I received this an an ARC from the publisher but the review is my own.
This was for me a very frustrating read. I liked the concept of one of the original settlers of Roanoke having written a journal of her journey from England there; it's founding and ultimately, its failure. History has left us with many questions as to what happened to this lost colony and what might have been the reason for it being left to fade into the annals of time. Even to this day with prestigious names such as Raleigh attached to its conception, we are still little better off in being able to truly come to grasp with the ultimate fate of these intrepid souls. So having Gray's own fictional grasp of possible events sounded very promising indeed, giving voice to those we can no longer hear. However, for me personally, this is not the book I wound up reading.
Almost off the bat I felt the frustration of dealing with a character who is so shallowly described as to have, in only a few chapters made
me both internally and verbally roll my eyes at the sheer ridiculousness of her. Now as a reader my natural inclination is to want to find something in the character that I can relate with, to create a bond. The only thing created here was open hostility. Gray's prime character reads like a roll call of the cheesiest, movie part/pigeon holed heroines ever devised. Every single pace of her story made me want to throw the book across the room; underneath the cheap facade one could see the bones of a really good idea and to glimmer the wasted possibilities was just maddening.
I'm not going to list the various instances because then I'd just be relating the story page by page. Needless to say that as this is my opinion and the other reviews I've read all praised Mr. Gray's efforts, if you're looking for something to help you fill out the story of the lost colony of Roanoke and are interested in a fictionalized account than this could be a good read for you. As for me I was left feeling disappointed and confused as to why this is the finished product.
This was for me a very frustrating read. I liked the concept of one of the original settlers of Roanoke having written a journal of her journey from England there; it's founding and ultimately, its failure. History has left us with many questions as to what happened to this lost colony and what might have been the reason for it being left to fade into the annals of time. Even to this day with prestigious names such as Raleigh attached to its conception, we are still little better off in being able to truly come to grasp with the ultimate fate of these intrepid souls. So having Gray's own fictional grasp of possible events sounded very promising indeed, giving voice to those we can no longer hear. However, for me personally, this is not the book I wound up reading.
Almost off the bat I felt the frustration of dealing with a character who is so shallowly described as to have, in only a few chapters made
I'm not going to list the various instances because then I'd just be relating the story page by page. Needless to say that as this is my opinion and the other reviews I've read all praised Mr. Gray's efforts, if you're looking for something to help you fill out the story of the lost colony of Roanoke and are interested in a fictionalized account than this could be a good read for you. As for me I was left feeling disappointed and confused as to why this is the finished product.
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