‘Noir But Not Quite’

Score: 4/5

Baldacci can write some real page-turners, and this just isn’t one of them. It’s still good, and I still enjoyed reading it, but it’s not his best. I guess he felt like trying his hand at 40’s/50’s detective noir, and it mostly works but... doesn’t quite? Maybe it’s fallen into some ‘uncanny valley’ of noir. I wasn’t around in 1949 America so I can’t really point at anything wrong, but it just doesn’t feel like the detective noirs that were written at the time.

‘Odd. And Kindof Mysterious’

Score: 4/5

This was an odd book.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not keen on translations - something about the way the prose flows usually grinds a bit to my inner ear. But the premise of this book was interesting enough to overcome that, and it didn’t disappoint. It was fascinating -  mysterious in ways that is rare these days.

‘So-So Crime Fiction’

Score: 3/5

This is book 21 in a series I didn’t even know existed, so I’m late to the party. It’s not my kind of party though, so I’m leaving early too. It’s not that it’s particularly bad, it’s just not my kind of thing. There’s plenty of other crime fiction out there for me to read so I don’t feel bad about skipping this series.

‘Creepy, And Not Good’

Score: 2/5

I found this a bit creepy, and not in a good way. Maybe it’s just me. Can’t say I’d recommend it though.

‘Nice Wee Standalone Story’

Score: 4/5

I was very taken with V. E. Schwab’s writing in the Shades Of Magic trilogy, and this sounded interesting. With so many series out there, it’s nice sometimes to read a standalone book - and this is a good ’un.

‘Still A Bit Slow’

Score: 4/5

This is the second book in the series. It’s warming up but I think it’s still slow getting started.

Score: 1/5

‘Dystopia Presented As Utopia’

I’m really not sure what to make of this book. It feels like the future setting is a dystopia - prejudice and just awful, unfair treatment of people - but it's presented as if it’s the greatest thing ever.

As I was reading it I was wondering: Is it really trying to make the point that this is the kind of society that we should aim for? Or is it building to a big reveal that tears the dystopia down?

Well, there was no big reveal by the end of the book, and all the people - including the dystopia’s leaders - were always described as ‘lovely’. Everyone was lovely. There was only one character in the book that wasn't lovely all the time, and he was still occasionally lovely.

It’s Book One, so presumably there are more in this series, but the dystopia-presented-as-utopia makes me very reluctant to read any follow-ups. I don’t want to run the risk of giving more money to someone who thinks these prejudices are a good idea.

‘Bad People, Bad Decisions’

Score: 2/5

I didn’t enjoy this book at all. It was just full of bad characters making bad choices. Choices you could see at the time were bad, choices they could see were bad. Felt like I wasted time reading this when I could have been reading something better.

‘Enjoyable Even When Re-reading’

Score: 4/5

I re-read this after watching the miniseries, and enjoyed it again. The miniseries was well produced but the differences between the book and the miniseries meant the re-read still felt fresh.

‘Rude But Hilarious Scenes’

Score: 5/5

The whole concept of Forest Fr1ends really appeals to my sense of humour. Love it.