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stacia_reads 's review for:
Bellman & Black
by Diane Setterfield
How to best enjoy this book: 1) Forget it was written by the same author who wrote "The Thirteenth Tale" and 2) disregard the words "A Ghost Story" in the title.
It was engaging and I wanted to love it, but I just didn't. There were times when I felt sympathetic towards the main character, William Bellman, and there were times when I disliked him passionately, which is either a great compliment to the author for painting a rich character or a horrible criticism for creating a character so confused.
It was not a BAD book. The intro was amazing and foretold of dark things to come. I enjoyed the look back in time to Victorian London. I enjoyed the glimpse of mill life. While it wasn't a ghost story, William's life was certainly haunted and it was fascinating to see how it drove him forward (or backward) at times.
There were bits that I expected to turn up later or perhaps become a larger plot point that didn't really develop as expected. Again, is that kudos to the author or the opposite?
As for the author, I do feel badly for her. Setterfield's first book, The Thirteenth Tale, was so well-received that fans couldn't wait for her next novel. I think that would be a lot of pressure and there was really no way to succeed. People were going to be disappointed because expectations were set so high.
Hopefully with her second book out of the way, book #3 will be written with less pressure. I look forward to it very much. It's not that this book was bad - it just wasn't The Thirteenth Tale. And for that it's going to be ripped to shreds.
It was engaging and I wanted to love it, but I just didn't. There were times when I felt sympathetic towards the main character, William Bellman, and there were times when I disliked him passionately, which is either a great compliment to the author for painting a rich character or a horrible criticism for creating a character so confused.
It was not a BAD book. The intro was amazing and foretold of dark things to come. I enjoyed the look back in time to Victorian London. I enjoyed the glimpse of mill life. While it wasn't a ghost story, William's life was certainly haunted and it was fascinating to see how it drove him forward (or backward) at times.
There were bits that I expected to turn up later or perhaps become a larger plot point that didn't really develop as expected. Again, is that kudos to the author or the opposite?
As for the author, I do feel badly for her. Setterfield's first book, The Thirteenth Tale, was so well-received that fans couldn't wait for her next novel. I think that would be a lot of pressure and there was really no way to succeed. People were going to be disappointed because expectations were set so high.
Hopefully with her second book out of the way, book #3 will be written with less pressure. I look forward to it very much. It's not that this book was bad - it just wasn't The Thirteenth Tale. And for that it's going to be ripped to shreds.