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denied's review against another edition
1.0
Since it's 1 a.m. where I live, it's already hurting my head to write a review, but here I am. To begin with, this took me months to complete. Roughly because of the info dump, the main character being too boring or whiny in the third part, plot holes, and dialogues that are difficult to comprehend if you aren't familiar with botany or plants. The first few pages and then the last few pages were the only parts that were interesting. I gave it 2.5 stars since those saved it.
sophiahelix's review against another edition
3.0
I started this years ago and got bogged down, and while I made it through this time I had the same problems. The book starts off strong and incorporates a number of fascinating elements (Jack the Ripper, lost waterfalls in Tibet, illicit romance in British Calcutta, a fabled poppy with curative powers) and has some great characters, but the author goes way overboard with scientific and historical detail, and it's hard to keep everything straight. It doesn't help that she switches up POVs and timelines somewhat indiscriminately, and that in the third section of the book the characterization and plot suddenly twist 90 degrees, but there's a lot of promise here. Because it's a suspense/mystery novel, I skimmed the last 100 pages or so to find out what happened, and the resolution of the last couple of chapters was fairly satisfying (there are some loose ends, but that suits the style of the narrative). It's just too bad that the novel as a whole doesn't live up to the promise of the beginning.
rebjam's review against another edition
2.0
There is a really good story buried in the words of this book. While I think the language is symbolic of the muck and meyer of the title and story, it was oppressive and difficult to want to wade through. Plus I figured out the central plot point halfway in and felt like it was a trial reading the last half the book only to have my suspicions confirmed With no surprising element in the end.
sophiahelix's review
3.0
I started this years ago and got bogged down, and while I made it through this time I had the same problems. The book starts off strong and incorporates a number of fascinating elements (Jack the Ripper, lost waterfalls in Tibet, illicit romance in British Calcutta, a fabled poppy with curative powers) and has some great characters, but the author goes way overboard with scientific and historical detail, and it's hard to keep everything straight. It doesn't help that she switches up POVs and timelines somewhat indiscriminately, and that in the third section of the book the characterization and plot suddenly twist 90 degrees, but there's a lot of promise here. Because it's a suspense/mystery novel, I skimmed the last 100 pages or so to find out what happened, and the resolution of the last couple of chapters was fairly satisfying (there are some loose ends, but that suits the style of the narrative). It's just too bad that the novel as a whole doesn't live up to the promise of the beginning.
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