A review by kittybetty
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

3.0

Sometimes dazzling, but I have to agree with these comments from other reviewers:
- the cleverness is sometimes too arch; and,
- the action is too completely in alternate reality.

I couldn't settle in and enjoy the hijinks completely, while constantly nagged by the feeling that more important life-and-death matters were taking place elsewhere, throughout the entire novel.

I only read a couple/few reviews so others may have made this point as well, but, if the series' protagonist has to discuss with one of the characters, near the end, the question of who is the main character in this book, then there's maybe a lack of focus, right?

Last point off, I'll add that clearly Jasper Fforde has never been pregnant and didn't research, interview pregnant people, or think deeply about how a pregnant person would ponder the possible complications of pregnancy and birth under these unusual circumstances.

It's a silly book. I nearly gave it only two stars. Still, it brushed up against brilliance enough times to rate three, and I have hopes for the rest of the series picking up.