The premise of the book appealed greatly to me, and it started off well. Ada loses her step-father when 13, then the country house has to be sold, and Ada finds herself adrift from the life she'd imagined she would always have. A chance to find her way back into that life comes when there's an opportunity to attend an extravagant art history trip to Italy. Here she meets several characters who are part of the life she wants. But there comes a death, and though she entwines her way into the existence of others in the group on the back of the death it doesn't pan out the way she hopes for on their return to the UK.
My main problem with the book is that there's nary a likable soul to be seen, and too many of them really. Ada was trying to be something she wasn't and any initial sympathy we had for her soon disappeared. The Ada we know at the beginning is exactly the same Ada at the end. Others of the group were wealthy kids, spoilt and uncaring with the sole exception of the victim.
The book slows just after the beginning. Wonderful descriptions of the art and architecture of Venice and Florence and Rome. But it seems to meander in the middle where I almost gave up. However there were twists right at the end to bring the story back together, but I'm not sure I really understand what Ada's 'far darker secret' was. For me the storyline just needed tightening up. Perhaps I was expecting more and that coloured how I read it.
My main problem with the book is that there's nary a likable soul to be seen, and too many of them really. Ada was trying to be something she wasn't and any initial sympathy we had for her soon disappeared. The Ada we know at the beginning is exactly the same Ada at the end. Others of the group were wealthy kids, spoilt and uncaring with the sole exception of the victim.
The book slows just after the beginning. Wonderful descriptions of the art and architecture of Venice and Florence and Rome. But it seems to meander in the middle where I almost gave up. However there were twists right at the end to bring the story back together, but I'm not sure I really understand what Ada's 'far darker secret' was. For me the storyline just needed tightening up. Perhaps I was expecting more and that coloured how I read it.