While this takes place on a train, the rest of the plot derails and not in a classic literature kind of way.
The characters are very well developed, but they seemed childish at times. I really wanted to love this one, but it was average for me.
Readable, but not one I had issues putting down for a break.
Thankful for the ARC

The Main Character is a twisty, locked-room mystery set on the glamorous Orient Express. Rory, a former news anchor, thinks she’s on a solo trip planned by a famous author—but soon realizes her ex-fiancé, brother, and best friend are all onboard too. And the author seems to know all their secrets.

The setting is rich and luxurious, and the idea of a mystery on a train through Italy is fun and atmospheric. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and slow build of tension, though some parts felt a little predictable. Rory’s character could’ve used more depth, but I liked the mix of modern drama with classic mystery vibes.

Overall, a fun and easy read for fans of Agatha Christie-style stories with a modern edge.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for an Advanced Reader copy of The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis.

After losing her job as a prominent news anchor, having her wedding called off by her fiance, and facing the news that her father is suffering from advanced dementia, Rory jumped at the opportunity to become the “main character” for a new book by eccentric author Ginerva Ex. She has just finished several months exploring Italy while being extensively interviewed by Ms. Ex in order to be turned into a fictional character for the book. As a bonus, Ginevra treats her to an extravagant trip along Italy’s Mediterranean coast as a passenger on the famous Orient Express. But when Rory boards the train, she’s met with a surprise - her brother, her best friend, and her ex-fiancé are passengers also. Each of these people integral to Rory’s life have been invited on the trip by Ginevra Ex. And all three have secrets they are anxious to keep.

With each stop of the train, Rory begins to see how Ginevra has turned her bonus vacation into a real life mystery with her as a real main character. As secrets are revealed and lies are exposed, Rory’s fear increases that life might be imitating art in a deadly way. Why did Ginerva Ex bring this group together? What secrets is she hiding as well? Will they survive their journey on the Orient Express?

I really enjoyed the twists and turns this story took. The mystery kept me engaged and was not predictable at all. The only thing I dislike is that the ending is VERY abrupt, almost like the author wasn’t quite sure how to wrap it up, so she just stopped. Having said, I would still recommend the book because of everything that happens before the last page.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis in exchange for my honest review and opinion. The premise of this book sounded very interesting and indeed it was. Very well written and just kept you engaged until the end. I appreciated her writing style and look forward to reading more by her in the future.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕
🛞 Character-Driven
🐌 Slow Build
🤫 Secrets
🗣️ Multiple POV
🎭 Family Drama
🍋 Italian Setting
✍🏻 Agatha Christie-ish

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕
A best selling author arranges a luxury Italian train trip that is not all it appears to be.

𝑺𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔
• I really didn’t come to love any of the characters. I just couldn’t really connect with any of them. The most mysterious was the writer, Ginevea, herself.

• I predicted the twist (or at least the culprit) pretty early on of the main suspension. That’s always a bummer for me!

• I really enjoyed the premise of this book. It unraveled pretty slowly until things escalated quickly at the very end. I didn’t expect things to turn out quite the way they did. The dual timeline story ultimately did tie together in the end. Not necessarily in a tidy way…I felt was left with too many unanswered questions.

• This is my first book by this author - but interested to read her upcoming novel, The Safari!

After a long year that ended with Rory losing her prized TV anchor job, she finds herself in Italy, ready to board a train, and poised to become bestselling author Ginevra Ex's next protagonist in The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis. Little does she know that she will meet up with principal characters in her life as the author composes her next novel about Rory. This includes her successful entrepreneur brother Max, best friend Caroline, and ex-boyfriend Nate. Why are they needed for this book and what secrets will be revealed to construct this story?

I found the premise of an author hiring a real person to become her next main character incredibly original and intriguing. It sounded so unique and a great idea to base a book in this regard. You never know what others may contribute to a book about you and what the novel could reveal about your personality, history, and background. That starts off the book on strong footing, especially when you realize that Rory's family and friends may be hiding secrets from her that could upend her life even further.

The scenery is incredible and makes you want to board a train in Italy to see the sights. I loved feeling like I was going on vacation, and the places they stay and places where they eat are decadent. It's apparent that the author must either have spent or spends a lot of time in Italy, and the atmosphere came alive.

Some of the characters are somewhat lackluster like both of Rory's love interests. I think more development of those two characters could have strengthened the book. While you can surmise that Rory and her brother are close, I felt that Max wasn't a clear-cut character. Some of the things he does later in the book seemed somewhat implausible. I felt the female characters were stronger and possessed more depth. This includes the author in the book and her family. The story about Ginevra's family is quite interesting with a trip to the Soviet Union. If you read the author's note, you'll find out that Jaclyn Goldis based some of the story of Rory's father on her own father.

The end of the book is weird and disjointed in places. You get answers on a lot of different things but something did seemed off about the ending. So much is packed into the last part of the book. While I really liked the book and felt it was well-written, something wasn't clicking for me so I felt this book deserved about a 3.5. I also felt like some plotlines ended in abrupt ways that needed a little more of a foundation.

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!
#jaclyngoldis
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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.