I received a copy of this book via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Well, I'm pretty disappointed that this turned out to be a DNF for me. I've been looking forward to this book for a while (since 2017 when I discovered the author was working on it). Unfortunately, while I thought the concept very interesting, there was a lot of forefront content that I just didn't want to read about.
More important even than that point, comes my issue with the lack of setting. While atmosphere is certainly present, I had a very difficult time understanding where I actually was. This is a historical fiction set in France. While there were many, many finer details given, I could not grasp where I was supposed to be in this late 1800's locale. This era fascinates me, in almost any setting in the world, so I was very disappointed when I couldn't get a clear picture of where I was, where the characters were, and how the settings intermingled. I felt that there was a lot of filigree without a good base coat.
The last main issue I had with this book was how the characters were portrayed. Naturally, we want to fall in love with characters in a book we decide to explore. But, I couldn't help to feel as though these characters, and my "love" for them, was being forced down my throat. There were a few times that I chuckled at their interactions, as there where characteristics I liked about each from this group and how they complimented one another. Each line of dialogue was formed in a way that felt like it was trying too hard, though. I'm sure many people will love these characters. For my tastes, it did not suite.
Since this is a DNF read, I will not be assigning a star-review.
Well, I'm pretty disappointed that this turned out to be a DNF for me. I've been looking forward to this book for a while (since 2017 when I discovered the author was working on it). Unfortunately, while I thought the concept very interesting, there was a lot of forefront content that I just didn't want to read about.
More important even than that point, comes my issue with the lack of setting. While atmosphere is certainly present, I had a very difficult time understanding where I actually was. This is a historical fiction set in France. While there were many, many finer details given, I could not grasp where I was supposed to be in this late 1800's locale. This era fascinates me, in almost any setting in the world, so I was very disappointed when I couldn't get a clear picture of where I was, where the characters were, and how the settings intermingled. I felt that there was a lot of filigree without a good base coat.
The last main issue I had with this book was how the characters were portrayed. Naturally, we want to fall in love with characters in a book we decide to explore. But, I couldn't help to feel as though these characters, and my "love" for them, was being forced down my throat. There were a few times that I chuckled at their interactions, as there where characteristics I liked about each from this group and how they complimented one another. Each line of dialogue was formed in a way that felt like it was trying too hard, though. I'm sure many people will love these characters. For my tastes, it did not suite.
Since this is a DNF read, I will not be assigning a star-review.