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A review by egmartin
The Taster by V.S. Alexander
1.0
1/5
I was excited to pick up this book because I have always been fascinated by WW2 and the Holocaust, and I love historical fiction. But I was disappointed. The concept and plot were intriguing and had so much potential, but the execution was lackluster.
First of all, the writing was odd in many ways. The author wrote in short, staccato-like sentences and only occasionally peppered in dependent clauses and commas. The dialogue was strange, too. The characters spoke in a way that no human does. For instance, when Madga and Karl are embracing and he suddenly reveals to her that she is pregnant, she asks him how he knows and he says “As we stood talking. It came to me.” Nobody talks like that.
Second of all, some of the events in this book (aside from the actual historical ones) were not plausible. Such as Magda’s friendship with Eva. Why would the girlfriend/lover/companion of Hitler (at that time one of the most powerful people in the world) befriend a taster? And just out of nowhere? She saw Magda in the kitchen or dining hall or whatever and decided she’d like to be her friend, give her clothes and ask her to be the witness to her and Hitler’s marriage? I understand this is fiction, but you’d still want the book to be somewhat believable.
I am surprised to see so many high ratings of this particular novel, with readers singing its praises, while I could go on and on about all the shortcomings of this book. I don’t know that I would recommend it to anyone.
I was excited to pick up this book because I have always been fascinated by WW2 and the Holocaust, and I love historical fiction. But I was disappointed. The concept and plot were intriguing and had so much potential, but the execution was lackluster.
First of all, the writing was odd in many ways. The author wrote in short, staccato-like sentences and only occasionally peppered in dependent clauses and commas. The dialogue was strange, too. The characters spoke in a way that no human does. For instance, when Madga and Karl are embracing and he suddenly reveals to her that she is pregnant, she asks him how he knows and he says “As we stood talking. It came to me.” Nobody talks like that.
Second of all, some of the events in this book (aside from the actual historical ones) were not plausible. Such as Magda’s friendship with Eva. Why would the girlfriend/lover/companion of Hitler (at that time one of the most powerful people in the world) befriend a taster? And just out of nowhere? She saw Magda in the kitchen or dining hall or whatever and decided she’d like to be her friend, give her clothes and ask her to be the witness to her and Hitler’s marriage? I understand this is fiction, but you’d still want the book to be somewhat believable.
I am surprised to see so many high ratings of this particular novel, with readers singing its praises, while I could go on and on about all the shortcomings of this book. I don’t know that I would recommend it to anyone.