamentally didn’t understand the motivations or why it was happening the way it was. I was fine with this book in the beginning when it was laying out the characters and their dynamic that they’ve all had since college. Nobody really grabbed me character-wise, but I thought maybe they’d evolve. But when the whole story hinges on a character’s decision that makes little to no sense to me, I can’t see a reason to keep going.