A review by elisegeorge
Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford

4.0

This book's unique time and place in history is its greatest strength. I was fascinated to learn more about Seattle's former red light district, especially since I didn't know that high class brothels existed. And while the book didn't dwell too much on it, I was equally horrified and interested by the treatment of East Asian kids who were brought over to North America during this time period. I wish that the story had spent more time detailing Ernest's evolution into the English-speaking, Americanized boy that we spend most of the book with.

The story was mostly slowed down by the time jumps and did not benefit from a dual timeline. The "reveal" towards the end was pretty obvious and I would have preferred some kind of epilogue instead of the snoozy mid-century filler throughout the book.

3.5 stars rounded up for a great premise and sweet characters.