Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Lions of Fifth Avenue

Fiona Davis is the MASTER of the dual timeline and applies her skills so adeptly to historical mysteries centered on New York City landmarks. I really enjoyed this book theft mystery that spans generations of the Lyons family. Laura’s 1913 storyline captured the restlessness of a wife and mother who dreams of more in a society that doesn’t see her as an equal to her male counterparts. Sadie’s storyline, in a different way, chronicles a woman’s longing for more. As more pieces were added, I began to wonder how this would wrap up nicely, but I was really impressed with how everything tied together. I would definitely recommend this book for lovers of history, mystery, and books.

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momsmagicreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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time4tori2read's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I had been waiting to read this book for a bit, and unfortunately, I was disappointed with it overall. While I enjoyed the characters and the mystery of the stolen books, I often found myself apathetic to the overall story arch. Laura Lyons was definitely my favorite character and her journey through the story interested me the most. Sadie, on the other hand, could go either way, and I did not find myself particularly connected with her as a character. In conclusion, this book fell short for me; I can't quite name it, but it's missing something.

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wlreed312's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Upon further thought, I'm bumping this down to two stars.

This is a duel timeline story of two women, working in the same place as a similar rash of thefts happen. Laura Lyons and her husband are living in a small apartment of the newly opened library in New York City in 1913, and her granddaughter Sadie is a curator at the same library 80 years later. In both times, a series of rare books goes missing from the vault of the library. Both women attempt to untangle the mystery as all signs indicate they (or her husband, in Laura's case) are the ones committing the crimes.

I enjoyed it a great deal until the end, but the end doesn't work for me. I enjoyed Laura as a character, and liked her journey as she began to want more out of life than being a wife and a mother. I liked her desire to become a journalist and the description of the classes she took to try to make that happen. I loved her friendship with Amelia, and how it grew. But I had a real issue with the conclusion.

When the culprit is discovered in the 90s timeline, Sadie goes to court to argue for a harsher prison sentence because of the damage that they did by stealing these books and trying to keep others from knowing their history or some such crap. Look, I love books as much as anyone, and more than most people. But after revealing the thief grew up in the foster home system and was poverty stricken, I might have actually seen red. Obviously this is a personal stance, but putting a person in jail rarely alleviates any problems and if the thief had had a stronger safety net none of the thefts in the 90s would have happened. So this person goes to prison, and comes out harsher because they thought selling a few rare books would help pave the way to a better life. <i>People are more important than objects</i> and I get irate every time I think about it. And if I don't stop I'm just going to devolve into a rant about the unfairness of the American prison system and how much it needs to be reformed or abolished so I'll stop.

. Also the ending seems too quick and parts of it are too tidy but mostly my irritation is about the spoiler bit. The history was very interesting, though.

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jeannine's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I loved the premise. I loved the dual timelines. But there were layers in the story that seemed superfluous or perhaps even added to make the tragic events even more devastating? There was a “but wait, there’s more!” quality in the middle of the book when everything seems to be going wrong for both main characters.

The mystery was interesting and I wish that had been the focus. Heaping on one sad secondary event after another made this become a bit depressing.

I also felt that the conclusion was abrupt and not especially satisfying.

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bookinthebath's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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