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A review by dylanperry
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
2.0
So after 362 pages of ups and downs, intrigue and downright boredom, my final thoughts boil down to: Meh.
I'm not in the right head space for a lengthy rant review, so I'll try to keep it brief.
A Ladder to the Sky is the story of Maurice Swift, a young ambitious writer and his rise to fame in the literary world. Maurice is talented, but has one problem--he lacks any imagination when it comes to creating his own stories. (You can probably guess the whole novel by reading that or the product description)
I so wanted to like this. And the start is promising, but after the first third the novel became a chore to read. I was never excited to pick it up, not really. It's a low-simmer book that never comes to a boil. Add characters who lack dimension (they are and do exactly what you think and never break that mold), and how most everyone sounds the same in this book, I would have DNF'd it if I hadn't switched to the audiobook, which is wonderfully produced. Hats off to the team and narrators behind it.
In the end I can't get past the predictability of the story, and I won't spoil it, but the final twist is... not worth it. I know it's supposed to be someone getting theirs, but it feels artificial. Forced. And honestly I won't remember this novel come New Year's.
2/5.
I'm not in the right head space for a lengthy rant review, so I'll try to keep it brief.
A Ladder to the Sky is the story of Maurice Swift, a young ambitious writer and his rise to fame in the literary world. Maurice is talented, but has one problem--he lacks any imagination when it comes to creating his own stories. (You can probably guess the whole novel by reading that or the product description)
I so wanted to like this. And the start is promising, but after the first third the novel became a chore to read. I was never excited to pick it up, not really. It's a low-simmer book that never comes to a boil. Add characters who lack dimension (they are and do exactly what you think and never break that mold), and how most everyone sounds the same in this book, I would have DNF'd it if I hadn't switched to the audiobook, which is wonderfully produced. Hats off to the team and narrators behind it.
In the end I can't get past the predictability of the story, and I won't spoil it, but the final twist is... not worth it. I know it's supposed to be someone getting theirs, but it feels artificial. Forced. And honestly I won't remember this novel come New Year's.
2/5.