Review: Uncharacteristically disjointed for this writer
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.Rating: 6/10PROS:- I always enjoy stories in which characters from the past find themselves in present times and must navigate a world that is foreign to them, but Allen seems to write this situation particularly well. Robin is confused by the present without seeming stupid, and Neil is exasperated by Robin’s confusion without coming across as a total jerk.- As is always the case with this author, her attention to detail in the historical settings is incredible.- I enjoy Allen’s writing style. Her prose is easy to follow but not simplistic, and her characters are full without being dizzyingly complex or confusing.CONS:- The book is strangely disjointed. (I say “strangely” because I’ve read other works by this author and they have all been much more tightly constructed than this.) I found small plot holes on several occasions, I lost track of who was…when…sometimes, and the details and artifacts and such didn’t quite all line up in my head. And both of the romances (Robin/Neil and Joe/Susan) made leaps on different occasions that I felt either were out of place or had been described but I had somehow missed them.- Half of the book is devoted to the adventures and romance of Neil’s sister. (I read m/f romance occasionally in addition to m/m, so this didn’t bother me, but I know some readers want absolutely no hetero romance in their m/m.) What DID bother me about the chapters devoted to Susan is that they are largely so unpleasant. She goes through a rather horrifying ordeal, and the author does not scrimp on details.Overall comments: Sending modern characters into the past and bringing historical characters into the present is a clever way of writing a story that’s both historical and contemporary. I loved the idea here, but it didn’t quite work for me. It’s a fun mix of past and present, but it’s not always a very comprehensible mix.