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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Lucrezia is vigilant. Lucrezia is herself. Lucrezia can choose her own tempo, can increase it, can slow it down. She can gallop, sprint, through the gardens; she can spring over the hedges and paths, her body a streak of colour in the dim light, her ribs a vessel for her leaping heart. And when she reaches the forest, the trees will close about her, all the animals and birds within will send up their questions to the sky in squawks and cries, and she will wait with them, watching, for the first rays of cold morning light, which will feel restorative and forgiving on the complex silk of her skin.
I loved this book. Slow burn, except the reader is waiting for a murder. I personally liked the chapters alternating; it created tension that climaxed when the timelines merged at the end. Even though it’ a long book covering 16 years, it didn’t feel long. Every chapter of Lucrezia’s childhood and adolescence gave the reader insight.
I saw a few reviews on here that said Lucrezia was unlikeable but I didn’t feel that way. She was barely 16 years old and was raised to birth powerful sons. She had no agency, and therefore likeability wasn’t a factor for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Rape, Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
J'ai toujours beaucoup aimé ce qu'écrit Maggie O'Farrell et ce roman ne fait pas exception. L'autrice réinvente la courte de vie de Lucrezia, jeune femme florentine de 15 ans mariée au duc de Ferrare, homme dur et puissant.
Les descriptions des jardins et de la cour sont fabuleuses, la plume me plait énormément. Une très bonne lecture qui montre bien le destin des femmes à l'époque.
Les descriptions des jardins et de la cour sont fabuleuses, la plume me plait énormément. Une très bonne lecture qui montre bien le destin des femmes à l'époque.
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So beautifully written. A real sense of what it was to be a young woman in those times.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Maggie O'Farrell has a certain skill. The skill is one of being able to take a tiny, miniscule, maybe unknown or little known historical event or person or both, and make them into a full-blown, complete portrait (word choice very specific here). This one took a little bit to get into, and I would say for that reason might make it a little less than the 4-stars I gave Hamnet, but I'm still giving this one 4 for the ending. The first third was tricky. I believed it would turn out to be just as devastating as Hamnet and O'Farrell's writing is mesmerizing, so I pushed on and let me tell you, the last 2/3 were absolutely worth it. The past and current story lines came together and ended up telling a timeless story of betrayal and heartache and how sometimes a girl's gotta just cut her hair to get a new outlook on life.
dark
informative
fast-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