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A review by booksavvyreviews
In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson
4.0
"And yet, eight hundred years after his precious Paloma, Bertran, and Aicelina had burned alive in a church in Gruissan, eight hundred years after a fever had burned him alive in a cave not far from where he now stood, Raoul had returned. If only he could understand why."
You are not alone, Raoul! I also wondered. I wondered a lot of things as I read this book. A very slow, leisurely book. A book that can and should be read next to a crackling fire as you sip tea. This wasn't a fast read for me, it took me a bit to get into it and I found it rather difficult. Here is why.
A majority of the first half and into the second part is all a historical info dump. It's rather intriguing but it reads more like a well-written history of France and the Crusades than anything. If you're into history reads then this book is definitely up your alley, as for me, I require a little more story than just history.
This is an eloquently written tale about how several lives during such a horrible point in time are twined together by fate, guilt, and setting right to wrongs. There is a love triangle of sorts that is rather interesting from an adult perspective, but there is nothing childish about it.
I wasn't too keen on the characters or at least I would have been if the historical info drops didn't interfere with my developing feelings for the characters. The switching to and fro, the bringing up of history made any and all relationships feel a little... off to me. At points it felt rushed and not eased into.
The overall plot was touching, beautiful and the book itself is beautifully written. All of your questions you form as you're reading are answered as the book goes on, and trust me there are a lot of them...
The ending left me feeling unfulfilled for my own selfish reasonings, but it was a beautiful book. So it is well deserving of 3.8 stars!
You are not alone, Raoul! I also wondered. I wondered a lot of things as I read this book. A very slow, leisurely book. A book that can and should be read next to a crackling fire as you sip tea. This wasn't a fast read for me, it took me a bit to get into it and I found it rather difficult. Here is why.
A majority of the first half and into the second part is all a historical info dump. It's rather intriguing but it reads more like a well-written history of France and the Crusades than anything. If you're into history reads then this book is definitely up your alley, as for me, I require a little more story than just history.
This is an eloquently written tale about how several lives during such a horrible point in time are twined together by fate, guilt, and setting right to wrongs. There is a love triangle of sorts that is rather interesting from an adult perspective, but there is nothing childish about it.
I wasn't too keen on the characters or at least I would have been if the historical info drops didn't interfere with my developing feelings for the characters. The switching to and fro, the bringing up of history made any and all relationships feel a little... off to me. At points it felt rushed and not eased into.
The overall plot was touching, beautiful and the book itself is beautifully written. All of your questions you form as you're reading are answered as the book goes on, and trust me there are a lot of them...
The ending left me feeling unfulfilled for my own selfish reasonings, but it was a beautiful book. So it is well deserving of 3.8 stars!