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constant2m's review
1.0
This book had such an intriguing premise. Spies from the Revolutionary War continued training their progeny and the descendants resurrected these talents during the American Civil War. The cover was also lovely.
Unfortunately, the premise is the highest praise I can give this book. It was disappointing. The dialogue felt forced. The historical period was interesting, but the chapters jumped around so much that it was difficult to follow. Grief was treated strangely. A grown daughter couldn't understand her mother's grief over her deceased husband since the daughter wasn't married. But, she just lost her father, so I didn't understand why there was a disconnect in her own grief. And then after both of her parents died, she was becoming a shell of her former self until an attractive acquaintance who she refuses to love (but is destined to be her soulmate) shows up and has sex with her. Wait, what?
There were too many love stories, all underdeveloped. Supposedly, these men and women were noble and treated each other with respect, and yet it seemed to be all talk since they jumped into bed with each other very quickly. The too-frequent and too-explicit love scenes were described crudely and in a way that didn't fit the period. It also felt quite gratuitous - so many of those scenes were unnecessary. A woman was raped early in the book, and then immediately recruited as a spy and a whore for the opposing side. That seemed a little too convenient. A freed slave who appeared white offered herself as a mistress to a white man who she had known and admired all of her life and though it seemed like he desired her, there was no conversation from either of them about an actual marriage. Sex was described as someone showing how much they loved the other person but without talk of commitment or whether the other person was in love. Falling in love looked entirely like lust; I didn't see anything in any of the stories that resembled actual love.
I finished the book in the hopes that the story would improve. The last quarter of the book finally started to focus on the back story of the spy families, which was much more interesting. If only that could have been brought in much earlier and more smoothly. I don't recommend this book.
I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley and reviewed it in the hopes that other people know what they are getting into before reading it.
Unfortunately, the premise is the highest praise I can give this book. It was disappointing. The dialogue felt forced. The historical period was interesting, but the chapters jumped around so much that it was difficult to follow. Grief was treated strangely. A grown daughter couldn't understand her mother's grief over her deceased husband since the daughter wasn't married. But, she just lost her father, so I didn't understand why there was a disconnect in her own grief. And then after both of her parents died, she was becoming a shell of her former self until an attractive acquaintance who she refuses to love (but is destined to be her soulmate) shows up and has sex with her. Wait, what?
There were too many love stories, all underdeveloped. Supposedly, these men and women were noble and treated each other with respect, and yet it seemed to be all talk since they jumped into bed with each other very quickly. The too-frequent and too-explicit love scenes were described crudely and in a way that didn't fit the period. It also felt quite gratuitous - so many of those scenes were unnecessary. A woman was raped early in the book, and then immediately recruited as a spy and a whore for the opposing side. That seemed a little too convenient. A freed slave who appeared white offered herself as a mistress to a white man who she had known and admired all of her life and though it seemed like he desired her, there was no conversation from either of them about an actual marriage. Sex was described as someone showing how much they loved the other person but without talk of commitment or whether the other person was in love. Falling in love looked entirely like lust; I didn't see anything in any of the stories that resembled actual love.
I finished the book in the hopes that the story would improve. The last quarter of the book finally started to focus on the back story of the spy families, which was much more interesting. If only that could have been brought in much earlier and more smoothly. I don't recommend this book.
I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley and reviewed it in the hopes that other people know what they are getting into before reading it.
gbennett92's review
Deciding to put this one on hold for a little while, I'm not particularly taken with it and my TBR list is growing so much right now that I just really don't want to go into a reading slump!
I will pick this back up when I have a little bit more time, or maybe just try and read some bits in between other books. At the moment, I just don't think this book is for me...
I will pick this back up when I have a little bit more time, or maybe just try and read some bits in between other books. At the moment, I just don't think this book is for me...
jillmlong's review
3.0
Strong characters and an interesting plot. This story would have been better without so many time jumps. Jessica A. Clements is a good writer and I will definitely read more from her.
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