*4.5
( )

Jälle vau-elamus.
Absoluutselt teistsugune kui Turtoni esimene (ka väga hea) "Evelyn Hardcastle'i seitse surma", ja ma ütleskin, et isegi parem. Tegevus toimub Bataviast (Indoneesia) Madalmaadesse suunduval laeval, sajand on 16 ja otse loomulikult hakkavad toimuma kummalised mõrvad. Lausa müstilised, ma ütleks.
Natuke häiris lõpp, natuke liiga konstrueeritud, aga suurepärane lugemine sellegipoolest. ( )

I liked this book, it was pretty good and gripping intermitenly, I wouldn't say I loved it though, but still worth the reading journey. I was slightly disappointed because after reading 7 1/2 Deaths I was very intrigued by this story's summary. I enjoyed the premise and the story throughout but it ultimately falls into the mystery/thriller "let's reveal everything at the very end of the book with little to no hints or info about what's actually happening" trope. This is fine and all, making a big reveal, but it bothers me when something that the reader couldn't have deduced or known at all and is a huge plot twist is revealed at the end like in this book. I mostly spent the book throwing my own suspicions at the wall and seeing if anything stuck since there wasn't much to go off of. I loved Arent and Sarah though, they were cute and I loved their stories throughout. Actually, all the characters were pretty solid, both in a good way and bad way, just the reveal could have been panned out better in my opinion. ( )

Made the mistake of reading the same author with the same terrible narrator twice. The book might have been an OK read as a hardcopy, but James Cameron Stewart's godawful narration made it a chore. He read several female characters in a falsetto. I mean...

It was interesting enough that I stuck with it, if only to see if the antagonist really was supernatural. Because the (unintentionally) highly unreliable narrator said things that would lead one to believe that there would be no possible way humans could have pulled off such a caper. And yet, at the end, of course it was humans pulling all the strings. That's not to say it was disappointing: the only thing more disappointing than thinking the villain must be supernatural would be to find out that it really is supernatural. HOWEVER - there's simply no way people could have done the things they did and gotten away with it. So that pissed me off. The last chapter, where everything is expositioned away, was so fucking annoying. 'Yeah, we whispered threats to the other passengers through these little holes we drilled in the walls and plugged with caulk'. Mmmmkay. Also, there must have been 150 named characters in that story. Also, why on earth wouldn't you lay a trap to CAPRUTE the leper haunting the hold? Hoe big is this ship? The size of Manhattan? Come on! ( )

As if his debut novel didn't knock it out of the park, this book is another home run for Stuart Turton. It's not historical fiction, pirate fiction or book abut boats, it's truly just a darned good read that I didn't want to put down to go adult. ( )