The Whole World: A Novel

Gripping mystery told in a "Rashomon"-like novel

Emily Winslow uses the multiple narratorial voices of her characters to great effect in unfolding this town/gown tale of murder in Cambridge, England. Quirky yet believable characters reveal just enough of the baggage they are carrying to raise suspicion and speculation, and the resolution is unexpected. Winslow's theatre background enables her to craft distinct personalities with flair, and her puzzle-making skills keep us guessing until the end in this debut novel by a gifted writer.

The Partial World

When I won this on firstreads, I got excited. It looked really good.

Polly and Liv, two American friends at Cambridge University, both find themselves for Nick, the perfect English guy. The three work together on doing research for a blind professor named Gretchen Paul, who wants to write a book about her mother, a famous author. But one day Nick disappears and in the aftermath, secrets come bubbling to the surface.

I was not a big fan of this book. I did not like the characters or the writing style, and the plot was just too outlandish. The story is told in 5 parts, each narrated by a different character. I liked some parts more than others. Liv's was just flat-out weird.

The writing, I don't know.....there was just something that irked me about it. It was jumpy, never flat out just saying anything. It was hard for me to picture anything and the author assumed I could fill in the empty spaces. There was a lot of reading in-between the lines.

And as I said, the characters were unlikable. They were compltely impulsive and I never knew what was up with them. They were just crazy sometimes. I never felt any sympathy for any of them.

It takes a while for the plot to figure out where it wants to be, but by then, I was already dissatisfied with the book. The plot was pretty much all over the place, and pretty much completely unrealistic. It thrived off of coincedences. And also, I don't think the end wrapped up nicely enough.

There wasn't much to enjoy with this book. There were some good moments, but I don't think puddling through all the muck was worth it to get to them.

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