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A review by pn_hinton
Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid
3.0
I almost gave up on this book after the first chapter, due to the pacing of it. The way the author went about the setting of the stage felt a bit off for me and I didn’t think I would be able to get into it. I try to give books three chapters to get interesting though, so I pushed through and give it a chance. And it did pick up after that rough start.
Some of the characters seemed a bit unbelievable, even for a fiction book especially Cat the main one. I had a hard time believing a seventeen year old actually believed in vampires. Based on her upbringing, I was able to accept her naiveté and predisposition to always see the good in people. But the legitimate belief in all things supernatural was a bit much. Halfway through the book I was over that aspect of it.
I also found the Thorpe family to be completely exaggerated. Both Bella and Johnny were almost too obnoxiousness and selfish to be likeable at all. They were completely self-involved and overbearing and rude to everyone. I was glad when they ceased being in the story. I didn’t care too much what became of them after their true colors showed.
Nonetheless I enjoyed it for the most part once it picked up the pace. All the characters, aside from the Thorpes and the General, were delightful. It was an engaging read up until the last 20 pages. Then too much happened too quick. The only reason for this seemed to be to help the story come to an end. It felt forced as did the rushed resolution of the ‘romance’ between Henry and Cat. This was followed by a phoned in epilogue to serve as a wrap up for them and other characters.
At that point the story rushed to get to a resolution and I hate when books do that. And the epilogue seemed a quick way to tie up loose ends thought to still be there. And it just ended. No real resolution to anything except the asides mentioned there. Maybe the author intended this to serve as a lesson for Cat and the reader that in life sometimes things just happen. Real life is not fiction and vice versa. This seem especially true when you add it to the final line to the novel. But for me, a lot of buildup and a quick resolution is the difference in a four and three-star review for a book. Which is why even though I enjoyed roughly 90% of this book it only receives that amount.
Some of the characters seemed a bit unbelievable, even for a fiction book especially Cat the main one. I had a hard time believing a seventeen year old actually believed in vampires. Based on her upbringing, I was able to accept her naiveté and predisposition to always see the good in people. But the legitimate belief in all things supernatural was a bit much. Halfway through the book I was over that aspect of it.
I also found the Thorpe family to be completely exaggerated. Both Bella and Johnny were almost too obnoxiousness and selfish to be likeable at all. They were completely self-involved and overbearing and rude to everyone. I was glad when they ceased being in the story. I didn’t care too much what became of them after their true colors showed.
Nonetheless I enjoyed it for the most part once it picked up the pace. All the characters, aside from the Thorpes and the General, were delightful. It was an engaging read up until the last 20 pages. Then too much happened too quick. The only reason for this seemed to be to help the story come to an end. It felt forced as did the rushed resolution of the ‘romance’ between Henry and Cat. This was followed by a phoned in epilogue to serve as a wrap up for them and other characters.
At that point the story rushed to get to a resolution and I hate when books do that. And the epilogue seemed a quick way to tie up loose ends thought to still be there. And it just ended. No real resolution to anything except the asides mentioned there. Maybe the author intended this to serve as a lesson for Cat and the reader that in life sometimes things just happen. Real life is not fiction and vice versa. This seem especially true when you add it to the final line to the novel. But for me, a lot of buildup and a quick resolution is the difference in a four and three-star review for a book. Which is why even though I enjoyed roughly 90% of this book it only receives that amount.