so-soThis narrowly avoids an outright Pan. First part was disappointing, but I ploughed on, hopeless optimist that I am, thinking the excitement might just ramp up in the next chapter ... it didn't. Infuriatingly, it had the same tedious middle section as the last one! The characters got increasingly one dimensional & nowt much happens. The ending has a few moments of satisfying resolution, but overall, I wish I'd not bothered! Disappointing ☹️
so-soCompany of Liars is a cozy, entertaining, and immersive novel set during the English run of the Black Death. It has a great many twists that keep you hungering for more—
Unfortunately, I thought it was a straight historical fiction novel. It instead gets pretty fantastical and borderline paranormal towards the end in a way that totally took me out of the world I was coming to inhabit.
#historicalfiction #medieval #historicalfantasy #blackdeath
pickLady Anne rules with reason,logic&wisdom after the outbreak of the plague kills her brutish husband.She isolates her community from the rest of the world&keeps her people safe while many around them die.In quarantine bad things happen within the walls of Develish:a murder,rape allegations.I liked it but wish it was shorter,wish Eleanor was multi-dimensional! &there was a proper ending.Thanks @Chrissyreadit for recommending!
so-soHad high hopes for this one ... was a bit disappointed. Premise is juicy, characters are intriguing, writing is quality ... bit in the middle is (Black) deathly boring!!! I was nicely engaged then all this non-exciting stuff starts going on and it's all described in so much intricate and tedious detail that it ruins the flow of the book! Picks up a bit at the end but the damage was done! And it's only the first part ... can I endure book 2?!
Starting this one tonight - my first read of this author. It's wet and wild outside in the UK tonight, so I'm very happy to be tucked up in bed!
so-soKelly‘s history of The Black Death draws predominantly from accounts of those left behind in the plague‘s wake, creating a fascinating glimpse of life in the 14th century. But, he tends to meander a lot in this - something I didn‘t expect from an author primarily known for science writing. It made it easy set down for a long stretches of time to read things more “exciting.” I enjoyed what I learned, but wanted a more focused approach. 3⭐️
For this month‘s #20in4 #readathon, I will be trying to make progress on “The Great Mortality” and finishing “The Shining.” “TGM” is about the Black Death, so it will be a weekend of morbid reading. LOL. 🖤
pickWhat a great novel! There were a few times I lost patience with the suspense and the repetitive stating of the characters‘ goals, but I am able to overlook these points because in the end there was so much more to love. The characters were all so great and the attention to historical and medical detail painted such a vivid picture in my head. ⬇️
I have come across a few weird words in the tagged book so far. There‘s the futuristic “terrorist jacket” (an adaptation from “bomber jacket”?)and the character Colin‘s favorite adjective, “necrotic.” But I chose this because of how prominent the bell ringers are and how everyone seems annoyed by them. Sample sentence from the tagged: “Perhaps I should send Colin up Carfax Tower to vandalize the carillon.”
#weirdwords @CBee #weirdwordswednesday
“Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up.”
I‘m only five chapters in but really enjoying my second Willis novel which is retro feeling, yet oddly timely as well.
#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl
