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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
Multi generational mysteries, crossing a hundred years & different continents, The Forgotten Garden is a proper, old fashioned family saga. I will confess to not realising that this was a republishing of a novel originally written in 2008 & got a bit of the way in before realising I had read it before. Not to worry, I thoroughly enjoyed the story & particularly liked Eliza & her wonderful stories.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
slow-paced
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I went ahead and marked this as "read" even though I abandoned it about halfway through. Between the half of it that I read and having been filled in by my book club about the rest, I can confidently say this did not float my boat. The writing drove me a little nuts. Why on earth the first quarter of it is riddled with sentence fragments is beyond me. Aside from that, the story is all over the place between different timelines. I'm not even exactly sure who the main character was supposed to be, and I wasn't that in love with any of the several women who could be considered main characters. The mystery was kind of predictable, and the there were too many massive coincidences for me to buy it. There were a lot of extra characters and sub plots that didn't seem to contribute to the story enough to be worth the time.
Overall, I give it a resounding meh.
Overall, I give it a resounding meh.
Set in three different time periods (1913, 1975, and 2005) this mystery spans 4 generations to keep the reader guessing. It took 450 pages before a portion of the mystery became clear and yet many questions still remained. The over-lapping story held up nicely throughout the book and provided just enough explanation without being obvious. Kate Morton has wonderful descriptive language that allows the reader to visualize the characters at the setting very clearly. While the story is a lengthy one, it was definitely worth the time invested.
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No