Reviews and Comments

A friend of mine recommended the book to me. Not a story I'd have picked by myself. It was on my shelf for almost a year before I started to read it. I should have started it way earlier. This is a book that made me happy. The story is captivating. A coming of age story, a love story, a thriller, a way of life unimaginable for the most of us. I got pulled in the story and couldn't put it away. I admired how sensitive the story is being told by the author. The thrill, the heartbeat, the rooting for the woman. Won't include anything that could give away the story line. Just let me say that at no point I could have guessed the outcome. After some time has passed I will watch the movie. So far, I heard good things about it.

A story about the last witch to be executed in Scotland. Nice read based on historical facts. Loved the story and the author wrote it in a way that you got pulled into the story. I should have been able to finish it earlier but alas, summer and such ;)

Stopped after only a few chapters. Again, super chewy and somehow the author is incapable of keeping me interested. Some chapters are really good and just as I get hooked she talks about boring stuff, losing the momentum. l might continue but for know I started "The last Witch of Scotland" which is more thrilling only in the first 4 chapters than the entire books I read of Sara Donati's series.

Seldom did I read a more boring book than this one. I was having a hard time to get through it, lost the thread more than once and asked myself why I keep on reading it.

Every series has at least one book that is chewy and takes some time to get through. With most of the series I read it was #4 of #5. With this series it was #2 already.

The story dragged on and on an on. I had a hard time to follow the story. And - like the 1st book - the end came too sudden. Sudden because finally the story gained.

I will start #3 and if this book is not catching me I'll sell the series.

It was a nice read and I definitely will read the entire series. But ..

The story went too fast. Introduction of too many characters in the first chapter. The hidden agenda of every character was confusing plus the building up on the bond between Elizabeth and Nathaniel was not enough to get lost in it.

The book ended abruptly. As if the author stopped in the middle of the story to finish it ... and it wasn't even a cliffhanger.

I found it hard to really get sucked in to the story. The series got acclaimed as the legit successor of Outlander. Diana Gabaldon promoted the series. IMHO it might have a third of it.

That said I want to end my feedback for this first book in a positive way. It is a good read and not boring at all. Interesting characters (once you are way in the book), great stories behind the characters (even if all challenges get solved very smoothly). I did like reading it and am truly curious about the 2nd one.

That was a chewy book to read. First, it was hard to read the 1st half of it. Politics, slavery and racism (with all the terms that comes with it) and simply the stupidity of Scarlett. The 2nd half was way better.

On the bright side I learned a lot about American history. Because I didn't know a lot about the American Civil War I read about it before I continued with the book. I felt it's needed to follow the story, to understand when and where the things happened.

As a non-native speaker it was hard to read and understand the dialect the author gave the slaves in her book. Over time it got better, though.

A story about what makes an empire run is thrilling, although not surprising. Babel is a fantasy novel you can totally apply to the real world. Money, (modern) colonialism and slavery, wars ... all the tools of economic power. I also loved to learn about etymology and language in general. As one who reads a lot and loves to read it doesn't come as a huge surprise that magic lies in words.

The reason for my mediocre rating is the book itself. I like the way she writes but she uses a ton of footnotes. Some of them necessary, most of them not. those would have fitted in one way or another in the text itself. For me, the footnotes hindered the flow of reading so it was really hard - especially in the beginning of the book - to get "into the zone".

Especially the ebook version is awful since you are jumping back and forth. For that I preferred the paperback since it made it easier to stick to it.

It's a pity that the book only got interesting during the last third.