Good characters and decent writing, but unfortunately underwhelming for my tastes.
I really wanted to like this one. I tried to give it a pretty fair shake. Ultimately though, it felt like too much being crammed into too short of a story, there were too many things that were just left at a drop off and not explored fully. While I enjoyed bits and pieces, as a whole I didn't feel very moved.
There were quite a few characters, all of whom were interlaced in ways that got a little muddy due to the fast push of the plot. Had things been slowed down and really dug into, I think they would have felt more dynamic and less confusing. As it was, I had a hard time really liking any of the characters, which made things a bit worse for me. They all seemed horribly self-centered, childish, and disastrous. There wasn't anyone for me to root for.
The narrative itself got hung up for me far too often in the interjections of German words I don't understand. This was just the addition of a bit of extra frustration and something that stalled an already challenged plot. Just as I was starting to become interested in things that were going on and feeling that I could overlook those foreign language moments, the book took a turn and abruptly ended. That ending took a wide arc to the side and nearly started a new story while leaving so much unraveled behind it. I didn't like how disjointed things ultimately felt.
While there were some good things in the bones of this story and the writing was decent, I just couldn't get behind the characters or the plot. I was just left feeling terribly underwhelmed.
There were quite a few characters, all of whom were interlaced in ways that got a little muddy due to the fast push of the plot. Had things been slowed down and really dug into, I think they would have felt more dynamic and less confusing. As it was, I had a hard time really liking any of the characters, which made things a bit worse for me. They all seemed horribly self-centered, childish, and disastrous. There wasn't anyone for me to root for.
The narrative itself got hung up for me far too often in the interjections of German words I don't understand. This was just the addition of a bit of extra frustration and something that stalled an already challenged plot. Just as I was starting to become interested in things that were going on and feeling that I could overlook those foreign language moments, the book took a turn and abruptly ended. That ending took a wide arc to the side and nearly started a new story while leaving so much unraveled behind it. I didn't like how disjointed things ultimately felt.
While there were some good things in the bones of this story and the writing was decent, I just couldn't get behind the characters or the plot. I was just left feeling terribly underwhelmed.