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A review by thechaliceofaries
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
4.0
Wow! I'm so stricken right now by the ending of this book. I don't think I saw any of those plot twists coming, and I think it'll require a few hours more at least for me to contemplate and come to terms with everything that was revealed in the last two chapters - I have so many emotions swilling inside me right now, and I stayed up late to finish this, so in an attempt to organise my caffeine-fuelled, sleep-deprived thoughts on this book, I've decided to just list the pros and cons to this latest instalment of the Cormoran Strike series.
PROS:
1) Strike! And! Robin! Need I say more? Anyone who's followed this series will attest to the brilliance of these two characters, who we now know and think of as fond friends. Both equally intelligent, insightful, and still filled with very realistic human flaws - Strike and Robin are both already utterly lovable on their own, but become even more dynamic as sparks start flying between them. I've been rooting for these two for several books now, and the intensity of their relationship in this book had me squealing "and NOW KISS!" every couple of chapters.
2) JKR's writing and storytelling capabilities are, as always, faultless. Her greatest strength is her ability to churn out such a slow-burn, intricate detective mystery over 650 pages without ever once falling short of intriguing. Despite this being the longest novel in the series so far, the short length of each chapter made it feel more manageable and easy to get through. I find the writing to be so thoroughly absorbing in its capacity to immediately transport me into the world of Strike and Robin.
3) The portrayal of a whole host of characters, some new and some recurrent ones from the previous novels, giving the readers individuals to both root for and despise, is incredible. I loved how even though there were many characters to keep track of, all of them were so well fleshed-out, with their own unique flaws and traits. The fact that there were so many intricate characters, all with plausible motives and realistic backstories, made it impossible for me to guess who the ultimate culprit would be and kept me anxious to find out the whole way.
CONS: (aka the reason I deducted a star)
1) As stated above, this was the most convoluted and complex of all the books in the series so far. In order to accumulate for the huge list of characters and the establishment of detailed, comprehensive backstories and side-plots for all of them, this book necessarily had to be quite long. For me, this isn't much of a con because I do love Strike and Robin and loved following their adventures, but I know other readers were put off by the length and slow pacing of the story.
2) This was a story involving politicians, but I was nonetheless irked by the way JKR sprinkled in some of her personal views regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict (which wasn't at all relevant to the plot), namely, that she appears to be pro-Israel. Nobody on the Internet is a stranger to JKR's problematic need to express her political views where they are not asked for, but it was still an unpleasant surprise to find them actually written into the story as well despite not having any significance at all to what was happening - it came across as pointless and honestly, pretty troublesome.
Overall, I did really enjoy this novel in spite of a few shortcomings. The ending was both shocking and amazing to me, and even though I'd been making educated guesses about where it was all headed, I ended up being proven wrong in the best, most delicious way possible. I'm actually kind of sad to have finished this now, and I really look forward to meeting Strike and Robin again in the next instalment.
PROS:
1) Strike! And! Robin! Need I say more? Anyone who's followed this series will attest to the brilliance of these two characters, who we now know and think of as fond friends. Both equally intelligent, insightful, and still filled with very realistic human flaws - Strike and Robin are both already utterly lovable on their own, but become even more dynamic as sparks start flying between them. I've been rooting for these two for several books now, and the intensity of their relationship in this book had me squealing "and NOW KISS!" every couple of chapters.
2) JKR's writing and storytelling capabilities are, as always, faultless. Her greatest strength is her ability to churn out such a slow-burn, intricate detective mystery over 650 pages without ever once falling short of intriguing. Despite this being the longest novel in the series so far, the short length of each chapter made it feel more manageable and easy to get through. I find the writing to be so thoroughly absorbing in its capacity to immediately transport me into the world of Strike and Robin.
3) The portrayal of a whole host of characters, some new and some recurrent ones from the previous novels, giving the readers individuals to both root for and despise, is incredible. I loved how even though there were many characters to keep track of, all of them were so well fleshed-out, with their own unique flaws and traits. The fact that there were so many intricate characters, all with plausible motives and realistic backstories, made it impossible for me to guess who the ultimate culprit would be and kept me anxious to find out the whole way.
CONS: (aka the reason I deducted a star)
1) As stated above, this was the most convoluted and complex of all the books in the series so far. In order to accumulate for the huge list of characters and the establishment of detailed, comprehensive backstories and side-plots for all of them, this book necessarily had to be quite long. For me, this isn't much of a con because I do love Strike and Robin and loved following their adventures, but I know other readers were put off by the length and slow pacing of the story.
2) This was a story involving politicians, but I was nonetheless irked by the way JKR sprinkled in some of her personal views regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict (which wasn't at all relevant to the plot), namely, that she appears to be pro-Israel. Nobody on the Internet is a stranger to JKR's problematic need to express her political views where they are not asked for, but it was still an unpleasant surprise to find them actually written into the story as well despite not having any significance at all to what was happening - it came across as pointless and honestly, pretty troublesome.
Overall, I did really enjoy this novel in spite of a few shortcomings. The ending was both shocking and amazing to me, and even though I'd been making educated guesses about where it was all headed, I ended up being proven wrong in the best, most delicious way possible. I'm actually kind of sad to have finished this now, and I really look forward to meeting Strike and Robin again in the next instalment.