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A review by sashapasha
Whispering Twilight by Melissa McShane
2.0
2.5 stars
Honestly I picked this up because I really like the trope of a romance conducted with a mystery person through letters or other anonymous modes of communication. My favorite instance of this trope is probably in [b:Crown Duel|21060|Crown Duel (Crown & Court #1-2)|Sherwood Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360507771l/21060._SY75_.jpg|4398231], but the movie You’ve Got Mail is a more well-known example. There's something so fun and exciting and deliciously angsty about hidden identities, when they're done right.
I'm afraid Whispering Twilight didn't quite meet my expectations though. To start, I was a little uncomfortable by the realization that the English Colonialists are the good guys in this series -- I read the first one a while ago and didn't remember it being particularly related to Colonialism, but it seems that successive books have been based in India and other places that the English colonized.
Bess, for her part, steps into a conflict between the Incas and the Spanish who conquered Peru. There was some sensitivity and discussion related to preserving the culture and civilization of the Incas, but not really much acknowledgement that it was their land to begin with. I don't know, overall the book didn't do too bad a job with a sensitive topic, but there were definitely moments where I thought it could've been handled better.
Besides my discomfort with the setting, I felt that Bess as a character left something to be desired. She seemed to overstate her danger on a number of occasions and was always making dramatic statements to her reticulum (the group of people she could communicate with in her mind) and Mr. Quinn, the mystery man. And they were constantly telling her how great she was, which felt very unnecessarily congratulatory. She just seemed to take herself way too seriously. Her perilous situation was somewhat mitigated by the fact that she could talk to her friends at any time. It's the difference between being stranded in the wilderness with nothing and being stranded in the wilderness with a working cell phone and the ability to call your friends and family at will. One of those situations has a much larger emotional and mental impact, though both are problematic, certainly. I couldn't help but compare it to the first book in one of my favorite series, [b:Stray|10837174|Stray (Touchstone, #1)|Andrea K. Höst|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335183787l/10837174._SX50_.jpg|15399425] by Andrea K Höst. In Stray, the main character Cass walks into a much more dire survival situation (with absolutely no support or hope of rescue), but pities herself a lot less.
My other qualm was with the romance, which progressed too quickly and inexplicably for my taste. Bess had a few rather lack luster conversations with Mr. Quinn in which she would assume an attitude of noble perseverance in the face of adversity and he would applaud her and tell her how much he respected her (more than any other woman in his acquaintance(!), which seemed to say more about his opinion of women in general than his regard for Bess to me -- why, for example, couldn't he have respected her more than any other person in his acquaintance, rather than any other woman? Was he acquainted with so many incredible men that Bess's adventures were run of the mill in their company?) And after these conversations, Bess suddenly felt a deep and abiding connection with him. It just didn't have enough of a foundation for me to truly buy it. And later, when the romantic tensions came to a head, I couldn't stop rolling my eyes. Very cheesy, with very little subtlety or delicacy.
I think overall this book will probably appeal to a lot of people but isn't quite my cup of tea.
Honestly I picked this up because I really like the trope of a romance conducted with a mystery person through letters or other anonymous modes of communication. My favorite instance of this trope is probably in [b:Crown Duel|21060|Crown Duel (Crown & Court #1-2)|Sherwood Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360507771l/21060._SY75_.jpg|4398231], but the movie You’ve Got Mail is a more well-known example. There's something so fun and exciting and deliciously angsty about hidden identities, when they're done right.
I'm afraid Whispering Twilight didn't quite meet my expectations though. To start, I was a little uncomfortable by the realization that the English Colonialists are the good guys in this series -- I read the first one a while ago and didn't remember it being particularly related to Colonialism, but it seems that successive books have been based in India and other places that the English colonized.
Bess, for her part, steps into a conflict between the Incas and the Spanish who conquered Peru. There was some sensitivity and discussion related to preserving the culture and civilization of the Incas, but not really much acknowledgement that it was their land to begin with. I don't know, overall the book didn't do too bad a job with a sensitive topic, but there were definitely moments where I thought it could've been handled better.
Spoiler
For example, when the English handily stole most of the Incan gold at the end and gave some of it to Bess as a bribe and she had no problem with that whatsoever.Besides my discomfort with the setting, I felt that Bess as a character left something to be desired. She seemed to overstate her danger on a number of occasions and was always making dramatic statements to her reticulum (the group of people she could communicate with in her mind) and Mr. Quinn, the mystery man. And they were constantly telling her how great she was, which felt very unnecessarily congratulatory. She just seemed to take herself way too seriously. Her perilous situation was somewhat mitigated by the fact that she could talk to her friends at any time. It's the difference between being stranded in the wilderness with nothing and being stranded in the wilderness with a working cell phone and the ability to call your friends and family at will. One of those situations has a much larger emotional and mental impact, though both are problematic, certainly. I couldn't help but compare it to the first book in one of my favorite series, [b:Stray|10837174|Stray (Touchstone, #1)|Andrea K. Höst|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335183787l/10837174._SX50_.jpg|15399425] by Andrea K Höst. In Stray, the main character Cass walks into a much more dire survival situation (with absolutely no support or hope of rescue), but pities herself a lot less.
My other qualm was with the romance, which progressed too quickly and inexplicably for my taste. Bess had a few rather lack luster conversations with Mr. Quinn in which she would assume an attitude of noble perseverance in the face of adversity and he would applaud her and tell her how much he respected her (more than any other woman in his acquaintance(!), which seemed to say more about his opinion of women in general than his regard for Bess to me -- why, for example, couldn't he have respected her more than any other person in his acquaintance, rather than any other woman? Was he acquainted with so many incredible men that Bess's adventures were run of the mill in their company?) And after these conversations, Bess suddenly felt a deep and abiding connection with him. It just didn't have enough of a foundation for me to truly buy it. And later, when the romantic tensions came to a head, I couldn't stop rolling my eyes. Very cheesy, with very little subtlety or delicacy.
I think overall this book will probably appeal to a lot of people but isn't quite my cup of tea.