Reviews

The Naturalist's Daughter by Tea Cooper

meganleebee's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

By the halfway point it turned into a totally different story and it all but forgot about the first half and its characters. Ridiculous turn of events that did not match what the first half of the book was setting up. Very disappointing.

kbranfield's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars.

paging_snidget's review against another edition

1.0

Such a frustrating read. This story was rife with coincidence and cliche. The storyline was far fetched and overwrought. All the characters were painted in very broad strokes. There was no nuance or subtlety to be found. The two love interests annoyed me. Both of them were cases of instant attraction and really at least one of them was unnecessary.

I really didn’t like this. There were so many coincidental happenings and ridiculous plot devices that I found myself constantly annoyed. This is normally a subject that would fascinate me, but in this case the writing was just too clunky. Really disappointing.

manorclassics's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I've got mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the platypus story and I'm impressed by how Cooper built the whole novel just around a rumour. I also liked the dual timeline and both Tamsin and Rose were great characters. I found Shaw somewhat annoying, though, and towards the end I felt there were a few too many coincidences...however, I did really enjoy the reading experience and I would definitely like to read more by this author.

thegreensofa's review against another edition

2.0

That time when you're in a book club and you need to read something you would never ever pick yourself (due to story or cover or both!), and then you read it. And it's torture just like you thought it would be.
But I did learn a hell of a lot about gorgeous little platypuses! And that made me happy.

knightscottage's review against another edition

adventurous informative 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? No

4.0

knightscottage's review

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book ended up being not what I expected at all. Slow to start. Fascinating to learn about the Australian platypus. I found it really interesting. I loved the descriptive writing of the Australian bush. 
I hope to re-read. 

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Content Warnings

History. Australian platypus.