Overall, I thought this was an entertaining and interesting read. The setting of 17th century Amsterdam was something different for me, and I found most of the characters to be complex and secretive. In the case of main characters like Marin, I thought that the character development was really well done; I hated Marin for most of the book but really came to like her in the end. However, there were a few of the more minor characters who seemed a bit out of place and too flat. Their appearance was more jarring than helpful to the story.

I was really let down about the character of the miniaturist. There was so much mystery about this person, and the author did a great job of building that up and making my mind search for any explanation about this person's incredible knowledge. When I finally thought that I was going to get some answers about the miniaturist from the person who trained them, it turned out to be vague and disappointing. How did the miniaturist know all of these things about Nella and her family? I would have been happy with even a tiny bit of clarity.

I really enjoyed this book. The perspective of women in this time period was thought provoking. I liked the sprinkle of fantasy.

A good, well-read audiobook and interesting historical fiction about Amsterdam in the 1600s and the perilous path of the (illegal) homosexual lifestyle. So sad that gay people have been persecuted throughout our human history and it's only very recently started to change for the better.

In autumn 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortmann arrives in Amsterdam at the house of her new husband, the merchant and trader Johannes Brandt. Life at the new home is illustrious and splendorous, but Nella is left to deal with her husband's kind but distant treatment and his sharp-tongued sister Marin.
As Nella grows more and more frustrated with the marriage that is not as she imagined it would be, Johannes gifts her a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish this wedding gift Nella hires a miniaturist - an elusive artist whose tiny creations mirror real-life in unexpected ways and send Nella on a journey to discover secrets about her husband that challenge her beliefs.

“Every woman is the architect of her own fortune.”

I found this to be a very readable story, beautifully written.
However, I did not particularly like the main character. In the beginning, Nella is extremely annoying. All she worries about is the consummation of her marriage and getting pregnant. She seems overall very immature and naive, which makes her "transformation" to a wise and assured woman quite unbelievable.
I did really enjoy the scene that Burton set here, she painted a very vivid picture of 1680-ish Amsterdam and you could tell that she researched the period in detail. Great story telling!

*4,5