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theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition
2.0
The Amber Shadows by Lucy Ribchester starts off in December of 1942 at Bletchley Park. Honey Deschamps is on her way to her lodgings when she is stopped by Felix Plaidstow and his dog, Nijinksy. Felix states he works in Hut 6 in the park and he has a package for Honey that was misdelivered. Honey examines the package in the privacy of her room at Mr. & Mrs. Steadman’s (her skinflint landlors). The postmark has Cyrillic letters on it (Russian), and she finds a small square piece of amber inside. Honey ends up tossing the package into the trash. The next day she is at her desk decoding messages on her Typex machine when she receives another similar package. The amber reminds Honey about a missive she saw about a year ago regarding the Germans dismantling the Amber Room from the Catherine Palace and a story her brother told her about their father being its curator. Honey receives more of the mysterious amber packages. Are they from a lost treasure or is Honey being tested? Honey is unsure of who she should trust and turns to the mysterious Felix. Can they unravel the clues and solve the amber puzzle?
The Amber Shadows sounded like such an intriguing story. World War II, amber, coded messages, Bletchley Park, and a mystery. Unfortunately, the blurb was better than the novel. The book wandered and rambled on forever. It lacked focus. I was not a fan of the authors writing style (believe she is trying to set an atmosphere). Honey kept making comparisons between her situation and the movie Suspicion (with Cary Grant). I found it distracting (odd) and it did not enhance the story. I do wish to commend the author on her research and realistic portrayal of life at Bletchely. My rating for The Amber Shadows is 2 out of 5 stars (I did not like it). The mystery was lacking. It can easily be solved early in the story (it is obvious). Honey is lacking in her investigative skills. She makes very little progress until the end of the story when all is revealed. I struggled to wade through The Amber Shadows. I was never able to get into the story. The ending is very unsatisfying (made the whole mystery seem pointless). I was not a fan of the main character (I disliked Honey), mystery or writing.
The Amber Shadows sounded like such an intriguing story. World War II, amber, coded messages, Bletchley Park, and a mystery. Unfortunately, the blurb was better than the novel. The book wandered and rambled on forever. It lacked focus. I was not a fan of the authors writing style (believe she is trying to set an atmosphere). Honey kept making comparisons between her situation and the movie Suspicion (with Cary Grant). I found it distracting (odd) and it did not enhance the story. I do wish to commend the author on her research and realistic portrayal of life at Bletchely. My rating for The Amber Shadows is 2 out of 5 stars (I did not like it). The mystery was lacking. It can easily be solved early in the story (it is obvious). Honey is lacking in her investigative skills. She makes very little progress until the end of the story when all is revealed. I struggled to wade through The Amber Shadows. I was never able to get into the story. The ending is very unsatisfying (made the whole mystery seem pointless). I was not a fan of the main character (I disliked Honey), mystery or writing.
collegiate_assessor_kovalyov's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those books that is weirdly specific in its perfection for me. I'm not joking when I say the book I finished before this one was Stravinsky's autobiography so I couldn't have picked a more perfect time to randomly pick this off my shelves despite having had it for years. I had no idea what a gem this was, hidden on my shelf but I am now so glad I read it. Plus, I got this book 3/ maybe even 4 years ago from a charity shop for £3 and I didn't notice untill now that it is signed...even better!
A fast-paced, thrilling historical read that effortlessly combined some of my favourite things that I honestly never thought could go together so well. Highly recommend.
A fast-paced, thrilling historical read that effortlessly combined some of my favourite things that I honestly never thought could go together so well. Highly recommend.
mwgerard's review against another edition
3.0
In the mid 1940s, Britain’s most brilliant minds are working around the clock to break the German codes and intercepted messages. Bletchley Park was the central hive of this important work and its worker bees consisted of men and women of varied backgrounds.
Lucy Ribchester sets her latest novel, The Amber Shadows, in the middle of this busy, secretive, and strange place. Employees are kept in the dark about what happens in other huts. IDs have to be shown at multiple checkpoints going in and out of Bletchley. Employees are billeted with begrudging locals in dusty, spare rooms.
The protagonist, Honey Deschamps, begins receiving mysterious parcels with no return address but stamps of Soviet origin. The packages contain small pieces of amber. Honey is confused by the odd items and keeps it to herself, hoping she can puzzle out what is going on. Her only connection to Russia is a long-lost father who used to work in antiquities.
Then she has a brother, a dancer, obsessed with Russian ballet. Perhaps he is sending a message to her? And what of the man who delivered the first one who her? No one seems to know him. The plot of the subterfuge, and Honey’s place in it, feels a bit forced. Her role in Bletchley is a low one and unlikely to garner any real advantage for a “bad guy.”
The novel’s strength lies in the evocation of time and place. ...
Please read my full review here: https://mwgerard.com/accent-the-amber-shadows/
Lucy Ribchester sets her latest novel, The Amber Shadows, in the middle of this busy, secretive, and strange place. Employees are kept in the dark about what happens in other huts. IDs have to be shown at multiple checkpoints going in and out of Bletchley. Employees are billeted with begrudging locals in dusty, spare rooms.
The protagonist, Honey Deschamps, begins receiving mysterious parcels with no return address but stamps of Soviet origin. The packages contain small pieces of amber. Honey is confused by the odd items and keeps it to herself, hoping she can puzzle out what is going on. Her only connection to Russia is a long-lost father who used to work in antiquities.
Then she has a brother, a dancer, obsessed with Russian ballet. Perhaps he is sending a message to her? And what of the man who delivered the first one who her? No one seems to know him. The plot of the subterfuge, and Honey’s place in it, feels a bit forced. Her role in Bletchley is a low one and unlikely to garner any real advantage for a “bad guy.”
The novel’s strength lies in the evocation of time and place. ...
Please read my full review here: https://mwgerard.com/accent-the-amber-shadows/
annika_de's review against another edition
4.0
My dilemma with this book: the plot is perfectly fine and I enjoyed reading most of it, but the author leads you to believe that the scope of the novel will be much larger than it actually is. It's kind of like getting on an amusement park ride, thinking it's a roller coaster, and then finding out that there actually isn't a big drop at the end. The issue isn't necessarily the ride - it's having the wrong expectations. I had no expectations going into this book (I downloaded the e-book without reading the description because the cover looked fun), but the first couple of chapters left me thinking that there was a grand conspiracy in play and the main character would be cracking codes the whole time. The book was so fun while I held onto that illusion, but it lost much of its appeal once I realized where it was really going. It's ok that the author wanted this to be a smaller, more psychologically-driven book...but she shouldn't have made us think it was a roller coaster. (More like 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up for the interesting facts about code-breaking.)
geekcliche's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
lynnedf's review against another edition
1.0
This book was ... chaotic, it felt rushed, it felt unfocused and then almost too obsessive ... it took me almost three weeks to read less than 500 pages and I can say I only finished it because I received a copy from Netgalley and felt an obligation to read it to the bitter end.
Honey was a difficult character to relate to - she seemed paranoid for absolutely no reason and she seemed to become obsessed with events, almost to the point that it felt like the story didn't move along until we hit the 80% mark. And then at that point it almost felt like a completely different story emerged. One that could have been more interesting than the original, but alas, it was too little, too late.
I was initially drawn to this story because it takes place in Bletchley during the second world war, but really, this was a story about a typist who was caught up in past lies. It was muddy and simply didn't do anything for me.
I can't recommend this book.
Honey was a difficult character to relate to - she seemed paranoid for absolutely no reason and she seemed to become obsessed with events, almost to the point that it felt like the story didn't move along until we hit the 80% mark. And then at that point it almost felt like a completely different story emerged. One that could have been more interesting than the original, but alas, it was too little, too late.
I was initially drawn to this story because it takes place in Bletchley during the second world war, but really, this was a story about a typist who was caught up in past lies. It was muddy and simply didn't do anything for me.
I can't recommend this book.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
3.0
Visit the locations in the novelThe Amber Shadows
If you're looking for a novel about what the work was like at Bletchley Circle and the women especially who worked there then this is a good read. It's very atmospheric and detailed and shows a side to what went on that I hadn't read in this way before. I do think the novel could be shorter and not all of the threads were necessary which I think would have made it snappier and even better.
Claire
If you're looking for a novel about what the work was like at Bletchley Circle and the women especially who worked there then this is a good read. It's very atmospheric and detailed and shows a side to what went on that I hadn't read in this way before. I do think the novel could be shorter and not all of the threads were necessary which I think would have made it snappier and even better.
Claire
ender24's review against another edition
5.0
This book was pretty good! I loved the characters and the setting. It’s not highly rated on here, for I think the ending, but I found it entertaining until the very end! I liked the romance, but I feel like it was a little bit too slow burned for a stand alone book.
herondaleducks's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5