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A review by leithbookstagram
The Legacy by Caroline Bond
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Unfortunately I was disappointed by this book, mainly because it was massively over-hyped and was very underwhelming in return.
This book began really well, the first couple of chapters were really intriguing and suspenseful and I was really excited to continue reading. I enjoyed Caroline’s writing style and the chapters were short, which I liked. However, the structure was lost in this book, it just fell into being all over the place and I actually got confused about what was happening, it felt much longer than a weekend. Frustratingly, throughout the book there were words missing and spelling mistakes, which became very annoying. Although there was good character backstory, which had great potential, each siblings perspectives sounded the same, making them sound bland and impersonal.
There was a lot of potential in the book that wasn’t taken advantage of. There were so many areas that could have been developed more and opportunities to add in more minor storylines that would have really added to the overall plot, narrative and character development, that were just glanced over, weren’t fully developed or were just simply missed. Most disappointingly, I feel that Caroline started story lines and then abruptly ended them later in the book, but there wasn’t a middle to see how the development actually happened, which was very frustrating.
I really liked Megan’s journey of grief, loss and love. I would have loved to read a book of just her journey and memories, because it was the only storyline that was actually developed and had a real substance to it. There was so much focus on Megan’s grief, I don’t know why Caroline didn’t portray this anywhere near to the same extent with the children, which was subdued and shallow when it was rarely seen. The only deep memories of Jonathan were shared by Megan, the others only having little thoughts that were only dedicated a couple of sentences. I don’t know why this is – whether the children had such a bad relationship with their father they don’t have many memories, or Caroline just did not develop these memories.
My biggest disappointment from this book was how insanely it was over-hyped. There was so much suspense and speculation created in the blurb and the first couple of chapters that didn’t actually come to life or fruition, it was quite underwhelming. It was really disappointing because the beginning was so exciting and had so much potential. I think my disappointment began when the will was read out, because it wasn’t a big scandal like was hyped up, it was quite underwhelming, the conditions didn’t actually seem that hard. The book wasn’t as suspenseful, urgent or aggrieved as the blurb made it out to be, which was really disappointing.
Despite the blurb and beginning chapters really hyping up an explosive relationship between the three siblings, insinuating that they can’t even stand each other, they hadn’t spoke in ages and all they did was argue, I didn’t get this impression throughout the book. They didn’t hate each other, they were the complete opposite of each other. For the most part, the siblings just pettily squabbled between themselves, which did nothing but annoy me. There was only one really explosive argument which was intriguing but, disappointingly, I felt that was cut short. I thought I’d really get to see the siblings come together and heal their relationships, but this wasn’t the case at all and I was quite disappointed.
Maybe this book just wasn’t for me and I’m not appreciating it enough, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t go into this with high expectations, but it just simply didn’t meet the expectations set out in the blurb, which I think was misleading. I really liked the concept of the book and thought it had so much potential. The reason I was so interested in this book was because I was intrigued – what could have been in the will, why has the mistress not been allocated anything, why do the siblings fight? But the book didn’t reflect this, and the suspense and mysteriousness was seriously over-hyped. It wasn’t until the last hundred pages that I actually enjoyed the book and it seemed to really be developing and actually reflected the blurb, but it was rushed and ended quickly, which was very disappointing. If the rest of the book had been like this, I would have loved it.
This felt like only half a book. It could have been developed way more, in terms of character development, relationships and storylines.
Thank you to Caroline Bond, Corvus and Reader’s First for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
This book began really well, the first couple of chapters were really intriguing and suspenseful and I was really excited to continue reading. I enjoyed Caroline’s writing style and the chapters were short, which I liked. However, the structure was lost in this book, it just fell into being all over the place and I actually got confused about what was happening, it felt much longer than a weekend. Frustratingly, throughout the book there were words missing and spelling mistakes, which became very annoying. Although there was good character backstory, which had great potential, each siblings perspectives sounded the same, making them sound bland and impersonal.
There was a lot of potential in the book that wasn’t taken advantage of. There were so many areas that could have been developed more and opportunities to add in more minor storylines that would have really added to the overall plot, narrative and character development, that were just glanced over, weren’t fully developed or were just simply missed. Most disappointingly, I feel that Caroline started story lines and then abruptly ended them later in the book, but there wasn’t a middle to see how the development actually happened, which was very frustrating.
I really liked Megan’s journey of grief, loss and love. I would have loved to read a book of just her journey and memories, because it was the only storyline that was actually developed and had a real substance to it. There was so much focus on Megan’s grief, I don’t know why Caroline didn’t portray this anywhere near to the same extent with the children, which was subdued and shallow when it was rarely seen. The only deep memories of Jonathan were shared by Megan, the others only having little thoughts that were only dedicated a couple of sentences. I don’t know why this is – whether the children had such a bad relationship with their father they don’t have many memories, or Caroline just did not develop these memories.
My biggest disappointment from this book was how insanely it was over-hyped. There was so much suspense and speculation created in the blurb and the first couple of chapters that didn’t actually come to life or fruition, it was quite underwhelming. It was really disappointing because the beginning was so exciting and had so much potential. I think my disappointment began when the will was read out, because it wasn’t a big scandal like was hyped up, it was quite underwhelming, the conditions didn’t actually seem that hard. The book wasn’t as suspenseful, urgent or aggrieved as the blurb made it out to be, which was really disappointing.
Despite the blurb and beginning chapters really hyping up an explosive relationship between the three siblings, insinuating that they can’t even stand each other, they hadn’t spoke in ages and all they did was argue, I didn’t get this impression throughout the book. They didn’t hate each other, they were the complete opposite of each other. For the most part, the siblings just pettily squabbled between themselves, which did nothing but annoy me. There was only one really explosive argument which was intriguing but, disappointingly, I felt that was cut short. I thought I’d really get to see the siblings come together and heal their relationships, but this wasn’t the case at all and I was quite disappointed.
Maybe this book just wasn’t for me and I’m not appreciating it enough, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t go into this with high expectations, but it just simply didn’t meet the expectations set out in the blurb, which I think was misleading. I really liked the concept of the book and thought it had so much potential. The reason I was so interested in this book was because I was intrigued – what could have been in the will, why has the mistress not been allocated anything, why do the siblings fight? But the book didn’t reflect this, and the suspense and mysteriousness was seriously over-hyped. It wasn’t until the last hundred pages that I actually enjoyed the book and it seemed to really be developing and actually reflected the blurb, but it was rushed and ended quickly, which was very disappointing. If the rest of the book had been like this, I would have loved it.
This felt like only half a book. It could have been developed way more, in terms of character development, relationships and storylines.
Thank you to Caroline Bond, Corvus and Reader’s First for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.