Review: Wonderful prose but where was the romance?
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2012
"She was on her feet now, her head hardly reaching his shoulder - so tiny and graceful - a perfectly fit desert creature. Were all of them like that? People who live upon the cliffs, but worshipping their gods underground?"I started to read At Road's End and after a while I felt at wit's end. I don't mind a trip through American history. It's quite the opposite because it's so fascinating and very rewarding. But. I found At Road's End on the list "Best Native American Romance". Seriously? I mean there is this little, yet significant word "romance". I expected to read a historical Native American romance story. When I was 40 % done I just had to cave in. I'm sorry to say it but where was the romance? Where was the chemistry between the main protagonists Tecpatl and Sakuna? They did not spend enough time together. I could not connect to them. With that said, I just think it was no surprise at all since there was never enough "relationship" development. There was no emotional tension between these two as well as no build-up. I was so utterly excited to read this book, yet I could feel how my interest petered out. It was somewhat painful, and I really wanted to love this story but my heart was not into it."Our gods are smiling upon the warriors. Always. Only the warriors know how to please the gods, by living right, by fighting to honor the deities, by being ready to sacrifice their lives in order to protect their ways. With no warriors, the priests would have no sacrificial offerings to feed the gods. The life of the warrior is the pure, the right one. As for the rest? They are just living their unimportant lives."The best aspect of At Road's End is the very beautiful prose. Furthermore, it's quite obvious that the author did a fine job on her research since she paid a lot of attention to both major and minor details. Her writing is detailed and very vivid. She's got so much talent! Sadly, the story was totally lacking in the romance department.About my ratingThe prose and the author's devotion to historical details deserved four or even five stars. But I had to downgrade At Road's End to three stars because I DNF'ed the book.