majarubyrose's review against another edition
2.5
I initially really enjoyed this but it fell apart in the middle and was all a bit downhill from there. The villain reveal was boring and didn't feel connected in an interesting way (honestly I though Rob was going to be a Jekyll and Hyde character, especially given the comment from Lydia about him being named after Robert Louis Stevenson) and the climax was emotionally bland to me. It has a lot of potential and I really liked the idea, but ultimately it was a letdown. Also, given it was written by an academic about about academia, I found the academic bits reeeeallly surface level and often dull. But I'm not a huge fan of Dickens, so maybe it just wasn't for me.
nlgeiger's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
afox98's review against another edition
2.0
DNF. I read about 40% and just couldn't get into it. Hard for me to pick back up. Charley Sutherland has a gift he was born with - the ability to "read out" characters from books. Mostly harmless, his ability pops up at odd times and exasperates his brother Rob, who keeps hoping the power will go away. When Charley reads out Uriah Heep from Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, things start to go a bit more awry than usual during one of these episodes. With the help of Uriah and some other literary characters, Charley and Rob discover a town where the characters live, and the town is under duress.
I think this book would probably be better for big Dickens fans, but I hadn't read the couple of Dickens books being constantly referenced. Also, the plot becomes significantly repetitive and somewhat boring around the 30% mark. There wasn't enough action or disparate literary characters to hold my interest.
I think this book would probably be better for big Dickens fans, but I hadn't read the couple of Dickens books being constantly referenced. Also, the plot becomes significantly repetitive and somewhat boring around the 30% mark. There wasn't enough action or disparate literary characters to hold my interest.
glenfleskie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a book about siblings, and it’s a book about stories. Really really well done. I cried.
really_rachel's review against another edition
4.0
I'm surprised that I haven't heard of this book through more channels. It was a lot of fun! For this book lover it was ridiculous in all the right places.
reyes_sf's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this!
When I read the blurb for this book I thought something along the lines of "OMG YESSS" and although it was not a bad book by any means, I'm sorry to say that it didn't meet my expectations either. The idea is absolutely fabulous, the research job is excellent and the writing is good, but it was also completely emotionless. Here I am, reading about the very complicated relationship between two brothers who both love and resent each other, and I'm feeling nothing... Maybe for another reader this is not so bad, but the lack of connection kind of ruined the book for me.
Rob as a narrator was pretty unlikeable. He's petty and clearly resents his brother for his ability, which is totally understandable (who wouldn't??), but it was not fun to be in his head. I tried not to judge him too harshly for his decisions as it obviously was not easy to have a brother like Charley, but I really think he is just a crappy brother (and boyfriend). At first Charley was pretty adorable in that head-in-the-clouds, lives-in-his-own-world way, but I got tired of that quickly too. As for the other characters, Millie was cool, Uriah was creepy, Dorian was the most interesting of the lot and the jokes about the many Darcys were priceless.
The mystery is well managed, although the resolution was not exactly surprising. I saw everything coming from miles away, and there were a couple of twists towards the very end that in my opinion dragged the book rather than making it more interesting, as they didn't add anything to the story. To be honest, I thought the ending was rather predictable and a bit underwhelming.
I would recommend this to anyone who would like to give it a go because the idea really is great, and the experience is obviously different for every person, but for me this was a bit of a disappointment :(
When I read the blurb for this book I thought something along the lines of "OMG YESSS" and although it was not a bad book by any means, I'm sorry to say that it didn't meet my expectations either. The idea is absolutely fabulous, the research job is excellent and the writing is good, but it was also completely emotionless. Here I am, reading about the very complicated relationship between two brothers who both love and resent each other, and I'm feeling nothing... Maybe for another reader this is not so bad, but the lack of connection kind of ruined the book for me.
Rob as a narrator was pretty unlikeable. He's petty and clearly resents his brother for his ability, which is totally understandable (who wouldn't??), but it was not fun to be in his head. I tried not to judge him too harshly for his decisions as it obviously was not easy to have a brother like Charley, but I really think he is just a crappy brother (and boyfriend). At first Charley was pretty adorable in that head-in-the-clouds, lives-in-his-own-world way, but I got tired of that quickly too. As for the other characters, Millie was cool, Uriah was creepy, Dorian was the most interesting of the lot and the jokes about the many Darcys were priceless.
The mystery is well managed, although the resolution was not exactly surprising. I saw everything coming from miles away, and there were a couple of twists towards the very end that in my opinion dragged the book rather than making it more interesting, as they didn't add anything to the story. To be honest, I thought the ending was rather predictable and a bit underwhelming.
I would recommend this to anyone who would like to give it a go because the idea really is great, and the experience is obviously different for every person, but for me this was a bit of a disappointment :(
kleedc73's review against another edition
4.0
This is a wonderfully complex, unique book for all of those literary nerds out there who, like me, would dearly love to see some of their favorite literary characters come to life. I left this book wanting to revisit my favorite Dickens novels and more. This was a big swing for a debut novel and, for me, it was a rousing success. What a love story to the power of the written word and the important role literature can play in shaping our lives. It reminded me of two other series I loved -- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde.