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purps's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I still loved the characters and hearing about their adventures, but the journalling format wasn't as much fun as the letters were and the vast amount of travelling kind of bogged down the plot. Still a fun romp around Europe with our magical friends and it was nice to get to know the magic system better.
crimsoncor's review against another edition
3.0
Still fun, but without a lot of the charm of the first book in the series. I second some of the comments that it was hard to keep the different characters separate (though for some reason this problem went away by the third book in the series). The format change, to me, was a welcome change. The letter format worked well in the initial book, but as the third book in the series shows, can drag a bit in a longer novel.
shareen17's review against another edition
2.0
Sequels can often be disappointing. I thought this one was so bad that I probably wouldn't have finished it if it wasn't that I enjoyed the first book so much. Somehow the same characters that I liked in the first book were annoying in the second. The plot was boring to me. The characters talk of nothing but the mystery. Half of the book is written as a "sworn testimony", which I found too formal and detached to get involved in. I wouldn't bother with this book, unless like me, you really liked the first and are really curious what happens next.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointment is the word that best describes my reaction to The Grand Tour: Or The Purloined Coronation Regalia, the second novel in Patricia Wrede and Carol Stevermers’ second novel in their “Cecelia and Kate” book series. I absolutely fell in love with the way that these two authors wrote the first book in the series, each author writing as a character in letter form to the other. The novelty of this, and learning information as the character did was one of the things I just adored about the first novel. This was missing in the second novel. The main characters, Kate and Cecy were traveling together on their honeymoon, with their husbands, not with each other. We are talking Regency England here. This meant that the reader misses the back and forth communication.
The story itself was interesting, if a bit tedious. At one point one of the characters complains of the monotony of travel, and by that point I had to agree also. There is a whole lot of chasing possible nefarious characters to various ancient historical sites in Europe. And maybe a plot to reinstate Napoleon as emperor, or maybe not. I will say the ending was very exciting, and I enjoyed the pacing of the ending. It almost makes up for the slow pacing in the rest of the novel, almost.
The best thing I can say about this novel is the ending is exciting, and perked me up enough to look forward to the third novel.
The story itself was interesting, if a bit tedious. At one point one of the characters complains of the monotony of travel, and by that point I had to agree also. There is a whole lot of chasing possible nefarious characters to various ancient historical sites in Europe. And maybe a plot to reinstate Napoleon as emperor, or maybe not. I will say the ending was very exciting, and I enjoyed the pacing of the ending. It almost makes up for the slow pacing in the rest of the novel, almost.
The best thing I can say about this novel is the ending is exciting, and perked me up enough to look forward to the third novel.
kberry513's review against another edition
4.0
This one dragged a bit in comparison to the first one. I still enjoyed reading about the exploits of Kate and Cecy, but it just wasn't quite as good. I'd still recommend it, though.
teresaod's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
ptothelo's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed it, but the surprised delight wasn't quite there since this was the second go-around. Still, the story and characters compelled me to sit and read as much as I could in each sitting.
kivt's review against another edition
2.0
I suppose it's ridiculous to complain about monarchists in a fantasy novel set in alternate-19th-century-Europe, but that's what I'm doing. The pacing never got better and the mystery was pretty incoherent. Disappointing but not terrible.