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laurenjrva's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it, but it was a lot like the blackest bird. A good period mystery.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised that I ended up enjoying "The American boy" as much as I did. Have had in my mind that I didn't gel well with Andrew Taylor's writing but once again I was proven wrong. Seems to be a theme
margaret21's review against another edition
4.0
This book reads as a 19th century novel of the kind that Wilkie Collins could have written: its language and tone are largely authentic, and like many books of the period, there is a large cast of characters from all walks of life. Thomas Shield, a schoolmaster with a troubled past is the narrator, and he introduces us to the wealthy Frants and Carswells, whose lives he becomes intimately involved with. There's the young Edgar Allan Poe too, though I'm not sure how important his part really is, despite his presence in the book's title. Murder and skullduggery take place both in London's Dickensian streets, and in rural Gloucestershire . The fast-paced action and the short chapters make the book an atmospheric page-turner, and while it's not a great book, it's a very good read.
aniabooks's review against another edition
2.0
Too slow-burning... I didn't get immersed in the post-Napoleonic times, either. The author really shows off the archaic language and vocabulary but it just doesn't click and feels forced. A lot of the time it sounds really cringe-worthy, like the "I wouldn't like my wife or my servants to read it" abused joke. I was unimpressed and reluctant to the two main female characters, but they have been redeemed in the last few chapters. Overall, the story is interesting, but unfortunately I didn't find the book pleasurable to read.
iam_griff's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very good historical fiction novel, but the mystery aspect took quite a while to get to, plus took me a bit to figure out how the main protagonist (Thomas Shield) would tie into everything. My original draw to this book was to learn somewhat about the childhood of Edgar Allen Poe. I would recommend this to others mystery lovers or Poe fans.
dowser24's review against another edition
2.0
boring forced myself to finish to out of my stubbornness, too many characters I was lost after 20 chapters
sophiaxlm's review against another edition
3.0
爱伦坡去世前的迷之举动成了作者的灵感来源。不过这个故事中，爱伦坡只是个不知情的旁观者，偶尔或许会承担起无辜的导火索的功能。实际上，他身世成谜的亲生父亲的戏份要重得多。从风格上来说，我喜欢这本远多于《天使安魂三部曲》。狄更斯式的、有点哥特感的氛围格外适合神秘案件的发生——厚重的伦敦雾气里，淌着污泥的小巷子里一条手杖突然举起然后狠狠落下……男主人公有点像个孤身的福尔摩斯（只是一种类比，他并没有福尔摩斯的神通，甚至没有固定的“华生”），用普通人的头脑试图破解谜团，直到他自己似乎也成了谜团的一部分……
louismunozjr's review against another edition
1.0
Essentially DNF'd at about page 185. The "unpardonable crime" of this novel is that it's almost 500 pages long, and you don't even get to anything resembling a mystery till sometime after page 100. If this book was meant to be historical fiction and was taking 100 pages or more to get to any real themes, that would be one thing, but for a mystery novel, hmm...
I see others have very much enjoyed the book, but I might have also, as the story certainly looked like it had a lot of potential. But ultimately, I would say this book had a "failure-to-launch," at least, within a reasonable window of time. Moving on.
I see others have very much enjoyed the book, but I might have also, as the story certainly looked like it had a lot of potential. But ultimately, I would say this book had a "failure-to-launch," at least, within a reasonable window of time. Moving on.
snowmaiden's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, I must say I like the British title, The American Boy, more than the title we Americans got. There are a multitude of crimes that take place during the course of this novel, but I'm not sure which one was supposed to be unpardonable.
It's obvious, on the other hand, exactly who the American boy is. That would be young Edgar Allan Poe. Don't get your hopes up, though. He's only a side character in the novel and could have been replaced with any other young boy of any nationality without affecting the plot one iota.
The book this most reminded me of was [b: The Unburied|661208|The Unburied|Charles Palliser|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347358827l/661208._SY75_.jpg|1208482]. Both are mysteries only in the sense that the narrator is a naïve, clueless man who doesn't understand the things that are going on all around him. That's not to say that I understood all of it myself. There are red herrings all over the place, and I didn't guess all of the twists until the very end. Still, I wouldn't read this as a mystery, but as an entertaining historical novel, and in that respect, it delivered in spades. I can tell that the author knows the world of 1819 England very well. I keep having to look up items of furniture, clothing, etc. to figure out what they were. It was obvious that he's read a lot of primary sources from the era and not just other historical novels.
I really enjoy Taylor's writing style and hope to read more of his work one day. I'd recommend this to fans of Jane Austen and mysteries, but if you're reading it for Poe, expect to be underwhelmed!
It's obvious, on the other hand, exactly who the American boy is. That would be young Edgar Allan Poe. Don't get your hopes up, though. He's only a side character in the novel and could have been replaced with any other young boy of any nationality without affecting the plot one iota.
The book this most reminded me of was [b: The Unburied|661208|The Unburied|Charles Palliser|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347358827l/661208._SY75_.jpg|1208482]. Both are mysteries only in the sense that the narrator is a naïve, clueless man who doesn't understand the things that are going on all around him. That's not to say that I understood all of it myself. There are red herrings all over the place, and I didn't guess all of the twists until the very end. Still, I wouldn't read this as a mystery, but as an entertaining historical novel, and in that respect, it delivered in spades. I can tell that the author knows the world of 1819 England very well. I keep having to look up items of furniture, clothing, etc. to figure out what they were. It was obvious that he's read a lot of primary sources from the era and not just other historical novels.
I really enjoy Taylor's writing style and hope to read more of his work one day. I'd recommend this to fans of Jane Austen and mysteries, but if you're reading it for Poe, expect to be underwhelmed!
lommelun's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5