Kim H. (rubberducky) reviewed on 9/17/2009 + 79 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 4

Another *almost* amazing book by JJ. Truthfully, you can't fault the woman on her originality, research, and her ability to weave an intricate & engrossing plot, but she has got to be the wordiest, most repetitious writer since Tolstoy, and I think if most of us wanted to read War and Peace, we wouldn't have picked up a romance novel:P I'd like to shake her and tell her do something integral to the plot once - do it succinctly - and call it done. It makes me feel like she underestimates the intelligence of her readers & thinks she has to beat them over the head with every point, just to make sure that they get it. This book is a tad too epic, when so much less would have made it a thoroughly engrossing story, not to mention so much easier to read. It's going to put some people to sleep. The setting is original & I liked the characters and storyline, but as was the case with Broken Wing (I keep wanting to call it Broken Wind:P), it would be so much better if she'd just lopped off a few thousand words.

And just wanted to clarify this to say that James is an amazingly gifted writer; her books are just too epic & wordy for my personal taste, and I tend to find them a little frustrating. Someone who enjoys big, epic stories, with lots of conflict between the H&H right up to the end, should greatly enjoy this book. It was just a little too much for me personally.

Grade: B+
Sensuality Rating: R

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