Review: Gift of Continence

Gift of Continence by Tabitha Ormiston-Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Please note: The book is good, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Rating is based on my enjoyment of the story. Details in section titled “My Thoughts”.

Book Info: Genre: Anti-ChickLit (per the author when asked); Women’s Literary Fiction (my thought)
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of Jane Austen, people who enjoy women’s literary fiction
Trigger warning: Triggers for mental and emotional abuse

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Fiona doesn't see what can go wrong with her wedding. What, after all, can go wrong when she has the perfect dress?

My Thoughts: This is a very well-written story, nothing less than I would expect from the author’s background. Unfortunately, I’m very sensitive to treatment of cats in books, and Tim’s treatment of Moses ticked me off so badly I had difficulty enjoying the rest of the story because I was fuming about that. If I had been Fiona, I’d have left Tim cold if he treated one of my cats that way. I wondered for awhile why I felt such a strong urge to stop reading this book, and then I realized: it is because Tim is emotionally and mentally abusive. I lived through that once and didn’t much care for living through it again vicariously. Tim is a grade-one jerk. To me, this book shows exactly why it is a good idea to take a bit of a test-drive (live together, go through a year-and-a-day handfasting, etc.) before going through with marriage.

Fiona is naïve and self-involved In fact, Fiona is almost unbelievably naïve. I think she’s supposed to be 22 but has no idea how to shop? Has never gone to the supermarket on her own? Admittedly, I grew up in an unusual situation where my mother was quite ill, so I had to learn all the housekeeping things very young, but I can’t imagine someone reaching their 20s and not having any idea how to shop for groceries. I also can’t imagine someone reaching their 20s and never having any sort of ob-gyn tests done – my mom took me in for my first one when I was 14.

There was more than one point where I considered just stopping, but as it turned out, I was quite glad I didn’t, because things started turning a corner in the last third of the book, when Gran arrived on the scene. I felt bad for Fiona, though, because everyone is really quite mean to her. She isn’t really stupid, she’s just sort of … ditzy. And her concern and devotion to her cat really made me like her a lot.

This isn’t really the type of book of which I’m fond, but it is well-written, and I think that a lot of people will like this, especially those who are fans of Jane Austen. Despite it not being my cuppa, I can recommend it, and if it sounds like something you would like, be sure to check it out. My rating system is based upon my personal enjoyment or lack thereof while reading the book and does not reflect upon the technical ability of the writer.

Please note: If this book sounds interesting to you, please stop by my blog on Monday, where I’ll be holding a giveaway featuring it and the author’s other book, Perspectives on a Dragon, which I’ll be reading next.



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