I am apparently in the minority on this one! I have see so many people raving about this novel and declaring it the best they've ever read. I was less than impressed.
I was not a fan of the setting from the start. I believe this book takes place in the 1920s but I truly felt like I was reading something from the 1700s for the majority of the book. The language used between characters and even the style of writing from the author made everything feel overwrought, pretentious and old time-y.
The plot was insanely confusing. I'm not saying I am a literary genius but I read at least 100 books a year, primarily thrillers, and I think I have slightly above average talent for following twisty plots and non-linear structured storylines. This was a mess. Entirely too many characters, too many plot rings nestled into each other and, as mentioned above, the overdone language makes it even worse. I don't mind putting effort into a book but reading my AP European History textbook in high school was easier to follow than this - and probably had a similar payoff.
Oh boy with that ending... I can't blame the author entirely for this one because the plot synopsis was a little outside my typical genre to begin with but that ending went way too far for me. I don't think this book is terrible but I've never been so confused and struggled through such a rough style for such a pointless payoff.
I was not a fan of the setting from the start. I believe this book takes place in the 1920s but I truly felt like I was reading something from the 1700s for the majority of the book. The language used between characters and even the style of writing from the author made everything feel overwrought, pretentious and old time-y.
The plot was insanely confusing. I'm not saying I am a literary genius but I read at least 100 books a year, primarily thrillers, and I think I have slightly above average talent for following twisty plots and non-linear structured storylines. This was a mess. Entirely too many characters, too many plot rings nestled into each other and, as mentioned above, the overdone language makes it even worse. I don't mind putting effort into a book but reading my AP European History textbook in high school was easier to follow than this - and probably had a similar payoff.
Oh boy with that ending... I can't blame the author entirely for this one because the plot synopsis was a little outside my typical genre to begin with but that ending went way too far for me. I don't think this book is terrible but I've never been so confused and struggled through such a rough style for such a pointless payoff.