I am writing the odd guest review on the fantastic collaborative book review initiative started by Erin and Ria, The Bloggers' Bookshelf.
My first review got published today, and it's embarassingly light on review, and heavy on the rant - I've totally forgotten how to write reviews! My English teacher would be so disappointed...
However, if you would like to read a grumble on a book I was actually embarrassed I read, then here it is!
There's a whole host of fantastic reviews of a wide range of books already - perfect in the run up to Christmas and lining up the holiday reading!
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Hahaha! Love it. I also was acutely embarrassed that I read that book, and I would similarly find it almost impossible to write a review without ranting about how bad it was. I think your rating was rather generous!!
ReplyDeleteI am very ashamed to admit that I read the sequel (I had the 'flu and needed something to distract me, that's the only excuse I can offer). It is even worse.
I was a bit tempted by the sequel because I have a love of Shakespearean London and especially for Marlowe (whom I think makes an appearance) but I have resisted thus far. I think I felt that as I hadn't given up in disgust and actually finished it meant that the book did something right and probably would appeal to others if not me, hence 2 rather than 1 or 0. But it's probably actually a 1.
DeleteYou do have a point - it's got the Dan Brown annoyingly page-turnable factor, I suppose! Maybe I was a bit harsh in condemning it below two stars :)
DeleteMarlowe is really annoying (well, all the characters are) and there's not much of a feel for Elizabethan London at all (or there wasn't for me). The strong sense of place was one of the few things I liked about the first book, and that seemed to me rather absent from the second.
I loved your review! Somehow I feel more bad fiction gets published in the fantasy genre than any other. It's a shame because I loved Buffy so much, and I would love to read/watch something similar but all the lead female characters always end up being a bit drippy!
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