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A review by pheebs1776
The Many Lives of John Stone by Linda Buckley-Archer
2.0
I love stories that combine history and modern day, especially stories that have two intertwining story lines that weave together right at the very end. Stories like this keep the reader guessing and interested in the plot and characters. The Many Lives of John Stone was not one of these books.
First things first, the characters were no where near interesting and never described. It took about 300 pages for the author to finally announce that the main character, Stella Park (or Spark for short *eye-roll*) was blonde. 300 PAGES! The other characters were just stereotypes rolled into stereotypes and I was bored quite quickly.
Second, the love plot felt like it was added only because the author felt like she was forced to add it. It made no sense to the main story whatsoever, and the characters were never around each other enough in order for the chemistry between Ludo and Spark to heat up. Literally she just looks at him and she's entranced but does not see him until the very end of the book and suddenly the author expects us to care about their relationship.
Third, the mystery? Girl, what Mystery?! There was nothing that was revealed in the end that made the whole book worth the read. Something intriguing would be brought up and then two pages later it would be revealed to the reader, but maybe not the main characters. The only mystery I haven't solved yet is why I kept reading.
Fourth, the history made no sense. I love history especially when multiple centuries get tied together but only one time period was reported on, and even still, not that accurately. Even when other time periods were brought in they were only lightly touched upon and given in a pedestrian way. Example: the sounds of bombs during the London Blitz. Everyone knows there were bombs, give me something more!
Fifth, no consistency within the book whatsoever. The characters change personalities constantly and important facts were never brought up again. However, the main mystery of the story is easily guessed by the summary on the back cover.
Finally, the two intertwining story lines made no sense together! I understand that John Stone wanted to account his early life, but none of the characters that were introduced in the present-day story line were ever talked about in the past. Martha's and Jacob's stories are never told and we NEVER learn the backstory of Therese, but don't worry we learn all about John and his troubles with the court of Louis XIV. I just felt like the story that should have been told wasn't and the "mystery" was never there for me.
It failed, so much missed opportunity with this story...
First things first, the characters were no where near interesting and never described. It took about 300 pages for the author to finally announce that the main character, Stella Park (or Spark for short *eye-roll*) was blonde. 300 PAGES! The other characters were just stereotypes rolled into stereotypes and I was bored quite quickly.
Second, the love plot felt like it was added only because the author felt like she was forced to add it. It made no sense to the main story whatsoever, and the characters were never around each other enough in order for the chemistry between Ludo and Spark to heat up. Literally she just looks at him and she's entranced but does not see him until the very end of the book and suddenly the author expects us to care about their relationship.
Third, the mystery? Girl, what Mystery?! There was nothing that was revealed in the end that made the whole book worth the read. Something intriguing would be brought up and then two pages later it would be revealed to the reader, but maybe not the main characters. The only mystery I haven't solved yet is why I kept reading.
Fourth, the history made no sense. I love history especially when multiple centuries get tied together but only one time period was reported on, and even still, not that accurately. Even when other time periods were brought in they were only lightly touched upon and given in a pedestrian way. Example: the sounds of bombs during the London Blitz. Everyone knows there were bombs, give me something more!
Fifth, no consistency within the book whatsoever. The characters change personalities constantly and important facts were never brought up again. However, the main mystery of the story is easily guessed by the summary on the back cover.
Finally, the two intertwining story lines made no sense together! I understand that John Stone wanted to account his early life, but none of the characters that were introduced in the present-day story line were ever talked about in the past. Martha's and Jacob's stories are never told and we NEVER learn the backstory of Therese, but don't worry we learn all about John and his troubles with the court of Louis XIV. I just felt like the story that should have been told wasn't and the "mystery" was never there for me.
It failed, so much missed opportunity with this story...