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melkelsey's review against another edition
3.0
Book 22: Listened to this love story set in the 1700s of two orphans that grow up together and are united over their love for music. They grow apart partially because Mino is searching for his mother and Violetta knows something about her that she keeps from him. The story and voice acting are alright, but there's nothing special about it.
astoriana's review against another edition
3.0
Cute. Not earth shattering or anything but a solid read.
gretel7's review against another edition
3.0
I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.
Violetta a soprano and Mino a violinist, want nothing more than to make music. But circumstances and proper behavior prevent them from being together.
The story lagged a bit in the middle.
3.25 stars
Violetta a soprano and Mino a violinist, want nothing more than to make music. But circumstances and proper behavior prevent them from being together.
The story lagged a bit in the middle.
3.25 stars
wordswithrach's review against another edition
4.0
The Orphan's Song was a beautiful read. It took me a few chapters to get used to the musical terms and rhythm of the story, but soon I was hooked. We see the story through the eyes of both Mino and Violetta, both orphans at the “Hospital of the Incurables,” where girls are trained up as musicians and boys are sent out into apprenticeships. Time moves quickly in this novel and we aren’t in one place for long, but I still felt that both characters were rich and well developed.
This was an interesting time period and place to read about, but there weren’t an abundance of historical details included. The backdrop seemed more like the setting for an epic romance. I am definitely curious about this point in Venice’s history, and I would love to read more set in this time period.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I love the fact that there is an additional plot line outside of the romance; I felt that neither plot line detracted from the other. I will be checking out some of Lauren Kate’s other books.
I received a copy of this book from Putnam Books in exchange for my honest review.
This was an interesting time period and place to read about, but there weren’t an abundance of historical details included. The backdrop seemed more like the setting for an epic romance. I am definitely curious about this point in Venice’s history, and I would love to read more set in this time period.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I love the fact that there is an additional plot line outside of the romance; I felt that neither plot line detracted from the other. I will be checking out some of Lauren Kate’s other books.
I received a copy of this book from Putnam Books in exchange for my honest review.
readwithwine's review
3.0
I don’t have much to say it was an interesting storyline but a typical romance. I enjoyed it but as I always do with romances felt the ending was cliche and predictable.
Romance lovers will love it, the setting in Venice is pretty A+ material in my opinion though!
A historical fiction taking place in Venice in the 1700s. A sweeping love story of music and family. The orphans of the Incurables- the best choir in Venice with strict rules and eligibility. Mino and Violetta share a secret friendship as children and as they grow up there oaths take different turns, as boys orphans leave on scholarships and the girls compete for the coro. But there is a secret that haunts them and a song that draws them back together.
Big thanks to @putnambooks via @netgalley for the ARC- this book comes out June 25th
Romance lovers will love it, the setting in Venice is pretty A+ material in my opinion though!
A historical fiction taking place in Venice in the 1700s. A sweeping love story of music and family. The orphans of the Incurables- the best choir in Venice with strict rules and eligibility. Mino and Violetta share a secret friendship as children and as they grow up there oaths take different turns, as boys orphans leave on scholarships and the girls compete for the coro. But there is a secret that haunts them and a song that draws them back together.
Big thanks to @putnambooks via @netgalley for the ARC- this book comes out June 25th
crystallyn's review
5.0
An interesting foray into the world of Renaissance Venice and the lives of two orphans caught up in the machinations of society. I know a lot about Italy in that era but hadn't been aware of the musical legacy of the orphanage of the Incurables, so it was a delight to discover more about that part of that watery city. A beautiful and heart-wrenching love story that any reader of Italian historicals will love.
ruthsic's review
3.0
Warnings: implied domestic violence, homeless living, death in childbirth
The Orphan's Song is a love story between two people, but also about love for music, love for you city, and the magic of Venice. In the author's note, Kate mentions how she got the inspiration for the story, and I loved how she spun this tale from that. The story is told from the perspectives of Violetta and Milo, two orphans from the same place Incurables, which was a hospital as well as an orphanage. The girls were trained up to be musicians and singers for the coveted position in the coro, while the boys were encouraged to be apprentices when they got older, to take up a trade; as such, the trajectories of the lives of the orphans there were quite different. For Violetta, life at the Incurables is stifling; she loves music, but the mold of being a coro girl is not enough for her. She wants to be free to sing, to explore the passion in music, and Milo and she share that in their adolescent stages, when they meet on the roof to make music together.
Life takes a turn for them as the time comes for Milo to leave, and Violetta to move up in the coro. He loves her, and she doesn't know yet that she loves him; so a bad decision leads to their lives taking separate paths. Over the course of the rest of the book, their paths cross many times, without each knowing it, and we, the reader, holding our breath. There are several circumstances that keep them apart - Violetta's refusal to enter into a marital relationship, the complex they both feel over being orphans, Milo's search for his mother, new loves for both of them. Even being so close in the city, they are separated by many ways - yet they both once yearned to be of the patrician class, the ones who get to enjoy Venice at its best. The book takes us through the carnevals, the masks, and the splendour, but also lets us see the rougher side of it.
My main problem with this book is the pacing, and the time jumps which skip over character and relationship development. Suddenly it would be months later, and we would have to piece together what led the characters to this place. As close as we would feel to Violetta and Milo in the start, the distance increases between them and the reader as the book goes on. As a historical fiction, though, the book does a good job, infusing enough detail about Venetian life and the city's changes through the seasons. Overall, it is a good book but it did take me a long time to get through it.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from G.P. Putnam's Sons, via Edelweiss.
The Orphan's Song is a love story between two people, but also about love for music, love for you city, and the magic of Venice. In the author's note, Kate mentions how she got the inspiration for the story, and I loved how she spun this tale from that. The story is told from the perspectives of Violetta and Milo, two orphans from the same place Incurables, which was a hospital as well as an orphanage. The girls were trained up to be musicians and singers for the coveted position in the coro, while the boys were encouraged to be apprentices when they got older, to take up a trade; as such, the trajectories of the lives of the orphans there were quite different. For Violetta, life at the Incurables is stifling; she loves music, but the mold of being a coro girl is not enough for her. She wants to be free to sing, to explore the passion in music, and Milo and she share that in their adolescent stages, when they meet on the roof to make music together.
Life takes a turn for them as the time comes for Milo to leave, and Violetta to move up in the coro. He loves her, and she doesn't know yet that she loves him; so a bad decision leads to their lives taking separate paths. Over the course of the rest of the book, their paths cross many times, without each knowing it, and we, the reader, holding our breath. There are several circumstances that keep them apart - Violetta's refusal to enter into a marital relationship, the complex they both feel over being orphans, Milo's search for his mother, new loves for both of them. Even being so close in the city, they are separated by many ways - yet they both once yearned to be of the patrician class, the ones who get to enjoy Venice at its best. The book takes us through the carnevals, the masks, and the splendour, but also lets us see the rougher side of it.
My main problem with this book is the pacing, and the time jumps which skip over character and relationship development. Suddenly it would be months later, and we would have to piece together what led the characters to this place. As close as we would feel to Violetta and Milo in the start, the distance increases between them and the reader as the book goes on. As a historical fiction, though, the book does a good job, infusing enough detail about Venetian life and the city's changes through the seasons. Overall, it is a good book but it did take me a long time to get through it.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from G.P. Putnam's Sons, via Edelweiss.
nytephoenyx's review
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from BookCon 2019 and G.P. Putnam's Sons in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This book was absolutely beautiful.
I don’t typically go in for romance, but sometimes, when it’s paired with exquisitely written historical fiction, I fall head-over-heels for it. That’s how I feel about The Orphan’s Song.
I picked this book up at BookCon a couple weeks ago, and had the opportunity to meet Lauren Kate. I’d read Fallen when I was younger and I remember very little of it except that there were parts I really liked, and parts I thought were super cheesy. I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Orphan’s Song as Lauren moved from YA to adult, but I think she’s found a perfect fit. Once I started reading, I just couldn’t put it down.
Venice has always enraptured me, particularly in this era. It’s as though it’s a different world, where everyone is hidden behind masks. Lauren has brought the historic culture of Venice to life, but she’s also bought vibrant characters from all social classes and a beautiful story of music and passion. Sometimes, you read a book, and you can feel the author’s lifeblood in it? That’s The Orphan’s Song.
This book is told in two voices – Mino and Violetta. They’re both orphans, raised in the House of the Incurables. They fell in love young, but they went their separate ways. Maybe I’m reading the wrong books, but I feel like that “the one that got away” romantic trope has been sorely absent as of late, and so help me… I love it. There’s so many shades of emotion – joy, excitement, pride, fear, loss, ruin, passion… Lauren Kate writes it all as for the reader to experience alongside Mino and Violetta. It feels like more than just words.
At first, her writing style threw me a bit. It was beautiful, but not in a flowery way. If anything, it was overly simple, but it didn’t feel unskilled. At the end of the book (this isn’t really a spoiler, just something I didn’t put together), we find out that they story is actually being told by another character, and suddenly the style of writing fell into place for me. But not knowing that, I was ready to criticize it. And at the same time, I really liked it? I think that if I read several books with a similar style back to back, it would be exhausting, but this one by itself was lovely in its own way and I appreciated it.
I will say that the pacing was quick. I never felt like we were truly delving into the heart of the story, because this tale takes the reader from when the characters are young children well into adulthood. The transitions are flawless, but just as I was getting the rhythm of the coro, we were at La Sirena and it seemed like a race to keep up at times. I’m not sure if the story as it stands would have worked otherwise, and I liked each of the scenes on their own… but it was fast.
Most romance novels – even those using romance as a subgenre – don’t both with a plot outside of the love story. I actually appreciated that this one did, and it was as much of a plot device to bring the two back together as it was a lifelong search. The grand reveal at the end felt a bit rushed, but the two ships had sailed past each other unbeknownst so many times… I forgive it.
All in all, I really liked this book, and I don’t say that lightly. I’m not much of a romantic, but this one had a magical feel, even though it was historical fiction. You could feel the author’s love for the city in the pages. It’s also a quick read, and a good, deeply romantic pool-side read for this muggy June days. I’d easily recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and romance, and for those who read Fallen and her other work when they were younger and have grown a bit since… Lauren Kate’s writing has grown as well and this is definitely worth a read.
This book was absolutely beautiful.
I don’t typically go in for romance, but sometimes, when it’s paired with exquisitely written historical fiction, I fall head-over-heels for it. That’s how I feel about The Orphan’s Song.
I picked this book up at BookCon a couple weeks ago, and had the opportunity to meet Lauren Kate. I’d read Fallen when I was younger and I remember very little of it except that there were parts I really liked, and parts I thought were super cheesy. I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Orphan’s Song as Lauren moved from YA to adult, but I think she’s found a perfect fit. Once I started reading, I just couldn’t put it down.
Venice has always enraptured me, particularly in this era. It’s as though it’s a different world, where everyone is hidden behind masks. Lauren has brought the historic culture of Venice to life, but she’s also bought vibrant characters from all social classes and a beautiful story of music and passion. Sometimes, you read a book, and you can feel the author’s lifeblood in it? That’s The Orphan’s Song.
This book is told in two voices – Mino and Violetta. They’re both orphans, raised in the House of the Incurables. They fell in love young, but they went their separate ways. Maybe I’m reading the wrong books, but I feel like that “the one that got away” romantic trope has been sorely absent as of late, and so help me… I love it. There’s so many shades of emotion – joy, excitement, pride, fear, loss, ruin, passion… Lauren Kate writes it all as for the reader to experience alongside Mino and Violetta. It feels like more than just words.
At first, her writing style threw me a bit. It was beautiful, but not in a flowery way. If anything, it was overly simple, but it didn’t feel unskilled. At the end of the book (this isn’t really a spoiler, just something I didn’t put together), we find out that they story is actually being told by another character, and suddenly the style of writing fell into place for me. But not knowing that, I was ready to criticize it. And at the same time, I really liked it? I think that if I read several books with a similar style back to back, it would be exhausting, but this one by itself was lovely in its own way and I appreciated it.
I will say that the pacing was quick. I never felt like we were truly delving into the heart of the story, because this tale takes the reader from when the characters are young children well into adulthood. The transitions are flawless, but just as I was getting the rhythm of the coro, we were at La Sirena and it seemed like a race to keep up at times. I’m not sure if the story as it stands would have worked otherwise, and I liked each of the scenes on their own… but it was fast.
Most romance novels – even those using romance as a subgenre – don’t both with a plot outside of the love story. I actually appreciated that this one did, and it was as much of a plot device to bring the two back together as it was a lifelong search. The grand reveal at the end felt a bit rushed, but the two ships had sailed past each other unbeknownst so many times… I forgive it.
All in all, I really liked this book, and I don’t say that lightly. I’m not much of a romantic, but this one had a magical feel, even though it was historical fiction. You could feel the author’s love for the city in the pages. It’s also a quick read, and a good, deeply romantic pool-side read for this muggy June days. I’d easily recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and romance, and for those who read Fallen and her other work when they were younger and have grown a bit since… Lauren Kate’s writing has grown as well and this is definitely worth a read.
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