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nostalgia_reader 's review for:
The Black Tulip
by Alexandre Dumas
3.5 stars, but definitely rounding up!
For the first 6 or so chapters, where we're covering the De Witt's trials and demises, I was a bit concerned that Alex had lost his authorial spark with this last novel. I was bored and it seemed a bit clunky. But once we were introduced to van Bearle, I forgave all the slogginess of the set up chapters, because Dumas got his writing mojo back.
This was incredibly predictable and very one track in its plotting compared to most of Dumas' other doorstopper tomes, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable and just FUN to read. I very much pictured the set up of van Bearle vs Boxtel as Wile E. Coyote vs Roadrunner; Issac is literally a cartoonish villain while Cornelius is the sweetest most naively innocent MC--not because he's stupid, far from it, but because he truly is uninterested in anything but his tulips. Although I have never read or watched it, I was also getting strong Hunchback of Notre Dame vibes from Rose and the Loevestein prison in general.
Definitely a fun, quick read when you want some historical fiction by Dumas, but don't have the time to commit to a doorstopper!
For the first 6 or so chapters, where we're covering the De Witt's trials and demises, I was a bit concerned that Alex had lost his authorial spark with this last novel. I was bored and it seemed a bit clunky. But once we were introduced to van Bearle, I forgave all the slogginess of the set up chapters, because Dumas got his writing mojo back.
This was incredibly predictable and very one track in its plotting compared to most of Dumas' other doorstopper tomes, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable and just FUN to read. I very much pictured the set up of van Bearle vs Boxtel as Wile E. Coyote vs Roadrunner; Issac is literally a cartoonish villain while Cornelius is the sweetest most naively innocent MC--not because he's stupid, far from it, but because he truly is uninterested in anything but his tulips. Although I have never read or watched it, I was also getting strong Hunchback of Notre Dame vibes from Rose and the Loevestein prison in general.
Definitely a fun, quick read when you want some historical fiction by Dumas, but don't have the time to commit to a doorstopper!