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A review by elusorius
House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola
2.0
Whilst this book felt like a debut novel, it's the author's fourth.
The writing was elementary, helping us understand why "show, don't tell" is an important phrase in writing classes. It addressed the reader from the future at random intervals and sometimes switched tenses.
The characters didn't feel real and there was no chemistry to make me believe in the romance. There were also sexual events that were never given the proper discussion or acknowledgement they deserved.
As this is a historical fiction, the book contained a lot of history. However, the character managed to predict the future, as propaganda simply had no influence at all on them, and I could tell it was written with the power of hindsight.
But most of all, this book contained many small elements that did not come together in a satisfying manner. The bits of history, thriller, mystery and romance remained detached and it felt like the author wanted too much. It never managed to fully develop any of the genres. I was also annoyed by the constant "And this is where it went wrong" comments from the future narrator, failing to add tension.
It wasn't all bad. In fact, there was a lot of potential. The characters were shallow but interesting, and I wanted to know more. There were shocking moments and revelations and I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and the concept. The ending was quite satisfying, though the epilogue less so, and best of all: my edition has beautiful piano sprayed edges.
Overall, I think this could have benefited from a stronger editor. 2/5
The writing was elementary, helping us understand why "show, don't tell" is an important phrase in writing classes. It addressed the reader from the future at random intervals and sometimes switched tenses.
The characters didn't feel real and there was no chemistry to make me believe in the romance. There were also sexual events that were never given the proper discussion or acknowledgement they deserved.
As this is a historical fiction, the book contained a lot of history. However, the character managed to predict the future, as propaganda simply had no influence at all on them, and I could tell it was written with the power of hindsight.
But most of all, this book contained many small elements that did not come together in a satisfying manner. The bits of history, thriller, mystery and romance remained detached and it felt like the author wanted too much. It never managed to fully develop any of the genres. I was also annoyed by the constant "And this is where it went wrong" comments from the future narrator, failing to add tension.
It wasn't all bad. In fact, there was a lot of potential. The characters were shallow but interesting, and I wanted to know more. There were shocking moments and revelations and I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and the concept. The ending was quite satisfying, though the epilogue less so, and best of all: my edition has beautiful piano sprayed edges.
Overall, I think this could have benefited from a stronger editor. 2/5