230
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #130,015 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Annoyingly mediocre writing with not-bad characterization and plot concept
Chances are my review would be one star higher if this book hadn’t been hyped so much. I read it thru, only because of the touching teenage Duchess, so well-defined against her horrific home life. Overall, characterization was the bright spot....Otherwise, this was a mess of a novel, tediously over-written with much repetitive phrasing and clumsy dialogue, overly complex organization, non-believable scenarios and plot developments, and an unlikely and trite sinner/redemption theme applied to almost every character. The author’s reliance on convenient, sensational coincidences was ridiculous. I read 3-4 high-quality books a week. I can’t include this among them.
