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A review by sarahweyand
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This is going to sound so mean...but this book feels like an Agatha Christie try-hard. An interesting idea and some well-written atmosphere ultimately fails with a poorly executed reveal. I think this book was supposed to be a blend of The Shining and And Then There Were None, but instead I just spent my time wishing that I was reading either of those books instead.
The cast of characters was initially intriguing but a little too large to feel attached to any one of them in particular. I was excited at first because the writing made it seem like I could deduce the killer from textual clues, but when the reveal came around, that wasn't really the case. There were a number of plot points that seemed like they would come back later or matter in the reveal, but never were discussed again. It came off like sloppy writing or maybe a writer who forgot to tie up her loose ends.
The cast of characters was initially intriguing but a little too large to feel attached to any one of them in particular. I was excited at first because the writing made it seem like I could deduce the killer from textual clues, but when the reveal came around, that wasn't really the case. There were a number of plot points that seemed like they would come back later or matter in the reveal, but never were discussed again. It came off like sloppy writing or maybe a writer who forgot to tie up her loose ends.