Writing Compromises Captivating Premise
343283
A fine and compelling premise is not enough to make a book great. Such is the case with "Once We Were Brothers."  I hate to say anything negative about a book that sets its Holocaust tale in Poland, a perspective less explored in fiction than some others.  The book's historical accuracy, in fact, makes many scenes heartbreakingly real. The plot structure, however, is very clunky. Circumstances are forced to drive the plot, and these circumstances strain the narrative. Characters at times are drawn almost as types, rather than as round, flesh and blood characters and the accompanying dialogue is often stiff.

The book's premise described thoroughly in many other reviews is extremely compelling, and the shifting events from present-day Chicago to WWII era Poland and back create a tense narrative that makes for a page-turning read. It is not, however, an elegantly written book. I do believe, however, that this author shows great promise. I would read another of his books to see if he lives up to the promise suggested by this one.
3886814
Fred, a seemingly average man is on his way to work one morning when he spots a tent in place of a haberdashery that had been there for years. He goes inside as if drawn on a leash, and witnesses an oddly captivating man give a speech about faith. After this performance the tent and the people in it disappear and he finds himself in the haberdashery. This is just the first in a series of weird occurrences that makes Fred consider his sanity and the reality of the world around him. I was left with the impression that this story would be from one of my favorite genres; magical realism, wherein everyday situations are interspersed with touched of the unreal and fanciful.

The writing could have been more engaging. The language is simple and direct, which is a good thing. Still, it came off as flat and was missing some prose-pep to make it really engaging to read. The author can be prone to "infodumps," or devoting long swathes of paragraphs to backstory and flashbacks that don't seem to provide anything that had much relevancy to the current story. It can be good to go into lots of detail about the histories of characters, but there are better ways, and sometimes less is more. It really slows down the story when new characters are introduced and, instead of finding a more organic way to get the reader antiquated there is instead a lot of background information all at once. There was a lot of passive writing, which naturally makes the prose have less of an impact.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The cover is awesome, the premise sounded really good and I liked some of the themes explored. The writing and pacing of the story is too much of a mixed bag to be ignored.
185926
The characters are interesting and the premise unusual. The writing, as always with this author, was strong. However, the pacing seemed off. The first two thirds were fairly slow, with all the problems and complications crammed into the last part of the book. Several of those issues were solved off page, without the main characters' participation. I gather there's overlap with other books, but it made the problems/resolutions this book confusing and not always satisfying.
3544951
Mary G. Thompson's "Flicker and Mist" works mostly due to the main character of Myra. The premise is interesting. A society in which there are individuals ('flickering') who can become invisible. I liked that premise because to a large degree, it is understandable that invisibility would cause suspicion. Myra's mother has the ability as does Myra . When it is announced that "Lefties" have to be tested for the Ability, the trouble begins.

There are plot cliches in the story: People put in categories (Lefties vs Plats), a trait that will ostracize one of the people categories, there are games to be participated in, and of course, a corrupt government. I don't mind cliches that much but the author also comes up a bit short on the world that she builds. Yet with that said, I felt the characters made the story work and I felt like Myra was a well rounded character who sounded her age with believable problems both within herself and her family (especially her mother) and to the society that she lives in. Her voice is relate-able and engaging. She's not perfect but her interactions with other characters give the story a good grounding and makes it worth the read.
2313645
Interesting premise--the robbing of ancient Etruscan graves kicks off a series of violent murders in the city of Volterra (Tuscany).  An visiting archeologist researching a particular Giacometti-like Etruscan statue of a young boy is drawn into the graves and murder mystery.  The tie-in between Etruscan history, ancient art and modern archeological research grabbed my attention; and the author's reputation and an earlier book, "A Winter's Night" led me to this novel.

"...Curse" certainly has some good writing and interesting moments, but I had some problems accepting a major genre jump that is required of the reader.  If I say more about the problem, I will be getting into spoiler territory, so let me conclude by advising the prospective reader to buy this book if you don't mind a story that wanders a bit from factual history in the direction of fantasy/horror.
3698268
It is a rather gutsy undertaking for a novelist to make the living room of a house (albeit an arguably extraordinary house) as the centerpiece of his novel, but that is the task Simon Mawer put before himself in writing The Glass Room. Considering that this is a house most of his readers will never have heard of or seen (unless they are architects with an interest in Functionalism), this seems a rather implausible concept. If he could make it work, the novelist would have achieved something noteworthy. Somehow, the story and the writing would need to be pretty good, and at least in some aspect extraordinary, to carry the narrative and hold the reader. Does it work for Mawer's book? Well, yes and no. Or, perhaps I should say, in a certain manner, yes.

First, in the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I come to Mawer's book with a certain perspective. I live just a few doors down the street from the Tugendhat Villa in Brno, Czech Republic where The Glass Room is fictitiously set. Having lived in Europe (and specifically in Brno and Vienna where most of the action in the novel occurs), I have been almost everywhere that is described or mentioned in the novel (including inside the Villa itself). For me, then, the story is particularly interesting, because places and phenomena continually appear that I know. Obviously, most readers will not have this advantage.

So, if one is not an architect and doesn't live in Brno, what motivates that reader? Well, the story, which centers on the people living in or otherwise in contact with the house, is interesting, although not extraordinary. The research of history and places is good, but again not extraordinary. The prose is well executed from a mechanical and stylistic viewpoint. The chapters are many and short and move from one subject to the next. This makes the book a fairly breezy read, which is a plus from my perspective. The book's philosophizing and symbolism of light and openness and truth is all rather strained, and I would say stretched beyond the point of tearing in places.

What really carries this novel is sex. Lots of it, evenly dispersed, and variously presented.

It would be interesting to see inside the mind of the author, and perhaps the reader does. If Mawer's novel can itself be regarded as a glass room, as exhibiting his mind in a transparent place, open for all to see, then we must observe that this is a mind having a very strong fascination with sex. One might politely say that this is an intellectual curiosity about sexuality. But, by reasonable appearance, that would not be accurate. "Fascination with sex" would seem to state the case more accurately.

The vast majority of the several dozen short chapters have some sexual snippet, occasionally quite contrived but generally woven into the story. If The Glass Room is ever made into a film - and I suspect it will be - the filmmakers will be challenged to keep it within the confines of an R rating and still fairly represent the original novel. I would expect, in fact, that the script writers would bring a lot more historical context into the picture while softening the sex, and thus the movie might be better than the book.

As I read the book, it struck me that Mawer appears to have made a list of themes relating to sex and then sprinkled these into his novel, checking them off as the writing progressed. After the first few chapters, I began to wonder what would come next. The straightforward themes come first - sexual initiation, infidelity, prostitution... But what about rape and incest, for example? Well, these come later. Various sexual practices get checked off, homosexuality, exhibitionism... (I won't carry on and ruin the story for you.)

So, does all of this work? Well, if you like that sort of thing, yes. The reader who prefers a heftier historical fiction and deeper psychological narrative, however, may find The Glass Room a bit too much on the light and airy side.
843233
Let me begin with a confession. I really struggle with giving 1 or 2 stars to a book. I used to not even rate them if I wasn't going to give them a 3 or above, but then I realized that there's an opportunity to offer some helpful feedback. So, that's the spirit with which I offer this review.

The story's premise really grabbed me. I love creative, unusual story ideas, and I like watching how an author tells a story. With this one, I think the plotting is good and fits the story idea very well, but there was something stilted and awkward about the actual narrative. I have to confess, too, that the first paragraph put me off, and I almost didn't read any further. I understand that the author wanted to take an old cliche/song and use it for a twist, but for me it didn't work. But I did continue on. And the story itself works, and it worked enough for me to keep me reading. Those are the upsides.

Now for what I hope will be helpful criticism. The narrative voice seems almost too juvenile, but I see on Amazon that it's related to the children's categories, so I'm assuming that is in fact the target audience. My suggestion would be to make sure the categories are set correctly for the intended audience. So, with that said, let me continue this review with the assumption that it's supposed to be a youth/young adult book.

The first-person narrative is popular for young adult books, and so is a good choice here. But that also requires that the author really be able to get into the mind of the protagonist, and at times I felt like that was missed. It is possible that my reading of this aspect of the book was due to the difficulty I had in following time sequences. A straight forward, linear progression would have clarified all of this. Why not tell the story straight out from the key incident and let the story unfold from direct action, rather than starting with the "doggy in the window" and going back in time to tell the story? I think the narrative would have ended up with far more showing than telling if it had.

That last piece is at least 80% of my negative feedback, by the way. I'm big on showing, not telling, and this story relies far too much on the protagonist telling us things (thoughts as well as action). More immediacy would be had if the narrative had taken readers to a more direct experience with the story itself.

I want to emphasize that there is MUCH that is redeemable here. The story itself is a great idea, and the plotting by Mr. Cognard suits it. The story moves along a good timeline (except for the complaint shared above) and it was planned out well. Eddie is a very likeable character, and his reaction to the dog and the meteor incident are engaging--and those are the keys to the story itself. I think good editing and a solid revision could catapult this book into a 3 to 4 range easily.
458802
This novel has a great underlying premise:  The human brain is an organic computer that has a basic operating system, which is capable of being erased. In the case of this novel, the erasure is triggered by a "pulse" that is sent out to millions of people through their cell phones.  Those who do not happen to be using their phones at the time of the Pulse are spared.  Those who are using their phones turn into zombie-like creatures who maim and kill one another and appear to be driven only by hunger and anger.

The twist comes when the "normies" realize that the "phoners" (aka zombies) are sort of evolving over time.  They appear to be developing more sophisticated traits that are, in some cases, superior to those of normal humans. For instance, they communicate via telepathy and move around by means of levitation.

I would have liked to see this evolution idea further developed, perhaps even all the way to the point where the once inferior zombies become the next step up in human evolution, with the "normies" ultimately ending up in the same relationship as the Neanderthals may have been to Homo Sapiens.  But, alas, that never happens.  In fact, nothing close to that happens because King leaves readers in the lurch by not bringing the novel to a satisfactory conclusion.

I know that King often leaves the ultimate endings up to the readers' imaginations, and I appreciate that technique.  But in Cell he really should have taken us a bit farther down the road, at least so we knew whether or not the "old" human programming could be rescued from some area of deep memory so some phoners could be restored to their former condition.  The abrupt ending was a real let-down for me, especially since, for me, the point of reading a classic-style King horror story is to be entertained.

So, the bottom line is this: The pros of this novel are that it has a great premise and can be read in one sitting.  The BIG con is that King doesn't develop the plot lines sufficiently to bring his story to a satisfying conclusion.  He leaves his readers swinging in the wind.
863422
The premise of a double identity as envisioned in this narrative adds depth to the development of the main characters. The author's power of enticing the reader into this world created by words is believable. There was not reservation about accepting the premise,. The exchange of time and locale seems no more incredible than the "beam me up, Scotty!" does for fans of Star Trek.

If I were the protagonist who fell in love, how would I manage the relationship with my lover who also has this other person available for counsel, help, comfort? It remains a questions through the tale and is one of the qualities that holds the reader's interest. In my opinion. However double helpings are not always manageable!
2818545
There is much to like in this novel: beautiful writing, and an excellent, evocative setting.  However, the characters were hard to like and the plot was hard to believe.
1103522
My first attempt at Iris Murdoch's work, and difficult to review, as although I recognise that the quality of writing, the deeper messages on morality etc, mean it's probably worth at least 4.5, I didn't desperately like it.
Opening with the breathless engagement of an American draft dodger and his rather shallow British girlfriend, the narrative soon introduces a host of other characters that make up their circle, most notably Austin Gibson-Grey, with his skeletons in the closet, an estranged wife, and various nefarious activities...
Murdoch writes in a variety of styles, the usual narrative being interspersed with a series of letters, or an impression of a party given through two or three pages of one-line comments, giving everyone's news and gossip in a humorous way.
It's a far-fetched tale, though I think the author's depiction of lonely and unloved Charlotte Ledgard was convincing.
The characters seem to be largely bisexual, switching from feelings from one to the other.
Glad to have come to the end, although by no means unreadable.
2041060
The premise of showing"ordinary" people in extraordainary times was very intriguing to me when I read this book. I very much wanted to give it a 5 star rating right up to the end, but was unable to.
The book can  easily be broken up into3 segments - before the rise of the Nazis, the Nazi  terror and the aftermath of war. That is perhaps what causes the feedback  from other reviewers on this page regarding the beginning-middle-ending  being either interesting or not interesting. That is also what requires  patience on the part of any reader. The majority of the book is hard to put  down, but to get to that point, you must first make it though the first 200  pages, and then try to retain direction in the final part of the story.
Still a recommended read.
1766063
The writing is beautiful in this novel, but I feel that it becomes trapped between nature writing and relationship writing. The main character, Rachel, has such a flat affect that it's difficult to be sympathetic with her, though the details of her pregnancy and new motherhood are interesting. The project of reintroducing wolves into England is potentially fascinating, but we are kept at a distance from it, as if Sarah Hall feels that expressing too much detail is inappropriate or even prurient. The result is an oddly nuanced book, a bit cold where it should be warm.

I can see why some readers feel frustrated with Rachel. The relationship between Rachel and her mother, Binny, is particularly well done at the opening, so subsequent events are jarring. That between Rachel and her brother blossoms late, so it is in some ways unsatisfying too. And the boyfriends in the piece are too uniformly accommodating -- blank slates upon which Rachel can choose to write or not. Enviable . . . but not realistic.

Yet for these negative comments, THE WOLF BORDER is quite interesting. The writing is beautiful, which helps a lot. And I was curious throughout to see if there would be huge events, or if the same even keel atmosphere would prevail. (No spoilers!) This is the first Sarah Hall novel I've read, and I will try others. But I can't recommend THE WOLF BORDER wholeheartedly, because many readers will be frustrated by the tone or the lack of deep passion. Give it a try, and by the end of the first chapter, you will know whether you like it.
2782554
The underlying premise of the book is an interesting, new take on the ramifications of time travel. Unfortunately though, the writing really limited my enjoyment of the story. The dialogue between the characters is often forced and unnatural, and the author spends far too much time explaining, in detail, how clever certain characters are. I prefer to see how clever the characters are through their actions, instead of having that opinion preformed and forced upon me again and again.
3251572
The concept of No One Dies in the Garden of Syn is utterly intriguing, but the extensive descriptions in this novel make the writing slow to read.  I had a hard time getting through this novel, but I am confident that if the narrative style were changed and many descriptions were deleted this novel would be successful.

The concept of living without illness is always something that is on our minds as humans.  Illness is one thing that can change the way that people live, and by creating a place without illness, Michael Seidelman played with fate and concepts that have always been set realities in our lives.

Syn is a teenage girl with cystic fibrosis who wakes up in a new world one day where she is no longer sick.  Being free from her illness, Syn chooses to stay in the new world, but it soon becomes a place full of danger and secrets.  Seidelman plays with life, death, and security in this novel and shows us that many things are too good to be true.  No one can be completely free of illness, or anything that ails them, and if they do somehow wind up in a position that allows them to be free of their woes, there will be consequences.

Seidelman created an intriguing story through his writing, but it wasn't executed as well as it could have been.  Apart from the writing being slow, Syn's character didn't develop very well and some of the plot events didn't make sense.  However, I appreciate the imagination put into this novel and how it relates to our troubles of today, but also dips in fantasy to turn an interesting twist on everyday events.  Seidelman's ideas are original and ideas that I haven't seen before in a novel, and that originality is admirable.
2124631
The main strength of this book is its premise (and eventually its development). There is a bit of a lag between the first and the second, however, and some readers may feel that the first third (and possibly the second third) of the book pass by before the plot moves into a higher gear. Some readers may twiddle fingers as the book moves along. The main character, as other customer comments here point out, is a private investigator who has been violently raped while on a case. The resulting psychological damage has eroded her daily motivation and somewhat stranded her in her skyscraper apartment building, idly observing the residents in another apartment house. She also is at the center of a law suit brought by her step-siblings over the disposition of their wealthy father's estate, and she spends her time being visited and comforted by her niece Jade (a colorful character and one of the book's strengths), her brother, and her married lover. This premise, therefore, has at least three elements to it--a kind of voyeur plot like Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW, a healing plot concerning the rape/attack, and the legal plot. It takes a while to establish all this, to lay the foundation that book is built on, but when I saw that the healing story was humanizing the other two, which were giving the book its mystery and suspense, I let the book play out at its own pace and ended up enjoying it. It seems a bit cluttered at the outset, but those who like the work of Joy Fielding, especially her distinctive and appealing writing style, should enjoy this book.
676111
Interesting premise, but the quality of the writing is just too much to wade through.