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krisrid 's review for:
I'm a bit torn on how to review this book. There were things I liked about it, but there were also things that really didn't work for me, or felt odd and out of place with the rest of the book. I decided to go with the three stars, because overall, I did enjoy the book enough to finish it.
Fremont is a spunky, independent character, and I liked that she determinedly made a life for herself on her own terms, in spite of living at a time when this was difficult for women. She is intelligent and thoughtful, resourceful and kind. On the down side, there are moments in the book where she reverts to the damsel in distress which irritated me. To be fair, I expect that women at this time probably did have moments where they "fell off the wagon" of independence given how hostile society was to such women, but it did diminish my fondness for Fremont a little each time it happened.
The plot seemed to be trying to be too many things at once, and felt a bit chaotic and confused at times. There is a plucky girl on her own component, there's a mystery component, there is a romance, sort-of [although that part felt very odd and almost off-putting to me in how it was handled, and I read a fair bit of romance so I have read a variety of books including a romance component. It didn't work for me in this book], and there is also a paranormal aspect to the story. Any one of these could have been the focus of the book, since it is a relatively short book. But in trying to cram in all of these components, the book just felt disjointed and not *quite* anything to the fullest.
As I said, I did enjoy the story, and I like the character of Fremont. I would read another book in this series, with the hope that the author will choose what the book and storyline is meant to be and stick with that. I also would like to see Fremont settle into being an independent woman, and be completely okay with that choice, letting go of the need to go all fluttery when challenges come her way.
Fremont is a spunky, independent character, and I liked that she determinedly made a life for herself on her own terms, in spite of living at a time when this was difficult for women. She is intelligent and thoughtful, resourceful and kind. On the down side, there are moments in the book where she reverts to the damsel in distress which irritated me. To be fair, I expect that women at this time probably did have moments where they "fell off the wagon" of independence given how hostile society was to such women, but it did diminish my fondness for Fremont a little each time it happened.
The plot seemed to be trying to be too many things at once, and felt a bit chaotic and confused at times. There is a plucky girl on her own component, there's a mystery component, there is a romance, sort-of [although that part felt very odd and almost off-putting to me in how it was handled, and I read a fair bit of romance so I have read a variety of books including a romance component. It didn't work for me in this book], and there is also a paranormal aspect to the story. Any one of these could have been the focus of the book, since it is a relatively short book. But in trying to cram in all of these components, the book just felt disjointed and not *quite* anything to the fullest.
As I said, I did enjoy the story, and I like the character of Fremont. I would read another book in this series, with the hope that the author will choose what the book and storyline is meant to be and stick with that. I also would like to see Fremont settle into being an independent woman, and be completely okay with that choice, letting go of the need to go all fluttery when challenges come her way.