Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by turophile
Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren
2.0
The setting of this coming-of-age tale, was intriguing. The heroine, Cora, returns home from teacher’s college and her family falls into destitution after her father’s stroke. She recognizes she can’t afford to return, but her biological father arrives and upends her life. She learns the man who raised her was only her step father and that her biological father, Kensington, is one of the richest men in America.
Cora’s persuaded/coerced into leaving with Kensington and embarking on a Grand Tour with the Kensington Children and their family friends. That aspect of the story was intriguing. I’ve heard of these trips, but knew little about their structure and details.
Cora faces challenges, including siblings who’d rather she had never appeared, society members who snub her because they see her as illegitimate and then a mystery at the end.
It was a pleasant read, but it felt like the author couldn’t make her mind up about the core themes. A tale of class? Self-discovery? A bit of a mystery? One aspect that interfered with the thematic unity was the occasional insertion of religion. Admittedly, religious/inspirational is not may favorite genre, but the mentions of god seemed almost random and did not add that much to the story. The book wasn’t quite religious, which made those interludes jarring.
2.75/5
After writing the review, I see that some have classified it as Christian Fiction, which makes sense. I did not find the mentions of faith, however, to be woven into the story well.
Cora’s persuaded/coerced into leaving with Kensington and embarking on a Grand Tour with the Kensington Children and their family friends. That aspect of the story was intriguing. I’ve heard of these trips, but knew little about their structure and details.
Cora faces challenges, including siblings who’d rather she had never appeared, society members who snub her because they see her as illegitimate and then a mystery at the end.
It was a pleasant read, but it felt like the author couldn’t make her mind up about the core themes. A tale of class? Self-discovery? A bit of a mystery? One aspect that interfered with the thematic unity was the occasional insertion of religion. Admittedly, religious/inspirational is not may favorite genre, but the mentions of god seemed almost random and did not add that much to the story. The book wasn’t quite religious, which made those interludes jarring.
2.75/5
After writing the review, I see that some have classified it as Christian Fiction, which makes sense. I did not find the mentions of faith, however, to be woven into the story well.