kailey_luminouslibro's Reviews (3.79k)

This book is quite unique in my experience. The writing is like nothing I've read before; the author has a different voice from most. And my personal reaction to it is confused and varied. I wasn't impressed in the beginning, because the story seems to drag a bit; but towards the middle and end, I really liked it. It's certainly morbid, but with a weird and beautiful poignancy. I cried several times, but not at the bits where people die, which is strange I guess.

The writing was very well done. Every word carefully selected to show a particular mood and to elicit shock or comfort or anger in the reader. Descriptions of colors, or the use of nouns as verbs were great tools for painting those word pictures. Beautifully and sensitively done! One thing bothered me...I didn't like the headlines and sentences in bold that pop up through the narrative. It was distracting to my reading, and annoyed me.

But somehow, even while I acknowledge the absolute brilliance of the writing, and while I DID cry and enjoy the story.... my overall feeling at the end is...apathetic. I'm just not excited about this book. I don't know why.

This book was not at all what I expected! Full of adventure, romance, and gypsy magic set in the middle of the French Revolution. I loved the characters, all so different and each with their own voice. The plot didn't flow smoothly at times, but most of it was great. I had not realized that this is the start of a series. Not sure if I'll be picking up the other books or not. I think I would have preferred this one as a single.

I enjoyed this book! I liked the old-fashioned style of writing, the setting, and the winsome characters. The plot is a little disjointed, but moves along with plenty of interest. The whole book is just lovely!

There is one bit I didn't like about a patient overdosing on drugs and the doctor tells him to stop. There's a lecture about the dangers of drugs, but it made me upset to see a character I liked in trouble with drugs.

I liked this book! I read it through in one sitting, and enjoyed the characters. The plot seemed predictable at first, but managed to surprise me a couple of times. All of the historical figures mentioned in the book are true, so it was lovely to learn some history while the characters pursue their mystery. A fun read, and it kept me interested!
I love the dynamic between the two sisters, Hero and Beatrice; very realistic and a brilliant addition to the story. The parents are really cool classy characters too. All-around good writing!

I do love Ann Radcliffe's books, but this first attempt of hers is sort of pathetic. It's amazing to think that she went on to write such examples of Gothic perfection like Mysteries of Udolpho, The Italian, and Romance of the Forest.

If you are new to reading Radcliffe, I would NOT recommend starting with this book. There is next to no dialogue. The characters are not as developed as they could be. The plot twists are just a little TOO convenient. The story could have been fleshed out more and explained better.

But... there is this lovely little glimmer of the writer that she would eventually become, making it worth the read. The asides about human nature, the concise but pointed writing style, the suspenseful plot, the mysterious characters, the apparently supernatural events that turn out to be merely artifice - all these wonderful elements are still present, just waiting to blossom in her future novels.

Informative and fun, but too much biology and evolution stuff. I'd rather hear more fairy tales and myths.

This author always has really exciting and well-organized plots with plenty of action and mystery and adventure and plot twists! However, his characters are not well-developed, and they always seem very wooden, almost robotic. He is terrible about "telling" instead of "showing." I don't want you to TELL me that these two characters annoy each other. SHOW me that they are annoyed through their dialogue and their actions. Don't TELL me that these two became friends, and then just jump into the rest of the plot. SHOW me why they became friends, and how they started to trust each other, or how they connected through some shared experience. This is just lazy writing.

This is a book full of strange, poignant stories, about writing, about life and death, about art and skill and the emotional upheaval that comes with them. Most of it is not about writing at all, but about living, and why living makes us write, and why we hate the writing but need it anyway. The author is haunted by all these stories and her own writing.
Beautifully written.