FINALLY...
I finished My Last Duchess and I have to be honest, while I really wanted to love it and I mean really, it was actually a huge disappointment. It was as if the author was hoping to create some mystery and drama, but it never truly came to fruition. While I won't give it all away, I will say this much, if you are going to give some older woman a snake tattoo she had better be a member of a creepy secret club, that you uncover or uncover her room of snakes that she has through a secret door in her bedroom. None of these however, was the answer to this plotted mystery, actually the whole tattoo thing had absolutely nothing to do with anything, expect to show that this woman was super naughty having affairs with people. Goodness, at least there could have been something unexpected!!! It read almost as if the author had had a great first idea and then had forgotten all about her plot devices. Leaving everything to be revealed in the last few pages is brilliant, if you have given the reader at least a little understanding of the fact that there is a real mystery. Also, it was so not a mystery!!!!
Ok, I shall stop now. I could rant on and on, especially as the first chapter showed such promise and the second to last made me think: 'Finally we're getting somewhere!', but of course, that was nothing but empty hope and clever editing. The true ending was a disappointment, I would happily forget, I cannot believe I actually spent money on this book. In the end I don't expect my novels to be the best of literature, but they could at least have something to them. Character, plot, humour, mystery, wit ect. Just one of those will do. This however, had nothing and I did have such hope for it! I really really did!
Now, on to something I can say lovely things about: Face the Fire, the final instalment in the Three Sisters Trilogy by Nora Roberts. Not only is it a very entertaining, mysterious, funny, sexy and rather wonderful piece of romance trash, it is also well plotted. Of course I knew that in the end all would be fine, people would marry, people would kiss and the romance would be awesome, but it was still well plotted. I was even minorly surprised by some parts of it, which just goes to show that while Nora is a very good writer, it is her editor and great ideas that keep the reader reading. I will of course remain an unabashed Nora lover after finishing this novel. I cannot wait to start a new triology! Also, I have in my possession one of her Christmas themed novels, I can hardly wait for December!
So as you can see, to get the taste of My Last Duchess out of my life I had to purify with a little Nora, a good lesson in life I feel. Also, further proof that no matter how much you want to like something, there is no way you can force yourself too. Trust me, I know that now.
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