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David McK (3623 KP) rated A Game of Thrones in Books

Jan 28, 2019

A Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry

8.8

(87 Ratings)

Book Rating

A Game of Thrones is one of the biggest success stories in my homeland of Northern Ireland, with many of our locations used in the HBO drama series.

Despite that, and despite knowing various people who are either directly involved (as extras) or peripherally involved (costumers) in the filming of the series, I've never actually seen a single episode of it.

Similarly, I (thought) I hadn't read any of the books in the series until I finally got round to reading this one, and realised not that far into it that, actually, yes, I had read it before - it just didn't really *stick* all that much with me (never a good sign).

Nevertheless, I still made it the entire way through the novel, which is told from a different character's perspective chapter about. As a result (I felt) the book feels somewhat fractured: just as
you're getting used to a particular narrator and their perspective, it's over to someone else ...

If I'm honest, there were also times when I felt like skipping chapters and sections of the book (those dealing with Sansa in particular), with not all the plot threads as gripping as each other.

The acid test of the novel? Would it make me more likely to hunt out and watch the TV series? Sadly, the answer is 'No, not really'.

Kudos

Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Holdout in Books

Feb 25, 2020

The Holdout

Graham Moore | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Even after a few years, working with jurors is fascinating to me. Each jury uses the jury room differently. When I read the description of Graham Moore's The Holdout, I knew what I would read next. Having recently finished one of his earlier books, The Sherlockian, I was even more eager to read this. As with The Sherlockian, The Holdout does not disappoint.

Juror 272, aka Maya Seale, was the lone holdout. She does the near-impossible task of converting the other jurors to her way of thinking and the defendant is found not guilty. Unfortunately, the trial of the jury has just begun.

Moore is able to accurately capture jury service and the deliberation process. His writing style makes the story move quickly. Some of the actions of the characters require a suspension of disbelief but it does not take away from the story.

I do not want to give away anything so it is hard to say anything about specific parts of the book. I will say I thoroughly enjoyed chapter 23! It was creative and I was pleasantly surprised how the issue was handled.

Graham Moore is on my "authors to read as soon as they publish" list.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 2/25/20.