1 to 4 of 4
Review Date: 7/16/2010
Helpful Score: 6
For anyone who's read Pride & Prejudice (or watched 1995's BBC version) and wished for their own personal Mr. Darcy, this is the book for you. Jane, a single 30-something from New York whose Darcy standards have been ruining her relationships for years, is given an opportunity to immerse herself in the Austen-era at a specialized vacation resort.
A modern woman, she struggles to stay in character and breaks a few rules with actors at the park. In the end, can she finally kick her Darcy obsession? Or will her three week trip result in something more?
Loved this book. Loved it! Such a fun, quick and light read. Hale wrote some great dialogue (Jane is snarky/sarcastic) that had me laughing out loud. Some of the flirting scenes tugged on the heartstrings. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed up ENTIRELY too late in order to finish it in one go!
A modern woman, she struggles to stay in character and breaks a few rules with actors at the park. In the end, can she finally kick her Darcy obsession? Or will her three week trip result in something more?
Loved this book. Loved it! Such a fun, quick and light read. Hale wrote some great dialogue (Jane is snarky/sarcastic) that had me laughing out loud. Some of the flirting scenes tugged on the heartstrings. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed up ENTIRELY too late in order to finish it in one go!
Review Date: 11/4/2009
Helpful Score: 7
Its a novel of a disillusioned man who survives a horrific car accident with severe burns. As he recovers in the hospital, he starts a friendship with a woman who is (maybe? probably?) a schizophrenic that claims they've known each other for hundreds of years. While he learns how to live with the varying changes to his body, she tells him stories of their past life and several side stories meant to teach him important lessons on life and love.
Absolutely fascinating read. I loved the many layers to this book and how the side stories connected with the main plot. It's a harsh look at a drug addled young man who is existing, not living, and how his life is turned upside down and inside out. Loved, loved, loved it.
Absolutely fascinating read. I loved the many layers to this book and how the side stories connected with the main plot. It's a harsh look at a drug addled young man who is existing, not living, and how his life is turned upside down and inside out. Loved, loved, loved it.
Review Date: 7/2/2010
Helpful Score: 6
Stop me if you've read this before:
1) Tortured vampire who loves the naive young woman
2) Naive young woman who loves the tortured vampire
3) Vampire sparkles... I mean, he turns TRANSLUCENT during sunrise/sunset. Really? Translucent? Ugh.
The buildup to Darcy being outed as a vampire is drudging and boring. They visit Paris and Venice, where Elizabeth has "bad feelings" and everything seems "dark and dreary" until they move on to the next location. After 200 pages of this, they finally announce him as a vampire... and lo and behold, the only person in the world who knows how to change Darcy back to human happens to track them down and owes him a debt of gratitude. There's a rushed ending, birds come out to sing and I threw the book down in disgust.
Bottom line: This book reads like bad fan-fiction. Feel free to skip it. Honestly, the only part of this book I liked was the front cover's design.
1) Tortured vampire who loves the naive young woman
2) Naive young woman who loves the tortured vampire
3) Vampire sparkles... I mean, he turns TRANSLUCENT during sunrise/sunset. Really? Translucent? Ugh.
The buildup to Darcy being outed as a vampire is drudging and boring. They visit Paris and Venice, where Elizabeth has "bad feelings" and everything seems "dark and dreary" until they move on to the next location. After 200 pages of this, they finally announce him as a vampire... and lo and behold, the only person in the world who knows how to change Darcy back to human happens to track them down and owes him a debt of gratitude. There's a rushed ending, birds come out to sing and I threw the book down in disgust.
Bottom line: This book reads like bad fan-fiction. Feel free to skip it. Honestly, the only part of this book I liked was the front cover's design.
Review Date: 7/5/2014
I'm torn on how I felt about this book. It has, at different times, both bored and excited me. The boredom caused me to give up on the book at least three times before I finally managed to finish it. Only about half way through did the story finally click with me, and then the excitement kicked in.
This is my very favorite of historical fiction tropes: a dual story with both modern and historical timelines. Its what made me love Lauren Willig's Flower series so much and I when I read the summary of The Rossetti Letter, I expected the same. I liked the book but I wouldn't say I loved it, or would necessarily recommend it to anyone that doesn't love Italian history.
I had two major complaints with the book. The first is a personal pet peeve of mine: endless dialogue with no identifying words or background phrases. If a conversation goes two pages without a "she said" or "he replied," I get lost as to who is speaking and it pulls me out of the story. If Phillips didn't like using these, then she could have at least used some background phrases that flesh out the story a bit more. For example, there is one page in the book that is entirely dialogue back and forth between Claire and Andrew. Why not throw in a, "Claire tucked her hair behind her ear," or something that would make the conversation seem more alive than two talking heads with no background context?
The second major complaint of the book, and what caused me to put it down so many times, is that I didn't connect with any of the characters. Even after finishing the book, I don't see the point to Gwen (as a means to getting Claire to Venice, I get, but what does her story contribute?) or Giancarlo (ditto - really, he's just not necessary.) Claire comes off as whiny and immature and Andrew as stuffy and awkward. Alessandra is a particularly flat character, but Phillips explains why that is.
Eh, I don't know. I liked it, but didn't like it at the same time. Maybe someone more interested in Italian history would enjoy this more, but... *shrugs* It just wasn't for me.
This is my very favorite of historical fiction tropes: a dual story with both modern and historical timelines. Its what made me love Lauren Willig's Flower series so much and I when I read the summary of The Rossetti Letter, I expected the same. I liked the book but I wouldn't say I loved it, or would necessarily recommend it to anyone that doesn't love Italian history.
I had two major complaints with the book. The first is a personal pet peeve of mine: endless dialogue with no identifying words or background phrases. If a conversation goes two pages without a "she said" or "he replied," I get lost as to who is speaking and it pulls me out of the story. If Phillips didn't like using these, then she could have at least used some background phrases that flesh out the story a bit more. For example, there is one page in the book that is entirely dialogue back and forth between Claire and Andrew. Why not throw in a, "Claire tucked her hair behind her ear," or something that would make the conversation seem more alive than two talking heads with no background context?
The second major complaint of the book, and what caused me to put it down so many times, is that I didn't connect with any of the characters. Even after finishing the book, I don't see the point to Gwen (as a means to getting Claire to Venice, I get, but what does her story contribute?) or Giancarlo (ditto - really, he's just not necessary.) Claire comes off as whiny and immature and Andrew as stuffy and awkward. Alessandra is a particularly flat character, but Phillips explains why that is.
Eh, I don't know. I liked it, but didn't like it at the same time. Maybe someone more interested in Italian history would enjoy this more, but... *shrugs* It just wasn't for me.
1 to 4 of 4
