My Rating: 3.5 stars
This was a book club read for me and I have to say that if it hadn't been chosen as the month's read, I probably would not have picked it up on my own. The format of the book (in terms of chapter titles) is setup similar to a play, which is fitting given that the story is about a theater troupe at an art college devoted entirely to Shakespeare. There is a short prologue at the beginning of each "Act" that takes place in the present, where thirty-two year old Oliver Marks, who has just been released from prison, starts to recount parts of his story to Detective Colborne — the man who put him in prison in the first place. From there, we are taken back to 1997, where 7 young actors, all theater majors, are finishing up their fourth year at Dellecher Classical Conservatory in the small town of Broadwater, Illinois. As these actors study Shakespeare and reenact his various plays, playing roles that more or less mirror their real-life personalities (or not), there comes a point where the "acting" spills over into reality and soon, one of them ends up dead. As the investigation starts up, each of the remaining students becomes a suspect at some point and the quest to find out the truth, especially amongst a group of elite actors, becomes a near impossible mission.
Even though I was able to figure out the "mystery" as well as the ending way early on, this was by no means a traditional suspense thriller. It wasn't an easy read either — not necessarily because of the subject matter, but more because I had to put my "scholar" hat on in order to wade through much of the text, which I wasn't expecting. For nearly 50% of the book, nothing much seemed to happen aside from scene after scene of Shakespeare re-enactments. There were also a lot of quotes and references to Shakespeare's various works that I felt at times were a bit excessive, especially for someone who may not be as familiar with his repertoire. Most of the beginning sections of the story actually went over my head and I felt lost because I didn't understand the references for one, and two, I had no idea what the author was trying to do or where the story was trying to go. It wasn't until a little after the halfway mark when things started to pick up a bit and I finally figured out what was going on, that I become more engrossed in the story. By the time I got to the end, I finally understood how cleverly this story was actually written and while I did appreciate it, I was a bit too exhausted by the point to care as much as I probably should have.
Don't get me wrong though — I definitely feel that this was worth reading, it's just that I probably was not the best audience for it. I think if I had been more of a fan or a "scholar" of Shakespeare's works, this would've been a much more immersive read and I probably would've gotten more out of it. As it is, the only Shakespearean play I had studied in depth back during my school days was Romeo and Juliet (which is probably why I enjoyed the scenes in the book related to that play the most) — majority of the other ones mentioned in the book I had heard of and might have even read at some point, but never actually studied (which is perhaps why I don't remember most of them). For me personally, I probably would've enjoyed this more if it had fewer Shakespeare references and quotes (and focused more on the "murder mystery" perhaps), but then again, it likely would've become an entirely different story then. Regardless of my experience though, I feel that this was a strong debut and the right audience will definitely love it.
My Rating: 3.5 stars
This was a book club read for me and I have to say that if it hadn't been chosen as the month's read, I probably would not have picked it up on my own. The format of the book (in terms of chapter titles) is setup similar to a play, which is fitting given that the story is about a theater troupe at an art college devoted entirely to Shakespeare. There is a short prologue at the beginning of each "Act" that takes place in the present, where thirty-two year old Oliver Marks, who has just been released from prison, starts to recount parts of his story to Detective Colborne — the man who put him in prison in the first place. From there, we are taken back to 1997, where 7 young actors, all theater majors, are finishing up their fourth year at Dellecher Classical Conservatory in the small town of Broadwater, Illinois. As these actors study Shakespeare and reenact his various plays, playing roles that more or less mirror their real-life personalities (or not), there comes a point where the "acting" spills over into reality and soon, one of them ends up dead. As the investigation starts up, each of the remaining students becomes a suspect at some point and the quest to find out the truth, especially amongst a group of elite actors, becomes a near impossible mission.
Even though I was able to figure out the "mystery" as well as the ending way early on, this was by no means a traditional suspense thriller. It wasn't an easy read either — not necessarily because of the subject matter, but more because I had to put my "scholar" hat on in order to wade through much of the text, which I wasn't expecting. For nearly 50% of the book, nothing much seemed to happen aside from scene after scene of Shakespeare re-enactments. There were also a lot of quotes and references to Shakespeare's various works that I felt at times were a bit excessive, especially for someone who may not be as familiar with his repertoire. Most of the beginning sections of the story actually went over my head and I felt lost because I didn't understand the references for one, and two, I had no idea what the author was trying to do or where the story was trying to go. It wasn't until a little after the halfway mark when things started to pick up a bit and I finally figured out what was going on, that I become more engrossed in the story. By the time I got to the end, I finally understood how cleverly this story was actually written and while I did appreciate it, I was a bit too exhausted by the point to care as much as I probably should have.
Don't get me wrong though — I definitely feel that this was worth reading, it's just that I probably was not the best audience for it. I think if I had been more of a fan or a "scholar" of Shakespeare's works, this would've been a much more immersive read and I probably would've gotten more out of it. As it is, the only Shakespearean play I had studied in depth back during my school days was Romeo and Juliet (which is probably why I enjoyed the scenes in the book related to that play the most) — majority of the other ones mentioned in the book I had heard of and might have even read at some point, but never actually studied (which is perhaps why I don't remember most of them). For me personally, I probably would've enjoyed this more if it had fewer Shakespeare references and quotes (and focused more on the "murder mystery" perhaps), but then again, it likely would've become an entirely different story then. Regardless of my experience though, I feel that this was a strong debut and the right audience will definitely love it.
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