Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: One of Those Faces: A Novel

Top positive review

When "you look so familiar" isn't safe. Great debut novel!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 6, 2023

I enjoyed Elle Grawl's debut novel a lot.

The story, as narrated by the main character, Harper Mallen, had enough twists and turns to certainly keep me guessing until the very end. I even found myself telling her out loud, "don't go in there, don't do that, Harper!" Lol.

The premise, too, was an interesting take on the idea of having one or more doppelgängers out there. Or perhaps being someone else's as well. Having, you know, one of those faces that seemed all too familiar to other people.

Top critical review

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Amazon Customer

Ending ruined it for me

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 1, 2022

I would have given a higher rating but the ending ruined it for me. Too many unanswered questions. Very strange way to finish the story.

5,033 total ratings, 256 with reviews

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From Canada

Offer Kuban

When "you look so familiar" isn't safe. Great debut novel!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 6, 2023

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 14, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is a fast-paced thrill ride! The book definitely had me going “WTF” quite a few times. The heroine is the definition of an unreliable narrator, and I loved her for it. The book is easy to read and lightning-fast paced. There are quite a few twists to the plot, and I really loved the concept of the book - how a woman’s lookalikes are being killed in her city. Is it all just a coincidence, or is she the real target? Does this have anything to do with the fact that her twin sister died years ago? There are so many fascinating characters to be suspicious of, from her love interest who keeps showing up everywhere, her old friend who knows the secrets of her past, to the mysterious cop who seems a little too invested in this case…

Helpful

Melyssa Curtis

Hard to Put Down

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

Colour me surprised that this was a first novel. It read like someone who has been writing for years. Incredibly well written and way too hard to put down once started. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I had no idea where this would go. How things would play out in the end. Often times I can see things coming, but with this, especially given the ending, I didn't see any of it coming.

My only real complaint was the ending didn't quite feel like an ending. With what has taken place there was an opening for more. So less concrete than I would have liked but a great story overall.

Will definitely read more from this author in the future.

Helpful

Terry

A good, fluid read!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 6, 2022

Verified Purchase

Hard to put down. I finished it in 3 days. I will watch for more from this author, in the future.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Ending ruined it for me

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 1, 2022

Verified Purchase

I would have given a higher rating but the ending ruined it for me. Too many unanswered questions. Very strange way to finish the story.

Helpful

Lacey

Book

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

Free book from Prime membership. Haven’t read yet but looks interesting

Helpful

Sharon Bowers

Inexpensive Headphones That Work

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

Works great.

Helpful

Evelyn

I recommend giving it a miss

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 15, 2022

Verified Purchase

Terrible book, poorly written. Don’t waste your time and money.

One person found this helpful

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From other countries

Christopher

Page turner that ultimately loses its way with a weak finish

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

"One of Those Faces" has an interesting premise, a great cast of characters, and the writing and plot were engaging enough to keep me turning pages to the very end. However, certain aspects of the plot are unrealistic and the finale is unsatisfying and doesn't resolve many outstanding questions raised.

***Spoiler Alert if you continue reading below***

The blurb for the novel pushes the fact that Harper--the main character--keeps running into people (several throughout the novel) who have a striking resemblance to herself. This tantalizing detail is teased throughout the novel, but is never resolved. No cloning plot line, no lost sisters, nothing. It's just a tease with no payoff.

As the story progresses, we learn that a number of people in Harper's circle of friends and acquaintances are bad news. There's the lecherous landlord who tries to kill her, the dirty cop who tries to kill her, and her own father who apparently tried to kill her in the back story prior to the opening of the book, and the drug-dealing boyfriend who apparently supplied the drugs that killed his ex--who just happens to be one of Harper's many doppelgangers that appear throughout the novel by sheer coincidence. It's all just too unbelievable. Too many people are trying to kill Harper for different reasons for the plot to be realistic.

And then there's Harper, herself. Throughout the novel she keeps having blackout episodes and/or memory loss episodes where she wakes up finding evidence that she has been out sleepwalking, or maybe chopping someone up with a knife. This is teased throughout the novel with hints that she might be the murderer. And, in the end, we do learn that she, herself, did kill someone. But the ends are not tied off, no explanation is given for why she's a sleepwalking murderess, and we're left with feeling ripped off for having invested hours of our lives reading this book. It's like heading to a reportedly great restaurant and getting there to find that it's been turned into a run-of-the mill burger joint.

Lastly, there's the ending. After all the people trying to kill her are themselves dispatched to the great beyond, and after just learning that Harper is a sleepwalking murderer, it's revealed that her medical school student boyfriend with whom she's just moved cross-country with to start a new life is a drug dealer who's stealing and re-selling the medications of patients at the hospital where he's been working. We're left on the cliff hanger with no resolution. No details on just how many people Harper did or did not kill herself, and no details on whether or not her drug-dealing boyfriend intentionally killed a fellow-student who was onto his scam.

But wait! There is yet another bombshell that is left unresolved! AlSO in the last scene, in her boyfriend's closet, Harper finds her long-ago ex-boyfriend's notes from his current job as a journalist that indicate he was zeroing in on the drug-dealing boyfriend's scam. Said ex-boyfriend has just had an "accident" which resulted in him being put in a coma. End of story. So, no resolution to this bombshell, either.

This novel was a page-turner precisely because you expect all these plot points to be resolved in the end. But they aren't. Now that you know this, I doubt you'd find it interesting enough to read yourself.

52 people found this helpful

Diane

Left confused

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 8, 2023

Verified Purchase

I found the jumping around annoying and the story really far fetched. Persevered as I wanted to know who was gaslighting the main character and who she could trust but sad!y a story left unsatisfactorily unfinished

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5 star		29%
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3 star		26%
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