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A review by readhikerepeat
The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio
3.0
From The Book Wheel:
In a nutshell, The Last Camellia is a mystery novel that takes place in two different settings (present day and 1940′s) but in the same location. Present day Addison’s past is catching up to her and so she convinces her husband to skip across the ocean to Livingston Manor. The manor’s main feature is its orchards, and in particular the camellias. Once there, she starts to uncover the mystery of several young women who died during the 1940′s and tries to figure it out while dealing with her own demons.
Then there’s Flora, who was hired as the nanny for the Livingston children but, really, she was hired to steal a very rare camellia called the Middlebury Pink. She arrives at the manor around the time that women are disappearing and doesn’t quite know what to make of the Livingston family. The whole place is a bit depressing after the recent (and questionable) death of Lady Anna, the mistress of the estate and lover of all things flowers.
At this point the book was a solid 4 stars. Naturally, there’s some love thrown in and manor living is predictable (snotty kids and gossipy servants). Most of the characters weren’t fully developed but I was able to gloss over that part, too. But then I got to the end and it plummeted. Now, I’m not one to judge a book by its ending just because I don’t like it, but I do have a problem with unfinished endings. And unfortunately, The Last Camellia left me confused and pretty irritated. Sure, I can speculate about what happened but I really have no idea. It’s not that it was complex, but rather that it seemed like the author had a page limit and rushed to stay under it. Honestly, 2 or 3 more pages would have fixed the whole problem.
For the full review, click here.
Allison @ The Book Wheel
What about you? Have you ever read two books by the same author and had entirely different opinions about their quality?
In a nutshell, The Last Camellia is a mystery novel that takes place in two different settings (present day and 1940′s) but in the same location. Present day Addison’s past is catching up to her and so she convinces her husband to skip across the ocean to Livingston Manor. The manor’s main feature is its orchards, and in particular the camellias. Once there, she starts to uncover the mystery of several young women who died during the 1940′s and tries to figure it out while dealing with her own demons.
Then there’s Flora, who was hired as the nanny for the Livingston children but, really, she was hired to steal a very rare camellia called the Middlebury Pink. She arrives at the manor around the time that women are disappearing and doesn’t quite know what to make of the Livingston family. The whole place is a bit depressing after the recent (and questionable) death of Lady Anna, the mistress of the estate and lover of all things flowers.
At this point the book was a solid 4 stars. Naturally, there’s some love thrown in and manor living is predictable (snotty kids and gossipy servants). Most of the characters weren’t fully developed but I was able to gloss over that part, too. But then I got to the end and it plummeted. Now, I’m not one to judge a book by its ending just because I don’t like it, but I do have a problem with unfinished endings. And unfortunately, The Last Camellia left me confused and pretty irritated. Sure, I can speculate about what happened but I really have no idea. It’s not that it was complex, but rather that it seemed like the author had a page limit and rushed to stay under it. Honestly, 2 or 3 more pages would have fixed the whole problem.
For the full review, click here.
Allison @ The Book Wheel
What about you? Have you ever read two books by the same author and had entirely different opinions about their quality?