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teneuse's review
3.0
Promising setup - basically Downtown Abbey crossed with a Holocaust drama - was undermined by a lack of character development and shallow romances. Quick read, though.
julan1027's review
4.0
Beautiful, bittersweet, lovely, and heart-breaking.
The first couple pages were slow, but by page 10 I felt like I had fallen under a spell. Elise's family was very compelling - charming, interesting, loving, real. I wanted to spend more time with them. The author was skilled at creating a sense of place both in Vienna and the English country side. It was fascinating to watch the way characters developed as the world changed. The author writes separation, loss, and grief in a realistic and, therefore, moving way.
I did feel that the end was rushed. So much time and detail had gone into developing the story it seemed as if the author felt she was out of space and just stopped. Perhaps it's because I didn't want the story to end that it bothered me.
Also, it felt as if some story lines were left unfinished. There was a lot of foreshadowing in the book. However, one conversation took place between Elise and another character where Elise said she didn't know all of what was said until much later, suggesting that readers would later learn what all had been said. But it's never mentioned again and it was a rather important conversation. It's possible that what Elise related was the entire conversation, but I re-read it several times once the book ended and still couldn't put it together. So in this and a few other ways what happened is left to the readers' imaginations.
On a number of occasions Elise's daydreams are written as if they are actually occurring. That was disconcerting because it was hard to tell where daydreams began and ended.
The first couple pages were slow, but by page 10 I felt like I had fallen under a spell. Elise's family was very compelling - charming, interesting, loving, real. I wanted to spend more time with them. The author was skilled at creating a sense of place both in Vienna and the English country side. It was fascinating to watch the way characters developed as the world changed. The author writes separation, loss, and grief in a realistic and, therefore, moving way.
I did feel that the end was rushed. So much time and detail had gone into developing the story it seemed as if the author felt she was out of space and just stopped. Perhaps it's because I didn't want the story to end that it bothered me.
Also, it felt as if some story lines were left unfinished. There was a lot of foreshadowing in the book. However, one conversation took place between Elise and another character where Elise said she didn't know all of what was said until much later, suggesting that readers would later learn what all had been said. But it's never mentioned again and it was a rather important conversation. It's possible that what Elise related was the entire conversation, but I re-read it several times once the book ended and still couldn't put it together. So in this and a few other ways what happened is left to the readers' imaginations.
On a number of occasions Elise's daydreams are written as if they are actually occurring. That was disconcerting because it was hard to tell where daydreams began and ended.
sarahmallette's review
3.0
This book was slow to start and the characters were of average interest. The authors over-abundance of foreshadowing made the story predictable but it helped to take the edge of my Downton Abbey withdrawals.
marissamoon's review
3.0
This was shaping up to be added to my top 10 favorite books of all time and then the ending happened. I understand that some things realistically had to happen at the end of this story, but come on, it was taken too far.
juliachilver's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this. The descriptive writing of the countryside reminded me of HE Bates and the history of the ghost village is fascinating.
tinuviel1892's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
anna_pengu's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
At first, I enjoyed the vivid and detailed descriptions the author gave for every piece of landscape around Elise, the main character. However, it started to wear thin about halfway into the book and the overly long and flowery descriptions started to feel like they were there to pad out the length of the book. This also really bogged down the pacing, as these long passages fill out the bulk of the book whenever nothing else is happening.
The characters, especially Elise herself, were difficult to find interesting. Relationships aren't built very realistically and the one at the end, specifically, just felt icky to me considering how it comes together after the tragic revelation just before it.
Overall, this book was a struggle to get through and I definitely started skimming the long passages of describing animals on a hill, the sound of waves on a shore, and so on and so forth. A very uninteresting read with a middling plot that doesn't really go anywhere satisfying.
The characters, especially Elise herself, were difficult to find interesting. Relationships aren't built very realistically and the one at the end, specifically, just felt icky to me considering how it comes together after the tragic revelation just before it.
Overall, this book was a struggle to get through and I definitely started skimming the long passages of describing animals on a hill, the sound of waves on a shore, and so on and so forth. A very uninteresting read with a middling plot that doesn't really go anywhere satisfying.
kolson687's review
4.0
This is a beautifully written book that has a strong sense of time and place. The upstairs/downstairs is reminiscent of Downton Abbey but there is not a lot of overlap as it pertains to the characters. I love historical novels based on real events so the author's note at the end really added to my enjoyment of the book. If you enjoy historical fiction set in the English country side I would recommend this book.
sdelcharco's review
3.0
A good enough read. Some parts didn’t seem to be believable for the time period.
nicolegiordano's review
3.0
A quick, easy read. The story was a little too predictable, but the characters were like-able. A good summer read.