QUICK AND TAMAD SUMMARY:
A ship is set to sail to Amsterdam to transport a super valuable and mysterious thing called ‘The Folly’. But someone is wreaking havoc and the passengers are relying on Samuel Pipps (world’s greatest detective) and Arent Hayes (his loyal bodyguard) to uncover the culprit. Thing is, Samuel is being held prisoner, so Arent has to step up and do the investigating himself.
This book is an adventure. Na-inlove ako dun sa setting and how the author narrates the story. It’s as if I’m there as a passenger enjoying the sea breeze, watching the dolphins, and being amused and entertained by sailors fighting. Super fond of how the author describes scenes.
Dusk arrived in ribbons of purple and pink, a few stars puncturing the sky. There was no land in sight. Only water.
I also liked how the chapters were short. My Kindle is set to show how many minutes each chapter would take to read, and most of the time it would show ‘5 mins left in chapter’, sometimes even 1 minute. So whenever I see that the next chapter would only take 2-6 minutes to finish, the tendency is to read “just one more chapter”.
I can’t remember being bored reading this book. Impatient maybe. Kasi gustong gusto ko nang malaman kung sinong nag-devise ng plan to sabotage the ship! They all seemed so innocent. Sobra.
Also, this is our book club pick for November.
START OF SPOILERS
Una kong hula ay si Vos. Ang creepy nya kasi pero parang ang obvious masyado. Kaya napunta naman ako kay Sara. Kasi she seemed so kindhearted. Kaya naiisip ko na baka may surprise sa huli na masama pala sya. And sobrang hate nya din pala yung asawa nya (justifiably so) kaya hindi pa rin talaga sya lusot. Gustong gusto na nyang makawala kay Governor General. So andun yung motive. Kahit nung nasa island na sila sya pa din yung primary suspect ko 😂
Naisip ko pa na, with the urge from Sara, si Lia ang nag-plano ng lahat. Kasi nga Promil kid sya. And at one point naisip ko rin na baka related si Lia kay Samuel Pipps kase pareho silang gifted. Mali nanaman!
Yung mga gripping scenes dun sa book is yung storm and nung nagkakagulo na. Feel na feel ko yung chaos. Nung una diba parang adventure lang tapos after mangalahati, puro patayan na. Nagulat ako nung pinatay yung Captain. Napaisip tuloy ako bakit nga ba nag-deviate sa plan si Crauwel? Magtatanong pala ko sa book club Discord.
Kaya naman kase hindi ko napagkamalan si Creesjie, kasi yung pinapakita nyang character is someone who only cares about having a wealthy husband. So I only perceived her as a simple minded woman who’s a gold digger and cares too much about her looks. Tsaka diba nagpakita sya ng interest kay Vos nung nag-propose sya and promised her a comfortable life. It’s all an act pala. Kaya rin nasa baba sya ng list ko of suspects gawa dun.
Mas mataas si Pipps sa suspect list ko kesa kay Creesjie. Pero sa isip ko kasi, sobrang imposible na maging involved sya kasi nga nakakulong sya. Sobrang pa-victim pati nya. Ang hirap din maging sobrang suspicious sa kanya kasi nung binigay yung background nya sa una, akala mo yun na ‘yon. Not until nung na-reveal sa huli yung totoong family history nya. Tapos yung Saardam pala is specifically designed para makalabas sya sa kulungan nya. Tss.
Anyway, nung hindi pa nari-reveal ang lahat, nag-panic ako dun sa fake act ni Isabel. Kala ko talaga totoo! In fairness kay Sara and Arent naisip pa nila ‘yon.
RATING [4 🌟]
While I enjoyed almost everything and sobrang nakakaloko yung culprits, I feel like the ending is the weakest point in the book. Hindi ako super na-satisfy dun sa execution nung reveal. And yung ending, parang, ganun na lang ‘yon? But I must say it’s still worth reading kahit medyo let down yung ending.
Nakakaasar yung magkapatid kasi halos walang remorse. Mej nakakaasar din yung sobrang curiosity ni Sara and Lia nung ina-unfold na nung magkapatid kung pano nila na-execute yung devious plans nila. Parang may halong wonder pa nga. Mas nangibabaw yung curiousity nila kesa sa galit.
Although ang intention talaga is to kill Jan Haan, ang dami pa din nadamay na tao. Plus the animals huhu. Mapapatay pa ni Vos si Arent. So parang hindi ako ganun ka-agree na walang justice. Naging “Let’s just forgive and forget and form a star-studded group.” na lang.
QUOTES
I chuckled at this:
“What brings fine sirs like yourselves down to the arse end of the ship?” asked the constable, putting a dried piece of fish into his mouth. Far as Arent could tell, there wasn’t a single tooth waiting for it.
Power should be a burden, not a shield. It should be used to everybody’s betterment, not merely for the person who wielded it.
Sara: Courage isn’t an absence of fear. It’s the light we find when fear is all there is.
Sammy had once told him that love was the easiest thing to spot, because it didn’t look like anything else. It couldn’t hide itself, it couldn’t disguise itself, it couldn’t go unnoticed for very long.
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