Reviews

Belle Greene by Alexandra Lapierre

kendrareads's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

This is a great flight read with The Personal Librarian. I read both for #mmdbookclub. Belle da Costa Greene was such a fascinating person. I appreciated the dive into her life as JP Morgan's personal librarian. I did find this read a bit confusing in telling the difference between a biography and historical fiction because the author is very clear that all of the people and events in the book are real. I suppose the historical fiction part comes into the dialogue that was shared between the characters. I learned quite a bit. This was a very enjoyable read.

katymaryreads's review

To me, it read as a distant account of Belle Greene's life. It read more like non-fictionwith some invented dialogue than a novel. I didn't feel any identification with Belle, and didn't much care what happened to her. 

joanneadams54's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

kaps's review against another edition

informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

stuff4bd's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I enjoyed the earlier parts of this book where Belle was learning about and acquiring books and art.  While I understand reading about this could become tedious I longed for more information on her work rather than her personal life. I also have a lot of unanswered questions: How did WW1 impact the art world and how long was this impact felt, How did Belle manage to make it through the Wall Street crash, Why was her language so often described as coarse. Perhaps I should have read her biography instead. 

kircranefil's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

mrsginthelibrary's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

vrohrig's review against another edition

While it was well organized and an interesting story I wanted to know more about I felt like the story was plodding through a timeline without picking up any steam. 

adorkablereader's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

helen_moore_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0