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A review by caitibeth
The Ambassador's Daughter by Pam Jenoff
1.0
Borrowed this from the library based on the cover and blurb. That's always a bit of a treasure hunt/gamble - and this one didn't deliver.
The protagonist is a naive, sheltered, indecisive idiot. She, a German who's been living in the UK during WWI, reacts with disbelief and shock to the fact that people have been starving in Germany because of the blockade. Really? A vital document goes missing from her room, and she freaks out but never thinks about the reason for that, because if she had, she would've realized in about two seconds who was responsible. Come on. The author wants the final 'twist' of her being blindsided by it being a friend, but c'mon. A five-year-old would've known that already.
And don't even get me started on how the author wants us to root for the ~so romantic instalove between the protagonist and the dashing naval officer, while the protagonist waffles sadly the whole book about her preexisting commitment to the third side of this love triangle. I guess it's supposed to be ~extra tragic that a German Jew is falling in love with a budding Nazi. But 'love at first sight' doesn't work for me, and neither did the frankly unbelievable way she conducted herself. (Her father is protective, but only when it serves the author's goals; I absolutely don't believe that he would've been so blind to the way his unmarried, vulnerable daughter was behaving.)
It's not just the protagonist, either. The writing is shoddy too. I love unreliable narrators, but only when they MAKE SENSE. Having a protagonist lie to their internal narration for no reason in order to develop a twist later on isn't fun, it's just bullshit writing. There's no reason for. Zero.
Sigh. I thought a book in this time period sounded like a great idea. And I still do. Just - not this book.
The protagonist is a naive, sheltered, indecisive idiot. She, a German who's been living in the UK during WWI, reacts with disbelief and shock to the fact that people have been starving in Germany because of the blockade. Really? A vital document goes missing from her room, and she freaks out but never thinks about the reason for that, because if she had, she would've realized in about two seconds who was responsible. Come on. The author wants the final 'twist' of her being blindsided by it being a friend, but c'mon. A five-year-old would've known that already.
And don't even get me started on how the author wants us to root for the ~so romantic instalove between the protagonist and the dashing naval officer, while the protagonist waffles sadly the whole book about her preexisting commitment to the third side of this love triangle. I guess it's supposed to be ~extra tragic that a German Jew is falling in love with a budding Nazi. But 'love at first sight' doesn't work for me, and neither did the frankly unbelievable way she conducted herself. (Her father is protective, but only when it serves the author's goals; I absolutely don't believe that he would've been so blind to the way his unmarried, vulnerable daughter was behaving.)
It's not just the protagonist, either. The writing is shoddy too. I love unreliable narrators, but only when they MAKE SENSE. Having a protagonist lie to their internal narration for no reason in order to develop a twist later on isn't fun, it's just bullshit writing. There's no reason for
Spoiler
the protagonist to refer to her husband as her fiance in her own thoughts for most of the book until the author feels like revealing it, then instantly switching overSigh. I thought a book in this time period sounded like a great idea. And I still do. Just - not this book.