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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
karlabrandenburg's review against another edition
3.0
I have been reading Victoria Holt books all my life, so when I needed a “goto” I reached for this one. Her Australia settings have not been among my favorites, and as I got deeper into this one, I saw how it had not withstood the test of time. i grew impatient with the heroine, and the stuck-up hero, playing games instead of talking to one another. “And if he hadn't gone to the trouble of making me jealous, I never would have realized how much I loved him.” Run, Jessica. Run as far from this self absorbed man as you can.”
bmharms's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Complicated
4.25
Victoria Holt was a staple of my young reading journey. Rather primitive, tame 'enemy to lovers' with a gothic flare. Re-reading it took me back to reading at my grand-parent's. I loved this story even if old-fashioned.
kayscr33klibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
I had not read this book since high school and it was fun to pull out my old copy and reread it. To make my experience more complete I also put on my opal ring that I bought on my 17th birthday after reading this book and being fascinated by opals.
I can't say that we had a long discussion about this book at book club, but it was enjoyable hearing about past memories we had of this book. We also discussed opal mining.
This book has an interesting mystery (surprisingly, I actually remembered who the "bad guy" was) and an interesting plot. It was a great clean romance book to read as a teenager.
I can't say that we had a long discussion about this book at book club, but it was enjoyable hearing about past memories we had of this book. We also discussed opal mining.
This book has an interesting mystery (surprisingly, I actually remembered who the "bad guy" was) and an interesting plot. It was a great clean romance book to read as a teenager.
jc3smama's review against another edition
5.0
I had forgotten how much I loved Victoria Holt as a teen - I think I read almost everything she wrote! Too bad more of it is not in ePUB or Kindle format.
obsidian_blue's review against another edition
1.0
There are slow burn books and then there is this one where nothing of importance happens for a good 70 percent of the book and then you just have an ineffectual heroine through most of the story who somehow saves herself in the end by talking. Definitely not one of Holt's best. With a hero that I was rooting against and then the setting moving to Australia, this book just had too much that in the end didn't work for it.
"The Pride of the Peacock" follows Opal Jessica Clavering (known as Jessica) as she slowly unravels her personal history when one of her neighbors she has been forbidden to talk to, Ben Henniker who somehow ended up purchasing her family's ancestral home and land leaving her family living in a small home and much impoverished. When Ben pressures Jessica into marrying his son in order for her to restore her family's home to them and also give him grandchildren, she agrees to the deal though she doesn't care for Josslyn Madden (otherwise known as Peacock or Joss by Jessica).
Jessica is self-absorbed I thought. She finds out that Ben had a connection to her family and to someone else in her family that she never knew about. He seems obsessed with Jessica and Jessica just goes, well Ben loves me. I don't know. It was vaguely creepy to me. Also the way that Jessica talks to her mother I can't see happening and things going well for her. This book is supposed to take place in the 1800s and the way that Jessica acts at times is too modern. I did like how she stood up for her sister and pushed her brother to marry though. I didn't like Jessica's relationship with Joss at all. He taunts her and keeps pushing her for things she doesn't want to give and frankly I don't blame her. There is nothing redeeming about his character in this book.
Honestly, I didn't much care for any man that is discussed in this book. As I already said, Ben is creepy and obsessed and I loathed how he ends up in the end forcing Jessica to go along with his determination to see her married to Joss. Joss is a philandering ass and treats Jessica terribly through most of the book until he doesn't. I think we are supposed to see him a changed man, but I didn't.
The other characters we meet when Jessica and Joss get to Australia feel very one dimensional.
The plot was not that great. We hear about the Green Flash opal being stolen from Ben decades earlier, and then find out it wasn't stolen, but then it gets stolen again. And of course there's a supposed curse linked to the opal. We do eventually get a murder but it was very confusing when you find out the why behind it. It didn't help that the villain reveal was so anti-climatic and didn't make a lot of sense (at least to me).
The writing was so-so. Some things I wish had been discussed more and not glossed over. I know this book is written in the Victorian era, I have a really hard time with the fact that both Jessica and Joss are "bastards" and nothing was said by the community at large about it. I guess in Australia (where the story moves) it didn't really matter, but I am shocked that no one said anything in the area where Jessica was born. Especially since people had to know about it. I thought the whole book was so repetitive after a while though. We had to hear about opals, peacocks, and the Green Flash throughout.
The setting of this book I thought should have been a later period in time. I also didn't feel like the book had enough of the Gothic elements that I enjoy. I mean we had a murder, and I guess a curse with that stupid opal, and even some madness in the end. I just wish that the love/romance side had been better and we had actually had a haunted home or something else.
"The Pride of the Peacock" follows Opal Jessica Clavering (known as Jessica) as she slowly unravels her personal history when one of her neighbors she has been forbidden to talk to, Ben Henniker who somehow ended up purchasing her family's ancestral home and land leaving her family living in a small home and much impoverished. When Ben pressures Jessica into marrying his son in order for her to restore her family's home to them and also give him grandchildren, she agrees to the deal though she doesn't care for Josslyn Madden (otherwise known as Peacock or Joss by Jessica).
Jessica is self-absorbed I thought. She finds out that Ben had a connection to her family and to someone else in her family that she never knew about. He seems obsessed with Jessica and Jessica just goes, well Ben loves me. I don't know. It was vaguely creepy to me. Also the way that Jessica talks to her mother I can't see happening and things going well for her. This book is supposed to take place in the 1800s and the way that Jessica acts at times is too modern. I did like how she stood up for her sister and pushed her brother to marry though. I didn't like Jessica's relationship with Joss at all. He taunts her and keeps pushing her for things she doesn't want to give and frankly I don't blame her. There is nothing redeeming about his character in this book.
Honestly, I didn't much care for any man that is discussed in this book. As I already said, Ben is creepy and obsessed and I loathed how he ends up in the end forcing Jessica to go along with his determination to see her married to Joss. Joss is a philandering ass and treats Jessica terribly through most of the book until he doesn't. I think we are supposed to see him a changed man, but I didn't.
The other characters we meet when Jessica and Joss get to Australia feel very one dimensional.
The plot was not that great. We hear about the Green Flash opal being stolen from Ben decades earlier, and then find out it wasn't stolen, but then it gets stolen again. And of course there's a supposed curse linked to the opal. We do eventually get a murder but it was very confusing when you find out the why behind it. It didn't help that the villain reveal was so anti-climatic and didn't make a lot of sense (at least to me).
The writing was so-so. Some things I wish had been discussed more and not glossed over. I know this book is written in the Victorian era, I have a really hard time with the fact that both Jessica and Joss are "bastards" and nothing was said by the community at large about it. I guess in Australia (where the story moves) it didn't really matter, but I am shocked that no one said anything in the area where Jessica was born. Especially since people had to know about it. I thought the whole book was so repetitive after a while though. We had to hear about opals, peacocks, and the Green Flash throughout.
The setting of this book I thought should have been a later period in time. I also didn't feel like the book had enough of the Gothic elements that I enjoy. I mean we had a murder, and I guess a curse with that stupid opal, and even some madness in the end. I just wish that the love/romance side had been better and we had actually had a haunted home or something else.
happylilkt's review against another edition
Reading this description I know I read this as a teenager and it was so gothically fun. I will need to find a copy to re-read to see how it holds up 20+ years later...
ralphiereads76's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite books as a child, strangely enough. Inspired my love of opals! I keep the copy from my great-grandmother's house displayed in my living room.
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
3.0
Sometimes it's better to stay nostalgic and keep those memories hazy. I read this, and other Holt romances, multiple times when I was a tweener. It had everything: cursed jewels, exotic locations (Australia! Kookaburras!), an outcast heroine and a rakish hero. That last one did a number on me. For years I expected fellas to give me veiled looks and sardonic smiles while playing complicated mind games and gently mocking me.
So, our heroine Jess and the rake Joss enter a marriage of convenience to access a pile of money from a despicable old man (first there is 200 pages of backstory but who cares). Initially Jess not only loathes her husband but is convinced he is trying to murder her, yet gets weak in the knees when he gives her one of his looks: "...a little stormy, a little mocking and veiled". That's a difficult look to pull off.
She is uptight and he is proud (like a peacock!) , and there is much verbal sparring and tantrum throwing (her) and amused looks (him). There's also a whole shtick where they have separate bedrooms and each night he promises not to rape her, and if that isn't swoonworthy I don't know what is. While Jessica is so classy she won't even sleep with her own husband (even though he SMOLDERS), the sexy neighbour hussy (repeatedly described as a predatory djungle cat; think sluttier Blanche from Jane Eyre) practically writhes orgasmically on the dining table every time they double date. There's a lot of talk of opals, a murder (not Jessica's) and some mysterious piano playing, which is all fine, but the only thing anyone will remember about this book is the sexual tension (sadly there is no graphic unleashing of the beast).
As much as I loved this book as an impressionable girl, I must admit that it: a) is horribly sexist, b) presents a dysfunctional relationship as romance, c) should not be read by impressionable girls, and d) is badly written. Sorry, Victoria Holt. Horses do not sniff out dead bodies. You're thinking of dogs. Sorry, childhood self. Although kids these days get scarred by those insane Twilight books so you were still better off.
So, our heroine Jess and the rake Joss enter a marriage of convenience to access a pile of money from a despicable old man (first there is 200 pages of backstory but who cares). Initially Jess not only loathes her husband but is convinced he is trying to murder her, yet gets weak in the knees when he gives her one of his looks: "...a little stormy, a little mocking and veiled". That's a difficult look to pull off.
She is uptight and he is proud (like a peacock!) , and there is much verbal sparring and tantrum throwing (her) and amused looks (him). There's also a whole shtick where they have separate bedrooms and each night he promises not to rape her, and if that isn't swoonworthy I don't know what is. While Jessica is so classy she won't even sleep with her own husband (even though he SMOLDERS), the sexy neighbour hussy (repeatedly described as a predatory djungle cat; think sluttier Blanche from Jane Eyre) practically writhes orgasmically on the dining table every time they double date. There's a lot of talk of opals, a murder (not Jessica's) and some mysterious piano playing, which is all fine, but the only thing anyone will remember about this book is the sexual tension (sadly there is no graphic unleashing of the beast).
As much as I loved this book as an impressionable girl, I must admit that it: a) is horribly sexist, b) presents a dysfunctional relationship as romance, c) should not be read by impressionable girls, and d) is badly written. Sorry, Victoria Holt. Horses do not sniff out dead bodies. You're thinking of dogs. Sorry, childhood self. Although kids these days get scarred by those insane Twilight books so you were still better off.
kriste's review against another edition
4.0
The library being closed made me search for books. This one is from 1976 and it was interesting!
n1c0l3_1905's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0