Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Having debated long on it, I decided to rate this book purely by its story and not by the author's research (which is extensive and I salute her for it - but I could get that from history books.) I cannot recall ever coming away from a book with a worse feeling in the pit of my stomach and with so much rage at the author. Not because of the tragedies heaped on the characters. I did not expect a fluffy ending tied with a pink bow. What I expected was a modicum of respect for me as a reader. My main reason for hating it so much is this: All the set-ups were empty promises! The author had no idea how wrap things up. I felt she was terrified of confrontations. Because nothing gets resolved. All the fantastic threads of Part A become a tangled mess in Part B and the end was another big set-up that screamed of "Go buy the sequel!" I know it is hard to believe my critique after so many reviewers raved about this book. The thing is, I totally understand why - the book is wonderfully written but it should come with a big warning tag that says: MAJOR FRUSTRATION AHEAD! Here are the things that killed the book for me: 1. The big problem with the main characters - never resolved (and the author went to great length to do that, like making the husband so sick he could not talk and explain. And of course in his letter he said, "This is not something to be discussed in a letter." Arggg...) 2. The long list of sub-characters with their endless thoughts - not important in the end. You can skip them - trust me! Especially that boring Jane character. 3. The counter-hero the author developed throughout the book - gets nothing. Goes to waste. So why did the author tell us about him anyway? 4. The heroine, Bab, changes abruptly from the person I rooted for and felt for to something unrecognizable and unbelievable. From a misguided teenagers who insists on marrying the wrong man, she becomes her grandmother's pawn, because having lost faith in her own judgment (and if you read the book you will understand why), she totally loses control over her life, her wants, her dreams for the future. I felt that Bab just lost it at some point. She gave up (at 20!) She didn't know what to do with herself and so handed the reins to her grandmother and did what the old woman said, which was basically to run away like a ditz. Another unbelievable twist since the grandma Alice had a wonderful life in which she was a queen in control. Bab began as a sweet, spirited girl, and ended as a too-stupid-to-live mess of a woman. Did I say a total ditz? 5. The slap-in-my face jump from the second before the great climax of the story to years ahead was just rude. That really pissed me off. I kept reading, hoping for resolutions - and never got them. The author pours research into the book as if the pages are vessels for repetitive descriptive details (how many times do I need to read about all the powders and rouges on the vanity table? of the flowers? the clouds? the furniture? the trees? the holidays season?) I could get a magazine for that. When i buy a book i want a story with characters that DO THINGS and take charge of the pages. It felt as though two different people wrote the book: the good Dr. Jekyll wrote Part A and the crazed Mr. Hyde wrote Part B. The good build-up totally disintegrated in the end. This is not good literature. I don't care what people say. Look up Aristotle's POETICS and find out why. This book was worse than bad - it insulted my intelligence. Having read DARK ANGELS and raved about it with my review, I immediately bought the next 2 books in the series. Having read this book, I threw the 3rd - a brand new book - into my trash can without a second thought. I am not treating myself to more abuse from this author.