A review by chacharlotte
The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 I was gonna give this 5 stars at first, but the last part really lets this book down in my opinion.
It’s too much of a Hallmark happy end for what started out with beautifully written, complicated but compelling characters. I also didn’t like how Ashlyn‘s story was suddenly cast aside in favor of present day Marian‘s viewpoint.


What also bothers me are Ashlyn‘s magic powers, that seem like an afterthought/just thrown in there to give Ashlyn motivation to pursue the story of the two lovers. I think there could’ve been a way to tell this story without the magic - it doesn’t really add much, and it doesn’t really fit the vibe of the rest of the book. If you’re gonna add magic (which I’m not opposed to), I would think it would have more impact on the story and/or the characters. It just seemed kind of lazy?

The “plot twist” was pretty obvious as well, and I don’t think we needed all those chapters with Marian to reveal it. I think this would have been a much better book if Ashlyn had been the one to figure out the misunderstanding and Marian/Hemi’s reunion had been left to the imagination/not happened on page/not happened at all even.
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