Reviews

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain

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iyala's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

lowkey took me forever but once i stopped reading and just let the audiobook play it kinda slayed. favs were aunt emmeline and jane, we Hate valentine ross. i enjoyed listening whilst hobbying.

ellysreads's review against another edition

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General comment

Really beautiful intelligent writing style. Gorgeous locations too.

Characters
Favourite character: Mrs Morrisey.
Did the characters feel real? Mostly.

Plot
Did the story keep you guessing? Yes.
Favourite part of the book? Scenes in the tea room.
Any type of scene or feeling conjured well? Conforming for society’s benefit.
Did it grip you? No but didn’t feel like it was meant to.

Setting

Bath and Borneo, London, Dublin, Paris, Irish coast

Laugh scale 3/10
Cry scale 2/10

Type of reader you'd recommend it to: People who like to indulge in reading in the sun, all afternoon or on a Saturday morning :)

Reminded me of: Journey to the River Sea; Jane Austen; Little Women

sarahdal's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

dorothea1312's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

4.25

rubystarky's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 ending was weird and confusing asf. Didn’t like the dual povs, nonetheless was written beautifully and was interesting at parts.

amymariedoug's review against another edition

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4.0

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

This book is nothing less than a work of art. Through out the novel we follow a multitude of characters from Bath to Dublin to London to Paris to Borneo - their lives all connected yet disjointed somehow.

The strength of this novel is undoubtedly Jane Adeane, who is struggling between her relationship with her female lover and the societal pressure to marry a man (specifically, a Doctor Valentine Ross). At 6"2, she is an extraordinary woman who is famous for her 'healing touch.' I very much enjoyed her chapters and she made for a wonderful protagonist.

I found myself less interested in Valentine's adventures in Borneo with his brother Edmund and found the structure of the novel a little confusing at times. Nevertheless, this is definitely still worth a read whether you love historical fiction or not. You can tell that Tremain has taken great care to weave the elements of the story together and for that, the novel deserves all the praise that it receives.