~Quick Review~ While the number of characters and details in this mystery novel was somewhat confusing, I really enjoyed The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. The mystery of the novel kept me turning the pages, and it was a fairly interesting and exciting book. The Westing Game is now one of my favorite novels.
>~Other Information~ Publisher: Puffin Modern Classics Page Count: 192 pages
~Quick Synopsis~ The sixteen heirs of Sam Westing gather for the reading of his will, and odd events start occurring. Bombs are set off, items go missing, and no one is what they seem. The heirs must discover who “murdered” Sam Westing to win the prize before it is too late.
~Characters~ There was a large number of characters in The Westing Game, which for me, was somewhat confusing. For the sake of the review, I will not be talking about all sixteen (plus) characters, however, I will talk about my favorite, Turtle. Turtle at first seemed like a brat who no one liked, even Turtle felt like her own mother despised her. As the story goes on and more unfolds, we see different sides of her and in the end, her character growth was spectacular. She ends up being a businesswoman and makes 4 million in profit from the stock market. There was something about seeing Turtle go from a bratty little kid to a mature, succeeding adult, that made me love her character even more. Obviously, I liked other characters as well. Such as Mrs. Baumbach who Turtle regards almost like a mother. The one character I did not like, however, was Grace Wexler (Turtle’s mother). She always treated Turtle like a mistake, once even saying to her husband that she thought the hospital might have mixed up the babies at birth. Also, Grace was consistently so hard on Angela, even if she didn’t mean to be. Anyways, the characters are all amazing and added so much to the story. I’m also so glad that we get an epilogue that lets us know what happened to them all.
However, with so many characters it was hard for me to keep them all straight. I had to constantly refer back to a list of apartments and their renters just to have an idea of who was who. As the story went on and I became accustomed to the various characters it became easier to know who the author was talking about, but it still was quite difficult.
~Writing and Setting~ The writing was very descriptive. I had a similar issue with the writing as I did with the characters, however, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Since The Westing Game is a mystery novel, I took it upon myself to pay attention to the finer details so that I could try and solve the mystery along with the characters. There were so many red herrings in the novel that made you think one thing was another, which frustrated me (I thought I was so close to figuring it out!), but that’s what all mystery novels do!
The Westing Game takes place in Wisconsin, along the coast of Lake Michigan. While the setting isn’t very important to the story, the Wisconsin weather does appear. The characters are snowbound in their apartments at Sunset Towers (I think is the name), which allows for explosions and mischief to occur. However, as I said before, the setting doesn’t really play a role in the overall story.
~Plot~ Oh. My. Goodness. Where do I begin? The plot of The Westing Game is spectacular. As it is a mystery book, the ending surprised me, as I had been certain that I had found the answer. It took me a while to get into the book as it started off very slow, but the novel quickens its pace very suddenly and you are thrown into the story.
I can’t say much without spoiling the entire novel, but my mind was blown. I would have never seen the ending coming, and Ellen Raskin in a pure genius for coming up with the idea. Anyways, I love mystery novels, and this one is certainly one of my favorites.
~Overall Review~ The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is a spectacular mystery novel. There were a few minor issues, but they did not affect my love of the story. Overall, I recommend that you read this novel if you are a fan of the mystery genre!
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