Book Review: The Somebody People by Bob Proehl

I absolutely loved The Nobody People. But I read it a year ago, and I don’t remember a lot of the details although I do remember it being character-driven, which is where the challenge came for me this time around…

When I started this one, I expected at least some rehash of the first book – it has, after all, been a year since it came out and when you have a character-driven narrative, a little bit of a refresher on the intricacies of your relationships is a really helpful thing… Frankly I think Proehl did readers (and himself, in the shape of review comments) a disservice by not including some such referent. I found myself losing the thread on this one in a way that I don’t recall happening with the first book, and I suspect it is because I was missing connections and references to earlier events. It made this one feel more draggy than I suspected actually was. The storytelling is still strong here, but I felt a little bit like I was coming into the room just after the action happened on a lot of the scenes, and it meant this one didn’t resonate with me the way the first one did.

I enjoyed the book – it was still an interesting tale (albeit one that started a lot slower than I remember experiencing with the first book) but I have a feeling I missed a ton of things because I simply don’t remember enough about the characters, situations, or world-building at this point to catch them. It was almost like reading this one cold, and it was tough as a result. I need to go back and reread TNP and then read this one again. I suspect it will make for a very different reading experience…

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation – free review copy.