Two (disappointing) stars. *sigh*

What do I say here? This is an anomaly for me. I’ve never been so totally disconnected from a story as I was in this one. I heard so many good things about it too. Is that why I kept reading? What was it about this book, this story that they got and I didn't? 406 pages. I thought they would never end!

Setterfield grabbed me with the flourish of her words. Unfortunately, I found myself skipping over entire paragraphs, and while wanting to know who was who and what was what, I became exhausted and lost in the minutia of details.

Bottom line? I really, really wanted to like this book: I wanted it to live-up to the hype; to find the passion in the gothic setting that attracted me in the first place, but Setterfield, in my opinion, is just not up to the task.