Reviews

Congo by Michael Crichton

syndi3's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is one of my favorite from Michael Crichton. The treasure hunting, the crazy adventure. I especially touch by the relationship between the chimpanze and human. Above all the adventure is really setting the heart pace on a wild rate. 

I also like the movie.

toeffy's review against another edition

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adventurous informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Not bad but somewhat disappointing

When in the mood for a science-based thriller you can't go wrong with Michael Crichton... Or so I thought, because apparently you can.

First of all, there was waaay too much technical and historical info dumping. The actual story takes place in the last 20% of the book, the rest is page after page of tech speak interspersed with historical trivia about the exploration of the Congo. This book should have been marketed as "fictional non-fiction" instead of "gripping thriller". 

And that's my second issue with this novel, there's not much story to begin with and what little there is... Is no thriller. It's bland. Illogical. Requires way too much suspension of disbelief. It feels like the author went through a checklist of stereotypical African dangers (Pygmies, cannibals, hippos, corrupt war lords, ...) and made the protagonists encounter them all over the span of a few days. And the encounters themselves were hardly dangerous, rather they were used for more info-dumping. All tell, no show. 

Explanations for certain plot points were either not provided at all (why did the "monster" use such a specific killing technique?) or were implausible (why did they even bring Amy? There was no guarantee whatsoever that she would be useful - the money it took to bring her would be better invested in a heavily armed squad of mercenaries). 

So, overall it was a tedious and disappointing read. Not awful, but thoroughly meh. 

slvstrlpz's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

klynnweber's review against another edition

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3.5

The technical jargon in the beginning was a bit of a slog, but there were some interesting nuggets of information. The second half of the story was a wild ride.

patricklyons's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

4.0

llamabee7's review against another edition

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3.0

It had some amazing sections - totally immersive - and some less amazing sections - 3.5

carryoncrab's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This book is quite a mixed bag. It has its good moments and there are some scary monkeys,
but everything seems like it is solved too easily or conveniently. It also never really feels like anything is at stake because the author lets you know all the main characters make it out alive pretty early on.
That brings me to the weirdest part of this book, it’s written like the events of the book really happened. It has background information and cites fictional events like they are real. I don’t really know how to explain it here but there are so many insignificant details added that I literally had to look up what was fiction and what was not. 
Also
Karen straight up ruined the mission and lead to a guy dying and she’s like “I suppose I made a mistake. She should have died to a monkey.

prab's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is definitely the best Michael Crichton book I've read to date. It wasn't as thrilling as I hope however, the plot is engaging enough that keep me going.

The relationship between Elliot and Amy always make me smile.

However, the end let me down just as other Crichton's book. It feels rush and unfulfilling. Though the epilogue has wrapped up the story quite well, I just hope the climax is longer a bit.

jack_skye's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tncrocke's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0