Reviews

How the Light Gets in by Louise Penny

chanancrompton's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

vera_cologne's review against another edition

inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

We’re back in 3 Pines! This was hard to read, but really good!

abbymca12's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

maplegrey's review

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

d_audy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A fairly strong entry in the series, in which along a stand-alone murder mystery Penny brings home to a satisfying conclusion a lot of the loose threads for the previous eight books.

kenziewaxler's review

3.75

so many callbacks, so much intrigue

mattdjamieson's review

5.0

This series gets better as it goes. Incredible writing and character development, going on 10 books. 

bunnieslikediamonds's review

4.0

Oh my, I did not know that Canadians could be this evil. Penny really goes all out with the bad guys in this one. I got in an hour late for work this morning, as the suspense was almost unbearable and I just had to finish it. Lucky for me, I can do that. Actually, this book made me appreciate my cushy job a lot more. The next time I feel like bitching about unreasonable deadlines, I'll just consider what it would be like working for the Sûreté du Québec. My devilish superiors would deliberately get me hooked on painkillers, send me on sure-to-fail missions and plot the deaths of thousands of my fellow citizens. On the other hand, I would be able to hold a colleague at gunpoint for no good reason and not suffer any consequences, so there's that. Let's just say the Sûreté does not seem to have an HR-department.

The plot is unrealistic, the computer hacking seemed a little off - but what the hell do I know - and the ending was way, way to neat. But! I don't care. The murder mystery, the conspiracy plot, the familiar characters and the cosy village of Three Pines kept me maniacally reading. Things advanced at breakneck speed and there may even have been some nail-biting. I also found the different characters' story lines unexpectedly moving and quite sad. Or it could just be those Leonard Cohen lyrics that make me cry every damn time. Anyway, this may be my favorite mystery so far in the series.

I didn't enjoy the previous Gamache mystery at all, and am so glad I didn't give up on him. If you've not read Penny before, I'd recommend starting from the beginning, as this ninth part requires a lot of background knowledge, and obviously contains massive spoilers. I'm tempted to go back for a re-read.

grafe_'s review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

laurenjcarter28's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.25