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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
First off, let me state that I did really enjoy the story that was being presented and told in this book. I thought the story was compelling and thoroughly enjoyed learning about what had transpired in the early 1900's and found that the more I got into the book, the harder it was to put down.
That being said, there are some weird issues that almost caused me to stop reading it early on in the book. While the story is being setup, at the end of quite a few chapters, there are these really weird interjections about someone from a different time period that doesn't quite fit the flow of the story. I felt that it could have been better suited in their own chapters in the epilogue / appendix section of the book rather than sprinkled in with the rest of the text. I felt it broke the flow of the read from chapter to chapter, but that's just my opinion. While it mostly happened in the first third of the book, it did occur occasionally towards the end.
That being said, the book is worth the read if you can get over the initial 100 pages or so.
That being said, there are some weird issues that almost caused me to stop reading it early on in the book. While the story is being setup, at the end of quite a few chapters, there are these really weird interjections about someone from a different time period that doesn't quite fit the flow of the story. I felt that it could have been better suited in their own chapters in the epilogue / appendix section of the book rather than sprinkled in with the rest of the text. I felt it broke the flow of the read from chapter to chapter, but that's just my opinion. While it mostly happened in the first third of the book, it did occur occasionally towards the end.
That being said, the book is worth the read if you can get over the initial 100 pages or so.
Found this a fascinating story and highly readable.
4.5/5
4.5/5
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Very interesting story and clearly very well-researched, but the writing is sometimes awkward and much of it seems to be speculation to enrich the "plot." The author writes dialogue and internal thoughts that detract from the believability of the book. How can he know exactly what was said in 1913? How does he know what that person thought in that moment? It feels like he wants to make nonfiction into a novel, which can work sometimes, but in this case it distracted from what was really important, which is that this is a true story and it is dramatic and heartbreaking and absolutely bonkers enough without the unnecessary embellishments and artistic license. There were also a lot of awkward sentences that almost felt like they were translated from another language. But in general, I really enjoyed the book and appreciated the amount of research and the use of oral history and interviews.
dark
informative
slow-paced
a little predictable/not engaging enough
Unbelievable story, well told, with well matched narration. I enjoyed it.