I just couldn't get into this book. I didn't care about the characters and I felt the writing was unimaginative and flat. There was no excitement, no beauty, it was just run-of-the-mill - he did this, and then that, and she laughed and then they walked along the river. Blah!

Maybe the size of the novel daunted me too. If it was 300 pages I may have soldiered on, but 500 pages of something I didn't find in the least bit entertaining was unbearable. Reading should not be a chore!

I only read 25% of the novel though, so it may get better later on (and to be fair, I was reading Gone Girl at the same time, and not much can compete with that in terms of intrigue).