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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A Splendid Ruin is a compelling story of a young woman with nothing to her name who may have more than she knows; her mother kept secrets, and her newfound family aren’t enlightening her, either. As a woman in the early 1900s, she is limited with what she can do to take care of herself, but she uses the skills she does have and some keen observation to survive and even thrive. It works well drawing a picture of society life in that era and depicting just how devastating the earthquake was, with several thousand dead and half the city (rich and poor) left without homes. I liked seeing May go from somewhat naïve to take-back-her-life strong.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/splendid-ruin-fiction-book-review/
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/splendid-ruin-fiction-book-review/
This was good. I’d give it 3.5 stars if Goodreads did half stars. The book was slow until about halfway through. Then it was full of some interesting twists. Overall I liked it.
This is a hesitant 4 star book for me.
I loved the mystery and intrigue of the first half, and the writing was truly beautiful. The second half was where it became a bit too much, yet not enough, for me. It took on a Stephen King like-ness for a bit (which may be good if that’s your thing, it’s just too gruesome/eerie for me), and then became pretty predictable.
Overall though, if a quick, intriguing read is what you’re looking for, this is a well written one!
I loved the mystery and intrigue of the first half, and the writing was truly beautiful. The second half was where it became a bit too much, yet not enough, for me. It took on a Stephen King like-ness for a bit (which may be good if that’s your thing, it’s just too gruesome/eerie for me), and then became pretty predictable.
Overall though, if a quick, intriguing read is what you’re looking for, this is a well written one!
This book reminded me of a Mexican telenovela. Poor girl splashes into rich society. Then she's framed and get money and freedom stolen. Fate intervenes and puts her in the right.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
What a beautiful and hauntingly subtle but impactful book.
Megan Chance did a fantastic job evoking a nostalgia for a city that was (even a city that is, I never cared for San Francisco but she made me miss it), describing the 1906 earthquake and its aftermath, describing destruction I've only imagined and making it palpable. Most of all, she traps you with a feeling of suspense but where is the suspense coming from when she's only talking about mansions, and gilded hallways, and champagne fueled afternoons?! Incredible.
She constructed this book, this plot, this story so masterfully. The deception, the betrayal, the love subplot that didn't feel sickeningly cliché, the ending that is after everything that has happened subtle, almost anticlimactic but the cherry on top.
Sadly I did have to skim through the asylum scenes, so vivid and horrendous, and my immersion and understanding of the book suffered a little for skimming. They were personally too much for me, but that is not to detract others from reading this.
There were many opportunities to be cliché, predictable, boring, but Chance avoided all of them.
Megan Chance did a fantastic job evoking a nostalgia for a city that was (even a city that is, I never cared for San Francisco but she made me miss it), describing the 1906 earthquake and its aftermath, describing destruction I've only imagined and making it palpable. Most of all, she traps you with a feeling of suspense but where is the suspense coming from when she's only talking about mansions, and gilded hallways, and champagne fueled afternoons?! Incredible.
She constructed this book, this plot, this story so masterfully. The deception, the betrayal, the love subplot that didn't feel sickeningly cliché, the ending that is after everything that has happened subtle, almost anticlimactic but the cherry on top.
Sadly I did have to skim through the asylum scenes, so vivid and horrendous, and my immersion and understanding of the book suffered a little for skimming. They were personally too much for me, but that is not to detract others from reading this.
There were many opportunities to be cliché, predictable, boring, but Chance avoided all of them.
I really struggled with the first half of A Splendid Ruin, then loved where the story went and how the main character finally developed in the second half. Definitely a book I’m glad I finished, even as it was hard for me to get into at first.