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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me 3 weeks to get passed the first 30 pages, and then the following 430 pages I read/listened to in 2 days. This story is a whirlwind of emotion and action and suspense. It beautifully travels from 1926 to 1935 and back again, keeping the story moving. It should be experienced without too much beforehand knowledge. And the audiobook narrator is one of the best I’ve listened to!
3.5 ⭐️ The only thing that kept me going was waiting for the mother-daughter reunion. I was slugging through the first half of the book, but it got better! Sometimes I wonder if current life circumstances prohibit me from diving into an otherwise wonderful book because I DO believe this was a great book, it just wasn’t THAT great for me at this time. Does that make sense?
As much as I liked it, I still give it 3.5 stars...not sure why. I just didn’t LOVE it, compared to some of the other ones I’ve read lately.
As much as I liked it, I still give it 3.5 stars...not sure why. I just didn’t LOVE it, compared to some of the other ones I’ve read lately.
Wow. It may take a while for me to digest this one. A flourishing tale between a debutante and a poor artist, a novel with incredibly beautiful prose and memorable characters. The ending, profound. Glittering, indeed.
I loved this book! From start to finish, I was captivated by the story and the characters. I was balling by the end and the book left me with that pleasant sadness when a really good story is over and you dont want to read another one just yet.
The Glittering Hour is a stunning novel that I struggled to put down. With Selina in 1925 and Alice in 1936 I couldn’t decide which narrative I preferred. Selina is a Bright Young Thing, an embarrassment to her family but loved by the media. There were parties, alcohol and drugs but she wasn’t as wealthy as the others and struggled at times to keep up. And go with her heart. One of the reasons she behaved like she did was because of her older brother’s death in WW1, there were just the right amount of references to those who came back and were reduced to selling matches on street corners. It made me consider what a strange time it must have been to live in. So much heartache but also the desire for a carefree life.
Alice is her daughter, nine years old in 1936 and left with her grandparents whilst her parents were away. Missing her mother, she is encouraged to do treasure hunts so she can discover more about her mother. Whilst I liked the hunt and reading the letters from her mother I enjoyed the friendships she built more, especially with Polly.
Whilst most of the novel concerns Selina and Alice there are also short chapters that tell the reader what the minor characters are feeling. Some likeable, some not, but they are all important in both of their lives.
It’s an astonishing novel, one that I will definitely like to read again. And next time I will have the tissues ready.
Alice is her daughter, nine years old in 1936 and left with her grandparents whilst her parents were away. Missing her mother, she is encouraged to do treasure hunts so she can discover more about her mother. Whilst I liked the hunt and reading the letters from her mother I enjoyed the friendships she built more, especially with Polly.
Whilst most of the novel concerns Selina and Alice there are also short chapters that tell the reader what the minor characters are feeling. Some likeable, some not, but they are all important in both of their lives.
It’s an astonishing novel, one that I will definitely like to read again. And next time I will have the tissues ready.
This took forever to go anywhere (like 85%), and it often meandered through and got slogged down in such overly descriptive language that I found it hard to care for any of the characters. I loved the idea of the scavenger hunt, but it really didn’t do much for me in practice. The turning point at around 85% (which was pretty predictable) was much more emotional and the writing started seeming much more to the point. This might fare well as a movie, but the book was just not effective for me personally. I rarely seem to enjoy historical books, so maybe that’s what the problem was with this one for me, however I also found the love story super cheesy and cliche (which doesn’t always ruin a book for me, but when I don’t care about the characters, it gives me one more reason to roll my eyes). Not enjoying this one definitely seems like an unpopular opinion though, so if you like dual perspective historical books with a rich girl and a poor boy falling in love instantly, maybe it’s something you would enjoy!