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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
As you can tell by my previous reviews, depressing family dramas are kinda my thing but this one didn’t do it for me. It took me two weeks to read this book and I was on winter break :(. For a fast paced era, the book was tremendously slow. Also, I didn’t think the memories flowed smoothly. It was kind of just random at times and overall boring. I didn’t really care for the couple… or the kid.
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
I can't begin to put into words how much I loved reading this book. I cried through the entire end though (which I savoured for three days). The way Iona Grey writes invites you into the story and paints amazingly vivid images of 1920s parties and all the emotions. This is one of my new favourite books.
Here are some spoiler free bits to show you how beautifully she writes: "There was a streetlamp outside the window. Its yellow light filtered through the grime, past the undrawn curtains, and striped the pictures on the walls."
"The first cocktail of the day had revived her, like water on a parched plant, and each successive drink had made her stronger and more certain, dissolving her ennui and the existential doubts that beset her during the sober hours of the afternoon. Above the starched collar and black silk bow tie her elfin face was animated, the dark circles beneath her eyes disguised with face powder. She sparkled, once more the aristocratic beauty who so bewitched the newspapers and dominated their society columns." I'm in love!
Here are some spoiler free bits to show you how beautifully she writes: "There was a streetlamp outside the window. Its yellow light filtered through the grime, past the undrawn curtains, and striped the pictures on the walls."
"The first cocktail of the day had revived her, like water on a parched plant, and each successive drink had made her stronger and more certain, dissolving her ennui and the existential doubts that beset her during the sober hours of the afternoon. Above the starched collar and black silk bow tie her elfin face was animated, the dark circles beneath her eyes disguised with face powder. She sparkled, once more the aristocratic beauty who so bewitched the newspapers and dominated their society columns." I'm in love!
4.5 stars
When I was first asked to join the blog tour for Iona Grey’s latest novel The Glittering Hour, I was a little apprehensive at first, as I had never heard of this author before and of course hadn’t read her debut novel Letters to the Lost, which came out back in 2015. After reading the summary for the book though and seeing that it fell into one of my favorite genres (historical fiction), I decided to take a chance with this one and see where it would take me. Looking back now after having finished the book, I am tremendously glad that I did so, as this turned out to be an excellent read – one in which not only the story continues to stay with me, but also the characters, almost all of whom I can’t stop thinking about. This was one of those books where the beautiful writing drew me in from the first page and I found it difficult to stop reading once I had started.
With a duel timeline alternating between 1925 and 1936, the crux of the story centers around an unlikely romance between Selina Lennox -- a wealthy, privileged young woman from a noble family who spends majority of her time drinking, partying, creating scandal – and Lawrence Weston, a penniless but hardworking painter whose real talent lies in photography and capturing life’s most candid moments. Despite being from two completely opposite worlds, Selina and Lawrence fall hard for each other and, for a brief period of time, it appeared that true love and happiness were within their reach. But then tragedy strikes and Selina decides to forego her relationship with Lawrence in favor of the “safe” option of Rupert Carew — her deceased brother’s friend and also a match approved by her parents. A decade later, in 1936, nine-year-old Alice Carew is left in the care of her grandparents and a beloved maid at Blackwood, the estate where her mother Selina grew up, while her parents are on a business trip to Burma for a few months. Alice is a sensitive soul and not being able to stand the separation and secluded loneliness of Blackwood, she yearns for her mother and whiles away the time thinking about their many moments together. Through her maid Polly, Selina sends her daughter letters in which she scatters clues about her past, sending Alice on a treasure hunt of sorts to discover one of her most prized secrets. The two threads of the story — Selina’s past from 1926 and Alice’s current reality in 1936 —eventually come together in a surprising, emotional ending that is almost guaranteed to have the reader in tears.
My first thought after finishing this book is how beautifully written this story was. Even though the story leans more toward romance than historical fiction, the historical elements were still done extremely well, to the point that I truly felt transported to the time and place depicted (England in the 1920s and 1930s). For those who may be concerned about the romance piece — yes, the love story IS the core around which the rest of the story revolves, however don’t worry, as the narrative is well-balanced enough that the romance piece doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the story. With an epic story such as this one, maintaining such a balance along with a nearly flawless execution is no easy feat and Grey absolutely delivers here. Structure-wise, within the alternating timeline, each of the main characters also got the chance to contribute their piece to the story without diluting the main narrative that revolved around Selina and Alice. I appreciate this structure, as it allowed me to get better perspective on each of the characters and see another side to them that I wouldn’t otherwise have known.
Given how much I enjoyed this one, it was very close to being a 5 star read for me, however there were a few things that put it more in the 4.5 range for me. I felt that part 1 of the story dragged a little in a few places, plus a few scenes seemed repetitive and perhaps not entirely necessary...with that said though, part 2 was wonderfully written, with its emotional impact nearly making up for the minor flaws in the first part.
Without a doubt, I would definitely recommend this moving story of love, loss, passion, betrayal, family dynamics, hidden secrets, and the complexities of pursuing the truth. If you decide to read this though, definitely have some tissues ready.
Received ARC from Thomas Dunne Books via NetGalley.
When I was first asked to join the blog tour for Iona Grey’s latest novel The Glittering Hour, I was a little apprehensive at first, as I had never heard of this author before and of course hadn’t read her debut novel Letters to the Lost, which came out back in 2015. After reading the summary for the book though and seeing that it fell into one of my favorite genres (historical fiction), I decided to take a chance with this one and see where it would take me. Looking back now after having finished the book, I am tremendously glad that I did so, as this turned out to be an excellent read – one in which not only the story continues to stay with me, but also the characters, almost all of whom I can’t stop thinking about. This was one of those books where the beautiful writing drew me in from the first page and I found it difficult to stop reading once I had started.
With a duel timeline alternating between 1925 and 1936, the crux of the story centers around an unlikely romance between Selina Lennox -- a wealthy, privileged young woman from a noble family who spends majority of her time drinking, partying, creating scandal – and Lawrence Weston, a penniless but hardworking painter whose real talent lies in photography and capturing life’s most candid moments. Despite being from two completely opposite worlds, Selina and Lawrence fall hard for each other and, for a brief period of time, it appeared that true love and happiness were within their reach. But then tragedy strikes and Selina decides to forego her relationship with Lawrence in favor of the “safe” option of Rupert Carew — her deceased brother’s friend and also a match approved by her parents. A decade later, in 1936, nine-year-old Alice Carew is left in the care of her grandparents and a beloved maid at Blackwood, the estate where her mother Selina grew up, while her parents are on a business trip to Burma for a few months. Alice is a sensitive soul and not being able to stand the separation and secluded loneliness of Blackwood, she yearns for her mother and whiles away the time thinking about their many moments together. Through her maid Polly, Selina sends her daughter letters in which she scatters clues about her past, sending Alice on a treasure hunt of sorts to discover one of her most prized secrets. The two threads of the story — Selina’s past from 1926 and Alice’s current reality in 1936 —eventually come together in a surprising, emotional ending that is almost guaranteed to have the reader in tears.
My first thought after finishing this book is how beautifully written this story was. Even though the story leans more toward romance than historical fiction, the historical elements were still done extremely well, to the point that I truly felt transported to the time and place depicted (England in the 1920s and 1930s). For those who may be concerned about the romance piece — yes, the love story IS the core around which the rest of the story revolves, however don’t worry, as the narrative is well-balanced enough that the romance piece doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the story. With an epic story such as this one, maintaining such a balance along with a nearly flawless execution is no easy feat and Grey absolutely delivers here. Structure-wise, within the alternating timeline, each of the main characters also got the chance to contribute their piece to the story without diluting the main narrative that revolved around Selina and Alice. I appreciate this structure, as it allowed me to get better perspective on each of the characters and see another side to them that I wouldn’t otherwise have known.
Given how much I enjoyed this one, it was very close to being a 5 star read for me, however there were a few things that put it more in the 4.5 range for me. I felt that part 1 of the story dragged a little in a few places, plus a few scenes seemed repetitive and perhaps not entirely necessary...with that said though, part 2 was wonderfully written, with its emotional impact nearly making up for the minor flaws in the first part.
Without a doubt, I would definitely recommend this moving story of love, loss, passion, betrayal, family dynamics, hidden secrets, and the complexities of pursuing the truth. If you decide to read this though, definitely have some tissues ready.
Received ARC from Thomas Dunne Books via NetGalley.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Terminal illness, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Alcohol, War
Lesson learned! Don't choose a book because glitter is in the title.
Couldn’t get through this one, did some major skimming. Could of been good, but super boring.
Beautifully written & a clever premise but just too slow in the first half. Could have chopped 100+ pages from this one & still had a strong story. If I had picked this up at the right time, it could’ve been a solid 4 stars. Based on my level of enjoyment reading this, I’m going with 3.
Welcome To The Roaring Twenties. As I finish this book a couple of weeks late - yet appropriately just hours before the Roaring Twenties come back - I'm actually thankful I wasn't able to complete it sooner due to various traveling I was doing in the early parts of this month. Because this book is a phenomenal look at the Roaring Twenties, young adult disillusionment in their twenties generally, and the realities we sometimes face in our thirties. But it is also extremely tragic, and without actually giving anything away let's just say be prepared to bawl for the last 100 pages or so of this 400 page book. Truly an excellent work, and very much recommended.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes