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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
slow-paced
I absolutely loved this and I think this will be one of my favorite books for a long time to come. It is the story of Ester in 17th century England, and that of Helen and Aaron in the 2000s as they discover Esther's writings. Kadish brought the characters to life - and not just the main characters. The depth of the secondary characters enriched this story. The end blew me away, and fit perfectly. I cannot speak highly enough about Corrie James' audiobook narration. This is a long one to be sure, but after 23 hours of audiobook, I am certain I would have listened to more.
Very much reminds me of Byatt's Possession and was a slow mover but weighted and intelligent.
The characters did not feel real to me at all; just cardboard. I've tried it twice now, but have given up.
I struggled to get into it. While the idea seemed quite intriguing, I was not interested in the storyline and kept getting distracted by other books that held my attention much better.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
A little drawn out at times. I didn’t find the big reveal that exciting either.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, War
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
This was such a detailed book that at times it was too slow. This book is also very long, so it took some time to get through since it was so slow. There were some names and plot points that I forgot as the story went along but that might be due to the time it took for me to finish this.
The story was interesting and I enjoyed the characters. The story was easy to picture due to the details of the writing but at times there just seemed to be too much detail.
Overall enjoyed it but would have liked it better if it was a shorter book. The first 3/4 were the slowest and then the story picked up a lot in the last 1/4 and got very interesting. Would have been better if the pacing was more balanced.
The story was interesting and I enjoyed the characters. The story was easy to picture due to the details of the writing but at times there just seemed to be too much detail.
Overall enjoyed it but would have liked it better if it was a shorter book. The first 3/4 were the slowest and then the story picked up a lot in the last 1/4 and got very interesting. Would have been better if the pacing was more balanced.
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No