Mini - Comments

Here is another set of mini-comments. This time it's books that didn't impress me enough to make me feel like writing a lot about them, to be honest. Still, I want to leave at least a few notes about each book I have in my lists, including the ones I liked less.

Inda by Sherwood Smith had been in the pile for years and I probably got it because it was mentioned by readers who also recommended fantasy books with possible LGBT characters. There was a time I was quite interested in these books, but as it happened with another similar book I had had in the pile for long, so did this one disappoint. 

I only read 100 pages (out of 600 more or less in my edition) when I decided to DNF. The story was set in a sort of military/coming of age society which, sadly, didn't appeal to me at all. There was so much talk about battles or preparing for them, and bullying and keeping secrets and political agendas between different characters that I got terribly annoyed and decided to stop. I suppose the elements that make this a rich and compelling read might come after, but I was not interested to endure things I might not like to reach the good parts.

Inda, the main character, is a kid when the story begins and it seems most characters get older as the story develops, but I just didn't care. I might have been unfair in why I decided to stop, but the truth is that what I did read did not stay with me, so... one less book to worry about. I did read a few reviews after, and that is enough to satisfy my curiosity about the "what ifs".

Grade: DNF

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The Unexpected Guest by Charles Osborne, based on a play by Agatha Christie was a rather short story about a man who suddenly shows up at a house after his car broke down and when no one answers the door, he manages to find another entry and stumbles on a couple, but the man is dead and his wife claims she did it. He, then, helps her to cover up things before the rest of the household and the police shows up...

As always, when it comes to a story planned by Agatha Christie, there's a crime to investigate and a clever solution, but I will say that this one felt a little weak to me. Or, perhaps, it was the way mr Osborne thought on how to construct the narrative. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, but if the inspiration was the play, perhaps there wasn't enough to start from, or perhaps mr Osborne didn't want to "invent" on someone else's work, but what I felt like reading was that this was too short and under developed.

The crime's motif and its execution were, as assumed if Agatha Christie has her mark on it, cleverly done and planned, but the explanations and the sequence of events a little ineffective, in my opinion. However, it was an easy story to read and does satisfy those who like these types of crime stories.

Grade: 6/10