blogginboutbooks 's review for:

The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake

3.0

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With its striking cover and intriguing premise, how could I not be drawn to THE GIRL IN HIS SHADOW? I've seen rave reviews as well, so I was eager to read it. Its subject—the role of women in early medicine—is certainly fascinating. Though gory, the book's depictions of 19th Century efforts to learn about disease and how to treat it made for interesting reading. As for the story, though? It's sllooowwww. Without a structured plot to keep it focused and forward-moving, the tale drags, making it very putdownable. The characters are likable, but not super complex or memorable, which contributes to the meh-ness of the novel. While Nora is sympathetic and kind, she lacks the vulnerability that makes me really root for a character. I felt like she would be fine no matter what and that, while the back cover copy touts how much risk she takes in the story, in actuality she never really risks or loses very much. That made it tough for me to care much about what happened to her, meaning I just never got all that invested in her or this book. I did plow through THE GIRL IN HIS SHADOW, but that's exactly what the reading experience felt like: work. I wanted to really like this one; honestly, I had to force myself to finish it. Bummer.