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holtfan's review against another edition
3.0
A very cute novel.
Yes, the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Cute.
It seems like a sacrilege to say it, but the ending of this book made it that. It was adorable. Romantic. Passionate. But the ending was so lacking. It was too predictable, too easy. Despite all the frequent comments that this would be "The Scarlet Pimpernel's Most Difficult Situation Yet..." I didn't feel like it was.
Oh, Percy was a genius. Of course. When is he not? But sometimes....a little less about Robespierre's water sea eyes and a bit more adventure might be in order.
The story itself is typical of books following the original Scarlet Pimpernel , though perhaps a little better. Déroulède, a noble, accidentally kills a young man in fair fight. When the body of the boy is brought home to his aged Father, the nearly insane man forces his fourteen year old daughter to swear before God and upon her brother's corpse that she will get vengeance.
And vengeance she must get.
Ten years pass, the French revolution takes place. Now a young woman, Juliette has not forgotten the oath she swore so many years before. When fate grants her the opportunity to become the guest of Déroulède, she is certain this is God showing her how to pay-back this man who took the pride from her aged Father and brought his gray head to the grave...
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
xD
What follows is the tangled emotional state of one young woman, as she finds herself falling in love with the man she vowed to destroy.
And the really sweet guy, Déroulède, whose chivalry and kindness make him popular with the fickle masses of France. When he confesses to his good friend, Sir Percy, that he is going to attempt to rescue the Queen... The Scarlet Pimpernel warns him it is not the wisest idea.
If only he'd listened.
Treachery, betrayal, court room scenes, and of course plenty of disguises from Sir Percy Blackney, Bart...the romance closely parallels that of our elusive hero and his wife, Marguerite.
Actually, I did like this book quite a bit. I almost liked it more than The Scarlet Pimpernel ...right up until the climax.
And then it lost me.
Because it just wasn't there. And if I read one more word about Déroulède's sinews quivering, I might have smacked somebody. Seriously, TMI.
And even Percy near the end...I don't know. He wasn't his "usual self." It all felt kind of written up and played out...not even a hitch or a suspenseful moment.
So for the first half, maybe even three-quarters of this book, I reccomend it.
The climax/conclusion just doesn't cut it though. There is a well played out theme of leaving vengeance to God. That was enjoyable.
I'd like to end with one of my favorite quotes from the book (a very sappy quote that Hope proclaimed "overly dramatic" but still, kind of cute ;) ) It proclaims the other theme of this book....a woman's heart is precious, but human.
"And 'twill be when you understand that your idol has feet of clay that you'll learn the real lesson of love," said Blakeney earnestly. "Is it love to worship a saint in heaven, whom you dare not touch, who hovers above you like a cloud, which floats away from you even as you gaze? To love is to feel one being in the world at one with us, our equal in sin as well as in virtue. To love, for us men, is to clasp one woman with our arms, feeling that she lives and breathes just as we do, suffers as we do, thinks with us, loves with us, and, above all, sins with us. Your mock saint who stands in a niche is not a woman if she have not suffered, still less a woman if she have not sinned. Fall at the feet of your idol an you wish, but drag her down to your level after that--the only level she should ever reach, that of your heart."
Yes, the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Cute.
It seems like a sacrilege to say it, but the ending of this book made it that. It was adorable. Romantic. Passionate. But the ending was so lacking. It was too predictable, too easy. Despite all the frequent comments that this would be "The Scarlet Pimpernel's Most Difficult Situation Yet..." I didn't feel like it was.
Oh, Percy was a genius. Of course. When is he not? But sometimes....a little less about Robespierre's water sea eyes and a bit more adventure might be in order.
The story itself is typical of books following the original Scarlet Pimpernel , though perhaps a little better. Déroulède, a noble, accidentally kills a young man in fair fight. When the body of the boy is brought home to his aged Father, the nearly insane man forces his fourteen year old daughter to swear before God and upon her brother's corpse that she will get vengeance.
And vengeance she must get.
Ten years pass, the French revolution takes place. Now a young woman, Juliette has not forgotten the oath she swore so many years before. When fate grants her the opportunity to become the guest of Déroulède, she is certain this is God showing her how to pay-back this man who took the pride from her aged Father and brought his gray head to the grave...
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
xD
What follows is the tangled emotional state of one young woman, as she finds herself falling in love with the man she vowed to destroy.
And the really sweet guy, Déroulède, whose chivalry and kindness make him popular with the fickle masses of France. When he confesses to his good friend, Sir Percy, that he is going to attempt to rescue the Queen... The Scarlet Pimpernel warns him it is not the wisest idea.
If only he'd listened.
Treachery, betrayal, court room scenes, and of course plenty of disguises from Sir Percy Blackney, Bart...the romance closely parallels that of our elusive hero and his wife, Marguerite.
Actually, I did like this book quite a bit. I almost liked it more than The Scarlet Pimpernel ...right up until the climax.
And then it lost me.
Because it just wasn't there. And if I read one more word about Déroulède's sinews quivering, I might have smacked somebody. Seriously, TMI.
And even Percy near the end...I don't know. He wasn't his "usual self." It all felt kind of written up and played out...not even a hitch or a suspenseful moment.
So for the first half, maybe even three-quarters of this book, I reccomend it.
The climax/conclusion just doesn't cut it though. There is a well played out theme of leaving vengeance to God. That was enjoyable.
I'd like to end with one of my favorite quotes from the book (a very sappy quote that Hope proclaimed "overly dramatic" but still, kind of cute ;) ) It proclaims the other theme of this book....a woman's heart is precious, but human.
"And 'twill be when you understand that your idol has feet of clay that you'll learn the real lesson of love," said Blakeney earnestly. "Is it love to worship a saint in heaven, whom you dare not touch, who hovers above you like a cloud, which floats away from you even as you gaze? To love is to feel one being in the world at one with us, our equal in sin as well as in virtue. To love, for us men, is to clasp one woman with our arms, feeling that she lives and breathes just as we do, suffers as we do, thinks with us, loves with us, and, above all, sins with us. Your mock saint who stands in a niche is not a woman if she have not suffered, still less a woman if she have not sinned. Fall at the feet of your idol an you wish, but drag her down to your level after that--the only level she should ever reach, that of your heart."
kat_the_bookcat's review against another edition
2.0
Where the heck is Marguerite?! I want her back!
louanges's review against another edition
I know that Edwardian swashbucklers are rife with ableism and xenophobia but I haven’t read enough to tell whether this series is a product of its time or whether Baroness Orczy was a particularly hateful person. Anyway. This book is testament to the lengths I’ll go to for a crumb of Percy Blakeney content (with an emphasis on crumb).
alyslovelace's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alismcg's review against another edition
4.0
Our hero _Pimpernel_ seized the spotlight least (so far) in this the #3 installment in Orczy's series. Consequently, the story lacks the intensity of certain elements of adventure, clever scheming and plain good humor (abounding in the original). A good 'lighter' read though with its rich threads of 'romance' worked well into the familiar Paris setting during the Reign of Terror.
chelseavk's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kat_the_bookcat's review against another edition
2.0
Where the heck is Marguerite?! I want her back!
helwyse's review against another edition
3.0
I think this has been one of my favourite Scarlet Pimpernel books so far - on par with Sir Percy Leads the Band.
The main characters have backstories and more depth than Orczy usually manages; the story is tighly paced, with a few successful twists (and unfortunately, a few unrealistic ones, too). The focus is less on The Scarlet Pimpernel himself, which is exactly what I needed after reading The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
The themes of revenge and love are relatively well managed, though Orczy does love to indulge in a little moralising which I could have done without. I got a little tired of the Madonna/Angel descriptions of Juliette towards the middle of the novel, and was glad that Orczy broke that trope somewhat. Some descriptions and reflections on girls/women/women in love were dated and more than a little sexist.
Setting these niggles aside though, the suspense kept me reading and I finished it in two sittings.
The main characters have backstories and more depth than Orczy usually manages; the story is tighly paced, with a few successful twists (and unfortunately, a few unrealistic ones, too). The focus is less on The Scarlet Pimpernel himself, which is exactly what I needed after reading The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
The themes of revenge and love are relatively well managed, though Orczy does love to indulge in a little moralising which I could have done without. I got a little tired of the Madonna/Angel descriptions of Juliette towards the middle of the novel, and was glad that Orczy broke that trope somewhat. Some descriptions and reflections on girls/women/women in love were dated and more than a little sexist.
Setting these niggles aside though, the suspense kept me reading and I finished it in two sittings.
rinda's review
4.0
Always keeps you wondering how he is going to get free. Great adventure, historical fiction. Listened to from Librivox
elle002k's review
2.0
I like the Scarlet Pimpernel books, and enjoy the fact that they are over the top, but this one is too much.
So this guy kills this girl’s brother in a duel. Ten-ish years later, she meets and falls in love with him, but tries to kill him in revenge anyway, then thinks better of it. They end up getting married after being rescued from the guillotine by the Scarlet Pimpernel, whose successful rescue in this book depends on an improbably loud voice.
This is the plot of this book, the pages of which are unhealthily overpopulated with words like “Madonna” and “execrable”.
The best part was the jealous cousin - but then she went and ruined it by deciding to accept her fate as a lesser being unworthy of love (not being in possession of a “golden halo” of hair).
And the version I read had lots of typos which irritated me and made me feel much less charitable.
So this guy kills this girl’s brother in a duel. Ten-ish years later, she meets and falls in love with him, but tries to kill him in revenge anyway, then thinks better of it. They end up getting married after being rescued from the guillotine by the Scarlet Pimpernel, whose successful rescue in this book depends on an improbably loud voice.
This is the plot of this book, the pages of which are unhealthily overpopulated with words like “Madonna” and “execrable”.
The best part was the jealous cousin - but then she went and ruined it by deciding to accept her fate as a lesser being unworthy of love (not being in possession of a “golden halo” of hair).
And the version I read had lots of typos which irritated me and made me feel much less charitable.