Helpful Score: 4
This was nothing like I expected. It's probably the strangest book I have ever experienced and not necessarily in a good way. It was confusing. The lines between what was real and what was fictional often blurred. I kept going though. In the end it was just okay for me. It lost a star though due to all the police bashing later in the story. I don't really recommend.
Helpful Score: 2
The joy of Sulari Gentill's The Woman in the Library is that it's a story within a story within a story, and each successive chapter reveals one or two more puzzle pieces for readers to ponder. I could compare the unfolding of the plot to peeling back the layers of an onion, but not only is that comparison worn out, but it also doesn't really fit. No, this story is a beauty, and much more like the slow but certain blossoming of a rose, petal by soft, scented petal.
A series of emails from Australian writer Hannah Tigone to Leo Johnson tells readers that Hannah is in Australia writing a novel about a murder set in the Boston Public Library and Leo is her American contact who reads Hannah's manuscript and searches out locations and offers tips on clarification. But that's not the only thing going on with the Hannah and Leo layer. The Freddie/Cain/Marigold/Whit layer also blossoms with the steady infusion of kernels of information about each character. These stories play off each other beautifully.
The Woman in the Library is one of those books that you can't talk about very much without giving something away, so I'll just say this: I decided right at the beginning to let myself become a leaf caught in a current in the river. This means that I didn't bring out my deerstalker hat and magnifying glass in order to solve the mystery before the characters in the book had a chance to. No, I simply went along for the ride and enjoyed every page. Once the rose that is The Woman in the Library has completely blossomed, there was nothing left to do but marvel at the story Gentill created. Wow!
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
A series of emails from Australian writer Hannah Tigone to Leo Johnson tells readers that Hannah is in Australia writing a novel about a murder set in the Boston Public Library and Leo is her American contact who reads Hannah's manuscript and searches out locations and offers tips on clarification. But that's not the only thing going on with the Hannah and Leo layer. The Freddie/Cain/Marigold/Whit layer also blossoms with the steady infusion of kernels of information about each character. These stories play off each other beautifully.
The Woman in the Library is one of those books that you can't talk about very much without giving something away, so I'll just say this: I decided right at the beginning to let myself become a leaf caught in a current in the river. This means that I didn't bring out my deerstalker hat and magnifying glass in order to solve the mystery before the characters in the book had a chance to. No, I simply went along for the ride and enjoyed every page. Once the rose that is The Woman in the Library has completely blossomed, there was nothing left to do but marvel at the story Gentill created. Wow!
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
Helpful Score: 1
The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning; it just happens that one is a murderer.
This book is two separate storylines written in an unusual format. It is a complex story with surprising twists that held my attention and kept me guessing until the very end. Harriet is an Australian author who seeks a review from Leo who is from Boston. Four members meet and form an immediate friendship. They are Marigold, Whit, Cain or Freddi. They hear a woman scream. Which one is the murderer? I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading another book by Sulari Getill. If you love mystery thrillers then you will love this one.
This book is two separate storylines written in an unusual format. It is a complex story with surprising twists that held my attention and kept me guessing until the very end. Harriet is an Australian author who seeks a review from Leo who is from Boston. Four members meet and form an immediate friendship. They are Marigold, Whit, Cain or Freddi. They hear a woman scream. Which one is the murderer? I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading another book by Sulari Getill. If you love mystery thrillers then you will love this one.
