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katy_bee 's review for:
The Toll-Gate
by Georgette Heyer
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
To be fair, I started reading this because I was ill and I wanted something very light. It was light, but I found the first chapter a confusing mix of people- and irrelevant to the rest of the story- and the amount of dialect and regency slang meant it wasn't as easy a read as I'd hoped.
Example dialogue: "that's the dandy!" said Chirk encouragingly. "In a brace o' snaps you'll be in prime twig, covey!" "Take and put my noddle under the pump!" begged Stogumber. "It's going round like a whirligig! What's more, I'm a-going to shoot the cat again."
That's from opening a random page, not seeking out something particularly obscure- it's all like that! I've read a fair amount of historic fiction and I could work out most of it but I found it got in the way rather than set the scene. The ending dragged and it seemed to take a long time to resolve after you found out what the secret was that Coates was hiding, and there really wasn't any doubt about what was going to happen. Predictably is par for the course in a book like this but it did take the momentum out of it once the couple are together and the crime is known!
Not one of Heyer's best. But then again, I've got covid and I'm grumpy so maybe others will enjoy it more!
Example dialogue: "that's the dandy!" said Chirk encouragingly. "In a brace o' snaps you'll be in prime twig, covey!" "Take and put my noddle under the pump!" begged Stogumber. "It's going round like a whirligig! What's more, I'm a-going to shoot the cat again."
That's from opening a random page, not seeking out something particularly obscure- it's all like that! I've read a fair amount of historic fiction and I could work out most of it but I found it got in the way rather than set the scene. The ending dragged and it seemed to take a long time to resolve after you found out what the secret was that Coates was hiding, and there really wasn't any doubt about what was going to happen. Predictably is par for the course in a book like this but it did take the momentum out of it once the couple are together and the crime is known!
Not one of Heyer's best. But then again, I've got covid and I'm grumpy so maybe others will enjoy it more!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death