Rory is shocked when author Ginevra Ex surprises her with a luxurious gift in exchange for helping her with her latest book- a lavish train ride through the coast of Italy. The dream trip seems to good to be true, and when dark secrets are revealed and someone is murdered on board, Rory must figure out the truths that lie below the fiction.

This book gave me such Murder On The Orient Express vibes! A luxury train ride, no where to hide- what a fantastic premise. I really enjoyed that this story was told in multiple POV which allowed for a fresh take on the chapters. I liked getting into each character's head as each of them had their own secrets, and it definitely gave me more to wonder about regarding who was telling the truth. This was more than just a mystery- it had elements of family drama, self-discovery, history, and even a love story.

I would also be remiss not to highlight the importance of the Jewish history lesson Goldis gives in this book (based on her own grandparent's story)! There are so many stories like this that need to be told, and each of them profound and different. If you know a Jewish grandparent (and it doesn't have to be yours), please ask them for their story- you won't regret it!

Even though I didn't find the first half of the book terribly suspenseful- I was mostly just reading for the ride (pun intended)- the last 50 pages or so had me glued to my seat it was such a page turner and I was shocked by the big twist at the end. It had an emotional element to it as well which made it even more impactful.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for my arc/earc. For readers who like Agatha Christie, locked room mysteries, or have ever wanted to take a luxury trip by train.

A trip of the lifetime.

That is what Ginevra Ex wanted for Rory, Caroline, Nate, and Max.

She wanted them to experience a train trip through Italy and to bond with each other.

Her motive, though, was for them to read her book and to bring to light what she found out about each of them.

We also meet Gabriele - he is the person who brought them the manuscripts and says something chilling.

What he says is: one of you has to die in the book. But does Ginevra Ex mean to bring the things in her book to life?

But then the books disappeared after they left them on their chairs at the beach.

Who didn’t want anyone to know what is in the book and stole them?

THE MAIN CHARACTER has an interesting premise and beautiful writing, but I was lost most of the time even though I laughed at some of the things the MANY characters did.

It wasn't a book I was anxious to get back to. It was confusing and had too many characters to keep track of. 3/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Rory has recently been interviewed by a famous author with the purpose of being the inspiration for her new novel. Ginevra Ex gleans all of her main characters this way. Rory's been gifted a special trip on the Orient Express to wrap up her time with Ginevra, but unbenknowst to her, Ginevra has invited Rory's closest friends on the trip to accompany her: Max, her brother, Carolina, her best friend, and Nate, her recent ex-fiance. They've all been interviewed as well and are characters in the book as well. They've each been gifted a copy of the new book, but Ginevra seems to have included some secrets that are better kept out of the public eye. When all of the books go missing, everyone becomes suspicious. What are they trying to hide, and how far will they go to keep their secrets?

I found this book to be relatively entertaining, however I think there were some major plot holes that were left unaddressed. I like to have resolution to topics that are brought up several times, and it seems strange to me that something that was such a key character plot wasn't addressed. Also, the end really seemed like it was thrown together at the last minute. The last 20% of the book seemed like it wasn't thought out very well. It's a great idea for a novel, but I didn't care for the unbelievable ending.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this ebook!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Thank you so much to netgalley and Atria books for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to love this book. It is described as an ode to Agatha Christie and it is set on the Orient Express. A famous writer uses real people to model her main characters after. When a young woman is hired for this job, she is gifted this trip of a lifetime. However, things quickly go down hill.

This book did not work for me and I am so sad about it! I was sent this arc and I was so excited for it. I loved the train setting and the set up of this book. However, I did not like or connect with the characters. Everything felt very dramatic and unrealistic. I don't feel like there was much of a mystery in here, it was more just family drama.

I hope others love this one!

This was a hard one for me to get into. The characters are unlikable, but not in a super interesting way, and the dialogue felt off. However, I do think fans of Agatha Christie might like finding the similarities in this book to her work and the mystery aspect is always fun.

I LOVE me a book set in Italy for one thing. I also love the mix-in of historical fiction, I love the concept of the "main character" inspiration. This book had me eagerly turning the page to see what would happen next. Lovely. Now I'm dreaming of limoncello's on the coast.

This page-turner has so much to love: a reclusive author, gorgeous Italian scenery, the iconic Orient Express, and questionable motives. The characters are deliciously prickly, the settings are vividly rendered, and the plot deftly weaves fascinating details of Jewish and Ukrainian culture into the story. I cannot resist a group of well-drawn characters trapped together in potentially perilous circumstances, so it's a real treat for me. I also appreciate that the nods to Agatha Christie-esque are subtle — this isn't trying to be Miss Marple, and that's a good thing. Jaclyn Goldis builds character and suspense her way while winking at classics like Murder on the Orient Express. Thoroughly enjoyable.]

I enjoyed this! I really loved all the lush descriptions of the food, the scenery etc on the train and in Italy. I thought it would be a murder mystery and well, there were some mysteries going on, and someone did end up dead, but I wouldn’t strictly call it that. At first the whole family connection felt kiiind of contrived to me, but how it played out was interesting to me. I didn’t expect the historical aspect of it, but I liked that as well. I also didn’t guess who the bad guy(s) turned out to be but it ended up being very fitting and sad.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC.

The Main Character was such a good book with such a unique premise. A famous Italian author interviews Rory to be the basis for the main character in her upcoming book. Rory’s loved ones are also interviewed and when Rory’s time spent with the author are over, the author books Rory a trip down the coast of Italy on the Orient Express with her brother, best friend, and ex-fiance as surprise guests. As the story progresses, we see not only how the groups lives and experiences and secrets are intertwined within the manuscript, but also how their stories stem from lives intertwined across generations and countries. I was enthralled by the story and the ending is incredible, shocking, tearjerking, and unforgettable. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect travel thriller!

The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis is a complex story of secrets revealed like layers of an onion, keeping the reader guessing up until the final twist at the end. Yet for me, it never quite captured my imagination, and I found it easy to put down and difficult to pick up again.
Given the premise, I was intrigued and really wanted to like the book. But the author never managed to make me care about the characters, who seemed to me to be immature and self-absorbed. All of their problems could have been avoided to some extent if they had just been open with each other, instead of keeping secrets.
The settings, where lavish, especially that of the Orient Express train, also fell flat for me. And the twist at the end is, in my opinion, a tad bit far fetched and difficult to believe, given the things revealed throughout the book.
The book is proficiently written, but falls short of the suspense it could have had. It's not one that will stick with me, which is a shame for such an interesting premise.
Thank you for the ARC of #TheMainCharacter to #NetGalley.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Love that the story takes place on a train and that it's set in Italy. I knew the story was an homage to Agatha Christie, but since I'm not too familiar with her books I only read this book as its own thing and still liked it.

Although the pacing was good overall, it was a little slow for me at times and there were parts I wanted to skim through to get to the more interesting parts (particularly when the characters had the same memories going through their minds more than once). I also felt like the characters' voices sounded too similar and there were a couple times where I had to go back to the beginning of the chapter to see whose point of view I was reading from. The last thing I wasn't a fan of was when the characters seemed to jump to conclusions about other characters without proper evidence and seemed a bit forced.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this story. I loved the characters' backstories and the idea of an author writing stories based on real people and putting them all on the same train to see what they would do. I normally see twists coming from miles away, but there were twists in this book that I did not see coming, and I'm always pleasantly surprised when that happens. I don't want to give anything away so I won't mention what the twists were, but I will say I was very satisfied with the ending.

Thank you so much to the publisher Atria Books for the ARC of this book.

The Main Character is a an entertaining and intriguing read that captures your attention and keeps your guessing .

The story is a take off on the infamous book Murder on The Orient Express so that alone keeps you interest invested to see how the story will go.

Rory is hired by the famous author Ginevra to tell her story and as Ginevra is known to do she then puts that story into a book.

Much to Rory's surprise on the train is her brother, ex-fiance, her best friend and a man she once dated.

All of them have secrets and secrets have a way of coming out.

Jaclyn Gold has cleverly plotted The Main Character and with red herrings, twists and turns I did not see that surprise ending coming.

The Main Character is well worth picking up and settling in for a good story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books Atria/Emily Bestler Books for a the privilege of reading and reviewing The Main Character.

1.5/5

After thoroughly enjoying The Château, I was very excited to check this one out but I'm sorry to say it didn't land for me at all.

The characters felt mostly one dimensional with first person dialogue/POVs that ended up clunky and inauthentic. The plot itself... confusing, complex but also repetitive with very little happening until the final few chapters.

The main character mentions about 693 times how her three day train ride was the longest ride of her life and I'm sorry to say that's definitely how I felt reading this, just didn't jive with it at all.

In spite of the fact I didn't care for it, I am incredibly thankful to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest (sorry) review.

I love going into a book not knowing what’s going to happen. That’s what I suggest for this book. The blurb mentions Agatha Christie, but it’s really better if you go in not expecting a Christie mystery. Even better if you go in totally blind. :)

I was really excited to read this one, but it ended up feeling a bit overwhelming and rushed.
Ginevra Ex is a famous mystery author, known for her unique style of storytelling. She finds real people to be her main character, interviews them and their friends and family, and then fictionalizes them. Her new story revolves around Rory. To celebrate the book, Ginevra puts Rory and some surprise guests on a luxury train vacation across the Italian coast. But once on board, secrets come out and things turn deadly.
One of my favorite parts of this book was the setting. I love how the story was on a train. I enjoyed going on the excursions with the guests and going to the dining cart to relax. I love a good isolated setting mystery, and the train definitely made the book more special.
The twist at the end was so good! I didn't see it coming, and it was a nice surprise. However, it felt rushed. The story also just ends, and I found Ginerva’s storyline to be a little unrealistic.
I felt like I was reading two books at once. Normally I'm ok with that and although I enjoyed both stories here, I felt a bit overwhelmed by having both of them there. The book felt very busy to me. Aside from the main story on the train, we also get an interesting glimpse at the history behind Jews living in Russia. I felt like I learned a little bit about history I didn't know.

When I started reading this novel, I presumed I would not like it in the least (I am not remotely an Agatha Christie fan), but I quickly got involved with this story. It is the tale of Rory (she is the main character of this novel about a novel) and the trip she, her brother Max, her life sister Caroline and her ex-fiancé Nate take on The Orient Express that has been funded by Generva the author. The plot, written simply, is genuinely complex and most everything is not what it appears to be. Perfect for a psychological thriller and a long weekend! Thanks to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC for an honest review.

The setting and premise of this one are really fun & entertaining enough as a domestic thriller type plot. However, I was hoping for a Christie-esque mystery which this did not delivery IMO - more family drama than whodunnit

Though this was billed as an homage to Murder on the Orient Express, the comparison is quite thin and, despite an interesting cast of characters, the mystery plot is weak and discombobulated. The luxury train setting doesn't gel at all with the tangled family drama Goldis weaves.

Two climactic moments are extremely abrupt with no denouement and there are oodles of loose threads left dangling, particularly in the way of secondary characters tossed into the periphery of a very different story than the one set up.

CW: losing a parent to Alzheimer's; lots of antisemitism

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

I really wanted to love this book. As a classics fan I love a good retelling or “based on” but this left a lot to be desired. This book was so hard to get into. One minute I was totally interested in the plot and the next minute it felt like the book was dragging on and I was struggling to figure out why this scene was even relevant to the story. And the book constantly felt like it was building to something but the ending was just meh.

The characters were superficial and unlikable. Towards the end I didn’t really care who the victim/perpetrator was because none of them had any redeeming qualities.