A review by megancmahon
State of Terror by Louise Penny, Hillary Rodham Clinton

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Spoilers!

I'm not really a Hillary Clinton fan, but I AM a Louise Penny fan, so I thought I'd give this a try.

What I liked:

• Armand Gamache and the inclusion of the Three Pines crew! Some of them, anyway, and most importantly Henri. However the idea that Myrna is in love with someone who's been lying to her...she deserves better. And I don't remember hearing about this man in the latest Louise Penny, which was published after this! AND WHAT ABOUT BILLY WILLIAMS
• It was cool getting a look at what goes on in the US Secretary of State's life, especially since it comes from real-life experience
• I think the whole book was worth it just for Betsy's character. I adored her. It was so interesting to hear she was based on a real person!
• I always enjoy hints of love stories in my books, and Gil and Anahita's was lovely
• You can really tell that Clinton and Penny had a TON of fun writing this, and it was clearly an allegory for a lot of what Clinton experienced. President Dunn indeed.

What I didn't like

• It's possible I'm just not a political thriller type of person, because a lot of this book didn't really grab me. It's like there was so much tension that eventually it just rolled off my back, like the proverbial watery duck
• I wasn't a huge fan of the prose style - which was so odd as I LOVE Louise Penny's style normally. There were so many short, punchy sentences that were supposed to pack a dramatic punch that eventually the novelty wore off.

Like this.

And then like this.

And then a final, devastating sentence.

And another for good measure.

• I felt like a lot of the characters didn't really get too developed. I was waiting to hear about Ellen's relationship with Gil's father and Katherine, who's a major character, or even Charles Boynton! But while some of the characters were awesome (again, Betsy) I thought a bunch of them needed more work
• I suppose I'm not American or patriotic, so a lot of people saying how much they "love their country" felt weird to me, though I suppose it is fitting for a political thriller set in the US
• The ending was WILD. "All of a sudden here's a new threat we haven't foreshadowed!!" Not my favourite. Although again, I suppose it's not unreasonable for a political thriller

Overall, while I love Louise Penny and am always excited to go back to Three Pines, this one wasn't my favourite. Though I did enjoy all the thinly-veiled allegories for real-world people and situations.