Reviews

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

cellardoor10's review against another edition

4.0

The last little bit kind of drags, but I found the first 90% overall very charming. I can see why some people don't like this. I personally enjoyed the footnotes. I thought the charm, tone, and style made up some for the overly detailed long-form explanations of parts. There's very little character development anywhere, which is both irritating at times and a little bit explained by the time you reach the end, but given this book covers something like 11 years, it does seem striking.

I greatly enjoyed the snarky references to Lord Byron and his absurd travels across Europe. Overall, Clarke does a very good job weaving her fictions in with history in a fun "spot the Easter eggs" kind of way. That was really fun for me.

eclloyd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

mconsugar38's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

stormessed's review against another edition

5.0

this could have easily been 600 pages shorter but the journey was incomparable

moongirl73's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

antclarkecowell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

bartsfrogprince's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

andreacleary__'s review against another edition

I will finish this before the year is out! I just fell off it :-(

slequesne's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

3.0

sarahaugustdevlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0