Review of "The Dinner"

"The Dinner" by Herman Koch
Translated from Dutch by Sam Garrett
Published by Hogarth


3.75/5 stars (I just can't give it 4, although the rest of my book club did)


This is an odd book in that the first third I found very comical, the middle started to turn a little dark and made you consider your own personal values and morals, and then there is the last third of the book......it is completely dark and disturbing.  You end up hating all the characters.  There isn't one redeeming quality about any of them.


The novel takes place during a single evening, the majority of which is during dinner in a fancy restaurant.  Granted, there are flashbacks thrown in there as well.  Two brothers and their wives go to dinner and there is a huge "elephant in the room" regarding their sons recent actions.  The police have a video, but only the family knows it's them.  Should it remain that way?  Once they decide to openly discuss it.....all hell breaks loose.  The things these people say and do will shock you.


This is not a book for everyone because, as I said, parts are quite dark and disturbing.  If you are OK with that, then give it a try.  And then let me know what you would do if it were your son or daughter.

Review - "Most Wanted" by Lisa Scottoline

“Most Wanted” by Lisa Scottoline

Published by St. Martin’s Press

Finished 4/9/16

4/5 stars

I’m a huge Lisa Scottoline fan, so maybe I went into this book expecting too much but I just didn’t love it as much as I hoped to.  My issues were that at times it seemed that some of it felt a little too far fetched and that I thought the husband should have played a larger role.  I also didn’t love the ending.  You knew going into it that the ending was going to have to somehow be wrapped into a package for you,  but I think it lacked some depth to the ending.  I can’t go into details for fear of ruining it for others but the ending truly felt like it just came out of left field. 

With that all being said, I did enjoy it.  It was an interesting concept that makes you wonder how you would feel if the father of the child you are carrying could be a serial killer.  Is that a trait that can be inherited?  Some say yes, others say no.  How would it feel to raise a child that that could possibly turn on you one day while you sleep?  Could you love it unconditionally?  Could you trust them 100%?  And what, if anything, would you do to help the donor if you could?  I’m glad these are questions I don’t have to worry about personally.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of the ebook in return for an honest review.