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ninetalevixen 's review for:
The Hourglass
by Liz Heron
(I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)
2.5 stars.
The premise is interesting, if not very new; I was definitely interested to see how it all played out, because frequent readers will probably be able to put the pieces together much, much more quickly than Paul does. Unfortunately, that took quite a while, then it was just a matter of getting through to the end.
I never really got invested in the story. The characters seemed pretty flat, defined by their circumstances and reacting to the plot rather than having complex individualized traits. I'm not a fan of randomly translating words into the "local" language, and it doesn't really work because Latin-based languages look pretty similar (I hadn't reviewed the synopsis before reading, and I thought it was Spanish. But no, it's set in Venice, so Italian). And I've never liked the ominous foreshadowing statements — "I wouldn't know it until later, but..." — especially when the "twists" to come are fairly predictable. You'll probably also see the relationships coming from a mile away, not because they're thoroughly developed but because they're convenient and, to be frank, pretty heteronormative — especially the primary romance.
This book might be one for readers who are more interested in plot than characterization, and if you like the dual past/present narrative format. But it wasn't really for me.
2.5 stars.
The premise is interesting, if not very new; I was definitely interested to see how it all played out, because frequent readers will probably be able to put the pieces together much, much more quickly than Paul does. Unfortunately, that took quite a while, then it was just a matter of getting through to the end.
I never really got invested in the story. The characters seemed pretty flat, defined by their circumstances and reacting to the plot rather than having complex individualized traits. I'm not a fan of randomly translating words into the "local" language, and it doesn't really work because Latin-based languages look pretty similar (I hadn't reviewed the synopsis before reading, and I thought it was Spanish. But no, it's set in Venice, so Italian). And I've never liked the ominous foreshadowing statements — "I wouldn't know it until later, but..." — especially when the "twists" to come are fairly predictable. You'll probably also see the relationships coming from a mile away, not because they're thoroughly developed but because they're convenient and, to be frank, pretty heteronormative — especially the primary romance.
This book might be one for readers who are more interested in plot than characterization, and if you like the dual past/present narrative format. But it wasn't really for me.