Eryca Liskovec
I wanted to like this book so badly, and I think there is a lot to like - the characters are fun (if a little one dimensional), the concept is something I was excited about, and starting each chapter with letters to Lady Agony was cute.
I could not get into the writing of this book, however. There were long portions of the book when it seemed like all of the sentences were the same length, which took away from the flow of reading. The author also doesn't seem to trust her own writing, or doesn't trust the reader to decipher it. For example, there was a scene when the two lead characters were calling on a lady and wished to speak to her maid. She brings the maid into the room:
“Deeply appreciated,” said Simon. “We'll ring if we need further assistance.”
Amelia was glad for his comment. His statement indicated that they planned on talking to Lena alone.
We all understood that from his comment, including the character who then left the room so they could talk to Lena alone. Having this over explained is truly, maybe irrationally, irritating to me. If this really, really needed to be communicated, phrasing it something like "Amelia was thankful for his approach so that they could speak to Lena alone," would show insight into the characters without patronizing the reader.
I don't know if the book just needs a better edit, or if the author just needs to believe in her own writing, but I ended up only reading about 50% of the book before calling it. Again, there was a lot of potential here, and I hope for the best as this series moves forward.
I wanted to like this book so badly, and I think there is a lot to like - the characters are fun (if a little one dimensional), the concept is something I was excited about, and starting each chapter with letters to Lady Agony was cute.
I could not get into the writing of this book, however. There were long portions of the book when it seemed like all of the sentences were the same length, which took away from the flow of reading. The author also doesn't seem to trust her own writing, or doesn't trust the reader to decipher it. For example, there was a scene when the two lead characters were calling on a lady and wished to speak to her maid. She brings the maid into the room:
“Deeply appreciated,” said Simon. “We'll ring if we need further assistance.”
Amelia was glad for his comment. His statement indicated that they planned on talking to Lena alone.
We all understood that from his comment, including the character who then left the room so they could talk to Lena alone. Having this over explained is truly, maybe irrationally, irritating to me. If this really, really needed to be communicated, phrasing it something like "Amelia was thankful for his approach so that they could speak to Lena alone," would show insight into the characters without patronizing the reader.
I don't know if the book just needs a better edit, or if the author just needs to believe in her own writing, but I ended up only reading about 50% of the book before calling it. Again, there was a lot of potential here, and I hope for the best as this series moves forward.