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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a tough review for me. The writing and history and dual timelines are interesting, especially how it is all tied together. I loved how it all took place in the library. I enjoyed the mystery and the exploration of early feminism. However, the conclusions about feminism was problematic for me, a real let down. I won't say more so as not to spoil it.
Read this after Personal Librarian, so I was definitely in a librarian phase. I got to read another book about books and the library, my favorite place. Loving everything about this story the character, Sadie and Laura in two different time periods (early 1914 and the nineties) and their experiences working (and in one case living) at the NY Public Library when books were mysteriously gone missing. It was a great story that ended so satisfactorily for me, i signed.
BONUS I flipped to the back and the author went to W&M, my alma mater! Will be reading more of her.
BONUS I flipped to the back and the author went to W&M, my alma mater! Will be reading more of her.
As someone who has imagined living in a library at one point of time or another, Fiona Davis brings the fictionalized story with historical bones of a family living in a New York library to life. The story is one that keeps you interested throughout it; especially, when it comes to solving the mystery of who stole the books both in the past and in the current time. Who the book thief is will leave you surprised.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Duel timeline historical fiction set in the New York Public Library 80 years apart, the 1913 timeline follows Laura as she explores radical feminism and the 1993 timeline explores radical spinsterhood. Ha ha okay not really but that's sure how Sadie feels.
They're both librarians and rare and important books go missing. A mystery unravels, something not frequently present in historical fiction. It ties the past to the present and was well done. There were also some questionable choices made by a character who wasn't a helpless victim, leading to a fantastic moral discussion with my book club.
I needed more character development to fully hook into the queer storyline but ultimately did not miss Davis's nod to Vita and Virginia.
They're both librarians and rare and important books go missing. A mystery unravels, something not frequently present in historical fiction. It ties the past to the present and was well done. There were also some questionable choices made by a character who wasn't a helpless victim, leading to a fantastic moral discussion with my book club.
I needed more character development to fully hook into the queer storyline but ultimately did not miss Davis's nod to Vita and Virginia.
19: The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis.
I wanted to love this book for all kinds of reasons, including my love of libraries and bookstores and books, period, as well as the New York Public Library specifically, reading "between the lions," the idea of living in the library, and more. All tremendous premise for me for a great read.
But things fell quite short in the actual story and/or its telling for me. I'm sorry.
Truly it may just be that as a critical, close reader and long-time English teacher, I have come to greatly prefer literary fiction to that which is more commercial in nature. There are just too many coincidences here, too many complexities presented too simply and/or too easily resolved, too many historical details not well-founded for my literary liking. In my assessment, the book covers too many topics--many of them quite heavy and complex--very shallowly and thus poorly in my assessment, rather than fewer topics more deeply and thus more believably.
I did enjoy the references to great works of literature and the valuing of great literary works and their deserved respect as well as this library's processes for sharing them safely. And The Awakening is one of my all-time favorite reads. But honestly even the references to it had me questioning things that I likely would not have otherwise.
Plenty of good readers likely love this book; I am just not one of them.
I wanted to love this book for all kinds of reasons, including my love of libraries and bookstores and books, period, as well as the New York Public Library specifically, reading "between the lions," the idea of living in the library, and more. All tremendous premise for me for a great read.
But things fell quite short in the actual story and/or its telling for me. I'm sorry.
Truly it may just be that as a critical, close reader and long-time English teacher, I have come to greatly prefer literary fiction to that which is more commercial in nature. There are just too many coincidences here, too many complexities presented too simply and/or too easily resolved, too many historical details not well-founded for my literary liking. In my assessment, the book covers too many topics--many of them quite heavy and complex--very shallowly and thus poorly in my assessment, rather than fewer topics more deeply and thus more believably.
I did enjoy the references to great works of literature and the valuing of great literary works and their deserved respect as well as this library's processes for sharing them safely. And The Awakening is one of my all-time favorite reads. But honestly even the references to it had me questioning things that I likely would not have otherwise.
Plenty of good readers likely love this book; I am just not one of them.