Oh when I read this book, I suffered each and every time Guntram and Konrad separated. These two characters plus the guards were so define and real to me. I did not mind that there were some translation errors at all. They both spoke English as a second language anyway so I enjoyed how their conversations were. It was a long book but I enjoyed every minute of it. This book lead me to read the second book and the other book where Konrad met Guntram second. I think this writer deserves more attention and I hope she continues to write more. I will never tire reading about Guntram and Konrad. So many interesting subplots. Sometimes, I wanted to slap both of them for acting so stubborn. Both of them suffered from being stubborn. I believe Konrad with all his faults truly needed and loved Guntram. Guntram loved Konrad but I felt sometimes he did not understand Konrad at all. Yet there times when Konrad missed some cues from Guntram too. What a love story plus all the other interesting twists and turns. I loved this book and everything by this author. WOW. WOW. WOW!!So this book is sensational in every front.The first disclaimer that I want to say is that I was forewarned that the writer was not an English-native speaker so there would be editing issues due to it. And there sure are but damn all if I was going to let that distract me from this brilliant story. Because of this warning, it would have been unfair of me to discount points from the raiting because of it, and even if I discounted 2 or 3 points, it would still end at 11 out of 5. I read it as one would read the diary of someone who English is not their first language. We all have a friend from another country, right? First of, I am in awe of how well- versed the author is in art history, international economics, history and geography, specially because I was studing Global Affairs during the same time period that she lists here. Her citation of actual events/financial situation is impressive. A lot of the political/social/economical crisis/situations that she mentions here, are depicted with great accuracy to the time period that she mentions. I surely take a bow to her on her research. 11 out of 5 points here.Plot: the more you reading, the more the plot thickens. The best part is that nothing you read should be dismissed as trivial information because it tights up at a later event. The plot was sooo good that I spent two sleepless nights because I could not put it down. It additionally prompted me to have a very eloquent monologue with my Kindle: ‘no way!’ 'nah ah'‘oh. my. Gawd”. I needed to know what would happen next. The action, angst, conspiracy, deceipt level and suspense are fenomenal. 11 out of 5 here too.The support cast: here is another 11 out of 5. I was so engaged and interested in them. My absolute favorite was Goran. The villains: yes, the villains were awesome. No character in this book was two dimentional. They were multifaceted characters. Most of them were not absolutely good or absolutely evil, except for Konrad’s mom and Stefania. I hated that Bitch! I liked Repin and his obsession with ‘his angel’. 5 out of 5 for the villains.Konrad: he was an absolute bastard but I couldn’t get enough of him. He was dark, broody, vindictive, and manipulative. (+11) The only place where I deducted points from him was with Stefania. His intelligence sure was in question here not to mention his carelessness having her around his children and Guntran, specially after the photoshop incident and the photoshoot with the magazine (-2). As cruel as he was to Guntram throughout the book, I think he went overboard with his constant humiliations of him involving Stefania (-1). It made me cringed. He also constantly used the children to manipulate and punish Guntram with his whole ‘they are OUR children, oh wait no, they are MY children’ yo-yo actions for which he never apologized to him (-1). So 11-4= 7 out of 5 for Konrad.Guntram: He started like a total airhead. He was so naïve and gullible always siding with the wrong side but we see our boy grow and evolve. Though he never truly shows his claws, because he had none, at least he stood up for himself on many ocassions. He loved his children. He was utterly selfless. He did a great job describing his paintings. His narration was dynamic and even made me laugh on a few ocassions. Ok, so this one is going to my top 10 all-time favorites. This book is an absolute masterpiece. Loved it!!!
What do You think about The Substitute (2000)?
If anyone knows where I can get an ebook version of this please let me know. Thanks!
—Jessica_Tran
Damn!!! What should I say about this book! I'm out of words now. ^.^
—Emory
