The Main Character is another luxury location murder whodunnit from Jaclyn Goldis. I am not usually huge fans of spin offs from Agatha Christie (this taking place on the newly renovated Oriental Express traveling through Italy) but the flashbacks were where this story really shined for me. It's a unique storyline in that it follows an author that writes fiction based on real life main characters.

There are a lot of POVs and flashbacks so it can get a little muddy following along and it took me a bit to get into the story but once the connection came into place and we learned more about the author, I was hooked to find out what happened next.

The authors note at the end is amazing - a must read!

Would you go on a luxury train trip that a bestselling author had arranged? Of course, not everything is what it seems in this page turning read that will have you captivated from the start. This read has so many secrets that it holds and has one amazing jaw dropping conclusion. The author wrote this well and all of the characters in this were good. I highly enjoyed this one and would recommend to any reader who likes mysteries or thrillers. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books/Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this great read in exchange of my honest review of The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Main Character
By: Jaclyn Goldie
Publisher: Atria Books
Pub Date: 5/21/24

I stayed up way too late reading this one but it was so good I needed to know what happened!
Rory Aronov is a young news anchor who was recently fired for reporting a false story. Immediately after losing her job, her fiancé breaks up with her and all of a sudden her life is out of control and she’s looking for a fresh start. She agrees to become the main character in a famous author Ginevra Ex’s new novel. This takes her on a three month trip where she is interviewed by Ginevra about her life. At the conclusion of their interview time the author sends her on the newly renovated orient express but much to shock her brother, best friend and ex fiancé are all aboard the train too. But with all great thrillers comes secrets and past grievances that are going to blow up everything around the four of them. Why was Rory picked as the new main character? What does Ginevra know about Rory’s life?
It was such an amazing read! Definitely my favorite thriller this year so far!
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This book was more meta than I was expecting and unfortunately l left me confused and disappointed. It had an intriguing premise and good characters but the overall execution and historical parts were a miss for me.

Another Goldis BIG HIT!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The concept of “author bases her MC’s on real people and their real-life supporting cast” is wild to me, and I would love to see this actually happen.

On to the actual story…I loved the setting, I loved the cast of characters and their secrets. I was really into the second storyline with the dad. I wish the twist at the end had been even more shocking, but many people will be shocked by it, I’m sure.

Will I be booking a luxury train trip anytime soon? No (money lol), but I’ve added it to my bucket list. Without the secrets and thrills, I think it would be a great time!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book! At this time I will not be reading or reviewing. I will update if I do read in the future!

Just finished *The Main Character* by Jaclyn Goldis, and wow—it kept me hooked from start to finish! A twisty, clever mystery with layers of secrets and a setting that felt totally immersive. I loved how it played with the idea of who really *is* the main character and how well it balanced suspense with solid writing. If you're into stories that keep you guessing and make you think, this one’s worth picking up!

A meta-mystery that plays with tropes and perspective, this thriller blurs the line between reader, writer, and character. Goldis keeps the tension taut and the surprises smart, crafting a page-turner that’s as much about storytelling as it is about suspense. Stylish, self-aware, and an unending thrill ride.

Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me. I was interested until I wasn't and I tried picking it back up in another format as well, but I just am finding disconnect between characters and points in the plot that made me have a hard time with this. I do like the author's writing style, so I will be checking out more from her.

This was meta, and more complex than I assumed — I had to actually pay attention in order to follow the story. Suspenseful, somewhat creepy, fun.

This book was an interesting read, one that I honestly enjoyed. The premise of Rory being Ginerva's main character and reading her book and wondering what was going on was insane. Caroline's big secret was something I did expect, which did take away from it but Max's was not something I was EVER expecting.
I loved the characters and the only issue I had with this book was occasionally how it'd swap from fast to slow pacing.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely obsessed with this one! The cover and storyline is adorable. I have been recommending this one to all my friends now that it is out.

Disappointing. The marketing hyped it up and as a result I was more annoyed than necessary. Not Agatha Christie.

Comping this book to Agatha Christie is hugely misleading. It isn't even a question of quality (although there's definitely a huge gap there too...), but they're simply not the same genre. The Main Character isn't a whodunit at all, and it's not really much of a thriller; it's a family drama with a little murder thrown in late into the book (in the thriller vein, still not whodunit genre at all) for kicks.

It's also not exactly...good. The pacing is stultifyingly slow, the characters are bland and sound too much the same to bother with different POV chapters, and the plot is a sloppy tangle of loose threads that go absolutely nowhere, and the silliest possible solution for every thread that *does* end up mattering. The one thing I thought this book might have going for it was the setting - the glamorous train trip through Italy that is meant to put one in mind of Murder on the Orient Express - but enough isn't really made of the train aspect of it all, and somehow even that managed to be a letdown.

Stuffed with filler, meandering and tripping over its own dropped ideas, The Main Character is a miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF - I attempted to start this book and it just did not hold my interest. This may be a book I come back to in the future.

This was my second Jaclyn Goldis book. I really enjoyed her book "The Chateau" and I think I liked this one a little bit more. I really liked the pacing of it and the suspense kept me reading. I didn't want to put it down!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

This was definitely a unique mystery that keeps the reader interested. It was twisty and turny, just how we like our mysteries. There were a lot of characters in the beginning and that took some time to get used to , but it got better as the pages turned. I was pleasantly surprised by the history involved as well.

the author delivers a thrilling homage to Agatha Christie, combining mystery, suspense, and a dash of literary flair. At its core, the novel follows Rory, an unsuspecting woman who embarks on a luxury train journey along Italy's scenic Mediterranean coast—only to find that she and several other passengers have been carefully selected by the reclusive and eccentric bestselling author, Ginevra Ex. What begins as an extravagant getaway soon spirals into a complex web of lies, secrets, and twisted plots, all orchestrated by Ginevra herself.

The novel excels in its character development, particularly in how it plays with the idea of fiction versus reality. Rory, initially thrilled by the lavish trip, soon realizes that the people around her—her brother, her ex-fiancé, and her best friend—are not simply passengers, but players in a deadly game where everyone harbors their own hidden motives. Ginevra’s approach to creating her thrillers by blending real lives with fiction becomes a sharp commentary on the power of storytelling and its ability to shape truth and perception.

The plot moves briskly, with each stop along the Mediterranean coast adding layers of intrigue. The pacing is relentless, making it nearly impossible to put the book down. The tension builds as the group’s secrets begin to surface, and readers are left guessing whether the trip will end with a picturesque view or a gruesome murder—like something straight out of one of Ginevra's books.

The twisty, high-stakes nature of the plot will keep readers on the edge of their seats, but it’s the richly layered characters that truly elevate the novel. Each person feels like a carefully crafted piece of a puzzle, and as the narrative unravels, the lines between Ginevra's fiction and the passengers' real lives blur in thrilling ways.

Wowza! What a ride. The twists and turns, the secrets and mind games. Ooooh, to what end? I hope you enjoy this book as much I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book. I have not had a chance to read any other books by this author, but I did enjoy this one. This thriller is fast paced, and a enjoyable read.