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melbsreads 's review for:
Our Mutual Friend
by Charles Dickens, Charles Dickens
This was kind of a struggle for me, and I think a lot of my struggle had more to do with the edition I was reading than the content. First of all, there are superscripted numbers marked in the text, but NO ACTUAL FOOTNOTES/ENDNOTES which drove me completely insane. Secondly, the fact that it's the miniseries tie-in edition means that there's a great whack of pictures right in the middle of the book. This meant that I knew certain plot points well before they happened, and also couldn't discover the characters for myself, as there were pictures of the actors in front of my all the time (see: THE FRONT COVER).
ANYWAY.
There's a lot going on in this book. It's effectively two completely different stories with occasional overlaps. I preferred John and Bella's story - Bella's kind of a brat but she's still likeable, and their story includes the Boffins who are pretty fabulous. Plus, there was an element of mystery to it. The other story could easily be adapted into a contemporary YA, what with the love triangle and the epic "you friendzoned me!" insanity. Lizzie - despite featuring on the front cover of my edition - is a fairly minor character. Much like Oliver Twist, the story focuses more on the people around her than it does on her.
In short, I enjoyed it, but I probably would have been more compelled to keep reading if the two stories had been separated out into different books. And if there'd been a little less of the random political interludes...
ANYWAY.
There's a lot going on in this book. It's effectively two completely different stories with occasional overlaps. I preferred John and Bella's story - Bella's kind of a brat but she's still likeable, and their story includes the Boffins who are pretty fabulous. Plus, there was an element of mystery to it. The other story could easily be adapted into a contemporary YA, what with the love triangle and the epic "you friendzoned me!" insanity. Lizzie - despite featuring on the front cover of my edition - is a fairly minor character. Much like Oliver Twist, the story focuses more on the people around her than it does on her.
In short, I enjoyed it, but I probably would have been more compelled to keep reading if the two stories had been separated out into different books. And if there'd been a little less of the random political interludes...