Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John MandelRating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: All the characters in this book seem somewhat shadowy and unformed. This may have been intentional, and done as a metaphor for Lilia's inability to connect with people and places throughout her life, but it made it hard for me to feel engaged with the action. I could almost feel why Lilia felt she couldn't stay in one place for very long, but I couldn't quite get a handle on why Christopher became obsessed with her, why Michaela did what she did, or why Eli took it all so hard.
What saved this book from its somewhat lacking characterization was very compelling writing. I was swept through this book from one short chapter to the other. The action moves easily from present to past and among characters to flesh out the story of what happened to Lilia and what its consequences were.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.
1 comment:
I just reviewed this book (and linked to your review). Although I enjoyed this book more than you did (I think), I can see what you mean about the characters being shadowy. I also didn't understand Christopher's obsession and Michaela was my least favourite character. But her writing is amazing!
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