chloeandherbooks's review against another edition
3.0
*I received an ARC of this book via netgalley however this in no way influenced my opinion*
Trigger Warnings: Racism
2.5 stars
One of my favourite genres is historical fiction so when I saw this on netgalley I knew I had to request it however I was left disappointed. Unfortunately I found this to be quite slow moving, it took me a while to get into it and I felt bored most of the time. The plot was interesting but took a while to get to the point and I could tell that the author had spent a lot of time researching what happened in Italy during the war. There were a few gripping plot twists that I didn’t see coming.
The book if told from two POV’s Vita’s and Frank’s. Sadly I couldn’t connect with Vita’s character and most of the time I found her chapters to be boring – especially in the beginning so I skimmed them, I also wish that we got more of her backstory. I enjoyed Frank’s character more than Vita’s and I felt so bad for him during the book as he faced a lot of racism, it was fascinating to see his experience throughout the book in the American army at that time and how he was treated.
Overall I was disappointed with the pacing and characters however I enjoyed the author’s writing style.
Trigger Warnings: Racism
2.5 stars
One of my favourite genres is historical fiction so when I saw this on netgalley I knew I had to request it however I was left disappointed. Unfortunately I found this to be quite slow moving, it took me a while to get into it and I felt bored most of the time. The plot was interesting but took a while to get to the point and I could tell that the author had spent a lot of time researching what happened in Italy during the war. There were a few gripping plot twists that I didn’t see coming.
The book if told from two POV’s Vita’s and Frank’s. Sadly I couldn’t connect with Vita’s character and most of the time I found her chapters to be boring – especially in the beginning so I skimmed them, I also wish that we got more of her backstory. I enjoyed Frank’s character more than Vita’s and I felt so bad for him during the book as he faced a lot of racism, it was fascinating to see his experience throughout the book in the American army at that time and how he was treated.
Overall I was disappointed with the pacing and characters however I enjoyed the author’s writing style.
roseofoulesfame's review against another edition
2.0
Limonaia? More like li m’annoia, amirite.
Great premise (a romance between an Italian civilian whose parents are on opposite ideological sides re Italian Fascism and a Black American soldier against the backdrop of occupied WW2 Tuscany? This should have been an absolute win), poor execution (I cannot emphasise enough how much I did not care about Vittoria. Cared about Frank a bit more)
Things I wanted less of:
- Italian characters suddenly saying Italianese words in the middle of a sentence to remind you that even though this book is in English, they are Italianese (also the whole thing of reproducing Scots' pronunciation of certain words like readers can't imagine someone speaking with a Scottish accent)
- characters going off on mini-soliloquys in the middle of a scene and taking me right out of the story...Vittoria is the main culprit but Frank is also guilty of this
- semi-colons. Some advice for readers: don’t play the drinking game of ‘drink every time the author uses a semi-colon’. Or...do?
Things I wanted more of:
- Giuseppe's backstory - his characterisation is WOEFULLY thin in this #justiceforgiuseppe
- details of Giuseppe's family’s experiences of the Isle of Man internment camps which...what the heck Britain?
- Cesca #justiceforcesca
- a story that got going BEFORE the three-quarter mark. Too much to ask apparently.
Two stars. One for Cesca, and one for Giuseppe.
Great premise (a romance between an Italian civilian whose parents are on opposite ideological sides re Italian Fascism and a Black American soldier against the backdrop of occupied WW2 Tuscany? This should have been an absolute win), poor execution (I cannot emphasise enough how much I did not care about Vittoria. Cared about Frank a bit more)
Things I wanted less of:
- Italian characters suddenly saying Italianese words in the middle of a sentence to remind you that even though this book is in English, they are Italianese (also the whole thing of reproducing Scots' pronunciation of certain words like readers can't imagine someone speaking with a Scottish accent)
- characters going off on mini-soliloquys in the middle of a scene and taking me right out of the story...Vittoria is the main culprit but Frank is also guilty of this
- semi-colons. Some advice for readers: don’t play the drinking game of ‘drink every time the author uses a semi-colon’. Or...do?
Things I wanted more of:
- Giuseppe's backstory - his characterisation is WOEFULLY thin in this #justiceforgiuseppe
- details of Giuseppe's family’s experiences of the Isle of Man internment camps which...what the heck Britain?
- Cesca #justiceforcesca
- a story that got going BEFORE the three-quarter mark. Too much to ask apparently.
Two stars. One for Cesca, and one for Giuseppe.
aribookie's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. I was intrigued by the parts about Black soldiers in Italy, but all in all this was way longer and slower than it should have been.
ladybookamore's review against another edition
3.0
Firstly, I convey my heartfelt thanks to Bloomsbury India for their undeterred patience and trust in my work. It was not easy for me to finish this book one month ago, hence the unfortunate delay.
To be honest, won't categorise The Sound of the Hours under historical fiction. Instead, I felt it more like contemporary fiction, set against the backdrop of the war. A moving story of survival, hope, love, and war, this book is for those who seek to know about the effects of war on small towns and hamlets. Unfortunately, the book turned out to be monotonous, and it took longer for the main storyline to develop, longer than I expected.
The first reason why I liked reading The Sound of the Hours was its detailed descriptions. While most of them were filler paragraphs to stretch the plot into a 450+ page book, they were indeed beautiful. The landscape descriptions are flawlessly depicted, as if the readers could almost visualise the scene in front of them. Such aptness and brilliance is truly commendable. Secondly, the book has a unique narrative style. With every chapter being narrated by different characters respectively, The Sound of the Hours provides the readers with multiple vantage points to look at the plot. Multiple POVs is something I very much enjoy reading, as far as modern classics and contemporary fiction is concerned. However, what I loved most is the theme it explores — warfare. The book is set against the backdrop of the Second World War, that too in a country which sided with the Axis Powers. Most importantly, the book devotes adequate attention to emphasize on the horrors of warfare, as well as the futility of materialistic quests.
However, there were a lot of glitches in The Sound of the Hours which were disappointing. Yes, I should have continued a lot more in the previous paragraph, but the faults are too overwhelming. Number one, the genre. The book proclaims to be a Historical Fiction, which it isn't. Nor can I describe it as contemporary fiction entirely. The book resides somewhere in the middle, but all in vain. The book talks less about WWII, but more about war in general. Also, the focus being on the two lovers, the "ornamental" narrative style is considered useless. Why go all the way to listen to multiple characters when the story doesn't seem to develop very little? With multiple narrators (point number two!) in the course of the novel, the plot tends to get muddled up very often. The turning points (point number three) arrive late, most of which seem predictable as well.
Yet, what stands apart is how Campbel uses language. The story may not be how you expected it to be, but the words are sheer poetry. From chapter one itself, the readers will be mesmerized by the manner in which Campbell expresses the simplest of the simple in the most extraordinary manner.
I convey my best wishes to the author for her future endeavours.
To be honest, won't categorise The Sound of the Hours under historical fiction. Instead, I felt it more like contemporary fiction, set against the backdrop of the war. A moving story of survival, hope, love, and war, this book is for those who seek to know about the effects of war on small towns and hamlets. Unfortunately, the book turned out to be monotonous, and it took longer for the main storyline to develop, longer than I expected.
The first reason why I liked reading The Sound of the Hours was its detailed descriptions. While most of them were filler paragraphs to stretch the plot into a 450+ page book, they were indeed beautiful. The landscape descriptions are flawlessly depicted, as if the readers could almost visualise the scene in front of them. Such aptness and brilliance is truly commendable. Secondly, the book has a unique narrative style. With every chapter being narrated by different characters respectively, The Sound of the Hours provides the readers with multiple vantage points to look at the plot. Multiple POVs is something I very much enjoy reading, as far as modern classics and contemporary fiction is concerned. However, what I loved most is the theme it explores — warfare. The book is set against the backdrop of the Second World War, that too in a country which sided with the Axis Powers. Most importantly, the book devotes adequate attention to emphasize on the horrors of warfare, as well as the futility of materialistic quests.
However, there were a lot of glitches in The Sound of the Hours which were disappointing. Yes, I should have continued a lot more in the previous paragraph, but the faults are too overwhelming. Number one, the genre. The book proclaims to be a Historical Fiction, which it isn't. Nor can I describe it as contemporary fiction entirely. The book resides somewhere in the middle, but all in vain. The book talks less about WWII, but more about war in general. Also, the focus being on the two lovers, the "ornamental" narrative style is considered useless. Why go all the way to listen to multiple characters when the story doesn't seem to develop very little? With multiple narrators (point number two!) in the course of the novel, the plot tends to get muddled up very often. The turning points (point number three) arrive late, most of which seem predictable as well.
Yet, what stands apart is how Campbel uses language. The story may not be how you expected it to be, but the words are sheer poetry. From chapter one itself, the readers will be mesmerized by the manner in which Campbell expresses the simplest of the simple in the most extraordinary manner.
I convey my best wishes to the author for her future endeavours.
jomarchkinnie's review
4.0
3.5/5 stars
The Sound of the Hours set in fascist Italy in the early to mid 1940s, follows Vita, a young Italian woman conflicted between doing what's right and doing what's easy (cliche, I know). The other main character is Frank, an African American serving in the segregated U.S. Army. Shockingly, the two meet and fall in love.
Campbell's flowery writing style made The Sound of the Hours difficult to read at first, but I gradually got used to it and began to enjoy it. It's very descriptive, sometimes almost too much. Especially towards the end, during the climax, the writing and actions felt so repetitive and insignificant that I basically skimmed it.
The romance felt stereotypical and was basically the same as every other story with a forbidden love. God, I just wanted a happy ending. Is that too much to ask? Despite this, I can understand why the plot went that way.
The romance doesn't even begin until probably about 100 pages in or so, when Frank saves Vita from being sexually harassed by American soldiers. Up until then, there is rampant (and poorly written) racism and sexism. There wasn't really a solution to either, with both still remaining prominent by the end of the book in several characters (yum, lack of character development).
The prologue and epilogue just felt- pointless. We know the story about Vita and Frank, and seeing everyone else 70 years later was depressing and boring. I didn't see a purpose to either the very beginning or the very end.
The descriptive writing style and gorgeous setting made up for this drab of a book. (Ever since reading Call Me By Your Name I've been obsessed with books in Italy? It's becoming a problem I want to read other books set in different countries lmao.) I still grew attached to the characters, despite my complaints. Probably not worth your time, but it was nice to read.
The Sound of the Hours set in fascist Italy in the early to mid 1940s, follows Vita, a young Italian woman conflicted between doing what's right and doing what's easy (cliche, I know). The other main character is Frank, an African American serving in the segregated U.S. Army. Shockingly, the two meet and fall in love.
Spoiler
Ending, of course, with Frank dying and Vita soon after.Campbell's flowery writing style made The Sound of the Hours difficult to read at first, but I gradually got used to it and began to enjoy it. It's very descriptive, sometimes almost too much. Especially towards the end, during the climax, the writing and actions felt so repetitive and insignificant that I basically skimmed it.
The romance felt stereotypical and was basically the same as every other story with a forbidden love.
Spoiler
They meet, fall in love (very quickly), have loads of sex, then he dies and she's pregnant, then she dies during or after childbirth. Very sad and tragic, and definitely not overdone.The romance doesn't even begin until probably about 100 pages in or so, when Frank saves Vita from being sexually harassed by American soldiers. Up until then, there is rampant (and poorly written) racism and sexism. There wasn't really a solution to either, with both still remaining prominent by the end of the book in several characters (yum, lack of character development).
The prologue and epilogue just felt- pointless. We know the story about Vita and Frank, and seeing everyone else 70 years later was depressing and boring. I didn't see a purpose to either the very beginning or the very end.
The descriptive writing style and gorgeous setting made up for this drab of a book. (Ever since reading Call Me By Your Name I've been obsessed with books in Italy? It's becoming a problem I want to read other books set in different countries lmao.) I still grew attached to the characters, despite my complaints. Probably not worth your time, but it was nice to read.
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