A review by minbyrnes
Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

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

2.5

In terms of story, I don’t think it was as bad as people make it out to be. But I’m not that big of a mystery/thriller reader so I can’t really tell the difference between a good and bad one. I thought it was a fun enough read. I agree that And Then There Were None did it better though. 

What I really didn’t like was the use of the n-word (with a hard R too!) I had to look it up and the author and narrator are white. It made me really uncomfortable hearing the words being said. I know that the characters who say the word are black but why did the author even include that? There was absolutely NO reason in my opinion? The character didn’t even play a big role in the story? His sole role was to bring up Agatha Christie’s book and make the connection between this novel and And Then There Were None, like, “haha, see what I did there?” I see and I hate it. 

I didn’t really mind the motive. I’ve never understood killers so them having a stupid/silly motive clocks to me. And I actually liked
the Jack/Johnathan bit. Minus the part where he talks about Alison in the letter. That was gross.
 

Also, I was HAPPY when one of the characters died so I had that going for me. 

I didn’t understand why
Jessica survived
was included. I guess it was supposed to be a twist that the readers could try and guess since
they never mentioned her death in the news or whatever
but besides that I didn’t get the significance. 

Idk overall it was ok but I hate when racist language is included. Especially if there was NO REASON TO. 
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