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Maria Hummel (1)

Author of Still Lives

For other authors named Maria Hummel, see the disambiguation page.

6 Works 672 Members 29 Reviews

About the Author

Maria Hummel is a writer and editor at MOCA in Los Angeles. She earned a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University and taught there for several years. She has written several books including the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, Still Lives. Her other title's include Motherland and the poetry show more collection House and Fire. She is currenty an assistant professor at the University of Vermont. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Works by Maria Hummel

Still Lives (2018) 404 copies
Motherland (2014) 157 copies
Wilderness Run: A Novel (2002) 46 copies
Lesson In Red (2021) 32 copies
Goldenseal (2024) 23 copies
House and Fire (2013) 10 copies

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Common Knowledge

Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Places of residence
San Francisco, California, USA

Members

Reviews

I started out reading the ebook but enjoyed the book more once I switched to the audiobook. Overall a pretty good book. Ready to see what Reece chooses for September's book of the month.
 
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DKnight0918 | 22 other reviews | Dec 23, 2023 |
Self indulgent.

That's really the best way I can describe this book. The writing is good, and the idea behind the story is intriguing, but it meanders, slows, goes around in circles, and then meanders again, and it's at least 50 pages too long (even though it only comes in at a whopping 277 pages at full length as it is).

I was hoping for a much bigger revelation at the end. At one point I was holding my breath, certain there would be a pay-off for the time I'd invested in the story. Some monumental discovery. A conspiracy involving a number of people. A betrayal or major shock or something... but none of it came to pass. The reveal, when it happened, was weak and seemed to hit the main character out of nowhere. And once she came up with a solid suspect, the story unfolded like a paint-by-numbers work, leading to the inevitable conclusion with the requisite confrontation scene and bloodshed.

I enjoyed the writing, and I was happy enough to flip the pages and see how the story would unfold, I was just very disappointed that the story was... well, that the story was THE story. No surprises, no twists, no intriguing revelations.

The best part, by far, is the author's exploration of a world that views female murder victims as a spectacle; just another salacious bit of entertainment to sell magazines and newspapers and get people to tune in to the evening news. I appreciated taking a deeper look at how we all (myself included) absorb these types of stories, and how women are portrayed in the media overall. But I still wanted more from a mystery novel.
… (more)
 
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Elizabeth_Cooper | 22 other reviews | Oct 27, 2023 |
I was going to give it four stars (enjoyed the depiction of LA and the art world) until the flimsy dénouement, which forced me to subtract two. A "feminist response to the thriller genre" should not have a deranged woman murdering another woman over a man!
 
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Bruyere_C | 22 other reviews | Dec 2, 2021 |
The book is marketed as a murder mystery, but I think this was more of a novel about a woman, her relationships, and experiences that happen to include some interest in a couple of murders of people she knew.
 
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niquetteb | 22 other reviews | Oct 26, 2021 |

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Statistics

Works
6
Members
672
Popularity
#37,565
Rating
½ 3.3
Reviews
29
ISBNs
33
Languages
2

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