erin2254's reviews
97 reviews

I was in the middle of reading another book when I finally picked this up. I’ve been wanting to read it for so long that I decided to tease it; maybe read a chapter. Then instead proceeded to plow through it in two days.

I don’t even know what to tell you, It lives up to all of its hype. I was enraptured by every last detail and I couldn’t put it down.

These characters stories should be so un-relatable because of the circumstances of their celebrity and privilege, yet I related to them anyway, because of how fully realized they are. They show you that the messiness of life doesn’t escape you just because you may be wealthy (although it helps). Money and power doesn’t ensure your happiness, but your choices, how you treat the ones you love and how you treat yourself do. What you choose to prioritize can be so integral to how fulfilling your life is. What your regrets look like someday mite be based on the things you are willing to sacrifice in the present.

The lead in this book is so frighteningly human, there were times I really wanted to chew her out and times I desperately wanted to reach into this book and hug her. But one critical point is, real life choices can be even harder for people in the public eye; How often we forget that celebrities are real people subject to the same structure as exotic animals in a zoo; privacy being the one luxury they cannot afford.

I already know i am going to think of this book and it’s lessons all the time and the little idiosyncratic moments between characters that make them so damn memorable:

“And to anyone tempted to kiss the TV tonight, please don’t chip your tooth” (If you know, you know, if not be ready with a box of tissues, She’s a tear-jerker

DNF

During the first half of this book, I was determined to give it no more than 3 stars. The writing seemed decent, but the two plots were sluggish which didn’t work well with the depressing tone, and flat backdrop of German-occupied France (WWI & WWII).

I felt that the emphasis on misogyny and reproachful attitude towards women in the early 20th century was being utilized to make the book ‘Sexy’ in a James Bond fashion. The trailblazing woman reclaiming her bodily autonomy with a bunch of unnecessary overly descriptive sex scenes. This is the keystone to the central 1915 plot where Evelin is sleeping with her French employer who was an ally to Germany -a repugnant chauvinist who called her “My pet”- to gain information. One of the takeaways from this relationship was, “[I loathe this man, I don’t want to sleep with him, but I also like it]” because he is sophisticated and rich and looks good and smells good and knows how to please a woman. “[So I can endure, endure, endure, in order to further the cause]". Yuck. SO triggering. I don’t know, make what you will of it. It kind of grossed me out.

Also, let it be known: This book contains a massive spoiler for another book; I will never forgive You, Kate Quinn, for ruining Anna Karenina (which I was planning to read this year).

This was very minor for me, but I could also do without some of the techniques used to express the characters’ mid-sentence pauses. Instead of saying “she blinked” it would often just go “dialogue…blink… dialogue….stare…dialogue…exhale” without the use of any pronouns. I don’t know if there is a proper term for this method, It just felt blocky and robotic and took me out of the story.

All that being said this is a fairly large book at 500 pages and In the second half of the novel the plot picked up quite remarkably. I began to really appreciate the writing and found it was stylish and intelligent. The characters went from quirky and cartoonish in the beginning to emotionally compelling, and deeply human. The parts focused on PTSD were both heartbreaking and beautiful. You also find out later that Louise de Bettignies (Lili) was a real person, who was a French spy in WWI, gave her life in the line of duty, was posthumously awarded 3 medals of honor, and made an officer of the order of the British empire. It’s hard to imagine. If I was being subjected to torture under interrogation I could never be as brave as these women were. I love the maternal and buoyant personality constructed for Lili who we know very little about personally, IRL. It brought a historical figure to life, made her real, lovable, and inspirational. YAY for female role models!

I do prefer the 1915 storyline to the 1947 storyline, but I also think they balanced each other out enough to justify the latter. I also think I have a soft spot for Charlie because her brother died, and I can relate to this, as I too have lost a sibling. Her family not understanding her actions and her trauma responses are very relatable for me, and the character displays honest thoughts and feelings I have experienced as well.

After the halfway mark I found myself wanting to pick up this book twice as often. The climax and breakdown to the final moments were very exciting. Near the end, I couldn’t put it down, and so my premature three-star rating has been upgraded to 4 stars. And I am very much looking forward to reading the Rose code, and the Huntress!

If C.S Lewis, Lewis Carroll, and maybe Arthur Conan Doyle sat down for tea in the middle of the Coliseum in Rome, these are the kinds of ideas that would be bouncing off the walls. Susanna Clarke THANK you, for reminding me what I love about reading. This novel brought me right back to my childhood. So enchanting, and truly the purest and most nourishing kind of escapism. Its always impressive when a book tackles ambitious themes, can simplify them with a well thought out plot-line, and gives its reader’s a satisfying conclusion. Here’s why I thinks this book has accomplished all of these things:

This is a story about a world which permeates the metaphysical, and a mystery focused on one individual within that world. While all this worlds oddities cannot be explained, it’s ok, because our protagonist is just as much an enigma as the world itself. Using the resources available to him he unravels his own mysteriousness, and our story wraps up without being to far-reaching. The world is just a beautiful and strange catalyst, not to be harnessed but instead relied upon and respected, in equal parts. In this way the books lessons are very much studies in introspection, isolation and self preservation (but also growth) against the pervading tides (literally, there is an ocean inside a house).

It’s written in a very patronizing manor, like you would see in a children’s book, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. That is one of the reasons I loved it so much. Children are wide eyed and inquisitive, often asking meaningful questions, without the future looming in the back of their minds. Instead they appreciate the present. They go out looking for what the universe will give today, without fear of retribution tomorrow. They haven’t (of course with certain exceptions) experienced the long years of hardship and rejection via their peers. We don’t expect them to know everything…. Well here’s an unpopular opinion. ADULTS shouldn’t be expected to know everything either. But it sure feel like we are