i know for a fact that i have read this book multiple times, and yet i never ever remember what happens.

either that's a gift because i get to be surprised by the mystery every time...

or it's just not that memorable of a read for me.

glass half empty or half full situation.

part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago blah blah

Brilliant YA whodunnit with a wonderful cast of characters who come to realise there is more to life then millions of dollars (or is there?)

O carte destul de interesanta, pe care autoarea a scris-o pentru copii si adolescenti.
Dupa parerea mea, romanul ridica dificultati chiar si pentru adulti - cere foarte multa atentie pentru detalii si oboseste cititorul cu aceasta necesitate constanta de a fi atent la mai multe lucruri. Astfel, daca un singur indiciu este ratat, scad considerabil sansele de a intui criminalul.
Un alt aspect care nu mi-a placut este maniera comica si superficiala cu care se vorbeste, pana la urma, despre un cadavru si o crima. Aceste lucruri mi se par foarte grave si serioase iar un roman care are in centru ancheta unei crime nu ar trebui tratat cu atata usurinta chiar daca este destinat tinerilor.
Consider ca un roman politist bun ar trebui sa implice cititorul in jocul aflarii adevarului. Desi e important ca identitatea faptasului sa fie cat mai ascunsa, cititorul trebuie sa aiba o reala sansa sa descopere vinovatul. Acesta nu trebuie sa oboseasca sau sa se piarda in foarte multe detalii pentru a nu se transforma intr-un cititor pasiv care parcurge cartea doar ca sa o termine.
Pentru ca jocul sa fie memorabil, este nevoie de o enigma interesanta dar si de o modalitate de a o descifra pentru ca nimanui nu-i place sa piarda.

(2.5) i'm in the minority on this one, I just couldn't get into it... I think it's me not the book - not quite my cup of tea. For me there were too many characters, too many confusing details, and it didn't move along fast enough.. i just lost patience and started skimming pages to get to the end. I can see how it's really clever though, and why it's so well liked. Just not for me.

Brilliant!

a favorite from my childhood

I reread this classic to finish the year, and I enjoyed it once again. It hits differently knowing the ending… but as an adult I have to mention the themes of prejudice and discrimination that are woven throughout this book. There are numerous reviews and editorials analyzing the themes of this book from people much smarter than me, all of which I find fascinating. This book is a Newbery Award winner and one of my favorites from long ago. 5⭐️ (because that’s what my teenage self would have given it!)

This should seriously be added to the annals of “The World’s Most Brilliant, Strange Books”. I "solved" the mystery twice and was still wrong both times. :D I even had what I thought was a major spoiler to help me. I was still wrong! But in the end all the twists and turns made perfect sense, and I was left wondering how I hadn’t seen it all before. Also, this book has a grand total of sixteen point of view characters! I would usually call that a bad thing, but this author somehow made me care (sometimes even love) each character and recognize them by name. ;) A+ for character development!!

I enjoyed the clever clues, the even greater mystery lurking in the shadows, and the quirky cast of characters. Jake Wexler and Theo were my absolute favorites. :D It was really neat to see how, even if there was only one winner to the game, everyone’s lives were brightened and changed by their participation. And I really liked the end. <3 I cried over all the sweetness and the emptiness of one character’s life.

Just a note that there are some bad attitudes among the children, a bit of slight feminism, and a very theatrically descriptive tall tale about a corpse that is repeated several times during the opening of the book.

Best quote: “I remember the will said, 'May God thy gold refine.' That must be from the Bible."
"Shakespeare," Turtle said. All quotations were either from the Bible or Shakespeare.

Altogether, I very much enjoyed my jaunt into this quirky, brilliant book!

I loved this book! There are so many good characters and the way it all lays out in the end is fantastic! The beginning is iffy but if you keep reading it turns out to be a really good book!

The final chapters of this book might be some of the best story resolution I’ve ever read. It’s an efficiently wrapped-up mystery with heart, character growth, and a satisfying ending.

This was my first time reading The Westing Game, and I see how it has inspired so many other stories (especially after finishing The Inheritance Games)!

But honestly, it took me a LONG time to adjust to the style of this book. It constantly swaps between the 16+ characters without warning, sometimes within the same paragraph. I had to re-read things multiple times to understand whose perspective I was following. I also haven’t read older fiction in a while, so even just the vernacular and writing style tripped me up at times.

Then I go to the reviews and find out that most people read this in 5th grade.

…It was a humbling moment for me.

However, I’m sure this is a book you could read multiple times over and discover new things each time. I’m sure I’ll return to it with my students or future kids someday!

Unpopular Opinion: Turtle profusely bothered me for most of the story. Maybe it’s because I didn’t read this as a kid, so I’m a bit too old to relate to her shin-kicking shenanigans?

#nope #don't like that

The whole "game" plot was very manipulative, in an extremely morbid, creepy way, and then when it turned out to be LITERALLY FAKE at the end, I was like

*flips table*

*RAGES*

xD

This is a crazy plot that shows the human greed when the possibility of getting a fortune is close at hand.

The characters are quirky and still very well developed.

I have to admit that I was lost from time to time but overall, it was enjoyable.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't enjoy rereading books, no matter if I thought they were great. But, I could read The Westing Game over and over again, never getting bored. It has such a carefully structured plot and a wonderfully delicious set of characters. I cannot stand when authors can't bounce between different characters with smooth transitions, but Ellen Raskin did it with absolute grace. It's a children's mystery, but a person of any age could enjoy it as much as I did. There's a new plot twist at every turn that keeps you guessing throughout the entire book, but the biggest one of all is at the very end, and let me tell you, WOW was I not expecting it... And I'm usually pretty good with guessing the culprit if ya know what I mean. With the way the author constructed and presented the book, nothing is predictable, and she for sure keeps you on your toes. My very favorite character through it all was Tabitha, or "Turtle." I cannot stress enough how much you need to read this book. Please do, so you can bask in its written glory with me. ;)