Review: expensive for its length (and quality)
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 30, 2013
The first thing I would like to mention about this book will make me look stingy but I really think that at 2578 kindle locations (the rest is made up of previews) the current Am. price of $3,24 is TOO EXPENSIVE. Sorry to mention this, but it is true. It takes about two hours to read this M/M short novella.The second thing I have to mention is unfortunately a great classic in my reviews:"this book as it is is enjoyable but it could have been so much, much better with just a little more effort".The raving reviews catch part of its merit but fail to remark on the many elements that could be improved.Here they are in random order:- While writing and style are good in a general way, they are inconsistent with the alternate Victorian England the story is set in and inconsistent in themselves. By this I mean that if an author chooses to use modern language in a period romance he should do it throughout, not mixing modern and archaic.- The POV shifts uncertainly for a while until the author seems to settle for an omniscient narrator. It does not disrupt but it is noticeable.- The author seems to lack the taste for lengthy descriptions and brilliant dialogues that is essential in period romances. It is a question of length, surely, but also of depth of characterization and accuracy of setting.- The missing dialogue also explains a complaint by other reviewers that this work is lacking in the romance department. The growing attraction between Crane and Day could have used more dialogue. It could also have used a less rigidly codified division of sexual roles -manga style-. It was also probably unnecessary to make Day as small as less than five feet to make him unremarkable in appearance at first sight.- In a mystery the villains, at least some of them, should not appear so late in the plot.On the whole this is a pleasant read, but, once again, it feels like a wasted opportunity. I could read its sequel, but not for the price and at this quality level.