beelovesreading's review
4.0
I enjoyed the plot line and the characters, although I found it very slow to get into. It only really started picking up after the 180 page mark.
rachaelhubbard's review against another edition
1.0
So, so, so bad.
I didn’t finish and looked up the sparknotes just to see what plot (if any) there would be. Made it to page 202/365 and NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET. Literally nothing that advances the story. Pages on pages in ITALICS. Constantly switching between first and third person. Wikipedia historical facts inserted needlessly. Run, don’t walk from this one.
I didn’t finish and looked up the sparknotes just to see what plot (if any) there would be. Made it to page 202/365 and NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET. Literally nothing that advances the story. Pages on pages in ITALICS. Constantly switching between first and third person. Wikipedia historical facts inserted needlessly. Run, don’t walk from this one.
ablotial's review against another edition
4.0
The reviews of this book from other members of my book club were mixed. Some really loved it, others thought it was just too weird. When I first started listening to this audiobook, I also thought it was pretty weird. I didn't fully understand what was going on. But as the story continued and the different players all came together, I began to really enjoy it. It has a surreal quality, somewhat dreamlike in nature, probably enhanced by the fact that I was listening to the audio version while half awake in the middle of the night in the dark while nursing my infant. But it was really perfect for this!
I very much enjoyed the story, once I understood what was going on. I loved Coralie and detested her father. I suspected something was up with I also loved Eddie, watching him come into his own during the mystery of the missing girl and his love for Coralie.
Of course, reading about the fire and all that went on was difficult, but Hoffman did a great job of weaving this part of history into the story and the mystery. Very sad, though.
I very much enjoyed the story, once I understood what was going on. I loved Coralie and detested her father. I suspected something was up with
Spoiler
his story about her mother due to the somewhat amazing "coincidence" that his own child had a deformity that allowed her to play a part in his museum. And I wonder about whether the nurse was really her mother or not - I guess probably, though her coloring was quite different it seems.Of course, reading about the fire and all that went on was difficult, but Hoffman did a great job of weaving this part of history into the story and the mystery. Very sad, though.
sarahcoller's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't enjoy this one very much---mainly because it was just so extremely boring. The set up took about 300 pages, leaving me with about 50 pages of an actual story that I breezed through in about 20 minutes. The way it was written is distracting: lots of jumping back and forth between narrators, first and third person narratives, and bouncing around the timeline.
The ending is obvious and anticlimactic. The parts I didn't guess very early on were not super exciting either. I'm not usually one for magical realism but I think a little more focus on the fantastical in this story would have made it much more palatable.
The one thing I did really enjoy about the story were all of the historical bits and references to my favorite time in history.
The ending is obvious and anticlimactic. The parts I didn't guess very early on were not super exciting either. I'm not usually one for magical realism but I think a little more focus on the fantastical in this story would have made it much more palatable.
The one thing I did really enjoy about the story were all of the historical bits and references to my favorite time in history.
kendrashea's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
cydneydaniel's review against another edition
4.0
This book has given me mixed feelings. It was beautiful and descriptive, and amazing history was woven into the story skillfully. The book was lovely in terms of how it was written. I love the words she used and how quickly she made my heart break with just one sentence. The story was a little slow, though, and I had trouble believing the romance part of the story. However, The Museum of Extraordinary Things was more than romance, and the rest of the book was very much worth the uninteresting love story. The relationship between Maureen and Cora was more interesting to me than the relationship between Eddie and Cora.
Museum of Extraordinary Things walks the line between historical fiction and fantasy, which is right up my alley. It was lovely and sad, but the ending was just how I think endings should be.
A couple of my favorite quotes from this book:
"Eddie had come to understand that what a man saw and what actually existed in the natural world often often were contradictory. The human eye was not capable of true sight for it was constrained by its own humanness, clouded by regret, and opinion, and faith." (Page 57)
"Love happens in such a way. It walks up to you, and when it does, you need to recognize it for what it is and, perhaps more important, for what it might become." (Pg 255)
Museum of Extraordinary Things walks the line between historical fiction and fantasy, which is right up my alley. It was lovely and sad, but the ending was just how I think endings should be.
A couple of my favorite quotes from this book:
"Eddie had come to understand that what a man saw and what actually existed in the natural world often often were contradictory. The human eye was not capable of true sight for it was constrained by its own humanness, clouded by regret, and opinion, and faith." (Page 57)
"Love happens in such a way. It walks up to you, and when it does, you need to recognize it for what it is and, perhaps more important, for what it might become." (Pg 255)
shrike_'s review against another edition
1.0
To me, magical realism is a genre that takes just the right story and voice to land beautifully. And while I desperately wanted that for 'The Museum of Extraordinary Things', I just don't think it pulled it off.
This is one of the rare books I had to force myself to finish, setting a page amount for each day and soldiering through before I could turn my attention to something else. I'm writing this review with some distance between me and the novel, and I couldn't tell you a damn interesting thing about either of the main characters.
I found the both of them impossible to relate to or love, and as such their relationship with one another couldn't hold my interest in the slightest. The pacing of it felt peculiar, and as if they met and immediately were prepared to be tethered to one another for the rest of their lives.
I'm sure it's a beautiful story for the right audience, unfortunately that wasn't me.
This is one of the rare books I had to force myself to finish, setting a page amount for each day and soldiering through before I could turn my attention to something else. I'm writing this review with some distance between me and the novel, and I couldn't tell you a damn interesting thing about either of the main characters.
I found the both of them impossible to relate to or love, and as such their relationship with one another couldn't hold my interest in the slightest. The pacing of it felt peculiar, and as if they met and immediately were prepared to be tethered to one another for the rest of their lives.
I'm sure it's a beautiful story for the right audience, unfortunately that wasn't me.
yeoldeeclair's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25