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tabitha_isabelle's review
1.5
A history book masquerading as fiction. Studded throughout with explanatory passages detailing the nuances of the historical period, I felt that this overly ambitious work did not fulfil its promise. I enjoyed the insight it gave me into Georgian history (something I knew very little about), but could not get over the poor quality of the writing. The characterisation was especially weak - incidents seem contrived, whilst decisions lacked believability. At times the characters felt like mere caricatures. The reams of exposition did not help in this regard.
One more thing (that hardly needs saying) a book focusing on a family in the Soviet Union in the 20th century does not need an additional something that brings people misfortune or bad luck - terrible things were happening anyway! The magical hot chocolate was redundant.
On the whole a dissatisfying read.
One more thing (that hardly needs saying) a book focusing on a family in the Soviet Union in the 20th century does not need an additional something that brings people misfortune or bad luck - terrible things were happening anyway! The magical hot chocolate was redundant.
On the whole a dissatisfying read.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder
glitteringeyes418's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Medical trauma
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