MaidMerry reviewed The Change Room by Karen Connelly
Review of 'The Change Room' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I wanted to like this book. I bought it after hearing the author speak at our local book festival, and I was intrigued. However, I just couldn't.
Connelly can write beautiful sentences and create strong images.
However, the characters were unlikable and fairly one-dimensional.
The sex scenes, while described quite beautifully, lacked power and passion somehow. They bored me.
The story was rather disjointed. Essentially, this novel is a chick-lit, bodice-ripper romance with a twist. The author tries to give the story more gravitas by tossing in mentions of political issues involving terrorism, the Middle East, and racism. but without really exploring these concepts or integrating them into the plot. I found this jarring and confusing. It's like deciding a salad of only iceberg lettuce is too plain and throwing a handful of unshelled nuts on top.
There was enough in this book, however, to keep me reading. Unfortunately, even …
I wanted to like this book. I bought it after hearing the author speak at our local book festival, and I was intrigued. However, I just couldn't.
Connelly can write beautiful sentences and create strong images.
However, the characters were unlikable and fairly one-dimensional.
The sex scenes, while described quite beautifully, lacked power and passion somehow. They bored me.
The story was rather disjointed. Essentially, this novel is a chick-lit, bodice-ripper romance with a twist. The author tries to give the story more gravitas by tossing in mentions of political issues involving terrorism, the Middle East, and racism. but without really exploring these concepts or integrating them into the plot. I found this jarring and confusing. It's like deciding a salad of only iceberg lettuce is too plain and throwing a handful of unshelled nuts on top.
There was enough in this book, however, to keep me reading. Unfortunately, even that was a disappointment with the deus ex machina ending. The sudden entrance of a character who forced the full extent of Shar's lifestyle to be revealed was just too coincidental and introduced a new complication into the relationship triangle right at the end of the book. Why?