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A review by carringtonshaw
The Awakening of Ivy Leavold by Sierra Simone
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This was recommended after a discussion with a romance-loving friend in which I expressed my inability to find any romance novels I actually enjoy. Said friend thought I would enjoy something more like other books I read (i.e., Rebecca or Jane Eyre). And this one was really short (more novella-length than anything), so I figured I may as well give it a shot. While I can't deny that this book had a similar vibe and setting, the writing quality was just not there.
For one thing, it was clearly self-published. There's absolutely nothing wrong with self-publishing, but unfortunately the industry gets a bad rap due to the oversaturation of books like this where the author clearly didn't bother with a proofreader before hitting that "Publish" button. So when I say "clearly self-published", I mean it fell into that embarrassing stereotype. I found myself repeatedly cringing at the lack of professionalism in the finished copy.
Something else that made me cringe was the overuse of the nickname "Wildcat" for our heroine. Ivy is "wild" only in the sense that she is too anachronistic for this book's time period. And when Mr. Markham keeps using that nickname over and over again, it has the feeling of someone clinging to an inside joke that was only funny in the first five minutes for days, maybe weeks, after the fact.
I enjoyed the setting. In the beginning, the story showed promise. Unfortunately, the characters just left too much to be desired. They were completely uninteresting. There were some side characters I really liked--Molly in particular--whom I would have loved to see more of. In fact, I might actually enjoy a series that was entirely about Molly, rather than Ivy. She was intriguing and probably the best thing about this book. And I was interested in Mr. Markham's little collection of friends he had made while traveling. That story could actually make for a fascinating series.
Also, I don't know if I missed something, but how and why did the two main characters fall in love with each other after...what, a day? At their very first meeting? It made no sense.
Probably the worst thing about this, though, was the way everyone spoke. Everything they said sounded like something a person would say in modern times, not in the late 1800s. Again, this kept bringing me, cringing, out of the story to reflect on the lack of realism.
So this had potential, but just couldn't live up to it.
For one thing, it was clearly self-published. There's absolutely nothing wrong with self-publishing, but unfortunately the industry gets a bad rap due to the oversaturation of books like this where the author clearly didn't bother with a proofreader before hitting that "Publish" button. So when I say "clearly self-published", I mean it fell into that embarrassing stereotype. I found myself repeatedly cringing at the lack of professionalism in the finished copy.
Something else that made me cringe was the overuse of the nickname "Wildcat" for our heroine. Ivy is "wild" only in the sense that she is too anachronistic for this book's time period. And when Mr. Markham keeps using that nickname over and over again, it has the feeling of someone clinging to an inside joke that was only funny in the first five minutes for days, maybe weeks, after the fact.
I enjoyed the setting. In the beginning, the story showed promise. Unfortunately, the characters just left too much to be desired. They were completely uninteresting. There were some side characters I really liked--Molly in particular--whom I would have loved to see more of. In fact, I might actually enjoy a series that was entirely about Molly, rather than Ivy. She was intriguing and probably the best thing about this book. And I was interested in Mr. Markham's little collection of friends he had made while traveling. That story could actually make for a fascinating series.
Also, I don't know if I missed something, but how and why did the two main characters fall in love with each other after...what, a day? At their very first meeting? It made no sense.
Probably the worst thing about this, though, was the way everyone spoke. Everything they said sounded like something a person would say in modern times, not in the late 1800s. Again, this kept bringing me, cringing, out of the story to reflect on the lack of realism.
So this had potential, but just couldn't live up to it.