A shoutout to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book.
(“NETGALLEY!”)
Reading and reviewing it has been long pending from my end; made longer by the fact that I tried super-duper hard, but just couldn’t go through with reading the entire thing. It’s now one of the entries on my scarcely populated Did-Not-Finish list.
But… reviewed it must be, even if most of what I say is based on the 30% I did end up reading. So, here goes!
Source: Goodreads
Genre: Something between fantasy, science fiction, thriller, and mystery
Length: 428 pages
Blurb:
Will is a thirty-something old man with brown eyes and brown hair, who never ages and is visible in multiple photographs next to almost every famous person across the world and across all time. He’s being chased by some Vatican emissary (don’t know why) and generally goes around being kind and gentle, while also being a super famous (but unidentifiable) author and painter. Jillian, of some tabloid-fame, discovers the fact that he’s been around forever, and then something happens over the span of 48 hours right after New Year’s Eve that brings everyone in the story (mainly the people that Will has somehow been in touch with) together for a traumatic experience they never forget. Oh, and something evil lurks in the shadows (apparently).
Overall Rating: 1.5 out of 10
Plot: Promise of a plot gets 8 out of 10; Plot that actually unraveled gets 2 out of 10
Characterization: 6 out of 10
Primary Element: Too ‘all over the place’ to identify a primary element other than ‘drones on’
Writing Style: 1 out of 10
Part of a Series?
No.
Highlighted Takeaway:
Will – a bit over the top maybe, but likable to some extent.
What I Liked:
Nothing to write home (or on this blog) about.
What I Didn’t Like:
An immense amount of buildup from Page 1, but absolutely no movement, at least until 30% in (or even 40% in, as seen from the quick page-flipping I did).
Who Should Read:
- I don’t know… maybe people who can cook, work, clean, raise a child, answer calls, walk the dog, and undertake some personal grooming at the same time, because that’s how good at multi-tasking you need to be to follow the sheer number of storylines and characters.
Who Should Avoid:
Anyone who doesn’t want to spend the first ten minutes of every reading session going, “Who’s this person again and have they come before?”
Read It For:
- Ummm… checking to see if you’re still as sharp as you’ve always been?
Loved The Man of Legends or hated it? Let me know in the comments below!
– Rishika
