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supermando's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It’s so hard to rate this one. I loved it, but found it tedious. The book was way too long, but the world and characters felt so fleshed out. Overall, I found this book to be outside of my normal reading realm and I think the writing was beautiful. I wanted different things than the story gave at times, but I found it satisfying.
orangeslices's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It was a beautifully written book with imagery and emotions that flew off the page, but personally, the book stretched on uncomfortably. The characters were not well-developed despite its length, and for me, the long footnotes that added to the atmosphere of the book grew tiresome to read.
acornett99's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As many have mentioned, this is a book that takes its time and gives its world plenty of room to breathe, and whether thats good or bad depends on your taste. For me, I mostly greatly enjoyed it and loved the characters. The last third of the book was especially well done.
I have seen some reviews take issue with the ending, but we knew from early on that our protagonists were destined to fail. For people who are destined to fail, they did end up succeeding a lot in the end, so the presence of the Darkness in my view helps to counterbalance that. As much as I would love for the Stranges to be reunited for good, I understand why they couldn’t and am quite happy with the ending.
korkbored's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jaqueca's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
markproxy's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to give this book four stars, but the fact is I came away unmoved by the story, and ultimately disappointed. It's a fantasy novel loaded with charm and imagination, a thick book which delivers hundreds of pages of very pleasant reading, but I found the female characters lacking and the romance unconvincing, and am quite at odds with the resolution. Aesthetically very enjoyable, but thematically too thin for my taste.
irissunshine's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
kvothesduet's review
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bexlrose's review against another edition
3.0
This is a difficult one to review because in many ways it's a very special novel. She's an outstanding writer, creating full worlds and great characters, which was put to a stunner in Piranesi (a definite 5 star book). In Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell, the world Clarke creates is equally stunning and yet it lacks the same reaction from me. Her writing is abundantly good but then it's also just abundant. Give me the abridged version of this book and I'll probably give it 5 stars, but at 1006 pages you're gonna have to IMPRESS me because I could have read 4 novels in the time it took me to read your one. And it wasn't worth 4 novels. It was worth one 300 page novel. So it gets 3 stars from me despite its wit, intelligence and fantastically realised world. It's probably the most special novel I'll ever give 3 stars to.
i_webb's review against another edition
UNBELIEVABLY slow paced. Included so many details that weren't necessary to the story (frankly I couldn't even hone in on what the story was). Read hoping it would be at least somewhat similar to Piranesi but I couldn't keep going.