A review by sarah_shelf
In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
It only took me three months to finally finish 🙄
I wanted so badly to like this book. It’s been near the top of my TBR for 3 years. Clue has always been my favorite board game since I was little, having family game night by the fire in the winter months. I also absolutely adore the 1985 movie. It’s fun and campy and has quickly overtaken my favorite rewatch list.
This book, however, was a disappointment. Now, there were some fun campy references back to the original game. The names are all fun puns & I always loved it whenever the characters would reference different weapons from the game. However, there were some story choices that I could not stand.
The characters as a whole were pretty one-dimensional, in a very stock character way. We do start to see some promising development near the end of the book where they break from some of these stereotypes and also start to acknowledge the complexity on other characters as well. I was super happy to see Orchid acknowledge that Scarlett has some depth to her beyond being the ambitious Queen Bee/influencer. Scarlett also gets to see that Orchid is more than just “she’s not like other girls.” (That is legitimately Orchid’s entire persona. She wears fake glasses, dyes her hair mousy brown, wears loose baggy clothing, and walks around with books or headphones as an excuse to not talk to people.) Some of the characters may also come across better if you read the book in a shorter time frame. Again I spread this out over three months, but when you really dedicate your time to it, the book goes by very fast.
I didn’t care for Peacock’s chapters that were all written in her workout log. I understand trying to make things more unique & trying to get into her head, but nothing important ever happened in those chapters. The only thing they revealed was Peacock’s anger over being a suspect (and that she really should’ve been allowed to curse. “NONE OF THOSE JERKS MATTER TO ME ANYWAY. THIS WOULDN’T EVEN HAVE HAPPENED IF STUPID FINN HADN’T TOLD STUPID EVERYONE IN SCHOOL ABOUT THAT STUPID DAY IN THE STUPID OFFICE”)
But the one thing that truly pissed me off is the plot line
Despite all that, I will admit the reveal of the murderer was a plot twist I did not see coming and I truly enjoyed the change. I would’ve preferred it if it was more intentional and less of a heat of the moment thing. Despite that, the murderer escalates the situation with the kids and that didn’t feel like a natural progression for the character and a crime that wasn’t premeditated.
Despite the fact it took me so long to get through, I might, at some point, continue the rest. They are fast books once you actually sit down with them and I still feel invested enough to want to know more. Now, though, I’m going to celebrate finally finishing this book with the Clue movie!
I wanted so badly to like this book. It’s been near the top of my TBR for 3 years. Clue has always been my favorite board game since I was little, having family game night by the fire in the winter months. I also absolutely adore the 1985 movie. It’s fun and campy and has quickly overtaken my favorite rewatch list.
This book, however, was a disappointment. Now, there were some fun campy references back to the original game. The names are all fun puns & I always loved it whenever the characters would reference different weapons from the game. However, there were some story choices that I could not stand.
The characters as a whole were pretty one-dimensional, in a very stock character way. We do start to see some promising development near the end of the book where they break from some of these stereotypes and also start to acknowledge the complexity on other characters as well. I was super happy to see Orchid acknowledge that Scarlett has some depth to her beyond being the ambitious Queen Bee/influencer. Scarlett also gets to see that Orchid is more than just “she’s not like other girls.” (That is legitimately Orchid’s entire persona. She wears fake glasses, dyes her hair mousy brown, wears loose baggy clothing, and walks around with books or headphones as an excuse to not talk to people.) Some of the characters may also come across better if you read the book in a shorter time frame. Again I spread this out over three months, but when you really dedicate your time to it, the book goes by very fast.
I didn’t care for Peacock’s chapters that were all written in her workout log. I understand trying to make things more unique & trying to get into her head, but nothing important ever happened in those chapters. The only thing they revealed was Peacock’s anger over being a suspect (and that she really should’ve been allowed to curse. “NONE OF THOSE JERKS MATTER TO ME ANYWAY. THIS WOULDN’T EVEN HAVE HAPPENED IF STUPID FINN HADN’T TOLD STUPID EVERYONE IN SCHOOL ABOUT THAT STUPID DAY IN THE STUPID OFFICE”)
But the one thing that truly pissed me off is the plot line
Spoiler
with Vaughn’s identical twin. I myself have a twin so I get very particular about these kinds of storylines. It was introduced horribly. We get narration from Vaughn’s perspective hinting at the fact that his brother took his place and has been running around the house pretending to be Vaughn. So when we saw Vaughn earlier in the day, from the perspective of the other characters, it was in fact Oliver. But he seems to be under the impression that everyone in the house and the reader already knows this information. Which doesn’t make sense when you get to the end because Vaughn finally acknowledges that Oliver is a secret. Apparently Vaughn has been living with this secret since be got to Blackbrook because Oliver lives half of his life at school, and that explains why everyone finds Vaughn so weird. He’s very inconsistent because Oliver doesn’t care to act like Vaughn. Again, this information is just thrown at us in the most convoluted reveal possible and Oliver is used as a red herring for the rest of the novel. Then he is set up as an antagonist for the sequel because of course he is!Despite all that, I will admit the reveal of the murderer was a plot twist I did not see coming and I truly enjoyed the change. I would’ve preferred it if it was more intentional and less of a heat of the moment thing. Despite that, the murderer escalates the situation with the kids and that didn’t feel like a natural progression for the character and a crime that wasn’t premeditated.
Despite the fact it took me so long to get through, I might, at some point, continue the rest. They are fast books once you actually sit down with them and I still feel invested enough to want to know more. Now, though, I’m going to celebrate finally finishing this book with the Clue movie!