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277 pages
First published December 25, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 6, 2017
A charming fable-like story. Took me a while to get into the style of writing, but I did end up liking it. I know no one really talks like the characters did in the book, but go with it, and you might just like it. The people weren't particularly well fleshed out, but the town itself seemed like a great character.
I did wish the book would have been tighter and more concise. It did get a little difficult making it all the way to the finish, but I was curious enough to want to find out how it all ended.
The story kind of reminded me of the Simpsons monorail episode :)
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I did wish the book would have been tighter and more concise. It did get a little difficult making it all the way to the finish, but I was curious enough to want to find out how it all ended.
The story kind of reminded me of the Simpsons monorail episode :)
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 17, 2019
Honestly I have no idea what this book brings to the literary world. It is pages and a pages of people queuing for lottery tickets and precious little else. a Political Satire according to its metadata yet it fulfils none of the identifying factors for satire "the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues" I certainly didn't smile let alone laugh I am sorry this just does not work
February 23, 2020
A very good idea for a moral tale, but it reads like a first or second draft. I got surprised by the repeats of the dialogues, on and on, and I expected more from the plot line. This would be better perhaps as a short story.
March 18, 2020
This book was interesting. It was a quick read with a good moral but it felt preachy and heavy-handed. The old-fashioned tone was unique and even though you know how it's going to end from the very beginning, it was an enjoyable read.
July 12, 2018
Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for giving a free copy of this book to review.
On the face of it, ‘The Plainview Lottery’ is a cautionary tale about greed and the susceptability of the human condition.
Plainview is a sleepy, content little town. All that changes when a few strangers arrive in the town overnight and set up a lottery. The promise of untold riches brings a gleam to every citizen’s eye and soon, the town capitulates to avarice. Regular, honest citizens give up their responsibilities and drain their savings in the pursuit of wealth, as they buy stacks of tickets in the vain hope that they will win.
As one might correctly assume, the game is rigged from the start and the strangers are only out to make a quick buck.
There was a lot of potential to the story, but Markas Dvaras squandered it all by settling for tacky prose and repetitive plot. The dialogue too, lacks life, as characters speak as if they’re reading lines from a script.
If done well, this could have been a wonderfully complex tale with rich, fully realised characters. As it were, the characters were not fleshed out and so, lack any depth. They’re more caricatures than people and as a result, you feel little empathy for them. Given that this was meant to teach a moral or two, the book fails as it, like I mention, does not draw any empathy from the reader.
For the novel idea and the interesting start to the book, I give this 2.5 stars.
On the face of it, ‘The Plainview Lottery’ is a cautionary tale about greed and the susceptability of the human condition.
Plainview is a sleepy, content little town. All that changes when a few strangers arrive in the town overnight and set up a lottery. The promise of untold riches brings a gleam to every citizen’s eye and soon, the town capitulates to avarice. Regular, honest citizens give up their responsibilities and drain their savings in the pursuit of wealth, as they buy stacks of tickets in the vain hope that they will win.
As one might correctly assume, the game is rigged from the start and the strangers are only out to make a quick buck.
There was a lot of potential to the story, but Markas Dvaras squandered it all by settling for tacky prose and repetitive plot. The dialogue too, lacks life, as characters speak as if they’re reading lines from a script.
If done well, this could have been a wonderfully complex tale with rich, fully realised characters. As it were, the characters were not fleshed out and so, lack any depth. They’re more caricatures than people and as a result, you feel little empathy for them. Given that this was meant to teach a moral or two, the book fails as it, like I mention, does not draw any empathy from the reader.
For the novel idea and the interesting start to the book, I give this 2.5 stars.
May 4, 2024
The Plainview Lottery is a cautionary tale. Plainview is a content peaceful town until one day, some strangers come to town and offer a lottery. Greed gets the best of the townspeople as they drain their savings in hopes of winning. The lottery is obviously a scam. It's a tale we've all heard before to be content with what you have. The story was just too long and repetitive. Otherwise, not a bad read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
done-with
March 15, 2018Ok, I think this should have been a short story - or novella at most. I'm 20% in and already it feels like it's dragging and there's nowhere to go that isn't obvious. It's entirely possible there are hidden surprises here, but frankly the flat, one-dimensional characters and flat, one-dimensional tale thus far are not enough to drive my curiosity to find out... Despite the intriguing concept, this one just did not appeal to me at all.
My review copy was provided by NetGalley.
My review copy was provided by NetGalley.
May 1, 2019
Worth reading just for the uniqueness of it, but could have used one more round of editing. Human nature explored.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews