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A review by livres_de_bloss
The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio
2.0
This started out very promising but overall, fell a bit flat for me. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.
I really enjoyed Flora’s story. I think on its own, that would have made for an excellent book. I think the Addison chapters distracted and didn’t add anything of consequence. The bits about the flowers and the garden were enjoyable as well.
I had a lot of questions about Flora’s story as well: what happened to Mr. Price? What happened to her parents? Who did she marry? Flora was a compelling character and I cared more for her than Addison (who, in my opinion, was just a typical contemporary airhead) and the loose ends in Flora’s story bothered me. This was doubly insulting compared to the trite Addison ending.
The ending was terrible and that ruined it for me. Everyone is happily reunited, all the secrets get aired, no one is hurt and the vapid airhead woman is pregnant. *eye roll* I cant stand these novels where women don’t want children and then suddenly just have this abrupt change of heart and concede. It’s a terrible message to send. Women don’t have to have children and they shouldn’t feel like there is something wrong with them if they don’t.
If the author had stuck with the Flora story, this would have been a spooky, intriguing read with interesting characters and a wonderful setting. The contemporary portion was distracting and added nothing. It seemed like it was just trying to draw a “contemporary” crowd to a different genre. I don’t choose “contemporary thriller” books because a) I think they’re vacuous for the most part and b) I don’t like books that made me feel bad. There was something about this book that made me feel bad after reading it. Maybe it was the stalker? The murderer? It’s just not the kind of thing I like to fill my head with.
The fact that this was set in 1940s England did nothing for the story either. You would have never known short of the domestic service and some vague war references. There was nothing of consequence that made this historical.
I really enjoyed Flora’s story. I think on its own, that would have made for an excellent book. I think the Addison chapters distracted and didn’t add anything of consequence. The bits about the flowers and the garden were enjoyable as well.
I had a lot of questions about Flora’s story as well: what happened to Mr. Price? What happened to her parents? Who did she marry? Flora was a compelling character and I cared more for her than Addison (who, in my opinion, was just a typical contemporary airhead) and the loose ends in Flora’s story bothered me. This was doubly insulting compared to the trite Addison ending.
The ending was terrible and that ruined it for me. Everyone is happily reunited, all the secrets get aired, no one is hurt and the vapid airhead woman is pregnant. *eye roll* I cant stand these novels where women don’t want children and then suddenly just have this abrupt change of heart and concede. It’s a terrible message to send. Women don’t have to have children and they shouldn’t feel like there is something wrong with them if they don’t.
If the author had stuck with the Flora story, this would have been a spooky, intriguing read with interesting characters and a wonderful setting. The contemporary portion was distracting and added nothing. It seemed like it was just trying to draw a “contemporary” crowd to a different genre. I don’t choose “contemporary thriller” books because a) I think they’re vacuous for the most part and b) I don’t like books that made me feel bad. There was something about this book that made me feel bad after reading it. Maybe it was the stalker? The murderer? It’s just not the kind of thing I like to fill my head with.
The fact that this was set in 1940s England did nothing for the story either. You would have never known short of the domestic service and some vague war references. There was nothing of consequence that made this historical.