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reviewed 14 hao men by Peter Clines (Ai xiao shuo -- 57)

Review of '14 hao men' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I really loved this book. The characters are human and funny and flawed. Nate is a reluctant leader whose curiosity takes him to things he couldn't have imagined, and he had never been naturally curious. He just found his "thing."

The other characters bring a variety of skills and attitudes to the story, and the regular comparison to the Scooby Gang is fun. My favorite character is Xela, the naked artist. Reading this made me wish neighbors were like this, hanging out in a common area like the roof, discussing the day, and drinking beer... strangers growing to friends and supporting each other.

Oddly, I didn't find the 10% of the novel toward the end terribly interesting. The action was fine but it didn't move me. The rest of the story with the developing characters and the mystery seemed more engaging to me. The action was necessary to the plot, but compared to the rest of the story... just meh.