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krisrid's review against another edition
2.0
This sounded like my kind of thing - a present and past dual story, someone falling into the past and living another life [I mean, I LOVED Outlander a million years ago when I read that]. Unfortunately, this book just didn't hold me.
I didn't really connect to either Grace or Hawise, which was a problem because I find I most enjoy books where I can connect in some way to at least one of the main characters so I can get into what's happening to them. I found Grace self-involved and Hawise just clueless.
I made it to page 80, but realizing I was bored and didn't really care what happened to Grace or Hawise, I just couldn't bring myself to keep going when this was a 450+ pages overall. With the number of books on my TBR I just couldn't justify the commitment of sticking with this in hopes it might get better for me. I'm moving on.
I didn't really connect to either Grace or Hawise, which was a problem because I find I most enjoy books where I can connect in some way to at least one of the main characters so I can get into what's happening to them. I found Grace self-involved and Hawise just clueless.
I made it to page 80, but realizing I was bored and didn't really care what happened to Grace or Hawise, I just couldn't bring myself to keep going when this was a 450+ pages overall. With the number of books on my TBR I just couldn't justify the commitment of sticking with this in hopes it might get better for me. I'm moving on.
cats_readings's review against another edition
3.0
I read this several days ago and I'm still thinking about this. It's not my usual type of book but nevertheless i enjoyed it so much! A really good ghost and historical story
si0bhan's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, just wow.
I’m going to be completely honest and say that this is not my usual kind of book. If the truth is to be known, I only own the book because I bought a pack of books which contained The Silver Linings Playbook and this was in it. Usually I’m really tentative about these historical period and modern day time slip novels, yet this one blew my mind. If I am to be one hundred percent honest with you, I enjoyed this more than The Silver Linings Playbook (and that book is the only reason I bought the pack). So yeah, you could say I’ve been blown away by this one.
From the get-go I was hooked. Within mere pages my tentatively had been blown out of the window and I was jumping into the book. I have the bad habit of sitting up until stupid hours of the night to finish a book I am enjoying and this one shocked me by falling into that category. I told myself I would read just one more chapter and the next thing I knew I was almost finished and decided it was not worth holding off the suspense and finished the book.
So shocked by how enjoyable the book was and I almost gave it five stars. Sadly, a couple of things let me down (and they are only tiny things, yet I tend to be too careful with my five stars).
First, however, I shall point out the good parts. The characters – both past and present – are amazing. I’d expected to be unable to connect with anyone due to the time slips and yet I was in love with both stories, on the edge of my seat to find out what happened in each period. All characters that appeared were brilliant, nobody being thrown in for the sake of it. I came to love (or hate, in some necessary cases) each and every character we meet. Throughout there is so much character development of both main and side characters that it is impossible not to fall into their worlds. And the stories – oh wow! Both past and present kept me entertained, leaving me curious as to what was to come next.
As for what let me down – and they really are tiny things. Mainly what lost the star was that certain things did not ring true. Don’t get me wrong, the research was brilliant, but certain speech patterns of people from the past caught me off guard. I found myself questioning whether they would really say such a thing, as to my ears it sounded a little bit too much like modern day speech. It is an easy enough thing to overlook but it did catch me off guard at first. The other thing, and this is completely personal and I’m sure others will disagree with my view, is the modern day love interest. I’m not sure how I feel about him being a historian. It is certainly interesting given the context but… I’m not sure, I simply found myself wishing he had a different occupation. It played in well with the story – I cannot fault that – but it seemed a bit too much for me. Of course, the fact that I’m not usually a fan of time slip novels probably influenced that small detail.
Nevertheless, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I’m glad I pushed aside my usual views and gave it a try!
I’m going to be completely honest and say that this is not my usual kind of book. If the truth is to be known, I only own the book because I bought a pack of books which contained The Silver Linings Playbook and this was in it. Usually I’m really tentative about these historical period and modern day time slip novels, yet this one blew my mind. If I am to be one hundred percent honest with you, I enjoyed this more than The Silver Linings Playbook (and that book is the only reason I bought the pack). So yeah, you could say I’ve been blown away by this one.
From the get-go I was hooked. Within mere pages my tentatively had been blown out of the window and I was jumping into the book. I have the bad habit of sitting up until stupid hours of the night to finish a book I am enjoying and this one shocked me by falling into that category. I told myself I would read just one more chapter and the next thing I knew I was almost finished and decided it was not worth holding off the suspense and finished the book.
So shocked by how enjoyable the book was and I almost gave it five stars. Sadly, a couple of things let me down (and they are only tiny things, yet I tend to be too careful with my five stars).
First, however, I shall point out the good parts. The characters – both past and present – are amazing. I’d expected to be unable to connect with anyone due to the time slips and yet I was in love with both stories, on the edge of my seat to find out what happened in each period. All characters that appeared were brilliant, nobody being thrown in for the sake of it. I came to love (or hate, in some necessary cases) each and every character we meet. Throughout there is so much character development of both main and side characters that it is impossible not to fall into their worlds. And the stories – oh wow! Both past and present kept me entertained, leaving me curious as to what was to come next.
As for what let me down – and they really are tiny things. Mainly what lost the star was that certain things did not ring true. Don’t get me wrong, the research was brilliant, but certain speech patterns of people from the past caught me off guard. I found myself questioning whether they would really say such a thing, as to my ears it sounded a little bit too much like modern day speech. It is an easy enough thing to overlook but it did catch me off guard at first. The other thing, and this is completely personal and I’m sure others will disagree with my view, is the modern day love interest. I’m not sure how I feel about him being a historian. It is certainly interesting given the context but… I’m not sure, I simply found myself wishing he had a different occupation. It played in well with the story – I cannot fault that – but it seemed a bit too much for me. Of course, the fact that I’m not usually a fan of time slip novels probably influenced that small detail.
Nevertheless, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I’m glad I pushed aside my usual views and gave it a try!
glrreid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
tori83's review against another edition
3.0
This was a cover-buy. It was full of something going on, but it was a bit repetitive and the chapters were long enough to be short stories. The book could have been knocked down by probably 50 pages if not for it being so repetitive. I like it, I was guessing a lot as to what would happen next. It ended good, solid, with not a lot left to answer.
georgiewhoissarahdrew's review against another edition
4.0
This was terrific - and genuinely scary. It's not quite a ghost story, not quite a historical novel, not quite a love story, but a great fusion of all.
Grace, traumatised by memories of the 2004 tsunami, comes to York and relives the difficult life of a C16th girl, Hawise. Slowly, we see her life and Hawise's intertwine and realise Grace's fate is bound up with Hawise's end. The sinister apple motif that occurs in a number of circumstances throughout the book is ingenious, and it's not until the end, when I was reflecting on the book, that I became conscious of all the ways it's used - clever.
There's an effortless sense of C16th York (without too much godwottery), and an unexpected and moving lovestory developing there - and, quite separately, but in parallel, a C21st version too. Neither lovestory is given much time to develop, which I can understand, given that the main focus is on the haunting/possession theme, but there was enough in the light touch approach to have me wanting more.
Incidentally, [a:Pamela Hartshorne|3147675|Pamela Hartshorne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351466122p2/3147675.jpg] also writes as [a:Jessica Hart|8717|Jessica Hart|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1366202791p2/8717.jpg].
Grace, traumatised by memories of the 2004 tsunami, comes to York and relives the difficult life of a C16th girl, Hawise. Slowly, we see her life and Hawise's intertwine and realise Grace's fate is bound up with Hawise's end. The sinister apple motif that occurs in a number of circumstances throughout the book is ingenious, and it's not until the end, when I was reflecting on the book, that I became conscious of all the ways it's used - clever.
There's an effortless sense of C16th York (without too much godwottery), and an unexpected and moving lovestory developing there - and, quite separately, but in parallel, a C21st version too. Neither lovestory is given much time to develop, which I can understand, given that the main focus is on the haunting/possession theme, but there was enough in the light touch approach to have me wanting more.
Incidentally, [a:Pamela Hartshorne|3147675|Pamela Hartshorne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351466122p2/3147675.jpg] also writes as [a:Jessica Hart|8717|Jessica Hart|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1366202791p2/8717.jpg].
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