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aimeesbookishlife's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
bethsponz's review
5.0
Could be my favorite book of the year. I didn't want it to end. I need to find the sequel! It is about a man who never truly dies but is reborn constantly over the last 1000 years or so. He also is trying to find the woman who is the love of his life in all of his lives. It's a hit or miss thing, but are always draw back to the same area and house.
sony08's review against another edition
4.0
Although I have struggled it still deserves four star. Great story just - especially in the second half of the book.
lillianfc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
kiriamarin's review against another edition
4.0
One of most weird books I've ever read, reincarnation, time travel, good or bad still cant decide, although at the end I was wrecked ,so sad.
emilymae's review
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
booklogblog's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Without getting too spoilery, this is a reincarnation-y, destiny, multiple lives love(?) story set in the Wiltshire countryside. I started reading it as it was on the bookshelf at my Airbnb (not my usual rigorous book-choosing process).
Overall it didn't really work for me. It contains bunches of historical information, a lot of which is genuinely interesting, but unfortunately Long often slips into that voice (you know the one) - where an author has done lots of research and needs to give characters research monologues... It needed an edit.
Also, the story revolves around these people destined to be together in the face of so many struggles and complex situations, but I didn't really care if they ended up together. Why are they so special? In fact, their lives together seemed kind of gloomy and solitary. Just couldn't root for them. I love a well-done romance but I've got to like the couple in some way. (I think Our Flag Means Death might have ruined me for romances for a while tbh.)
Couple of twisty bits near the end were fun! But too little too late to really save it for me. In fact, the tone near the end almost felt more horrorish in terms of the uncanny, odd things happening, kids saying weirddddd stuff - again, this is nonsensical if you haven't read the book, this is just me ranting at this point. It made me think what a weird, fun book this could have been if the core destiny reincarnation concept was kept but it was all made CREEPY.
Also - and the book's from the '90s, so this is probably why - it just felt very heteronormative and, as someone with history degrees, the historian takes were kind of off and old fashioned. But the '90s were thirty years ago now, so. That's time for you
Overall it didn't really work for me. It contains bunches of historical information, a lot of which is genuinely interesting, but unfortunately Long often slips into that voice (you know the one) - where an author has done lots of research and needs to give characters research monologues... It needed an edit.
Also, the story revolves around these people destined to be together in the face of so many struggles and complex situations, but I didn't really care if they ended up together. Why are they so special? In fact, their lives together seemed kind of gloomy and solitary. Just couldn't root for them. I love a well-done romance but I've got to like the couple in some way. (I think Our Flag Means Death might have ruined me for romances for a while tbh.)
Couple of twisty bits near the end were fun! But too little too late to really save it for me. In fact, the tone near the end almost felt more horrorish in terms of the uncanny, odd things happening, kids saying weirddddd stuff - again, this is nonsensical if you haven't read the book, this is just me ranting at this point. It made me think what a weird, fun book this could have been if the core destiny reincarnation concept was kept but it was all made CREEPY.
Also - and the book's from the '90s, so this is probably why - it just felt very heteronormative and, as someone with history degrees, the historian takes were kind of off and old fashioned. But the '90s were thirty years ago now, so. That's time for you
__emma__'s review against another edition
DNF on page 223/554.
I just couldn't get on with these characters at all. I didn't remotely believe in the love story and felt so so sorry for Gally's husband. I didn't connect with why Gally and Ferney were even in love, 'meant to be' etc. other than this inexplicable 'pull' they kept indirectly referring to - it was never explained or expanded on and so I was left feeling like the very decent husband who put a lot of time and effort into his and Gally's relationship was just left out in the cold, through no fault of his own and thanks to two characters who were really quite cruel.
Not my cup of tea at all unfortunately.
I just couldn't get on with these characters at all. I didn't remotely believe in the love story and felt so so sorry for Gally's husband. I didn't connect with why Gally and Ferney were even in love, 'meant to be' etc. other than this inexplicable 'pull' they kept indirectly referring to - it was never explained or expanded on and so I was left feeling like the very decent husband who put a lot of time and effort into his and Gally's relationship was just left out in the cold, through no fault of his own and thanks to two characters who were really quite cruel.
Not my cup of tea at all unfortunately.
msmisal's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a fairly easy read. The premise was promising but it failed to really follow through on it. Characters fell flat, the historical aspect was delved into far too indulgently, and I felt no real love between Ferney and Gally. Rather, their story felt forced rather than born of actual admiration for each other. But it was an enjoyable, relatively fast read. So I’ll give it that.