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ace0710's review
5.0
4.5 stars. Rounded up. Beautifully written. Heartbreaking and healing. Love that it was set in Melbourne.
acass92's review
3.0
Let me start off by saying I'm a sucker for any WWII fictional story, and this one is a good one. Good, not great. The three main characters are unlikeable, but the author weaves them into a story that keeps you interested to see where their actions take them.
You are first introduced to Adam, and within the first few pages you discover that he is a rich asshole who thinks he can do whatever he pleases. This turns around for him, and throughout the book he keeps making mistake after mistake to save his, his company's and his grandfather's reputation. The author tries to weave in a rough background with neglectful parents but you do not feel sorry for him. He is an asshole.
His wife Tess is an equally dislikeable character. She has no backbone. She discovers all the mistakes Adam makes and does nothing. You are waiting the entire book for her to lose it because he's an asshole. She lets Adam walk all over her and cannot commit to ideas and plans. Again the author tries to weave in a woe is me background with a failed career attempt, but yet again you don't care.
Arkady is the only character with a little substance. A WWII survivor, he is the only character with a backbone. His part of the story mainly focuses on his time in a concentration camp, and you feel for his character. There is a good plot twisy to his character towards the end of the story, which was a little predictable, but no commonly used in other WWII stories I come across.
The story is filled with too many incomplete storylines. While there is a lot of action, there seem to be no consequences as the author moves on to the next action to cover up the previous one. I was left feeling slightly unsatisfied with how the story ended, but also entertained with the hero story surrounds Arkady, which is what this story needed to make it good
You are first introduced to Adam, and within the first few pages you discover that he is a rich asshole who thinks he can do whatever he pleases. This turns around for him, and throughout the book he keeps making mistake after mistake to save his, his company's and his grandfather's reputation. The author tries to weave in a rough background with neglectful parents but you do not feel sorry for him. He is an asshole.
His wife Tess is an equally dislikeable character. She has no backbone. She discovers all the mistakes Adam makes and does nothing. You are waiting the entire book for her to lose it because he's an asshole. She lets Adam walk all over her and cannot commit to ideas and plans. Again the author tries to weave in a woe is me background with a failed career attempt, but yet again you don't care.
Arkady is the only character with a little substance. A WWII survivor, he is the only character with a backbone. His part of the story mainly focuses on his time in a concentration camp, and you feel for his character. There is a good plot twisy to his character towards the end of the story, which was a little predictable, but no commonly used in other WWII stories I come across.
The story is filled with too many incomplete storylines. While there is a lot of action, there seem to be no consequences as the author moves on to the next action to cover up the previous one. I was left feeling slightly unsatisfied with how the story ended, but also entertained with the hero story surrounds Arkady, which is what this story needed to make it good
kris_mccracken's review
3.0
A breezy read, somewhat undermined by a hackneyed conclusion and loathsome central character. It was okay.
batrock's review
2.0
You can tell that The Toymaker is literature because it's littered with unpleasant characters doing unpleasant things. Pieper has fashioned an opening chapter designed to weed out the squeamish, replete with underage sex and praise of the teenaged female form. We have to wait before we get to the spoiled lothario's wife, who is slightly better, and then to the Holocaust flashbacks of his Grandfather.
The Toymaker is an easy read that becomes incredibly neat and Teflon like in the final analysis. It's designed to feel like it's challenging without really challenging, and it's not hard to see why it could be the next big thing. If there are people like this in Australian society, better to live in the sea - and I say this as someone who has read multiple Christos Tsiolkas books and not felt quite the same way.
The Toymaker is an easy read that becomes incredibly neat and Teflon like in the final analysis. It's designed to feel like it's challenging without really challenging, and it's not hard to see why it could be the next big thing. If there are people like this in Australian society, better to live in the sea - and I say this as someone who has read multiple Christos Tsiolkas books and not felt quite the same way.
midvalkyrie56's review against another edition
Will contain spoliers of the book to why I don't like it.
It is not what I was expecting out of this book. I thought it was going to be a story about Akhey coming out of WW2 and then coming to Australia then going into detail how he built up the toy company. Maybe it goes into that details in the second half of the book but I can't handle reading this book anymore.
I also was not expecting in the very first chapter that Adam would end up doing the deed with a teen girl. I couldn't care about adam or his wife at all or the story overall.
It is not what I was expecting out of this book. I thought it was going to be a story about Akhey coming out of WW2 and then coming to Australia then going into detail how he built up the toy company. Maybe it goes into that details in the second half of the book but I can't handle reading this book anymore.
I also was not expecting in the very first chapter that Adam would end up doing the deed with a teen girl. I couldn't care about adam or his wife at all or the story overall.
jennastumbles's review against another edition
The book opens with a forty year old man engaging in statutory rape of a 14 year old girl. Not really interested in whatever follows, just not for me.
ladyra_ra's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
theresab93's review against another edition
2.0
tbh, I didn't care for the current day timeline. Adam is a pretty shit character.
But the Arkady past story during WWII hooked me every time it came around and the twist by the end had me shook.
But the Arkady past story during WWII hooked me every time it came around and the twist by the end had me shook.
munchkinator's review
2.0
Had to force myself to finish this book. really could not get into it. I only gave it two stars because the author did a good job at making me feel absolute hatred for a character!