A review by jaclynder
The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber
2.0
I really liked the idea behind The Eterna Files. Secret government organization in Victorian England? Yes, please! Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me. Some of the characters were interesting, but I never felt that I spent enough time with them to truly get invested in their stories.
Harold Spire has been appointed by Queen Victoria to Special Branch Division Omega, and he’s not happy about it. Spire had been in the midst of a very difficult case and he doesn’t want to let it go unsolved to lead a secret branch of the government that’s bent on investigation the extraordinary. He does not believe in that sort of thing. Spire's first order of business is to investigate the supposed discovery of the Eterna Compound. Apparently it grants immortality, and if the Americans have it, the British definitely want to get their hands on it.
Assisting Spire is the highly capable Rose Everhart, who, like Spire, has a tragic past motivating her actions as a government employee.
Rounding out these perspectives is American, Clara Templeton, the person responsible for the Eterna Compound, or at least putting the idea into the head of the grieving Mrs. Abraham Lincoln after the assassination of her husband. After the deaths of the scientists who were working on the Eterna Compound, Clara is determined to find out what happened and keep the compound from the wrong hands.
The premise for The Eterna Files sounds really good, but what didn’t capture my attention was the narrative style. First off, the characters came across as rather bland. Tidbits of information about each character would be dropped but never fully explored. Second, I found the change in perspective of characters (and locales) to be rather distracting. When things were finally getting good, the novel would move to America or England. What’s more is that the American and English narratives didn’t come together by the end of the novel and I kind of assumed that they would. I can only presume that the author is setting this up to become a series.
I really wanted The Eterna Files to be amazing, but I really had a hard time getting through this one. I think it’s one of those books that’s going to appeal to readers who are more interested in details than characters or plot, and I am, quite simply, not one of those readers.
Originally reviewed at The Book Adventures.
*Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
Harold Spire has been appointed by Queen Victoria to Special Branch Division Omega, and he’s not happy about it. Spire had been in the midst of a very difficult case and he doesn’t want to let it go unsolved to lead a secret branch of the government that’s bent on investigation the extraordinary. He does not believe in that sort of thing. Spire's first order of business is to investigate the supposed discovery of the Eterna Compound. Apparently it grants immortality, and if the Americans have it, the British definitely want to get their hands on it.
Assisting Spire is the highly capable Rose Everhart, who, like Spire, has a tragic past motivating her actions as a government employee.
Rounding out these perspectives is American, Clara Templeton, the person responsible for the Eterna Compound, or at least putting the idea into the head of the grieving Mrs. Abraham Lincoln after the assassination of her husband. After the deaths of the scientists who were working on the Eterna Compound, Clara is determined to find out what happened and keep the compound from the wrong hands.
The premise for The Eterna Files sounds really good, but what didn’t capture my attention was the narrative style. First off, the characters came across as rather bland. Tidbits of information about each character would be dropped but never fully explored. Second, I found the change in perspective of characters (and locales) to be rather distracting. When things were finally getting good, the novel would move to America or England. What’s more is that the American and English narratives didn’t come together by the end of the novel and I kind of assumed that they would. I can only presume that the author is setting this up to become a series.
I really wanted The Eterna Files to be amazing, but I really had a hard time getting through this one. I think it’s one of those books that’s going to appeal to readers who are more interested in details than characters or plot, and I am, quite simply, not one of those readers.
Originally reviewed at The Book Adventures.
*Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.