Reviews

I actually did like this book for the most part, the story was intriguing and some of the characters were interesting, there was an interesting take on the world of the fae which is kind of dark and kind of quirky and feeds well into the story. A lot of people complained about the writing style but I did not have an issue with it, I did not read all the footnotes but they do contribute to the world building so that's like a little bonus. My chief complaint with the book is that it is about 150 pages too long, the pace is quite slow. However I stuck with it and I did like the ending, so I am glad I kept reading.

ella_kate's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Holy smokes I can’t believe I’ve finally finished this book. It was incredible, I loved everything about this book, from the lore of the magic, the characters, how the plot interacted with historical events, it was truly show-stopping. I am amazed that despite its length it t truly kept me captured throughout, there wasn’t really ever a plot I was less interested in, and I kept getting excited every time some more information about magic got revealed.

Also never thought id say this but the footnotes of this book made it for me, they were honestly one of my favourite parts of it. It was so clever how they supported the magic lore of the book but presented it in a way that seemed so real and academic. And I think this is why the book overall appealed to me so much is how realistic the attitudes and rise of magic seemed, like the way it was written had me going yep that would totally happen if magic occurred in England, of course there would be separate bodies of magic academics and scholarly magic journals 😂

Genuinely incredible, I am so glad I read this book!!!

birdwatching's review against another edition

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3.0

Could easily have lost 300 pages and been a better novel overall (preferrably the Napoleonic war sections) and the footnotes were unnecessary. However, I did really like the episodic/Dickenisan style, the gradual reintroduction of magic to England and the snarky, evil Fairie.

tbrnichols's review against another edition

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funny mysterious relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really liked the historical tone of the book, with its meandering story and wandering footnotes, which I felt paired very well with the wonder around magic and the lack of hard exploration of the potential thereof in advance. I did find the ending to be a bit unsatisfying, especially since

Norrell's redemption

seemed unearned in my eyes.

olgaokhrimenko's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

bookishbethaz's review against another edition

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Way too long and meandering

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