When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike’s office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic.
Trying to get to the bottom of Billy’s story, Strike and Robin Ellacott—once his assistant, now a partner in the agency—set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.
And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike’s own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been—Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much trickier than that.
π π π π
I’m struggling to find words to write my review. In short, after 100 pages (of the 600+ page novel), I decided to stop reading the newest Cormoran Strike novel in the Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling series.
I only stop reading a handful of novels, mostly ones that I have no desire to learn what happens in the end. That rings true with Lethal White. I enjoyed how the novel picks up right away into the cliffhanger of the last novel. We learn what happens and what decision Robin makes.
Then the novel flips right into one year later. I feel that the novel had a lot to discuss and figure out and didn’t need to jump ahead. In reading a couple of chapters, I remembered that this was the same pattern as the previous novels. Nothing had changed. I didn’t want to read another novel about will they/won’t they.
The other decision to stop reading was because the mystery. A mentally distressed young man comes into the office and claims that he witnessed a strangling when he was younger. I’m sure the mystery gets better as the novel goes on, but I wasn’t gripped immediately.
Has anyone else read Lethal White and had the same feelings as me? I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, what do you think about not finishing a novel? At what point of a novel do normally call it quits? I think the novel length also had some part in it. It pained me to think of spending the next week trying to struggle through the next 500 pages of the novel. Maybe if it was only 300 pages, I would of continued reading.
1 calculator out of a potential 5. Do you normally rate novels that you DNF? It gets a 1 from me because I wasn’t interested and didn’t care. As of today, I can’t find a negative review on Goodreads, so maybe it’s just me?
Not read this book. It is not in my TBR so far. But I suppose some books are this way. They don’t grab us. Great post. I loved your honesty.
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Thank so much! It’s much harder writing a negative review!
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I haven’t read this novel but so far have enjoyed her new series. Did you at least peek at the end to see if they did or didn’t? Or was it that bad?
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No I didn’t peak at the end, but did read some spoiler reviews on Goodreads!
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Great, honest review Amanda. I DNF the first book in this series and have not read any of the others. I can’t remember why because that was before I was reviewing books or blogging. You do not have to agree with the other reviewers. Sometimes people give it a great review because they love her other books and have blinders on, sometimes we just like different things. We all have our own ideas and opinions.
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I totally agree Carla! I think it’s tough too since I have read so many other mystery novels. This mystery doesn’t compare to the great mysteries.
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I haven’t heard of this book but it sounds good. It really sucks that it didn’t turn out that good.
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I know 😦 so disappointing.
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This is on my TBR. I hope that your next book is a better fit for you.
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
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I only rate DNF books if they are missing a crucial element or if they are so shockingly bad.
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Haha sometimes its fun to read a shockingly bad novel just to make fun of it lol.
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Yeah but then it hurts my feelings to read it.
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I haven’t read it, but it’s a fair reason to dnf. There’s no need to struggle through a book that just can’t grab you. Sometimes I pick up dnf’ed books at a later point when I feel I’m in a more fitting mood for them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
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I highly value your book opinions so was sad to learn that this book was not liked by you. I appreciate the honest review. I will read the novel at some point and post on it; curious to see if I will feel the same as you do.
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Thank you for your kind words! I’m very curious as well! I will watch out for your review!
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Sorry this one didn’t work for you. I haven’t read Lethal White, but I have read the previous three books in the series. These books have gotten lots of hype, but I haven’t been wowed by the ones I’ve read.
I don’t DNF books. I will suffer through a crappy book… but usually end up skimming more than reading.
Hope your next read is better!
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The Strike series are some of the few mystery novels that I can normally guess who the killer is!
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I thought that this was a god review overall, but I dont really agree with your opinion on DNFing books. of course I am not saying that it is bad or good, I am just. saying that I never ever like to DNF a book unless it doesn’t have appropriate language. I am sad ou didn’t like the book and I loved the way you made your own opinion going against the popular one.
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Thank you! It always a tough decision to make to not finish a novel.
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I’ve never actually DNFed a book before but only put them on hold. So sad you had to do this. I hope your next read will be better.
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Thank you! I have some friends and family members reading Lethal White soon, so I may pick it up again if they love it.
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I appreciate your honesty, I don’t usually review books I DNF other than to say why I can’t finish
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Your post serves as a reminder that its okay to DNF a book you are not jiving with. I need to remind myself of that constantly!
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I have to remind myself of that too! So many novels to read and not enough time!
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Waiting for my library hold to come in on this one. I’ve liked this series overall, though I didn’t like the second book much.
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I really enjoyed the first novel. Maybe I should re-read that one!
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I noticed that book one in this series came up on a deal today, and I hesitated. I am not sure why. Have you read and enjoyed the previous books in this series? Sometimes I know I’m just not feeling it when I get into a book series that’s been going a long time. Maybe that’s what happened? I feel ya, though. Always hate to DNF, but there are too many books out there begging to have your full attention!
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I haven’t read any of the books from the series so don’t really know much about them. Pity it didn’t work for you. I actually don’t bother to review the books I DNF, which in honesty isn’t many.
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It is hard to DNF a book but if I get to 100 pages and I really could care less what is going on then I will DNF and I will give it 1 star because honestly I did read part of the book lol.
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Haha totally agree (and which is what I did!)
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I’m sorry you didn’t like it, but sometimes a book just doesn’t catch you… and it’s better to move on than to suffer! I really thought Lethal White was great — but it could have afforded to lose about 100 pages. I don’t typically rate books I DNF — but that’s usually only true if I quit early on. If I’ve made it through 100 pages or more, then I think I’ve given it a fair try, and a rating is fair game!
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Totally agree! Glad you enjoyed it!
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