theqissilent's reviews
1059 reviews

3.5 stars - I'd give it 4 for the writing (Most of it anyway. The Gideon is so perfect repetition made me want to gag) and characters with real issues, not just contrived "I'm a bit clumsy and I don't think I'm pretty for no real reason" sort of issues. You know who I'm talking about. It doesn't get 4 b/c I feel like you can pop out Eva and Gideon and pop in 2 other characters that shall remain nameless and you have almost the same book, though Ms. Day is a far more skilled author. I know romance and erotica are formulaic in nature, but c'mon. Some of the arguments b/t E and G moved so swiftly, got resolved without being resolved that I was left thinking, "ok, what just happened?" And that abrupt out-of-nowhere ending kinda pissed me off. I get that it's part of a series, but isn't there an art to the cliffhanger? Shouldn't you feel, at the moment, a partial completion. Hey, part one reached it's resolution, but there's still more to the story. Sorry, but ellipses on a nothing sentence, right after a huge turning point doesn't do it for me. Here's hoping part 2 is an improvement.

So, It was definitely an improvement. Both these mofos are crazy and they deserve each other. I'm so glad they aren't real. You definitely have to suspend disbelief with stories like this, but they are what they are and are still juicy reads.

The endings are killing me! Not the anticipation of a cliffhanger that makes you so anxious for the next book. It's the whimpering sort of "I'm done for now" sort of feeling. And how many brunettes are going to have a grudge against this guy. Getting old. Three books and we still haven't found out why he preferred brunettes, though it keeps coming up like an unfunny inside joke...

I really liked this book. No flash. Just good writing. The entire time I was reading, I felt like she was laying it all out in front of me and that the killer was so obvious, maybe too obvious, and that when I got to the end, I'd feel really stupid. And sure enough, it was like a big "DUH" moment. I think the real mystery here was Cormoran Strike. What a great name! Is it Cormoran for the giant in Jack the Giant Killer - considering his size? Or Cormoran for the bird? Lots of bird references and names. Robin, Cuckoo. Anyway, I liked the unfolding of his personal life, of how he ended up sleeping on a camp bed in his office.His mother. The army. I liked the softening of his stance toward Robin, and the slow reveal of his genius, really. I'm positive he knew all along who the killer was.
Interesting note: "Robert Galbraith" has a whole lot to say about race, discrimination, wealth, beauty, and our perception and treatment of people not like us. Lots of social commentary. Very timely too.
My personal observation with the reveal of JKR as the writer: This is a really good book, with great reviews from the few people that had read it, but one that I'd never heard of until Rowling was exposed. What that says, not just about the state of publishing, but about the consumer is sad. Here's this great book that no one was going to read b/c the supposed author wasn't a big name. And now that it is a big name, sales are sky rocketing just b/c it's Rowling. I checked it out from the library, but now that I've read it and liked it, I'll buy it. And I'll await impatiently for the next Cormoran Strike mystery.