Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

The elements of this book should've come together to create an atmospheric mystery thriller with a satisfying conclusion, but somehow things didn't quite pull together in a way that felt authentic (at times I felt the hand of the author a bit too much in what characters were doing).

I am so sorry I tried really hard to love this! It had so much potential. Jaclyn truly writes beautifully and her words and meaning are artwork. However as a thriller it did not have enough wow factor or twists or turns to keep you invested. By over 50% the most crazy thing that had happened were the books bring stolen. The twists at the end were just kinda lame and I wasn’t caring anymore by the end. I’m so sorry!

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I wouldn't categorize this as a thriller though and there are definitely mystery elements to it but it felt much more like a drama. There is a death that gets teased at the very beginning of the book but it doesn't happen until much much later. I was not expecting that twist at the end (it didn't feel like a twisty type of book) but it was needed but at the same time the ending felt abrupt. I get why it ended there but I wasn't a huge fan of how it ended.

The premise of the book is very interesting and I was happy to see that the characters weren't stuck on the train the entire time. I also love the idea of an author interviewing someone so in depth and turning them into the main character of their book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this wild (train) ride of a book. The concept was unique and the story was heavily character driven. There were so many mysteries to unravel as the story went on and I was left with a sense of closure at the end that I desperately needed after all the unanswered questions that were posed throughout the book! I also really appreciated the Agatha Christie vibes and the travel theme. This book is a perfect summer read!

HE MAIN CHARACTER
Jaclyn Goldis

Are you THE MAIN CHARACTER in your life?

Invited on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, a leisurely train ride across Italy with planned idyllic stops, and promised relaxation amidst the ultimate in luxury land travel on the revamped ORIENT EXPRESS, Rory cannot wait. She wants to be THE MAIN CHARACTER in her life, and she thinks this trip is the beginning of being just that.

She’s looking forward to sipping tea window side, people watching, and maybe losing herself somewhere between the pages of a great book.

But when she shows up it is obvious that someone has something else in mind entirely. Shortly after her arrival other passengers, and familiar passengers start to arrive. Her brother, ex-fiancé, and best friend. Something is underfoot, and we follow along as Rory figures out exactly what that is.

THE MAIN CHARACTER was straightforward, and I can’t imagine it’s going to surprise many readers. The storyline is used without enough of a deviation from the original to be warranted.

The writing is not inspiring and combined with a storyline most people know well (considering the famous novel and several following adaptations) it just didn’t work. Without plot or language, there isn’t much left except for THE MAIN CHARACTER by Jaclyn Goldis.

Thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advanced copy!

THE MAIN CHARACTER…⭐⭐

The Main Character is a gorgeously crafted homage to the Queen of Whodunnits, Ms. Agatha Christie, and is so robustly entertaining and engaging that it defies you to stop reading once you start.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story - while I’m a sucker for an excellent whodunnit, I really appreciate when it comes with a beautiful setting and interesting characters which @jaclyngoldis served up on a silver platter. The added element of flashbacks to Soviet Russia in the 80’s was brilliantly woven in, and I truly loved the moving character POV’s each chapter which kept me on my toes as clues were revealed. Everything about this story is pure satisfaction, and that is exactly the sort of book I love to get lost in.

Truly a perfect pick for summer TBR’s for those who love a little mystery, a little family drama and a lot of twists and turns along the way. Don’t miss this one, it’s a must have.

Many thanks to @atriabooks for the copy and to @jaclyngoldis for making me want to book a trip to Italy, stat.

The premise of "The Main Character" is what initially peaked my interest but I had a really hard time getting into this story.

I think that it will do well with it's intended audience and I look forward to checking out more releases in the future.

Thank you to the Jaclyn Goldis, Atria and Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the concept of this book! It was really intriguing to have an author that makes an actual person the main character in their own story with all types of twists and turns added in. The backdrop of the orient express fit the story perfectly and the characters were well developed and complex. I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes mysteries and familial drama!

Rory has agreed to be the newest main character in author Geneva Ex’s book, an author who interviews real people and puts them in her stories. As a reward, Ginerva has sent Rory on a trip on the Orient Express, as well as some people from her life Rory did not expect to see. With secrets spilled and tension rising, Rory senses something is about to happen, though she doesn’t yet know what.

This was a good book, but not, for me, great. The characters are distinctive and each have a deeply personal stake in what is going on. There is an overarching mystery that is very intriguing. The descriptions of Italy are beautiful as well.

Where the book falls apart to me is the ending. Things seem to come out of left field, and characters suddenly seem wildly out of character. It’s a great premise, and the writing style is very good, but the plot just doesn’t work for me in the end.

The premise of this book was unresistable and it didn't disappoint. I read it as a homage to Murder on the Orient Express and loved every minute. I don't think there's been a book in my TBR list that I was as excited for as I was for this title and I'm so glad I saved it for a time when I could read it in one sitting.

Thank you Atria for The Main Character, I really found myself engaged with a lot of the mystery of this story, I love a story that gives locked room vibes, a mysterious puppet master behind the scenes feeling, and add in a train setting and a book within a book/author theme... I am sold. I though Goldis offers a fun homage to these themes and Christie's Oriental Express while still being it's own story. I was hooked on the idea of a popular and powerful writer developing her stories through the lived experiences and interactions she has with a person/people she selects, it gave me an immediate sense of unease but also intrigue in the story.
What worked a little less for me were the multiple POVs, esp at the start of the story, as I had trouble getting to know each character, getting into the pace and rhythm of the story was a struggle as I tend to like to have a little more time to get into the story, to get to know the main character (pun intended) but overall this was a fun, escapist mystery, perfect for a train ride or an airport read during your summer travels!

It’s the trip of a iifetime…..but only if she can survive it.

After her career as a TV anchor flamed out and her fiancé broke off their engagement, Rory Aronov found herself unsure of where life would take her. When bestselling but eccentric mystery author Generva Ex offered her the position of “main character”, which entailed Rory spending time in Italy letting Generva probe her past and present to use as the inspiration for the main character in Generva’s next book, Rory accepted. Now that Generva has finished, she has gifted Rory with an all-expenses paid three day trip on the luxurious Orient Express traveling to Cinque Terre, Rome and Positano. It seems like a dream come true, until Rory discovers that Generva has invited several other people to take the voyage too….Rory’s brother Max, former nerd and now CEO of a biotech company on the verge of producing a vaccine to prevent and reverse Alzheimers’; her lifelong best friend and de facto sister Caroline, a social media influencer manquée who recently started working in sales for Max’s company and with whom Max has always quietly been in love; her ex-fiancé Nate, an international crisis mediator whose struggle to overcome a professional failure led to his walking away from Rory, a decision he has come to regret; and Gabriele, Generva’s lawyer who is along to make sure the foursome’s trip proceeds according to their itinerary and without problems, and with whom Rory had had a fling while working with Generva. The tensions are thick, and only get worse; Rory begins to question Generva’s motives for orchestrating this reunion, and that is before problems arise. Is this trip a reward, or a punishment? Can relationships be revived and repaired, or will they not survive the voyage? What exactly is Generva’s end game?
Settings don’t get much more glamorous then the coastal towns of Italy and the famed luxury train known as the Orient Express, and the descriptions (though I wish there had been more of them) certainly added to my enjoyment of the book. With its tip of the hat to Agatha Christie’s well-known novel which also set its mysterious happenings on the Orient Express, The Main Character sets up a series of unexplained events happening amidst a group of people, some of whom clearly knew one another prior to boarding the other train while others…who knows? Rory is living in uncertain times, and the last thing she wants is to have to deal with the emotional entanglements and baggage with which she has been presented. As the story unfolds, we find out about Rory’s childhood, her relationships past and present with her travel companions, as well as her father’s history and how it impacts and is impacted by what she is working through. It’s not easy to forgive those who have hurt you, but it is equally difficult to resist the power longtime relationships (even imperfect ones) can have. The reader will come to suspect different people of various misdeeds as information presents itself, and it is as hard for the reader as it is for Rory to decide what is truth, what is fabrication, and who can be trusted. Fans of Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ruth Ware and Finley Turner will find this an appealing addition to their TBR pile….it is a twisty thriller with a gorgeous backdrop. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for allowing me early access to the novel.

This has a great premise but unfortunately the execution fell flat for me. I stopped reading at about 25%. Although I don’t mind stories with unlikeable characters, these characters seemed a little too uniformly unlikeable and I didn’t find the different POVs to be that distinct. I think it would be good for thriller fans looking to read a book with a strong setting (Italy), that pays homage to Agatha Christie, and a cast of characters hiding lots of secrets. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

*4.5 stars rounded up*

Inspired by Murder on the Orient Express? Yes, please!

Rory’s gone through a rough patch recently, but spending time in Italy while being paid to be interviewed by a famous author named Ginevra Ex for inclusion in her next book may be just what she needed. And to top it off, at the end of the interview process Ginevra pays for Rory’s ticket to a luxurious trip on the famous Orient Express. But Rory is shocked to find that Ginevra has arranged for three people Rory knows to be on the train with her: her brother, best friend, & ex-fiance. They all receive copies of Ginevra’s fictionalization of their lives, & as they start to read the book they wonder if there’s some previously unknown truths in there as well…

The Chateau definitely held my attention throughout the story & this next book by Jaclyn Goldis is equally as impressive. The way that the author’s Jewish heritage & her family’s experiences were included was an important history lesson as well as the foundation for an intriguing thriller. I very much enjoyed the various POV’s, the globetrotting, & the interesting career choices. The inclusion of Alzheimer’s & all the complicated repercussions that go with it for the person diagnosed & for their family was handled with care, & there was a lot of introspection on the part of Rory that readers could apply to their own lives. The various betrayals throughout the plot were shocking & kept me turning pages.

Thank you to NetGalley & Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book reminded me of Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. As much as I enjoyed that book I actually enjoyed this one more. There was so much more mystery and twists and turns in this story. The ending blew me away!

The Main Character is a great thriller. Jaclyn Goldis wrote a thriller that had intrigue, mystery, and twists and turns. I picked it up and did not want to put it down.

The setting of The Orient Express was amazing. I love the description of the different suites and could picture them as the book continued. The towns that the train stopped in were familiar to me but not places that I have visited before. I enjoyed seeing the sights, visiting the cities, riding the train, and meeting the characters.

Jaclyn Goldis is a must-read thriller author. I will continue to recommend her books, including The Main Character, to all my fellow mystery thriller readers.

Thank you @atriabooks & @netgalley for sending me this book for review. Opinions are my own.
I loved Jaclyn Goldis’s last book, The Chateau, so I was excited to get an advanced copy of The Main Character. I didn’t connect with this one as much but there were elements I enjoyed.
Like The Chateau, The Main Character has five points of view – Rory, her three closest friends, and famous novelist Ginerva Ex. Ginerva constructs her books by basing the story around a real person that she has adapted into her main character. She selects Rory and after three months getting to know each other, Ginvera sends Rory and Rory’s brother, best friend and ex-fiance on a three-day train trip through Italy on the Orient Express. Secrets begin to unfold and Ginerva promises to reveal all when they get to their final destination in Positano. However, Rory is concerned this trip will play out like one of Ginerva’s murder mysteries and we know from the beginning that someone dies on the train.
I had trouble getting into it and it was pretty slow for the first 75%. It picked up at the end as I read to see who had died and what everyone’s secrets were. The author’s note makes it clear that this was a personal novel. A lot of her father’s story of hiding his Judaism growing up in the Soviet Union is given to Rory’s dad. I enjoyed the Jewish representation, especially about a time and location I don’t think is often captured in novels. However, I think as a result, she maybe tried to do too much to make everything fit the narrative, and some things felt a bit random.
Sadly, some of the quotes about that time are still relevant today regarding Jews being persecuted, as antisemitism is rising all over the world. Against this backdrop and reading this book directly following Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, this quote rings true: “Jews had a moral responility to save one another – because, by and large, no one else in the world could be relied upon to do so.”
I will definitely read Jaclyn Goldis’s next novel, The Safari. I love her writing and the exotic settings of her books.
I rated this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I liked this book. The characters were enjoyable and kinda fun to root against (especially Max who I never liked). The ending felt a little abrupt and I wish there was a little less time on some of the train parts and more at the end. It would have been fun to see an epilogue of Genevra going to America to meet Ansel again. But, overall I did enjoy this and would read more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

This was only okay for me. It will for sure be better for others. I consistently find myself struggling with books set in Italy for some unknown reason. And, probably not going well for me is that I never read Agatha Christie's book either...

The Main Character was, for the most part, an entertaining story to read. Each POV felt distinct. The descriptions of Italy as a backdrop were wonderful. I did find myself more enticed with Ginevra's story in the past timeline than I did with the modern day storyline on the train though. The ending left me feeling slightly underwhelmed, as well. Still a fun read overall.

Thanks for the e-ARC