Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.95 AVERAGE
2.95 AVERAGE
I really liked some parts of this book, the victorian setting was very good and I enjoyed the stories within stories about Indian Gods. The female characters were not bad but I really disliked the male character and I dind't understand his relation with the protagonist. All in all it was an OK book.
2.5/5 stars
I find it hard to give this book such a low rating, because there is much here that is done well. I mean, the writing is lush and makes it easy to immerse oneself in the story. Essie Fox also does her research well and the setting is compelling. The stark contrast between the exotic India, in which the main character Alice feels at home and is loved, and cold England, where she feels lonely and misplaced, makes for an interesting backdrop. Fox doesn't shy away from the darker side of Victorian England, which makes for an interesting read that isn't sugar-coated.
Yet, for all these great things, I did not enjoy this book. I struggled to finish it and that is mainly because of the characters. I've read two other books by this author and I'm starting to see a pattern here: the main characters are all young females who are pretty naive and then have to deal with violent or nasty situations in which they have little power. That in itself is nothing bad, but boy, do I hate the way these characters deal with it. They are all abused by an older male figure that they still find sexually attractive (which I find disturbing, though I get that relationships between victim and abuser can be strange and not clean-cut as we'd like to think), they whine and throw temper-tantrums (again, I get that they are in hard situations and that this behaviour, though it might appear immature, isn't all that abnormal) and they are just so goddamn passive. All of this makes it hard for me to root for them. I understand that they are sheltered girls in horrible situations and that their responses are natural, but it doesn't make them likeable. They are constantly waiting around for someone to act, for someone to rescue them, and that I cannot forgive. I think I'm not going to read other Essie Fox books anymore.
I find it hard to give this book such a low rating, because there is much here that is done well. I mean, the writing is lush and makes it easy to immerse oneself in the story. Essie Fox also does her research well and the setting is compelling. The stark contrast between the exotic India, in which the main character Alice feels at home and is loved, and cold England, where she feels lonely and misplaced, makes for an interesting backdrop. Fox doesn't shy away from the darker side of Victorian England, which makes for an interesting read that isn't sugar-coated.
Yet, for all these great things, I did not enjoy this book. I struggled to finish it and that is mainly because of the characters. I've read two other books by this author and I'm starting to see a pattern here: the main characters are all young females who are pretty naive and then have to deal with violent or nasty situations in which they have little power. That in itself is nothing bad, but boy, do I hate the way these characters deal with it. They are all abused by an older male figure that they still find sexually attractive (which I find disturbing, though I get that relationships between victim and abuser can be strange and not clean-cut as we'd like to think), they whine and throw temper-tantrums (again, I get that they are in hard situations and that this behaviour, though it might appear immature, isn't all that abnormal) and they are just so goddamn passive. All of this makes it hard for me to root for them. I understand that they are sheltered girls in horrible situations and that their responses are natural, but it doesn't make them likeable. They are constantly waiting around for someone to act, for someone to rescue them, and that I cannot forgive. I think I'm not going to read other Essie Fox books anymore.