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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Clever. The day dreaming, parenthetical asides, segues. Sometimes confusing, too. Maybe less so if I knew more about English intelligence agencies and wartime history, but maybe not.
I listened to this book and find it required more of my attention than I gave it. It was an intriguing story and I think perhaps I would have enjoyed in more in book format. From time to time it became difficult to follow the characters and change of place and time in the audio version.
The first half of the book was tedious. I tried to enjoy the settings and the character building but it fell short. I suppose a spy’s life is made up of much tedium. The second part of the book picked up, and we are introduced to the layers. And always the big question- why are we here.
I loved Life after Life, and was hoping for that sort of insight, but this one didn’t do it for me.
I loved Life after Life, and was hoping for that sort of insight, but this one didn’t do it for me.
The "twist" seemed forced - just a longish book of loosely closed plot holes.
A glimpse of war and postwar English espionage from a woman’s perspective that doesn’t often appear in novels. Atkinson’s writing style highlights the isolation of her characters within their private lives while also drawing watercolor images of their daily lives.
I'm a fan of Kate Atkinson. Her prose is written the way i like it, her female characters are strong and complicated and interesting. They have the right insides...a mix of gumption, smarts, boldness, romance. They are real.
This story in particular was up my alley. WWII. Espionage. Intrigue. MI5. Like, yeh, probably a perfect recipe for me.
I found the ending had just the little twist I needed...loved this book from beginning to end.
This story in particular was up my alley. WWII. Espionage. Intrigue. MI5. Like, yeh, probably a perfect recipe for me.
I found the ending had just the little twist I needed...loved this book from beginning to end.
Quoting the reviewer Trish: "Atkinson manages to satisfy and confound a reader at the same time." I think that if you want to read Atkinson, you must be willing to view her work as you would an opera: "Suspend disbelief" and just "let (it) flow over you" (a deliberate mis-quote from my favorite movie). I enjoy her writing style, her irony, her characters, her humanity, her oddness. Reading one of her novels is sort of like going down a rabbit hole with Alice. Nothing is what it seems, after all.
I enjoyed this book
There are several different timelines
But I felt the ending was a bit rushed
There are several different timelines
But I felt the ending was a bit rushed
Muddled. Very difficult to understand what was going on and what was the entire point of the book. Meh.