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A review by katie_is_dreaming
The Thief of Time by John Boyne
3.0
The premise of this book is so interesting: a man who stops ageing and lives through some of the most interesting and turbulent times of the modern era. And the parts where Matthieu encountered famous historical figures or took part in important historical moments were the most interesting aspect of this book for me.
I feel like Boyne was interested most of all in the historical events and figures, and wanted to tell a story about someone who could be involved in all that history, but the other threads of the story, Matthieu's early life and his present-day life were far less interesting to me. I didn't really care about his feelings for Dominique, and I don't think her character was developed well enough to make the storyline involving her work properly.
The thread involving his brother and his descendants needed more development too. We were told that their short lives enabled Matthieu's longevity, but I wanted to know how. I also felt like there should have been more difficulty in the fact that Matthieu lived so long. All of his wives conveniently died or were divorced before his lack of ageing became an issue. I'm not sure why he wasn't more careful about concealing his lack of ageing. Perhaps the primitive technology accounts for it, but he was involved in such important history that photographs must have captured his likeness at some point. I think if you're going to have a character who doesn't age, they should be taking some kinds of precautions so that they're not found out. The fact that Matthieu didn't wasn't believable to me.
I liked the history Matthieu was involved in, but the other strands of the story weren't that interesting to me. Boyne must have done a lot of research for the historical aspects, which make those stand out, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping to.
I feel like Boyne was interested most of all in the historical events and figures, and wanted to tell a story about someone who could be involved in all that history, but the other threads of the story, Matthieu's early life and his present-day life were far less interesting to me. I didn't really care about his feelings for Dominique, and I don't think her character was developed well enough to make the storyline involving her work properly.
The thread involving his brother and his descendants needed more development too. We were told that their short lives enabled Matthieu's longevity, but I wanted to know how. I also felt like there should have been more difficulty in the fact that Matthieu lived so long. All of his wives conveniently died or were divorced before his lack of ageing became an issue. I'm not sure why he wasn't more careful about concealing his lack of ageing. Perhaps the primitive technology accounts for it, but he was involved in such important history that photographs must have captured his likeness at some point. I think if you're going to have a character who doesn't age, they should be taking some kinds of precautions so that they're not found out. The fact that Matthieu didn't wasn't believable to me.
I liked the history Matthieu was involved in, but the other strands of the story weren't that interesting to me. Boyne must have done a lot of research for the historical aspects, which make those stand out, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping to.