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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Great idea. Poor execution. Nice ending.
But what happened in between? There was no REAL story until quite some time into the book. Upon starting the book, I definitely expected there to be more of a story involved - and it had so much potential!
Overall though, sweet and enjoyable. But not memorable.
But what happened in between? There was no REAL story until quite some time into the book. Upon starting the book, I definitely expected there to be more of a story involved - and it had so much potential!
Overall though, sweet and enjoyable. But not memorable.
I didn't finish this one. I so wanted to love this book but it just didn't grab me. I enjoyed the writing and I was intrigued by the idea but it wasn't enough to keep me going.
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A good story and a nice light read, but I found the writing style distractingly amateurish - like the author over-used her thesaurus while writing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Dementia
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was interesting and clearly unique, but very often difficult to follow. Perhaps it's differences between American and British writing? But I found the author's writing challenging to follow at times, causing me to read and re-read to try to grasp what actually happened. And sometimes the flow was just off for me. But the story and most of how the majority unfolds was intriguing and relatively well put together. It was sweet and fairly fun.
There should have been so much to like in this book. The story takes inspiration from St Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost things, and follows Anthony Peardew (subtle) who lives alone in a house called Padua (even subtler). Anthony collects lost things, ever since he lost something precious to him forty years earlier. His assistant Laura inherits the house and Anthony's collection after he dies and is tasked with finding the owners of the lost things.
The concept sounded so interesting, and my mum adored this book, so I felt I had to give it a good try, but it just didn't sit well with me at all.
There are two story lines, one from the current day, following Laura as she tries to find the owners of the lost things, and one from the past, following Eunice and Bomber. There are connections between Anthony, Eunice and Bomber, and you understand some of it fairly early on. That gives very little suspense to the story, and you are left following a timid romance instead.
Laura, the main character, was thoroughly unlikable throughout much of the book, to the point where other characters are inserted to try and make her more likeable. One such character was a best friend who we had never even heard Laura mention up until that point. Another is Freddy, the gardener, with whom Laura develops a romance. And the third is Sunshine, who has downs syndrome. Laura treats everyone horribly - she even hides from Sunshine in the pantry, which Sunshine knows about but still likes Laura anyway. Laura didn't deserve Sunshine's friendship at all.
I thought Sunshine as a character was handled very poorly by the author. She is mostly written to bring comedy to the story, which made me feel very uncomfortable. This, along with the magical abilities Sunshine seems to have (knowing people's feelings, and having an uncanny ability to know the stories behind the objects), could have been handled so much better. Other reviewers have said this better than me, and I'm sure those who have or know someone who has downs syndrome could shed light on this problematic use of a character with downs syndrome (you are saying that their only worth is as someone with magical abilities who can further the plot).
There was one scene where Sunshine's parents refer to themselves as 'The SS'. The SS was a paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler, who, as you probably know, targeted people with disabilities, along with many, many others. Whether the words were meant in jest or not, it was poor taste putting this in there. I'm all for representation in books, but seriously, do some research, get people who have experienced the things you are writing about to beta read! Anything!
I was also very disappointed by the plot. The two concurrent plots had such the flimsiest of connections, and I actually liked Eunice and Bomber's story more than Laura's, I felt like the past story was put in to flesh out the text - it distracts from the main story so much that I barely cared about Laura at all.
Overall, I did not like this book at all, though I really wanted to. And if I ever hear someone say 'lovely cup of tea' again, I will scream.
The concept sounded so interesting, and my mum adored this book, so I felt I had to give it a good try, but it just didn't sit well with me at all.
There are two story lines, one from the current day, following Laura as she tries to find the owners of the lost things, and one from the past, following Eunice and Bomber. There are connections between Anthony, Eunice and Bomber, and you understand some of it fairly early on. That gives very little suspense to the story, and you are left following a timid romance instead.
Laura, the main character, was thoroughly unlikable throughout much of the book, to the point where other characters are inserted to try and make her more likeable. One such character was a best friend who we had never even heard Laura mention up until that point. Another is Freddy, the gardener, with whom Laura develops a romance. And the third is Sunshine, who has downs syndrome. Laura treats everyone horribly - she even hides from Sunshine in the pantry, which Sunshine knows about but still likes Laura anyway. Laura didn't deserve Sunshine's friendship at all.
I thought Sunshine as a character was handled very poorly by the author. She is mostly written to bring comedy to the story, which made me feel very uncomfortable. This, along with the magical abilities Sunshine seems to have (knowing people's feelings, and having an uncanny ability to know the stories behind the objects), could have been handled so much better. Other reviewers have said this better than me, and I'm sure those who have or know someone who has downs syndrome could shed light on this problematic use of a character with downs syndrome (you are saying that their only worth is as someone with magical abilities who can further the plot).
There was one scene where Sunshine's parents refer to themselves as 'The SS'. The SS was a paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler, who, as you probably know, targeted people with disabilities, along with many, many others. Whether the words were meant in jest or not, it was poor taste putting this in there. I'm all for representation in books, but seriously, do some research, get people who have experienced the things you are writing about to beta read! Anything!
I was also very disappointed by the plot. The two concurrent plots had such the flimsiest of connections, and I actually liked Eunice and Bomber's story more than Laura's, I felt like the past story was put in to flesh out the text - it distracts from the main story so much that I barely cared about Laura at all.
Overall, I did not like this book at all, though I really wanted to. And if I ever hear someone say 'lovely cup of tea' again, I will scream.
3.5 - I wanted to love this book but it didn't really keep my attention. It's a touching story that I enjoyed, but it didn't hook me like I had hoped.
Hmmm, I wanted to like this one but I struggled to get into it. It was just slooow and obviously not very realistic.
Content wise there would randomly be pages with bad/crude language which was pointless.
Content wise there would randomly be pages with bad/crude language which was pointless.
I would have given this 3.5 stars.
I was disappointed with this book as was expecting more due to reading other reviews and recommendations. Worth a read but not as good as others have said
I was disappointed with this book as was expecting more due to reading other reviews and recommendations. Worth a read but not as good as others have said
I had this one on my "Want to Read" shelf for quite a while and found it in a local library. What a sweet novel, though for the life of me, it took me more than a while to figure out how the two narratives, that of Laura and that of Eunice, would intersect.
I appreciated the character of Sunshine and the way she grounded both Laura and Freddy in a lovely way. I thought the specter of Therese was too subtle at the start so I was unprepared for the dramatic ways she made herself known later. It didn't feel like it had been earned. There was also a small bit about a Schiaparelli dress that I didn't think was tied together. It was hard to get a good feel for Laura, even for the details we're given about her life before Padua, I felt she should or could have been a bit more confident overall.
Nonetheless, I really liked the story as a whole and the modern way they went about trying to return the lost things. I could 'see' this story very vividly and I always like that.
I appreciated the character of Sunshine and the way she grounded both Laura and Freddy in a lovely way. I thought the specter of Therese was too subtle at the start so I was unprepared for the dramatic ways she made herself known later. It didn't feel like it had been earned. There was also a small bit about a Schiaparelli dress that I didn't think was tied together. It was hard to get a good feel for Laura, even for the details we're given about her life before Padua, I felt she should or could have been a bit more confident overall.
Nonetheless, I really liked the story as a whole and the modern way they went about trying to return the lost things. I could 'see' this story very vividly and I always like that.