A review by lostinthelibrary
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I was pulled in from the start by the setting and the intriguing plot. A lot of mystery was set up early on and the fast paced plot and short chapters kept me reading. I did however find the ending a bit unsatisfying and rushed with a lot of the plotlines dropped or very hastily wrapped up.
I can't believe how many characters were suddenly killed off in the last 5% of the book!
. 

There are a lot of characters in this book and they are not given equal care and attention. There were characters I loved (Gwendolen, Freda, Kitty and Ramsey to name a few) characters I hated who I was supposed to like (Frobisher!) and countless characters who were very thinly drawn. For such a character based novel, I found this disappointing. 

However, saying all this, I can't deny that I had a lot of fun reading this book and it makes me want to read more from this era. 
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