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A review by ylmpastmidnight
The Orphan's Song by Lauren Kate
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Group PUTNAM and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eArc.
I requested this book because it takes place in Venice during the 1700’s. I fell in love with Venice when my husband and I visited the city briefly on a European tour. My time there was short but so memorable. It is a place oozing with mystery and character.
Violetta and Mino are orphans of the Hospital of the Incurables, which was a place for treatment of those suffering from syphillis. The hospital also had an orphanage attached to it. The children that grow up there are given some opportunities as they age. The girls can sing in the church coro (choir) and the boys are given apprenticeships.
Violetta wants to be a singer in the coro with all her heart. Mino plays the violin and they befriend each other, sharing moments in their secret place, the rooftop of the orphanage. There is love between them, but Violetta doesn’t see any hope for them. As a child, Violetta witnessed Mino’s mother dropping him at the orphanage and since that moment she vowed never to become a mother.
Violetta’s rejection devastates Mino. It was heartbreaking watching him lose his way, trying to find the mother that left him, and moving on from the girl that broke him. The two of them take on separate journeys and they only meet again in the later half of the book. All throughout the story it’s evident their lives are intertwined by what seems to be fate or love. I just felt awful for Mino though.
The only thing that didn’t quite work out for me was the secret of Mino’s father. When that was revealed, I thought, really? It had to be him of all people? Poor Mino, hasn’t he been through enough?
I read this book in one night. I kept rooting for Mino and Violetta, because their love was so beautiful in the beginning. I was hoping they would eventually find their way to one another. It’s a rough journey for them but I enjoyed this love story and being whisked away to the “city of masks” was a plus.
I requested this book because it takes place in Venice during the 1700’s. I fell in love with Venice when my husband and I visited the city briefly on a European tour. My time there was short but so memorable. It is a place oozing with mystery and character.
Violetta and Mino are orphans of the Hospital of the Incurables, which was a place for treatment of those suffering from syphillis. The hospital also had an orphanage attached to it. The children that grow up there are given some opportunities as they age. The girls can sing in the church coro (choir) and the boys are given apprenticeships.
Violetta wants to be a singer in the coro with all her heart. Mino plays the violin and they befriend each other, sharing moments in their secret place, the rooftop of the orphanage. There is love between them, but Violetta doesn’t see any hope for them. As a child, Violetta witnessed Mino’s mother dropping him at the orphanage and since that moment she vowed never to become a mother.
Violetta’s rejection devastates Mino. It was heartbreaking watching him lose his way, trying to find the mother that left him, and moving on from the girl that broke him. The two of them take on separate journeys and they only meet again in the later half of the book. All throughout the story it’s evident their lives are intertwined by what seems to be fate or love. I just felt awful for Mino though.
The only thing that didn’t quite work out for me was the secret of Mino’s father. When that was revealed, I thought, really? It had to be him of all people? Poor Mino, hasn’t he been through enough?
I read this book in one night. I kept rooting for Mino and Violetta, because their love was so beautiful in the beginning. I was hoping they would eventually find their way to one another. It’s a rough journey for them but I enjoyed this love story and being whisked away to the “city of masks” was a plus.