The Bride’s Farewell
October 30, 2009
I liked Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now quite a bit. It was a very powerful book, though one I don’t recommend universally due some of the content (I’m fine with it, I know some people wouldn’t be). So went I saw that I could get a review copy of her newest book The Bride’s Farewell from Random House Canada I might have said please to them. A lot. (I’m sure it only sounded a little bit like I was begging.) Being polite clearly paid off and they kindly sent it to me.
I really, really wish I could say that The Bride’s Farewell was as good as I was hoping it would be but alas, I cannot. It wasn’t a bad book. I mean, truly bad books are few and far between. This just wasn’t “as good.” I really wanted to like it but it didn’t pull me in. I read it during the readathon last weekend and as you can see in my updates I commented on it at the time.
I liked the premise of the book. A girl runs off on her wedding day, determined to find her own way in the world rather than marry a man she doesn’t love. He’s not a bad or a cruel man, just simply one that she does not love and does not want to marry. She has skills that could help pave her way in the world, she knows horses and is a horse whisperer type, if only she could find someone willing to take a chance on hiring a girl, something not a lot of people are willing to do in the 19th century. Added to that her little brother ends up sneaking away with her leading people to believe she’s actually his mother.
There are certain similarities to How I Live Now. There’s a broken family that needs to be reunited. It’s about children living (more or less) as adults while the world decides which way they are going to go. There’s a slightly untypical romance (though not like in How I Live Now). There was that large secondary character that was just a little bit different. The way events intertwine is very Rosoff.
For me what it lacked was that thing. You know what I mean though we don’t have a name for it and we couldn’t really tell you what it was (and if we could we could make a killing in the publishing industry). It’s that thing that pulls you into a story. The thing that forces you to read it and not want to put the book down and when you do put the book down it’s what makes you pick it back up as soon as possible. This book lacked that for me.
But I’ll still pick up more Rosoff books in the future.
Disclaimer: Random House Canada provided me with a review copy of this book. This was an uncompensated review.
October 30th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Hmm missing that thing. OK I’ll skip this one and hope for the best with the next one.
Denise´s last blog ..The Shape of Snakes
[Reply]
sassymonkey Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Have you read What I Was or Just In Case?
[Reply]
October 30th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Sorry this one didn’t live up to expectations. I’ve been enduring a lot of that lately it seems. Looking back over the year–a LOT.
Andi´s last blog ..An Iffy Reading Year?
[Reply]
sassymonkey Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
I’ve had a year like that too. Though I seem to be on a pretty good run at the moment.
[Reply]
October 30th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
This one disappointed me, too. I am glad I am not alone!
Kailana´s last blog ..Olympics 2010
[Reply]
sassymonkey Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I’m also glad I’m not alone. I do tend to worry that it’s just me when I feel this way about a book.
[Reply]
October 31st, 2009 at 8:39 am
I know exactly what you mean by ‘that thing’. And I think it’s something different for different readers. It’s what I find in true masterpieces, timeless classics such as Les Mis or The Count of Monte Cristo where I don’t exactly know why but I love them for the writing that just gets to me every time.
lilly´s last blog ..A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi
[Reply]
sassymonkey Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
You are absolutely right, it is different for different readers.
[Reply]