I have had success with Gratz’ books before although they do tend to drift towards being rather pedantic which this one fell unfortunately prey to. Not until the epilogues do all the perspective sfinally come together making it difficult to integrate the three perspectives. It also became exhausting because every time the character found a little bit of relief from the disaster, something
new came up just before the chapter ended and the perspective shifted. I wish Gratz had chosen a different approach for this book.
I love that Kelly Yang continues to write installments in this fictionalized version of her own life. As usual, some of the events always make me wonder at their plausibility but the author’s note always includes the actual event in Yang’s own history that she based that part of the story on. Five books into the series means little to no plot discussions of course. I will say, though, that I still appreciate the way that Yang continues
to point out the systemic injustices that Mia encounters as she progresses through life and how she chooses to confront them.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. This book did nothing wrong; it just didn’t work for me. I found the subject fascinating. This novel tells the story in a fictionalized version of the real woman who managed the personal collection of renowned financier J. P. Morgan and shepherded its transformation into a public access library and museum all while passing in a time of legalized segregation. This real
woman made for a fascinating subject whose life, when studied presents many things for the modern reader to reflect on and learn from. As a historian, I have difficulty separating the real history and facts can actually be known from fictionalized versions which upon reflection explains why this particular book did not work for me. I think that the authors did a meticulous job with their research and stayed as true to reality as they could which I definitely appreciate. However, I will likely not keep this particular book in my collection.
What on earth happened to this story? I knew going into this read that many who had enjoyed the first book, like myself, found themselves disappointed. I wish I had not felt the same way. If not for the basics of the magic (the body-swapping/takeover) and the existence of the primary characters from book one, this book could read as the start of a completely different series. (I also did not realize until the end of this book that Gong
has broken her duology trend; I will not continue with the series.) While I understand that a series that begins with a trial/games set up will need to transform as the macro-plot continues. However, a good transition would include setting the groundwork for the plot evolution in the first book as well as continuing the connection to the games of the first book. This book did neither of those things. This could have been such a good series but this disconnect bothered me and took away from my reading experience.
It’s easy to tell that this is one of Ruta Sepetys earliest novels. I could see hints of the authorial style and brilliance that has made other words like The Fountains of Silence and I Must Betray You 5 stars for me. Unfortunately, most of the book read like fairly typical historical fiction. Some details felt like too much and yet at the same time, some of the events lacked details which made the narrative a little bit frustrating. My
expectations based on past experience with this author made this a bit of a disappointing read even though the book did nothing technically wrong.
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