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jess_clow 's review for:
The Chocolate Factory
by Mary-Lou Stephens
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The setting and breadth of research were the highlight of this book for me. It was clear the author put a lot of time and effort into the research for this book. The attention to detail regarding the development of the factory and chocolate production was quite impressive and I learnt a lot about the development of the Cadbury brand, as well as the Tasmanian factory. The details about life in the little Cadbury factory town, the company's links to Quakerism, and of course the inclusion of chocolate spies were wonderful. That being said, it was possibly the only positive of my reading experience and the reason I decided to bump it up an extra 0.5⭐.
The two POV characters, Dorothy and Maisie, were insufferable. Dorothy was a know-it-all who believed she was better than everyone else yet clearly the author's favourite and even when she was still doing wrong the book presented her to me as though she were perfect. Maisie was completely irrelevant to the plot for the first 300 pages and was also the most awful person to Frank for no real reason.The way he basically told her 'I believe all people are equal and we shouldn't kill each other :)' and her response was basically 'HOW DARE YOU SAY MY FATHER IS THE DEVIL JUST BECAUSE HE FOUGHT IN THE WAR' was insane and I'm sorry but I couldn't support anything she did after he fucked him over like that because Frank was literally the ONLY likable character in this book.
The romance between Dorothy and Thomas was also a little weird. I didn't hate it buttrying to justify Dorothy's adultery rubbed me the wrong way and the continued reminder of 'but Thomas's wife is a BAD PERSON' doesn't stop the fact Dorothy was getting with a married man. Like you get your man girl but she's allowed to be messy and flawed and we don't have to be justifying the situation?
The plot was simplistic, the writing style made me feel spoken down to and as though the author thinks I’m stupid (explaining and overexplaining everything at least three times), and the obsession with Dorothy's Birmingham accent as though it were the defining hurdle in her life was the most irritating plot line through this book.When she confronts Percy at the end and the line 'Her accent was pure Brummie' was supposed to be this girl-boss move I actually nearly threw the book across the room because I cannot believe that subplot made it to the climax of the novel. And do NOT get me started on the name reveal of 'Cecil Bottom' because I have never had my suspension of disbelief yanked out from under me with such quickness.
Not to mention, Dorothy is a Career Woman™ and she has goals (big respect) but the ending was so disappointing and underwhelming.When Dorothy left the Hobart factory because she was looked over for the Board that made sense for her character. I thought maybe Sarah or Ida or Thomas would convince her to stay or even Mr Cadbury showing up at her door might prompt him to invite her to the board, but no. She agreed to take up the same position she had back at the English factory? She was essentially in the same position she would've been in had she not resigned from the Hobart factory, which (again) was because she couldn't get any further with her career there? It just didn't make any sense. It also ended the book on a weird note because the novel was this adventure to Tasmania and I thought it would showcase the history and beauty of the state but instead it ends with the main character essentially going 'nah one year here is enough for me, peace out' and then goes back to England? I felt let down and the book I'd picked up because it was by a Tasmanian and set in Tasmania but somehow this part of the world wasn't good enough for Dorothy.
Overall, the first half of the book is overexplained and there's barely nothing happening, and then the plot kicks off and you think 'oh, yeah, this is getting good now' and then you swiftly get let down again and again until you close the back cover and wonder why you didn't DNF at page 50.
The two POV characters, Dorothy and Maisie, were insufferable. Dorothy was a know-it-all who believed she was better than everyone else yet clearly the author's favourite and even when she was still doing wrong the book presented her to me as though she were perfect. Maisie was completely irrelevant to the plot for the first 300 pages and was also the most awful person to Frank for no real reason.
The romance between Dorothy and Thomas was also a little weird. I didn't hate it but
The plot was simplistic, the writing style made me feel spoken down to and as though the author thinks I’m stupid (explaining and overexplaining everything at least three times), and the obsession with Dorothy's Birmingham accent as though it were the defining hurdle in her life was the most irritating plot line through this book.
Not to mention, Dorothy is a Career Woman™ and she has goals (big respect) but the ending was so disappointing and underwhelming.
Overall, the first half of the book is overexplained and there's barely nothing happening, and then the plot kicks off and you think 'oh, yeah, this is getting good now' and then you swiftly get let down again and again until you close the back cover and wonder why you didn't DNF at page 50.