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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
What an interesting read, I learned something new once again through historical Fiction books. This one dives into the history of Pearl diving in western Australia and a fictional story and mystery set in the 19 century. The story is beautifully written and very descriptive making you feel like you are right on the shore taking in the sights and smells. When Eliza’s father does not return with his crew she will not believe he lost his life at sea but rather that he was a victim and is out there somewhere waiting to be rescued .. The story follows her journey to find the truth about what happened to him and while doing this she finds herself. I was surprised with a few of the relationships and what the outcome was…..
I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own. I would recommend this book to friends and family and I think it would be a great read for a book club
I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own. I would recommend this book to friends and family and I think it would be a great read for a book club
I really didn't get on with this. The writing could be really beautiful but I often felt like I was missing the bigger picture and my eyes would naturally skip parts. The premise was intriguing and I enjoyed dit in the beginning, but I was somewhat bored for most of it and then when it came to what is supposed to be the most exciting part, I lost all interest. A lot of what happened felt very convenient and characters would often info dump. Plus, for such a clever capable main character, she was so often off the mark while I had an idea of what was really going on for a good chunk of the book.
I'm glad I read it -- but it was a book club selection. It was interesting and enlightening, but I'm not sure I really enjoyed it. Eliza was hard to care about; Min was an easier person to love and what a rough life for her. The "mystery" was interesting and I definitely didn't guess, but this was just a rough book to sit back and enjoy.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An extremely vivid novel illuminating the seedy underbelly of the pearling industry during the 1800s in Western Australia. This was a terrific debut and look forward to the next one!
My only suggestion for this book would be to make it longer...this one is 266 pages and would have loved to keep reading beyond that.
My only suggestion for this book would be to make it longer...this one is 266 pages and would have loved to keep reading beyond that.
Good story but stretches believability, in a troubling way. And I needed an answer: Is the protagonist committed single because she can't be tied down? Or is she a lesbian? The people need answers!
The story took a long time to kick in and was very predictable. The descriptions were great and I'm annoyed at myself that I couldn't smash it out in a day because its so little.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
This book took me so long and it's only short! Set in a time and place in history that I've never really considered before, it had some beautiful descriptions and a great insight into the early colonisation of Australia. I found the pace quite slow in the first half but it definitely picked up towards the end.
Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Simon & Schuster Canada, Lizzie Pook for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.
A young woman is searching for the truth about disappearance of her father, the successful pearler in Western Australia. An Aboriginal man is jailed on the account of his murder, but Eliza, the daughter, does mot believe it and start her own quest.
The novel has beautiful strong components to be great. There is a brave female character with strong will and undeniable charisma. There are adventures on the soil and on sea. There are wrongdoings and wrong people who were set straight. There is a female strong friendship and appealing love story. There is a beautiful background of early Australia. However, all together it failed to fascinate me. Narration style is quite boring and the story seems to drug on and on with little development. Characters get little development along the way as well. Some parts are left unexplained, some side plots are left hanging (what happened with Thomas?!).
The novel has a lot of potential and many good components, however I feel like the execution could have been better.
A young woman is searching for the truth about disappearance of her father, the successful pearler in Western Australia. An Aboriginal man is jailed on the account of his murder, but Eliza, the daughter, does mot believe it and start her own quest.
The novel has beautiful strong components to be great. There is a brave female character with strong will and undeniable charisma. There are adventures on the soil and on sea. There are wrongdoings and wrong people who were set straight. There is a female strong friendship and appealing love story. There is a beautiful background of early Australia. However, all together it failed to fascinate me. Narration style is quite boring and the story seems to drug on and on with little development. Characters get little development along the way as well. Some parts are left unexplained, some side plots are left hanging (what happened with Thomas?!).
The novel has a lot of potential and many good components, however I feel like the execution could have been better.