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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
3.5 stars.
A great fast paced story, I especially enjoyed that it was based on facts. It was a great mystery and love story.
A great fast paced story, I especially enjoyed that it was based on facts. It was a great mystery and love story.
This book comes across as something of a [b:Possession|488652|Possession|A.S. Byatt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388866286s/488652.jpg|2246190]-lite. The plot and tone both seem to have been copied from that book without quite as much skill, and I didn't feel it left me with any new insights on the human condition. That being said, Davies is very skilled in his use of language and the love story he evokes is quite true to life. Although it is no masterpiece, this book was well worth my time, and I recommend it to anyone who likes stories of scholarly mysteries.
A very pleasant read following two story threads that combine some of my favourite things: scientific history, romance, the Natural History Museum in London .... no albino monks, no gun fights, no pending apocalypse, just some good ol' fashioned archival research and thought provoking points regarding the value of "lost" things ~ money v history v legacy and remembrance.
This book was interesting, historical fiction. It was believable and engaging. I really enjoyed reading this story and how it was written.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Hmmm. An effort to read honestly, just didnt hold my attention. It was interesting to learn about the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta and Joseph Banks but thats about it. 2/5.
I enjoyed this one. The background story, about John Banks, is much more interesting than the present day plot, and better developed. I thought that discrepancy made it a bit uneven, but it was still a good read.
I was intrigued both by the title and by the subject matter. The title has only the barest of connections to the story and should have reflected the content more accurately. I don't think the word "conjuror" was used or vaguely referred to even once. The only connection is that the original stuffed bird disappeared. Thin stuff.
Given that, it was a quick, fun read, cutting back and forth between the present and the age of European "discovery."
Given that, it was a quick, fun read, cutting back and forth between the present and the age of European "discovery."
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Split narrative slowed down progress a lot, especially when I didn't think that all the events of the past story didn't really have much link to the present story being told. Otherwise, still rather enjoyable.
This book is actually one big meh. I've been looking forward to reading it for months but always put it off, and maybe it was the anticipation or the blurb, or my own shortcomings as a reader but it was just an epic disappointment.
The concept of the book is decent but the execution was poor. I never felt invested enough in the relationships to care about the present story (which is a shame as I felt the Fitz/Gabby backstory was fascinating and heartbreaking and I wanted to read more about it) and the back story was okay, but not enough to really make you give a damn about the quest to find this extinct stuffed bird and a load of paintings.
I think the book could have benefited from another 100 pages to flesh out the characters. I mean when we didn't even get to see the goodbye between Gabby and Fitz despite the history between them (in their 20 pages of interaction in the book we learn they were lovers, were married, lost a child, he left her and she continued to write to him for the 15 years they were apart but never divorced and the ending just felt so anti-climatic. Fitz and his student, Katya (who I think we were supposed to be rooting for?? I don't know - random insertion of someone to move the story along I guess but she made no indent into the story beyond solving all the clues and being the romantic foil to contrast Fitz past relationship and his new one, I think.
Maybe I missed something epic that made it standout as something memorable, or maybe my love of past/futures colliding just wasn't enough to overlook a book that fundamentally is about taxidermy and is 100 pages of characterisation short of being worthwhile as a character driven book. It definitely improved in terms of readability as it progressed, but to be honest - I was expecting so much more from it when I picked it up. It's definitely not one that will be getting picked up again anytime soon.
The concept of the book is decent but the execution was poor. I never felt invested enough in the relationships to care about the present story (which is a shame as I felt the Fitz/Gabby backstory was fascinating and heartbreaking and I wanted to read more about it) and the back story was okay, but not enough to really make you give a damn about the quest to find this extinct stuffed bird and a load of paintings.
I think the book could have benefited from another 100 pages to flesh out the characters. I mean when we didn't even get to see the goodbye between Gabby and Fitz despite the history between them (in their 20 pages of interaction in the book we learn they were lovers, were married, lost a child, he left her and she continued to write to him for the 15 years they were apart but never divorced and the ending just felt so anti-climatic. Fitz and his student, Katya (who I think we were supposed to be rooting for?? I don't know - random insertion of someone to move the story along I guess but she made no indent into the story beyond solving all the clues and being the romantic foil to contrast Fitz past relationship and his new one, I think.
Maybe I missed something epic that made it standout as something memorable, or maybe my love of past/futures colliding just wasn't enough to overlook a book that fundamentally is about taxidermy and is 100 pages of characterisation short of being worthwhile as a character driven book. It definitely improved in terms of readability as it progressed, but to be honest - I was expecting so much more from it when I picked it up. It's definitely not one that will be getting picked up again anytime soon.