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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, War
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2022/02/2022-book-37.html
I’m not sure why it took me so long to get around to this- it’s one of those books I kept checking out from the library and then getting distracted by other things, even though it had good reviews and I like the author. But hey, I finally read it, and it was good! It centers on a man who gets off a train in a world where Napoleon won his wars and there’s a big French empire in Europe, and he’s like, this isn’t right, but also I have total amnesia??? And it turns out a lot of people have weird amnesiac episodes, and his only clue is a postcard of a lighthouse. Anyway, pretty soon there are some time slips, and mysterious naval officers, and it’s all very compelling, if occasionally confusing. I did wish for slightly faster pacing, or at least for the big reveals to come a bit earlier, and I also wished the sister character was slightly better developed. But this was heartbreaking and joyful and romantic and awesome. A-.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to get around to this- it’s one of those books I kept checking out from the library and then getting distracted by other things, even though it had good reviews and I like the author. But hey, I finally read it, and it was good! It centers on a man who gets off a train in a world where Napoleon won his wars and there’s a big French empire in Europe, and he’s like, this isn’t right, but also I have total amnesia??? And it turns out a lot of people have weird amnesiac episodes, and his only clue is a postcard of a lighthouse. Anyway, pretty soon there are some time slips, and mysterious naval officers, and it’s all very compelling, if occasionally confusing. I did wish for slightly faster pacing, or at least for the big reveals to come a bit earlier, and I also wished the sister character was slightly better developed. But this was heartbreaking and joyful and romantic and awesome. A-.
What a clever and beautiful book. The world of this novel is so brilliant, so complex and so vivid that it had me utterly hooked from the very first page. Multiple timelines weave themselves together to tell this passionate story of wars fought and lost, of love and of suffering.
The thing with this book, is that despite all that happens, it's actually pretty slow. This doesn't mean that it's boring, nor is it a complaint about the pacing of the novel. It's a special kind of slow, one that's almost magical or ethereal, evoking feelings similar to my time reading The Starless Sea. You get to witness the story unfurling before your eyes as it takes your hand and guides you gently towards its conclusion.
The thing with this book, is that despite all that happens, it's actually pretty slow. This doesn't mean that it's boring, nor is it a complaint about the pacing of the novel. It's a special kind of slow, one that's almost magical or ethereal, evoking feelings similar to my time reading The Starless Sea. You get to witness the story unfurling before your eyes as it takes your hand and guides you gently towards its conclusion.
A swirling epic of a novel, that loses steam as it draws onward
I first heard of this book on BookTube, and I immediately bought the concept of this story. A genre-bending drama, that involves alternate realities, lighthouses and pirates? Sign me up!
The first half if this book literally had me glued to its pages. It was so interesting, loved the characters, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what was gunna happen next! The latter half dipped in enjoyment for me. It felt meandering, although there was some valuable info that was being presented, I just didn't love the reading experience. And then the ending didn't tied up much of the loose ends (in my opinion), even though it was satisfying, in a way.
Natasha Pulley came up with a fantastic concept. A world where England is now ruled by the French, and written English is illegal. Immediately I was hooked. And then a character (Joe Tournier), having no recollection of any of his memories, gets a letter that was meant for him and was dated from almost 100 years in the past, leads him to a lighthouse where his whole reality is about to change.
I made a list of predictions on what I thought would happen in the novel. Most of them ended up being correct, so here they are:The First one I knew off the bat, was that Jem and Joe are one in the same. Not only did Joe and Kite have an instant connection at the lighthouse, but Kite and Jem had a relationship in another world. Plus, they both have 3 letter names that start with J, so I just put two and two together. And I was waiting for the reveal for like 300 pages, and when it came, I was like "Yeah, I've known this since the beginning!" The Second one I knew was that "M" on Joe's letter was Missouri (Kite). As soon as Missouri's sister referred to him by his first name, at like 25% into the book, I clocked it! And again, this info wasn't officially revealed until the last quarter of the book! It just wasn't surprising. The Last one I knew was an obvious one (based on the previous two), was that the man on the shore that Joe keeps "remembering" is really Kite. It just sucks that these reveals came so late in the story when it seemed (to me) to be pretty obvious from the start.
Anyway, I really liked the relationship between Joe and Kite. Although they frustrated me a bit, I still liked them. My favourite character (other than Joe) was definitely Agatha. Loved her!
I loved how Pulley played with history, and how she showed us what would be different if things in history were changed. Such an interesting premise!
Again, the story lost its steam in the latter half for me, but the ending was satisfying (in a way).
It's hard to talk about this book because I'm trying to avoid talking about too many spoilers! Lol.
In conclusion, I still liked this story. I'm definitely interested to see what else this author has in store. Because I loved this concept so much, I'm interested to see what else she can come up with!
I first heard of this book on BookTube, and I immediately bought the concept of this story. A genre-bending drama, that involves alternate realities, lighthouses and pirates? Sign me up!
The first half if this book literally had me glued to its pages. It was so interesting, loved the characters, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what was gunna happen next! The latter half dipped in enjoyment for me. It felt meandering, although there was some valuable info that was being presented, I just didn't love the reading experience. And then the ending didn't tied up much of the loose ends (in my opinion), even though it was satisfying, in a way.
Natasha Pulley came up with a fantastic concept. A world where England is now ruled by the French, and written English is illegal. Immediately I was hooked. And then a character (Joe Tournier), having no recollection of any of his memories, gets a letter that was meant for him and was dated from almost 100 years in the past, leads him to a lighthouse where his whole reality is about to change.
I made a list of predictions on what I thought would happen in the novel. Most of them ended up being correct, so here they are:
Anyway, I really liked the relationship between Joe and Kite. Although they frustrated me a bit, I still liked them. My favourite character (other than Joe) was definitely Agatha. Loved her!
I loved how Pulley played with history, and how she showed us what would be different if things in history were changed. Such an interesting premise!
Again, the story lost its steam in the latter half for me, but the ending was satisfying (in a way).
It's hard to talk about this book because I'm trying to avoid talking about too many spoilers! Lol.
In conclusion, I still liked this story. I'm definitely interested to see what else this author has in store. Because I loved this concept so much, I'm interested to see what else she can come up with!
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Slavery, War
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Simultaneously quite conflicted about characters' actions but also had just the best time reading this so we've just rounded up for sheer enjoyment!! Kite gives me real Captain Flint from Black Sails vibes in that he does extremely awful things because they "need to be done" and thus leave me deeply conflicted on him as a character but I also am deeply emotionally affected by on the whole. Adored the unspooling of the plot, even if I do think some of the reveals are quite clear by process of elimination. What can I say, Natasha Pulley just delivers for me every time!