Bullet Train – (Thriller) Book Review

What a train ride.

To quote a line from the book:

“It was supposed to be a five-minute train trip, but there he is, over two and a half hours later and five hundred kilometers to the north. And somehow he feels like he’s got nowhere. Sucked into a journey he had no intention of takin, baffled, and exhausted, his body leaden and his mind like a gauze.”

This is how I felt throughout most of the story, especially when the Prince was involved.

Characters

I didn’t care for most of the characters, everyone was annoying and I just wanted it to end. But as soon as the grandparents got involved, things were actually starting to become fun.
I absolutely loved it when they got the upper-hand and used his own game against him. It’s always so incredibly satisfying when that happens to characters like these!!

I gotta admit, the Prince was an interesting character. But his personality is just so exhaustingly annoying. If I met him irl, I’d totally make sure to stay away from him. Not because he’s dangerous (well, that too), but mostly because of his personality. Felt like I lost 10 good years out of my life. And more years are slipping away from me, just by thinking of him. My face wrinkles, as I lie here like Sleeping Beauty does in her bed…
Okay, too dramatic?

I was honestly surprised by some deaths – characters, who were almost just as annoying, and because they were, I didn’t think they’d get the ending they got. No spoilers here, because as said, almost everyone was annoying.

I think I only cared about 2 people, Wataru and Nanao.
Well, the latter wasn’t that important, but I was curious what would happen to him with all his bad luck. You never knew with him, literally everything was possible. A POV worth following, lol.
On the other hand, Maria, a character that worked with Nanao and therefore always appeared in his chapters, was also one of the characters I really disliked, so also not that much worth reading.

The grandparents in the second half were really cool though, and these chapters truly were fun. I’m glad I didn’t drop the story and continued, because that was at least worth it.

Story

The story itself is meh.

I usually love thrillers, since it’s exciting to guess together with the characters who might do what, who’s the bad guy, etc. But this was rather laid out open – especially with the multiple POVs, there wasn’t much to guess because the reader knew who was who, and who was pulling what strings. Sure, there were some revelations at the end, but really small ones.

It does feel a bit of a waste, honestly. As said, the ending was satisfying and I’m glad I got to the part, but overall… meh. It didn’t feel like a thriller. I wasn’t excited, quite the opposite: kept dozing off and getting tired here and there.

The writing style is good, and I’m not sure where the problem exactly was, that a thriller failed to be thrilling. It’s not necessarily a bad book, and surely might be interesting to read through, but… simply “meh”. Best how I can describe it.

Read the book: 2nd November 2023
~Arden Skye

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