Secret History

This is a book that overstays its welcome, though I do feel like that's kind of the point.

Split into two parts (or 'books'), the first one is far more engaging than the second. Perhaps it's because all of the action for what transpires happens in the first book. You see the frustration and the conspiracy between the primary characters, and it finally culminates in what every other character in the book believes to be a tragic "accident."

The second part basically unravels those primary characters, both for the reader and for the characters. But this is where it feels like it overstays everything, and I stopped caring about any of what was happening. I had to force myself to finish this bit, and I felt compelled because I was already so far into the book. It was a slog.

This isn't helped because, at no point, are any of these characters really interesting people who you can like. They're all entirely unlikable, but it's unlikable in a way that a person sees a particularly rotten politician. You don't want to follow their movements, but you're compelled to because of external forces. Many of them aren't interesting, though I also feel that this is the point. These characters are incredibly shallow and perceive superficial but grand gestures as being the only way through a problem.

Probably the most interesting bit of the second 'book' is the part where the protagonist starts to believe that his actions were part of the plan all along, even when he didn't recognise it as being something that could so easily be controlled. But so many threads of interest were used in ways that were entirely underwhelming or felt completely dropped, and that was one.