The Unwedding by Ally Condie * *
The Unwedding by Ally Condie was a genuine disappointment for me, which is a shame, because the premise should have been a slam dunk. A luxury resort. A holiday setting. Murders that turn paradise into something claustrophobic and dangerous. I love mysteries that ruin people’s vacations. Hotels, beaches, cruise ships. That is my favourite playground for crime fiction. Unfortunately, the setting is almost the only thing this book gets right. I gave up at around 43%. Out of curiosity and stubbornness, I looked up the solution at the end, hoping it might convince me that the long, meandering middle was worth pushing through. It didn’t. If anything, it confirmed my decision to stop. My biggest problem is Ellery , the main character. We are firmly inside her head in third-person limited, and it is not a pleasant place to be. Ellery is going through a divorce; her ex has already moved on. That could have been handled with anger, bitterness, even sharp self-reflection. Instead, we get page ...