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thefriendlybibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book however it felt like Nicholas and Lavinia were constantly misunderstanding each other and I wish towards the ends that they were able to have more of a sweet courtship.
kristin's review against another edition
3.0
I would like to thank netgalley and Kregel publications for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a sweet romance. I liked the sense of mystery that runs throughout the book, but am not a fan of the toing and throwing that happens towards the end of the book. The religious ideas seem a little strong at times and the story could have worked with out them.
This is a sweet romance. I liked the sense of mystery that runs throughout the book, but am not a fan of the toing and throwing that happens towards the end of the book. The religious ideas seem a little strong at times and the story could have worked with out them.
jamesflint's review against another edition
3.0
Galley provided by publisher
I'm on something of a regency kick at the moment. No other books have appealed to me so much, so obviously I had to pick this one up.
And, while it shares a lot of similarities with Austen novels in particular, it is a good one. To start with the similarities, in the beginning, it is almost to a T, Pride and Prejudice (in fact, the blurb even makes that comparison as well). Then there are scenes which remind me of Emma (specifically, a certain picnic scene). But if you're going to write regency novels, you're obviously going to run the risk of having an Austenesque plot (which, honestly, is no bad thing, because Jane Austen is amazing).
If anything, the pacing in this book seems a little strange. There's a rapid transition from hate to friendship, followed by a lot slower transition into love. And there are long passages where nothing seems to happen, that feel unnecessary or at the very least, like they could have been shortened. Near the end, there's also 1) a kind of flipping back and forth between 'oh he likes me' and 'he only wants me for ___' which doesn't make sense, and 2) a scene of attempted sexual assault which I thought was pointless, frankly. I mean, it doesn't add anything to the storyline, only gives the male character the chance to rescue the female character, and show how disgusting another male character is, but that whole thing is possible without recourse to attempted rape.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the implication that one can only truly be good if one is religious. BeforeLavinia's miraculous recovery from severe influenza , which leads to Nicholas becoming a "believer", it's implied that she could never see him as a good person, because he doesn't believe in God. Which, honestly, is a load of bullshit, but one that I might overlook because it's set in regency times, and that's probably pretty close to what they believed. Even so, there was a whole section in the middle where it gets very religious all of a sudden, and I don't know how I felt about that.
But, in general, it was a great book, with wonderful characters, and I definitely can't wait for book two (especially to see if Nicholas and Lavinia show).
I'm on something of a regency kick at the moment. No other books have appealed to me so much, so obviously I had to pick this one up.
And, while it shares a lot of similarities with Austen novels in particular, it is a good one. To start with the similarities, in the beginning, it is almost to a T, Pride and Prejudice (in fact, the blurb even makes that comparison as well). Then there are scenes which remind me of Emma (specifically, a certain picnic scene). But if you're going to write regency novels, you're obviously going to run the risk of having an Austenesque plot (which, honestly, is no bad thing, because Jane Austen is amazing).
If anything, the pacing in this book seems a little strange. There's a rapid transition from hate to friendship, followed by a lot slower transition into love. And there are long passages where nothing seems to happen, that feel unnecessary or at the very least, like they could have been shortened. Near the end, there's also 1) a kind of flipping back and forth between 'oh he likes me' and 'he only wants me for ___' which doesn't make sense, and 2) a scene of attempted sexual assault which I thought was pointless, frankly. I mean, it doesn't add anything to the storyline, only gives the male character the chance to rescue the female character, and show how disgusting another male character is, but that whole thing is possible without recourse to attempted rape.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the implication that one can only truly be good if one is religious. Before
But, in general, it was a great book, with wonderful characters, and I definitely can't wait for book two (especially to see if Nicholas and Lavinia show).
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