[REVIEW] The Baltimore Boys by Joël Dicker

After a month of being completely cut-off from reading and blogging The Baltimore Boys was the perfect first book to start my summer filled with amazing to-be-read books. I have been reading it for a while but in the last 2 days I have completely devoured every word of it.

As I’ve given the synopsis above I won’t be revealing much about this book.  To people who have read The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair the character of Marcus Goldman will be familiar and in this book we learn more about him and his past with this sequel/prequel to the first book. I will note that this book can be read as a standalone. I have known about Dicker’s first book for a while and do own it but haven’t gotten to it yet. I am curious to know how I’ll perceive The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair now that I’ve read The Baltimore Boys – we’ll find out when I find some time in the future to read it (it’s very very long). I have to say that I loved reading this book so much! I was invested in the story and followed every single one of the happenings – I gasped, I rolled my eyes, I felt sad. There’s no doubt that Dicker is a brilliant young writer whose imagination easily translates into words with such depth. The book deals with two families – The Baltimore Goldmans and The Baltimore Montclairs – (it mostly centers around The Baltimore Goldmans) we experience the youth, adolescence and life of The Baltimore Goldmans through the lens of Marcus Goldman and occasionally we see the narrative change to some key events which are very insightful and keep the reader fully invested in the story.

I have to compliment the way Dicker crafted the characters of Woody and Hillel (as well as other characters) because I loved the way they came into each others lives and it made them more real. The way the author made characters have flaws and their own issues made me want to keep reading even though I found some parts to be a bit dry I still fully appreciated the book. The book alternates between past and 2012 (present) and we see Marcus tell his story as well as dealing with the return of his old flame Alexandra Neville. The idea that people who are very close can still have many issues with each other and not really know each other is something I find interesting to read about and this book was the perfect portrayal of that. I have to add that the last 100 pages were jaw dropping – just as you think that the author will give the reader something satisfying everything changes and quickly turns into dust. This proves that the author has skills to write a great plot twist which (after finishing the book) leaves you emotionally empty.

‘Everything begins the way everything ends, and books often begin with the end.’

Overall, this was a fantastic book about love, betrayal, closeness, loyalty among two families that will make you want to pick up more of Joel Dicker if you haven’t already read his first book. Seriously, this one needs to be on your shelves!

I would like to thank the publisher (Quercus Books – MacLehose Press) for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 

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Joël Dicker is a Swiss novelist, born on June 16th 1985. He is from Geneva, a French-speaking city in western Switzerland. He attended Geneva schools, and the University of Geneva law school. He received his Masters of Law from the University of Geneva in 2010. From an early age, Joël has had a passion for writing. At age ten, Joël founded La Gazette des Animaux (Animals’ Gazette), a magazine about nature that he directed for seven years. Joel DickerAt age 20 he made his first attempts as a fiction writer. His short story, Le Tigre, was honored in 2005 by PIJA (International Prize for Young French-speaking Authors)…more.

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