#Review: "The Miniaturist" by Jessie Burton

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Book Info: Genre: Historical Literary Fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Tense, Person, POV: third person, present tense, limited omniscient POV
Diversity: GLBTQ, interracial relationship
Recommended for: Fans of historical literary fiction, interested in 17th century Amsterdam
Book Available: August 26, 2014 in Hardcover, Kindle, Large Print paperback, and August 15 in a prerecorded Digital Audio Player.
Trigger Warnings: torture, capital punishment—those sentenced to execution are thrown into the sea with a weight around their neck to drown
Animals: someone opens a window and lets out a parakeet; kittens and puppies left in bags to die, or thrown into river to drown, dog is murdered

My Thoughts: Amsterdam: “Where the pendulum swings from God to a guilder.” 17th century Amsterdam, to put it mildly, is not a place I would want to spend my time. This book is hard to define, but to me it is about hypocrisy, greed, religion, mob mentality, life and death, beginnings and endings. There is a lot going on in this book, and the thing with the miniaturist is very strange. Is she just able to put together information due to intuition, or does she has a psychic gift? It is never answered, and we never catch more than a glimpse of her. I think the cabinet is a metaphor for Nella's life in general, and how she feels trapped. There is a great deal of emphasis placed upon the roles of women and men, as well as the repressive nature of religion at the time. The sense of fear and paranoia soaks this book.

There are a lot of things that I found quite interesting, and don't forget the excellent glossary and appendix in the back of the book. I had a really hard time with the offhand way that people treated animals, so be aware of that if you are sensitive to that; it was, however, sadly a part of the society of the time, and historically accurate, so it was necessary. If this sounds like an interesting book for you, definitely check it out. It's not the sort of thing I would ordinarily read, but despite the rating I would be comfortable recommending this book.

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

Synopsis: On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office-leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella's world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist—an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .

Johannes' gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand-and fear-the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?

Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.



View all my reviews

@dbjacksonauthor #Review THIEFTAKER by D.B. Jackson

Thieftaker review
Author: D.B. Jackson
4 out of 5 stars


Picked this one up at Dragon Con (read all about Dragon Con 2013 here), and since the author was there, I was able to have it signed! Check it out.


Book Info: Genre: Historical urban fantasy/mystery
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: those who enjoy historical fiction and urban fantasy
Trigger Warnings: murder, violence, torture
Animals: dog is killed

My Thoughts: This is a wonderfully twisty mystery, set in a fantastical version of history where magic and mayhem combine in an explosive manner. While Ethan didn't necessarily figure things out as quickly as I did, it's probably because I was seeing things from the outside and not being beaten up every few hours. That has to be a bit distracting, I would think.

While I saw complaints that Ethan didn't spend more time trying to track down the conjurer, I thought it was made pretty clear that the attempts he did make showed the conjurer to be too powerful to be tracked by normal means, and therefore probably not someone he wanted to confront before he was completely ready. I also saw complaints about Sephira's apparent lack of follow-through on her threats to kill Ethan, but again I thought it was made fairly plain that despite her attempts in anger, she actually found him to be valuable and preferred to have him around.

I really enjoyed the mixture of historical events with fantastical elements and a juicy mystery to solve. These sort of cross-genre books are always a lot of fun to read. While not perfect, it was all-in-all an entertaining and enjoyable read. If you like historical fiction, urban fantasy, and mysteries, then you should enjoy this blend of the three.

Series Information: The Thieftaker Chronicles
Book 0.5: A Spell of Vengeance
Book 1: Thieftaker
Book 2: Thieves' Quarry
Book 3: A Plunder of Souls, expected publication 7/8/2014 by Tor Books

Disclosure: I purchased this book for myself at Dragon Con 2013 and had it signed there. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson's "Thieftaker, "revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others... until he is asked to recover a brooch worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.

Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can't stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.

"The Waste Land" by Simon Acland -- Book Review

The Waste Land review
Author: Simon Acland
4 out of 5 stars

Book Info: Genre: Historical Fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of historical fiction, those interested in the First Crusade or that time period, fans of Arthurian-type grail legends, those interested in a potentially different view behind the gospels
Book Available: Beaufort Books paperback and e-book new edition released March 4, 2013;
Trigger Warnings: Catholicism, sexual assault, rape, extreme violence, murder of women and children, pregnant women, betrayal, treachery

My Thoughts: This is a most interesting story-telling method, the modern-day chapters dealing with writing the book about Hugh de Verdon alternating with Hugh narrating his own story in the 11th century. It is obvious the author has done a great deal of research into the time period and the lifestyle in the monasteries at the time. I was very amused by the fact that the college in which the modern-day parts of the book take place, St. Lazarus, is a fictional college and part of the Society for Creative Anachronism, although it appears there has been no activity by the group since 2011 based upon their homepage (linked, where formatting allowed, on the name in the early part of the sentence, plus additional information in the Wiki page, linked here where formatting allowed).

I always have difficulty when I'm reading about Catholic beliefs, because they are so incredibly illogical to me. The infallibility of the Pope? He's just a man! The Pope being able to guarantee salvation to the Crusaders? What about the idea that God alone sits in judgment? And as the Abbot of Cluny says, the whole idea of a Crusade is counter to Christian beliefs, since it blatantly violates “Thou shall not kill.”   And of course all those creepy relics... as Buffy said: “Note to self: religion. Freaky.”

Of course, that extends itself for me into any sort of dogma-based religion, not just Catholicism. A telling quote expressed a lot of my own misgivings with religion. When questioned as to why Moslem was fighting Moslem, Mohammed-i Hasan-i Sabbah explains it is because their opponents were Sunnis, and considered heretics. When asked for more details, Mohammed said, “I cannot explain. It was what I was taught. It is what I was told to believe.” To me, this perfectly expresses the problem with organized religion. As long as people just parrot what they are taught, as long as people just believe what they are told without question, without research, without trying to find their own answer—as long as people are expressly told not to question, but to believe—as long as this happens, religions will find excuses to ignore inconvenient commandments like “Thou shall not kill” or that they should only fight in self-defense, and take it upon themselves to try to spread the “true faith” through the “might equals right” ideal.

Unfortunately, a lot of the story was not one one I was particularly interested in. I find the idea of the Crusades absolutely repugnant, and I don't find a lot of romance behind the idea of knights and battles, like some. I was almost ready to DNF it when Hugh met Hasan-i Sabbah and things became interesting again due to the mythology that started to be interspersed with the tale. That captured my interest again very quickly! I also highly enjoyed the subplot with the weaselly Peter Bartholomew in Antioch where he claimed to have had a holy vision. The details he came up with were so impressive. I always really enjoy a good con, and this guy is a true con artist. It made me laugh like crazy. Also the way the Gospel of Lazarus ties together with Hasan's obsession and his potion is really cool. I skimmed through some of the bits about the battles, but the rest of the story was really good. I loved the way it all sort of came around, bits and pieces being exposed a little at a time. I was originally going to rate this three stars with a “I didn't like but would recommend” designation, but in the end I increased the rating based upon how incredibly cool the ending is.

There were several places in the book that encouraged me to look stuff up, like the assertion that one can tell a eunuch by his corpulence (which is not true). There are also mention of several comets, which surprises me, because comets are very rare, yet it seems they were happening all the time in the beginning of the Crusades, which seems unfair. Why don't I ever see a comet, but this guy sees at least 4? I was also interested in seeing an image of the Charonian of Antioch, which is a very interesting sculpture. Of course, a lot of this was just delaying tactics, since so much of the book was hard for me to read due to the fighting. It's weird, because I'm fine with fighting in fantasy or science fiction novels, but if I have to read something based on historical fact, it gives me the heebies.

The book is well written, and if you enjoy the history of the Crusades, Arthurian romances, grail romances, stories about knights and battles, you will likely quite enjoy this book. Also if you enjoy Ovid, Chretien de Troyes, and Elliot, you will probably find correspondences in this story. If it sounds like something you might like, I would not hesitate to recommend it to you.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This book is part of a blog tour that is currently running. I told the publisher I would try to read it prior to the 13th, which is when I'm scheduled to host the author on my nloh for a guest post, in order to have the review up during the same time frame. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: The Waste Land chronicles the adventures of Hugh de Verdon, monk turned knight, during the extraordinary historical events of the First Crusade. He journeys from the great Benedictine monastery of Cluny to Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem. He encounters the Assassins, endures a personal epiphany and discovers the ‘truth’ behind the Holy Grail.

Hugh de Verdon’s tale is retold by a group of desperate Oxford professors, based on his autobiographical manuscript, discovered in their College library. Their humorous—and murderous—story also provides a commentary on the eleventh century events and shows that they are perhaps not all they seem.

Great Minds Think Aloud presents: "Buried Pasts" by George Stratford, free on Amazon

Buried Pasts by George Stratford will be free on Amazon 7/25-26/2012. Click on the link or the banner to go get your copy.