Ink Ribbon Red is a very strange, unnerving, and non linear book that has the reader questioning what is real and what is not. This is a murder mystery containing multiple murders and the reader slowly discovers which one(s) actually happened and which are just stories.

The main action of the book happens over the course of the 30th birthday weekend of Anatol who hosts his friends regularly at his estate in the countryside of England. He's invited his regular crew of friends: Maya, Dean, Phoebe, Janika, and Marcin, each of whom have complicated and somewhat antagonistic relationships with each other. This birthday weekend comes shortly after the death of Anatol's father Gus who was apparently hated by Anatol's friends and was also suffering from dementia.

Anatol and his friends have the interesting hobby of writing stories about murdering each other and this is how they spend the weekend at Anatol's request. This is where the blurring between what is real and what is fake comes into play as the reader knows in advance that at least one death will occur however it's a slow burn as the reader figures out what actually happened and what is fantasy.

Some of the stories and back and forth between various perspectives went on for a little too long. There is also a plot point involving black mail which wasn't as interesting as it could have been mainly because the characters are very self absorbed and communicate poorly so this aspect of the story didn't seem to move very fast. It was also tedious at times to read them interacting with each other.

Overall however this was a very interesting way to frame the story and it was like putting pieces of a puzzle together as I read the fantasy version of the murders and then the actual version of what happened in the characters' reality. I enjoy books that contain a story within a story so this was a good way of doing that.

Many thanks to Henry Holt & Company and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

I really liked The Eighth Detective and have been looking forward to this one since it was announced. I finally got approved and was so excited - and then I started to read it, and cannot even explain to you how disappointed I was. I could not connect to these characters at all. There was not a single one among them that I found relatable or empathetic or, frankly, interesting. They all felt like the same person, and I didn't like any of them. I also didn't quite get the plot. It felt like a writing class experiment more than a novel, and I rarely enjoy non-traditional narrative styles. I appreciate that authors enjoy exercising the skill to write them, but rarely do I enjoy reading them. Such was the case here.... I got bogged down in all of the narcissistic character presentations and simply couldn't find my way into the story. This one wasn't for me.

Ink Ribbon Red is a twisted mystery novel that is confusing and difficult to follow unless you are a superior sleuth. It is best read and understood in one setting since I did it in several and never knew where I was on the book. Best of reading to all..

I am not quite sure what to think of this book. It is both creative and odd. The author blends the fictional stories and the “real” story so that things blur, making it unclear what is actually happening to the characters and what is part of the short story murders they are supposed to be writing. Some of the murder methods were quite creative and amusing in a sense. The ending was not quite what I expected.

Good idea but the horrible characters didn't really draw me in to care about any of them. Locked room mystery but I had hoped for more.

Thank you for the ARC!

I am not used to a book of this genre taking me over two weeks to read. Quite frankly, my brain has been a specially “what in the actual …. did I just read!?”

I’m so grateful to NetGalley for the ARC of this e-book. The title alone piqued my interest. That said - it took me until the last 10% of the book to feel fully engaged. So many of the relationships and characters were just on the verge of overly annoying. The last several pages were such an abrupt stop.

I can’t say that I would seek out a book by this author again but that’s not to say that I wouldn’t give the author another read though either. I’m accustomed to reading a thriller/mystery within a couple of days and this one just couldn’t hold me to press on more than 3-4% per night.

Wow... This was a really strange and somewhat gruesome book.

What I Liked: The plot had a very unique setup where you are constantly guessing what parts of the story are real and what parts are made up. I read it really quickly because I just needed to know what was real.

What I Didn't Like: None of these people or relationships felt real. Did these "friends" ever even like each other? Who talks to each other like that? I could not discern anyone's motivations. I felt so separated from the characters and a persistent dissonance throughout the tale because the relationships were so weird. And the ending was just... sad. Really sad.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for my e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I will only be sharing my review here on NetGalley as I don't like sharing negative reviews online.
Having enjoyed The Eighth Detective I was eager to read Pavesi's newest, and the premise of friends' traditions was intriguing.
These characters are all so miserable, and perhaps all to0 real in their incredible blandness, revealed through their repetitive conversations. I spent the first 30% of this book assuming that as the story (stories?) developed the characters would too, but they remained dreadful.
The conceit of the mix of the character's fictional stories peppering the "real" story ultimately makes everything feel convoluted, with heightened elements of violence. The final reveals of the book felt unnecessarily terrible and out of alignment with the character's motivation.
Admittedly, I skim read the last 40%, but given the repetitive nature of the conversations, it was fairly easy to-do so.
Pavesi does have some lovely turns of phrase and paints some interesting pictures, and I wish there had been more of that.

A 30th birthday party weekend in the English countryside turned a dark, secret exposing, blackmailing amongst friends.

This is a wild suspense novel, filled with morally gray characters harboring secrets from each other. Questions of loyalty, life cross roads, and murder or is it murder? You spend the book trying to figure out what is reality or fiction within the fiction.

I was torn on the rating because of the confusion but at the same time I feel like that shows the expertise of the book that it leaves you with such a puzzler and feeling like you want to slap or shake most of the characters at some point in the book, so I am leaning to the 4 stars.

This was a bizarre fever dream of a book. I really enjoyed the descriptive writing and the style and tone, it had a great flow. I have a bit of a book hangover after reading it, in a good way! Very unique story.

Oh man. This book took me so long to get through. The story twists and unravels in an unusual way, making the reader unsure what is part of the story and what is not. I found it so difficult to piece together that I almost DNF’ed. Now that I made it through and understand what was happening a little more, I almost feel like I should read it again? But at the same time, I already spent so many hours on this one I might just skip it.

Pavesi's first book, the Eighth Detective, played with the concept of what makes a mystery a mystery. Ink Ribbon Red takes this one step further and examines the meta-ness of truth, as we, the Dear Reader, are taken through a series of scenes of murder. Are they actually happening, or are they the stories being written by the characters in the book? It's a grand murder mystery where you don't know who was murdered until the end!

I am eager to see what Pavesi comes up with next!

I think this was cleverly written and challenges the reader to think with the use of a story within a story premise. Whoever, this just may not be a book that fits me. The book was a bit hard to get into and I didn't find the characters to be very likeable. I think the premise is very strong, the way it was carried out was just a bit slow.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

"Ink Ribbon Red" by Alex Pavesi promised a tantalizing blend of mystery and literary intrigue, but unfortunately, it falls flat in every aspect. Pavesi's previous work set high expectations, but this latest effort feels like a rushed attempt to replicate his past success.

While it's always difficult to criticize someone's hard work, reading this novel was not an entertaining experience for me.

I found this book confusing and entirely composed of characters who were uniformly unlikeable and under- developed.

This story is set against a backdrop of antiques and obscure historical references. The plot quickly becomes convoluted and meandering, losing the reader in a maze of unnecessary subplots and red herrings. The pacing is sluggish, with revelations buried under a heap of irrelevant details.

If a writer is going to require the readers to invest our time in a convoluted plot, please give us at least ONE likeable, relatable (and well developed) character rather than a room full of navel-gazing self-important pseudo intellectuals we couldn't possibly become emotionally invested in.
The entire cast of characters in this novel is composed of mere stereotypes without any substance or growth throughout the narrative. It's impossible to care about characters who feel more like chess pieces than real people.

The writing itself is often pretentious and overly complex, detracting from the story rather than enhancing it.

The dialogue is stilted and unnatural, failing to capture the essence of real human interaction.

This book's attempt at a twist ending feels forced and unsatisfying. Rather than leaving the reader in awe, it leaves them frustrated and questioning the plausibility of the entire plot. The conclusion lacks the impact necessary to redeem the earlier shortcomings.

"Ink Ribbon Red" is a disappointing follow-up from an author who has shown much greater potential. While the premise is intriguing, the execution is lacking in nearly every aspect.

If you're a fan of Pavesi's work, you might be better off revisiting his earlier successes and skipping this one.

When reading the description of this book, it seems fun. The idea behind it does seem like it would be difficult to execute and that’s because it is. In saying that, while I’m glad I read it, I can say that it could have been done much better. The dialogue between the characters is a bit unrealistic and I think this is where the character development is lacking most. You don’t need to truly know the characters or relate to them in any way, so it’s the dialogue that makes it unbelievable. This takes place in 99 and at times you remember that with the mention of landlines and pay phones, but the majority of the book has a very… 1920-1930’s gothic feel. Going into it knowing it’s a gothic style will help you get through this. This book needs to be read quickly or you are going to lose your interest and quite possibly forget what you’ve read. It’s unreliable and the twists are in how the fictional stories and the reality come to light. You do start to figure out what has really happened and what hasn’t, but it’s a lot of jumping around. When you get to the end, it does make sense. However, the ending is very quick and describes how everything happens. The end also seemed a bit unrealistic for me. Theres one character who figures it all out, but honestly the others should be the one to figure it out and how they do not makes little sense to me. Overall I have to give this 3/5 stars. I think this is for a very specific audience. This seems to be more up the gothic alley than for those that like murder mysteries.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest feedback!

Thank you to Alex Pavesi, Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for an ARC of Ink Ribbon Red. This is definitely a story full of twists and turns. As a result of the stories within the stories and the flipping from time-frame to time-frame, I found it necessary to pay attention to what I was reading.

I wish I could say that I loved the book, but found it somewhat lacking for my tastes. Part of the reason was because I had trouble connecting with any of the characters. I found them flat and basically uninteresting.

Other than that, I found it to be well written and an interesting plot.

Hmm, it is hard to know where to begin with this book. The tight knit cast of characters are supposed to be the best of friends but they are a very unlikeable bunch of people. I felt this was a well written novel with a complex story within a story format that lead to several shocking moments of murder and mayhem, but were they really dead or was it fiction? I have rarely disliked a group of characters en masse so much as in this story but I realize now that they were all so well-written I couldn't just leave the book behind. I was driven to finding out what was going to happen although I thought it was bit to slow of a burn and I wanted to get to the end faster.. Overall It was probably not a novel I would consider my cup of tea, but it is certainly worth finding this out for yourself.

At first, I was very drawn in by the description and cover of the book. The description sounds very interesting for a murder mystery and whodunit fan like myself, and the cover is gorgeous with a nice color scheme and some context clues into the story (the house, the letters flying through the air). I thought the writing was really interesting and fresh, and the details are definitely major in the storytelling. I understand why they're necessary, but at moments when reading, I did feel a little bogged down. I really felt heartwarmed by the author's perspective on the world and the way they're able to weave in bits of good info surrounded by character and plot developments. That is a talent I'd be interested to see further explored as Alex Pavesi hones their craft.

I enjoyed the setting and found some of the characters interesting and good personalities for a murder mystery. The atmosphere was palpable in a way that not every murder mystery can create, and I did like that. The stories written by the people attending was a new take on the murder mystery aspect, but overall I think there was nothing about this book that struck me as standout. The writing kept me interested and there is impressive plotting at work here, though. I think people who enjoy any kind of classic murder mystery will enjoy this, and I'd encourage them to pay attention to the details, even when they seem like they aren't that critical.

Major themes/tropes:

- Unreliable narrator/fact v. fiction
- secret motives
- locked door mystery
- whodunit
- non-linear narration

Thank you so much to Alex Pavesi, the author, Henry Holt and Co., the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of being able to read Ink Ribbon Red. I will share my review to Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble upon release.

Friends gather in a country house for a birthday party and write short mysteries at the host's request. Each story features one of the group members as the killer and another as the victim, drawing from real-life secrets, grudges, and illicit love. The stories expose the group's hidden tensions and culminate in a murder.

This was my first read from Alex Pavesi, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say this book took me a while to get into. I thought the plot of each member having to write a short story about murdering someone else in the group was really interesting, but I got bored during the introductory phase. What redeemed the story for me was the short stories (I would also like to mention that the beginning (when they were on the way to the train station) also drew me in). I found myself getting lost with dates and times, so at points I found myself re-reading. Overall, didn’t love it, but also didn’t hate it.

Ink Ribbon Red is a mystery novel that follows 6 friends on a holiday weekend trying to separate fact from fiction. These 6 friends gather each year over a holiday weekend to celebrate Anatol's birthday. 5 weeks prior, Anatol's father dies by curious circumstances and leaves the friends speculating as to what truly happened that day. During this birthday weekend, they participate in a game made up by Anatol where they have to anonymously writing stories of one friend murdering another. Each draws a name of a victim and their subsequent murderer. Once everyone has written their story, they are read out and voted upon for the best motive, method, and death. The reader must take discretion in figuring out who wrote what and if any of it is real. 

This book is horrifically poetic. The words are so beautiful at times of describing something ghastly. It was difficult to put down because it was a puzzle that needed solving. I don't often take notes for mystery novels because most are moderately easy to keep track of what is happening, but my notebook has several pages filled with thoughts, questions, and crazy lines to try to connect everything. I thoroughly enjoyed trying to get through the several mysteries in this novel and solving before it was revealed.

I honestly did not care for any of the characters. This isn't a turn off for me when it is a murder mystery. It would bug me more if it was a different genre (romance, fantasy, etc) but having each character a little dislikeable was also a bit of the mystery to figure out what secrets they were hiding and what lengths they were willing to go to keep those secrets hidden.

Anyone that loves a good whodunnit mystery on several levels will absolutely love this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for allowing me to read this book early!