A review by emilykatereads
The Game of Hope by Sandra Gulland
3.0
The Game of Hope follows Hortense, stepdaughter of Napoleon, during his rise to power. This novel gives a look into the family's life and Hortense's life at school with her friends. We get a great look at France in 1800.
What this book did best was its historical accuracy. There was great detail, and obviously there's liberties taken to create the novel, but overall it remains quite true and keeps many facts accurate to history. Along with its accuracy, it was well-written and had many enjoyable parts of writing. Hortense develops so much over the book and we get a really complex look at the characters. I really appreciated the writing.
What this book didn't excel at, though, was it's storytelling and continuity. While we get great events from this time, we don't get much of an overarching story that I would expect from a novel. I understand that it's sticking true to the characters' events in real life, but I'd rather it a bit more fictionalized to create a polished story. Many of the storylines weren't wrapped up within the book, and characters were introduced never to be heard from again other than in the "Afterward." It felt really anticlimactic. Aspects that I felt the book had been leading up to were never even included in the story. Reading all this concluding details in the Afterward felt like a big cop out. After 350 pages of detailed life of Hortense, all the storylines were suddenly wrapped up in like 5 pages. I feel the book just ended, it didn't conclude.
Along with the story, I never really connected with the characters. I appreciated how developed everything was and the detail in the writing, but it felt like there was just a disconnect between the words and me having any emotional reaction.
Would I recommend this book? Depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking to learn more about this time period, absoutely, I was 100% recommend this book because it's a strong historical novel. However, if you're looking for an overarching story, this might not be for you.
Review can also be found on my blog: https://emilykatereads.wordpress.com/2018/06/26/the-game-of-hope-review/
What this book did best was its historical accuracy. There was great detail, and obviously there's liberties taken to create the novel, but overall it remains quite true and keeps many facts accurate to history. Along with its accuracy, it was well-written and had many enjoyable parts of writing. Hortense develops so much over the book and we get a really complex look at the characters. I really appreciated the writing.
What this book didn't excel at, though, was it's storytelling and continuity. While we get great events from this time, we don't get much of an overarching story that I would expect from a novel. I understand that it's sticking true to the characters' events in real life, but I'd rather it a bit more fictionalized to create a polished story. Many of the storylines weren't wrapped up within the book, and characters were introduced never to be heard from again other than in the "Afterward." It felt really anticlimactic. Aspects that I felt the book had been leading up to were never even included in the story. Reading all this concluding details in the Afterward felt like a big cop out. After 350 pages of detailed life of Hortense, all the storylines were suddenly wrapped up in like 5 pages. I feel the book just ended, it didn't conclude.
Along with the story, I never really connected with the characters. I appreciated how developed everything was and the detail in the writing, but it felt like there was just a disconnect between the words and me having any emotional reaction.
Would I recommend this book? Depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking to learn more about this time period, absoutely, I was 100% recommend this book because it's a strong historical novel. However, if you're looking for an overarching story, this might not be for you.
Review can also be found on my blog: https://emilykatereads.wordpress.com/2018/06/26/the-game-of-hope-review/