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megangude 's review for:
The Shadow Land
by Elizabeth Kostova
What is beautiful about this book are the descriptions of Bulgarian cities and landscapes, and learning something of recent Bulgarian history. Also, the character of Stoyan Lazarov: he is beautiful and real and very human.
But I did not enjoy reading this, and found almost everything else underdeveloped or hollow. The pacing unfolds painstakingly and then ends in a jumbled rush all at once. The motivations of the contemporary characters and their connections to each other make no sense at all. The jumping back and forth in time and place is confusing and feels disjointed, like the author wrote several stories separately and then tried to blend them into one novel with some too-convenient serendipities.
Not really recommended, although the descriptions of Sofia and mountain town Gorno make me want to visit Bulgaria one day and see the cities and countryside myself.
But I did not enjoy reading this, and found almost everything else underdeveloped or hollow. The pacing unfolds painstakingly and then ends in a jumbled rush all at once. The motivations of the contemporary characters and their connections to each other make no sense at all. The jumping back and forth in time and place is confusing and feels disjointed, like the author wrote several stories separately and then tried to blend them into one novel with some too-convenient serendipities.
Not really recommended, although the descriptions of Sofia and mountain town Gorno make me want to visit Bulgaria one day and see the cities and countryside myself.