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A review by thukpa
The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
1.0
I really liked Jio's The Bungalow, and I fully expected another good story. I was disappointed. It was just shy of being bad enough to quit listening to. So many annoyances beyond an unconvincing convolution of a family mystery.
1) We know Emily is beautiful because all the men tell her she is beautiful. She's really flat, but a guy she dated as a teen never married and is still hung up on her, a guy she's almost related to proposes after knowing her for a month and her cheating ex-husband wants her back. I still don't know why.
2) We know old women are old because old women say "dear," a lot.
3) The parallels between Emily and Esther's lives are SO conveniently exactly the same and are revealed when Emily JUST read about it in Esther's diary.
4) Everything that happened to Esther is due to her own choices but we're supposed to be sympathetic to her broken heart? She sees Elliot with another woman in the city, and it looks bad. Okay, I'll buy that she jumps to conclusions and never wants to speak to him again, but life would've be happier for everyone if maybe Elliot told one of her friends what was up and her friend told her. Happily ever after. But, hey, that didn't happen, so she marries someone else, and he goes to war, and they both pine for each other. But when she has the chance to make a choice, she stays with her husband and he seeks solace in the arms of another woman, (keep in mind, time has passed here- her husband has had a heart attack, a hospital stay, has been home recovering, she's been to confession, etc, etc,) and when her infidelity is revealed and her husband kicks her out, she runs to Elliot to save her, sees her in the arms of a friend and walks away as the jilted one? Seriously?
Those are the major ones- other reviewers have mentioned the over-use of E names, and the lack of description of "the Island." Also, whatever happened to Greg, Emily's Henry? Will he never stop loving her and be the next generation's secret keeper?
...later...
One last thought? Would Elliot and (Bea) really have been automatically hauled in for murder "in those days"? Seemed like a good excuse for leaving a lady they both loved so dearly to die.
1) We know Emily is beautiful because all the men tell her she is beautiful. She's really flat, but a guy she dated as a teen never married and is still hung up on her, a guy she's almost related to proposes after knowing her for a month and her cheating ex-husband wants her back. I still don't know why.
2) We know old women are old because old women say "dear," a lot.
3) The parallels between Emily and Esther's lives are SO conveniently exactly the same and are revealed when Emily JUST read about it in Esther's diary.
4) Everything that happened to Esther is due to her own choices but we're supposed to be sympathetic to her broken heart? She sees Elliot with another woman in the city, and it looks bad. Okay, I'll buy that she jumps to conclusions and never wants to speak to him again, but life would've be happier for everyone if maybe Elliot told one of her friends what was up and her friend told her. Happily ever after. But, hey, that didn't happen, so she marries someone else, and he goes to war, and they both pine for each other. But when she has the chance to make a choice, she stays with her husband and he seeks solace in the arms of another woman, (keep in mind, time has passed here- her husband has had a heart attack, a hospital stay, has been home recovering, she's been to confession, etc, etc,) and when her infidelity is revealed and her husband kicks her out, she runs to Elliot to save her, sees her in the arms of a friend and walks away as the jilted one? Seriously?
Those are the major ones- other reviewers have mentioned the over-use of E names, and the lack of description of "the Island." Also, whatever happened to Greg, Emily's Henry? Will he never stop loving her and be the next generation's secret keeper?
...later...
One last thought? Would Elliot and (Bea) really have been automatically hauled in for murder "in those days"? Seemed like a good excuse for leaving a lady they both loved so dearly to die.