*long, drawn-out sigh*

I feel really really bad saying this, but it was a disappointment for me. The set up sounded so juicy, but it didn't live up to it for me :(Overall, I found it superficial, melodramatic and unbelievable. By that I mean, I believe these characters could have indeed existed as people and that these events could indeed have happened, however I did not believe the development was sufficient in making the characters multidimensional and circumstances were insufficiently described.Now, I know a lot of...

First of all, let me say that I was dying to give this book five stars...but there were a few big things that meant that I couldn't.First off, what I liked: Oh my gosh. This is an author with a great voice. The wording was excellent and it pulled me in from the get-go. She knows how to create atomosphere without bogging the book down in pointless detail and that is a skill that is lacking far too often in books. She didn't use a lot of words when she set her scenes, but I could actually smell th...

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell is one of those novels with the right amount of suspense and intrigue that leaves you guessing right until the novel's conclusion.The story centres around Rose who is employed as a stenographer in a New York Police Department and appears to be innocent and naive and somewhat staid in her ways. Rose's life changes forever the day the other typist is hired to work in her department and we see Rose become obsessed by the flamboyant Odalie.Rose is an unreliable na...

This was an excellent debut, and the author will no doubt go on to write some great stuff. I see this as a movie.However. There were some elements (no spoilers) that just weren't quite believable. And I have some historical quibbles. No one will care but me - I'm just satisfying my urge to nitpick:1. The protagonist claims a typing speed of 160 wpm. The world speed record was 147 wpm in 1923. I type 92 wpm on a modern computer keyboard, but I learned on a 1920s era Underwood, which is why I chec...

3.5 starsWell, I feel like I need a cigarette and a martini. What to say about this book? It's such a mind-fuck that it's hard to piece together, and I'm not certain that the story (or the ending) actually makes sense. Set in the mid-1920s in New York during the Prohibition, the novel follows Rose (the narrator) who becomes obsessed (perhaps sexually) with another typist at work: the beautiful, charming, alluring, mysterious Odalie. Rose and Odalie are typists at a New York police station. They ...

The opening line of "The Other Typist" was captivating: "They said the typewriter would unsex us."But from there, it was all downhill.This was hands-down one of the most disappointing, poorly written novels I have read in the past few years. The premise excited me: an intrigue/thriller set in 1920s "speakeasy" New York. Sounds good, right? But for all the author's excess use of adjectives, I got no sense of place from her writing. The characters may bob their hair, go to speakeasies and drink ho...

This story is a well-written, twisty tale of obsession, betrayal and murder. I absolutely loved it!! Although not as bleak and complex, this mystery reminded me somewhat of The Woman Upstairs. The two novels involve self-absorbed, repressed and unreliable narrators. Both women become acquainted and then obsessed with someone smooth, sophisticated and charismatic; and that person represents all that they desire for themselves. Any more details would ruin all the fun. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Moderately entertaining, I suppose, but this has to be one of the most overwritten books of all time. So many adjectives! So many adverbs! So many idioms when a single word would do just as well! Vast amounts of clunky, obvious foreshadowing! And a narrator who's unreliable--which we know because she helpfully tells us so, several times. Uh, that's not really how you're supposed to do it. The whole thing reads like some kind of parody. I can't recommend it. If you're in the mood for some 1920s-s...

I don't know how I can properly review this book. My head is still reeling from that ending.This book is a delicious mix of 1920s crime, punishment and mystery. Just who are Rose and Odalie, really? I still don't know. Which one is Ginevra? Were either of them ever Ginevra?I am a sucker for a poisonous relationship in a book and all that it can bring, and this one is TOXIC. Odalie is mesmerising to everyone, even the reader who should be able to see through her. She is like an enchantress, weavi...