You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
This was my first Georgette Heyer novel, and it was a bit of a struggle. It took half the book to just adjust to the writing style and heavy cant used. I struggled to understand what they said for quite some time, and I don't think I'm that stupid. It was generally too slow and uninteresting. There was a lot more potential than was explored. What action there was was dulled down. The only interesting thing about this book was the romance, but even that was poorly done as it wasn't a great focus. Maybe I just chose the wrong book or something, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped. I might still give Heyer another chance, but I'll be more careful about which one I choose.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
One of her better ones; no racial slurs at all (that I noticed, at least). A good story, a fun romance, a nice little mystery set in the early 1800s ... a fun diversion.
Secret Caves! Hidden Gold! Treasure Chests! Stolen Gold in Treasure Chests hidden in a Secret Cave! No, it’s not The Hardy Boys or Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, it’s The Toll Gate by Georgette Heyer. And let's add in a Bow-street Runner, a Highwayman, a bed-ridden grumpy grandfather to a Damsel in Distress*, and a kind, strong, and brave ex-soldier looking to solve a mystery, capture some bad guys, and save both a scared little boy and that previously mentioned damsel. What we have here is a rousing adventure story that actually would appeal to The Hardy Boys audience. (Do boys and girls still read the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew? Or is it just baby boomers trying to re-capture their childhood?)
The romance is of secondary importance to the adventure and the humorous supporting characters. There is no development of the relationship or the typical learning to get past mutual antagonism or misunderstanding. This is not a social comedy. It is love at first sight for them both and they are married within, I think, a week, if that. Not an argument or conflict to be had. It is a very simple and uncomplicated love story.
I listened to this on audio read by Daniel Hill. He did a fine job and added to the excitement of the story. I also appreciated the fact that he didn’t give Nell phony girly girl inflections as many male readers seem compelled to do with women characters. He does well with the thieves cant and obscure idiom of the rougher classes of the times. It’s kind of like a secret language which is as likely to frustrate a reader as enthrall them. I honestly think Heyer decided to write a novel that she could throw in every abstruse piece of vernacular she could find in her authentic language playbook.***3 1/2 stars**
* the Damsel is in Distress but she doesn’t think so and is fully capable of saving herself from a fate worse than death. But Jack, our knight in shining armor, does rescue her from an uncertain future and probable poverty and hardship. Much to the reader's relief. Because Nell is great.
The romance is of secondary importance to the adventure and the humorous supporting characters. There is no development of the relationship or the typical learning to get past mutual antagonism or misunderstanding. This is not a social comedy. It is love at first sight for them both and they are married within, I think, a week, if that. Not an argument or conflict to be had. It is a very simple and uncomplicated love story.
I listened to this on audio read by Daniel Hill. He did a fine job and added to the excitement of the story. I also appreciated the fact that he didn’t give Nell phony girly girl inflections as many male readers seem compelled to do with women characters. He does well with the thieves cant and obscure idiom of the rougher classes of the times. It’s kind of like a secret language which is as likely to frustrate a reader as enthrall them. I honestly think Heyer decided to write a novel that she could throw in every abstruse piece of vernacular she could find in her authentic language playbook.***3 1/2 stars**
* the Damsel is in Distress but she doesn’t think so and is fully capable of saving herself from a fate worse than death. But Jack, our knight in shining armor, does rescue her from an uncertain future and probable poverty and hardship. Much to the reader's relief. Because Nell is great.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-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
A fun yarn but very low on romance--I can get behind love at first sight but there was *zero* development of the heroine and hero's relationship. In fact, the heroine gets so little face time in this book she's almost an afterthought, which is supremely annoying as she's the reason the hero does almost everything he does in this story! Also, I'm accustomed to Heyer's use of the vernacular of the day for authenticity's sake, but this book was so murky with slang that the meaning behind the words was often lost to me and I wished for a time-machine so I could hop back and find some kind Old Tyme personage to 'splain. As such, I skimmed over a lot of the dialogue and even some descriptors--a real shame, as the snappy, screwball banter typically exchanged by a Heyer heroine and hero is one of the big draws of her works, for me. It kills me to give one of her works anything less than four stars, but there it is. The Toll-Gate entertains (if you can utterly slaughter your disbelief with regard to how the guy and gal could possibly have fallen for one another) but will furrow your brow unless you're well-versed in thieves' speak from the Regency era.