This is the second of Jessie Burton's novels I'm reading and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book is full of twists and unexpected ideas. The main characters are amazing and the writing style is simple without being patronising. All in all, it's a positive review on the way.
Characters:
My favourite character was most probably Olive. I felt she was constantly a mystery to the reader and to other characters like Isaac and Teresa. There was a certain tragedy in everything she said and everyone she met. I also loved Odelle's character purely for the deep and echoing ideas of mystery and identity.
Themes:
My favourite theme in this novel was identity. Odelle makes constant references to her identity throughout the majority of the book. She also makes various references to Quick's personality and the whole thing about Olive's painting and the exhibition, that's a definite for identity.
Storyline:
The whole aspect of the storyline seems to just fit together and there's a certain sensation out of finally realising what the title means by the time you get to the end of the book. The ending is surprising yet it is also satisfying - it has awe and excitement until the very last page and (IMHO) is better than the last novel she wrote.
Verdict:
I give this book 9
100% for characters: I really enjoyed getting to know each character intimately and then having tragedy happen before them. Thanks for the heartbreaks, Burton. (sarcasm)
100% for themes: I don't feel there's any other modern author of this year that does identity quite as good as Jessie Burton. The Miniaturist was brilliant - and so is this one.
100% for storyline: I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the story - it had a constant chill and a steady pace that simply built and built and then left with the strangest ending I've read in a while.
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