His and Hers Review: Kubrick's Game

Danny read this book first and encouraged me to read it. So here's both our reviews:

Shawn Hagan, a college film student obsessed with legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, discovers hidden clues in his movies which lead him on a harrowing quest toward a mysterious treasure that Kubrick left behind. Endangered by sinister groups on the same quest, Shawn has no choice but to claim the prize first because in the wrong hands … "It has the power to change the course of history."

Goodreads

HIS: Best book I read in a long time. 4 out of 5 stars only because the ending was a little "meh" compared to the rest of the story. Reading this book brought back all the feelings of joy and excitement I had when reading as a kid. The story was fantastic. Pulled you in early and hard, and then didn't let go until the end. I found myself saying "one more page" or "one more chapter" so many times because I needed to know what happened next.

Characters were OK, nothing special really, and were pretty much one-note. What I thought really shined was the city of Los Angeles, where most of the story took place, because with its landmarks and history, it was essentially an additional character, but the real stars were the filmography of Stanley Kubrick, which I knew very little about, and the filmmaker himself. Reading this book proved to be an educational experience, and once I was done, all I wanted to do was watch a Stanley Kubrick film and read another Derek Taylor Kent book. 

*******
HERS: Oh my goodness! I was not expecting to be so hooked on this book from the very beginning! It had been a while since a book had me wanting to keep on reading and skip sleep. When this book was first described to me, I thought it sounded fun but it felt more like up my husband's alley. Luckily, my husband convinced me to give Kubrick's Game a try because it was fantastic!

The story was very engaging and had me gripping the pages. The pacing was fast and the chapters were short. This was great because it gave the reader little breaks in between all of the action, plus it gave me the chance to process all of the clues that were given. Before this book, I was not aware much on Stanley Kubrick's work. Yes, I've seen some of his films, but reading this mystery game of a book encouraged me to go back to Kubrick's films and see if I can find the same clues as were mentioned in the book. 

Now let me talk about the characters: the characters were not fleshed out completely but I did enjoy them, especially the main character. The protagonist, Shawn, was a young adult film student with autism (he was never officially diagnosed due to his cruel father). As a special education teacher, my heart immediately went out to Shawn. I was proud how he tried to step out of his shell and stood his ground when things were not right. I also wanted to give him a big hug when the professors at UCLA mistreated him, especially his parents. When I read these scenes, I kept yelling out loud, "Why is this happening? Why doesn't he have a 504 plan?!" And my hubby would respond, "Shhh...it's just a book." Grr! In other words, I became too involved with the book. 

This book would have received a five star review from me but the ending kind of killed it. It was not terrible but the ending was not what I was hoping for. It was rushed and anti-climatic. The entire book was thought out well and was very descriptive with all of the clues. So when I read the ending, I felt cheated. In fact, I was confused. I thought I missed something so I went back and re-read the chapter. The author tried to make it a small happy ending for Shawn but it was not developed well. 

As a whole, this was a wonderful read. It had my heart speeding, it had me aching for more, and it inspired me to check out Stanley Kubrick's movies. The book was almost perfect. I give it 4.5 stars.