Kristin K. (escapeartistk) - reviewed on 6/3/2013 + 207 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

DISCLAIMER: I did not finish this book. To find out why, read on

I feel like I keep running across the same heroine: a single heterosexual female scholar in her late 20s-early 30s who excels in her field and who suddenly and unexpectedly finds herself the center of some adventure (Interred with their Bones; A Discovery of Witches; 'Doomsday Book). Apparently, the reader is supposed to sympathize with this protagonist merely because she is a single female scholar in her late 20s-early 30s who excels in her field and who suddenly and unexpectedly finds herself the center of some adventure. Little more in the way of characterization is offered to endear this heroine. By the time I met her again in City of Dark Magic, she felt pre-fabricated.

Then theres the fact that nothing happens for 100+ pages. I noticed, when I was on page 103...that I was already on p. 103. And that nothing really had happened. There had been a lot of plot set up too much, it seemed to me, to effectively be brought to conclusion in the remaining 300 pages. However, I cannot say this with certainty because I never found out because I didnt continue reading past p. 103.

I did try to skim ahead a little -- on 2-3 different occasions -- before completely giving up, to make sure I wasnt going to miss something great. When I saw, however, that Id only be missing descriptions like this -- BAM. That was how Sarah would later describe the sound of the tractor hitting their small white van (p. 108) (a description that I truly believe I could write myself, as could most other PBSers, as could, probably, most sixth-graders), I decided to spend my time on other books with more interesting protagonists or more engaging storylines or better writing OR, heaven permit, all of the above.

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