At first, although I was enjoying it, I really wasn't sure what to expect from this book. However as I continued reading I became more and more engrossed in the story, and it got to the point where I read half of the book in one sitting!
I was pleased to see that my predictions about Judge Kettle were correct, and found myself becoming more and more invested in the lives of the characters! I was always thinking in the back of my mind as I read about Mabel and Harry, or Dylan, or Gertie, even during times when they weren't around in the story.
The only reason I decided against giving it five stars is due to the emphasis on the cover about religion and sins. I felt that for a theme to be mentioned on the cover, it would need a bigger part in the story than it was in this one. Religion kind of popped back up from time to time but mostly took a backseat, and the time spent in the Convent honestly felt like such a small section of the book that I almost didn't see religion as a part of the main story at all.
It felt like the story was a little rushed, as the time jumps that take place are considerable, an example being the character development of Dylan. He seems to go from one behavioural extreme to the other in an instant with not a lot of insight into how this progressed. This played a part in the story not feeling as though it had that traditional structure of working up to the main conflict, then dying down with the resolution before ending. New conflicts and issues kept popping up throughout, more than someone could realistically experience during the space of ten years or so, and I honestly felt like this couldn't be compared to someone's life, but more to a television show.
I was pleased to see that my predictions about Judge Kettle were correct, and found myself becoming more and more invested in the lives of the characters! I was always thinking in the back of my mind as I read about Mabel and Harry, or Dylan, or Gertie, even during times when they weren't around in the story.
The only reason I decided against giving it five stars is due to the emphasis on the cover about religion and sins. I felt that for a theme to be mentioned on the cover, it would need a bigger part in the story than it was in this one. Religion kind of popped back up from time to time but mostly took a backseat, and the time spent in the Convent honestly felt like such a small section of the book that I almost didn't see religion as a part of the main story at all.
It felt like the story was a little rushed, as the time jumps that take place are considerable, an example being the character development of Dylan. He seems to go from one behavioural extreme to the other in an instant with not a lot of insight into how this progressed. This played a part in the story not feeling as though it had that traditional structure of working up to the main conflict, then dying down with the resolution before ending. New conflicts and issues kept popping up throughout, more than someone could realistically experience during the space of ten years or so, and I honestly felt like this couldn't be compared to someone's life, but more to a television show.