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3.2 AVERAGE
3.2 AVERAGE
kiwikathleen's review
3.0
The author gave me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I always admire the huge amount of work that goes into writing a novel, and a historical novel even more so. The bravery and skills of the riders who rode the Pony Express are well known to anyone who has looked at American history, and this book highlights that well. The horses and their care are also well described within the context of the story, so while I'm not a horse person (as it were) I found it interesting. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the countryside which made it visually appealing, and I was fascinated by the hotchpotch of nationalities among the characters. Again, we all know that the white history is because of immigrants from many different European countries, but it's not often this is brought to the fore in a novel that I've read.
I feel, however, that this book could have done with tighter editing. At times the prose is a little 'floral' - simpler vocabulary at those times would have had better impact. The dialogue needs a lot of work - Alix telling Xavier some of her people's history comes over as a mini-lecture; other conversations are frequently stilted or banal. The characterisation of the 'bad guy' doesn't ring true, and the developments connected to him at the end just aren't believable. And lastly, I doubt that anyone in that time period ever talked about 'relationships' - that's a very modern phenomenon.
I don't read romances so can't comment on that, but I'd say it works well for the teen reader. The personal histories explain some of their to-ing and fro-ing, though I did get impatient with them. That's probably a good recommendation for the reality of their romantic relationship difficulties. Overall, I found the book a little long for its genre and content, but was still pleased to have read it.
I always admire the huge amount of work that goes into writing a novel, and a historical novel even more so. The bravery and skills of the riders who rode the Pony Express are well known to anyone who has looked at American history, and this book highlights that well. The horses and their care are also well described within the context of the story, so while I'm not a horse person (as it were) I found it interesting. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the countryside which made it visually appealing, and I was fascinated by the hotchpotch of nationalities among the characters. Again, we all know that the white history is because of immigrants from many different European countries, but it's not often this is brought to the fore in a novel that I've read.
I feel, however, that this book could have done with tighter editing. At times the prose is a little 'floral' - simpler vocabulary at those times would have had better impact. The dialogue needs a lot of work - Alix telling Xavier some of her people's history comes over as a mini-lecture; other conversations are frequently stilted or banal. The characterisation of the 'bad guy' doesn't ring true, and the developments connected to him at the end just aren't believable. And lastly, I doubt that anyone in that time period ever talked about 'relationships' - that's a very modern phenomenon.
I don't read romances so can't comment on that, but I'd say it works well for the teen reader. The personal histories explain some of their to-ing and fro-ing, though I did get impatient with them. That's probably a good recommendation for the reality of their romantic relationship difficulties. Overall, I found the book a little long for its genre and content, but was still pleased to have read it.
aly36's review
5.0
This book was very good. It reminds me a little of the Pony Express days. I enjoyed reading a little about the settler and Indians and some of the problems they faced. This book was better than I thought it would be. I don't read many books like this book I enjoyed this one. * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*