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mlebird 's review for:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
While I find it hard to think of any examples of superfluous content in this book that could've been trimmed to cut the length at all, I do have the feeling that it didn't need to be as long as it was. It's well written and though the first half was slower than the second, I wasn't ever bored by it, but was never taken up and furiously turning pages. I'm thankful the author never resorted to cliché to make things more interesting, but I also feel like nothing terribly exciting ever happened. It was very... moderate? I wish it had gone darker and pushed things a little further. It's a good book, though. I actually quite liked all the footnotes with their background history and world-building. I dig that stuff.
I'd recommend it to anyone who likes magic and fantasy and historical fiction, but I don't think I would be a book I'd come back to. Three stars seems like too little, so for all the historical research and lovely writing I think four is good for just "liking" it.
I'd recommend it to anyone who likes magic and fantasy and historical fiction, but I don't think I would be a book I'd come back to. Three stars seems like too little, so for all the historical research and lovely writing I think four is good for just "liking" it.