(I am copying book reviews from my Goodreads, starting with the books I read in November 2017. See my profile for the rest of my reviews.)
Everyone compares this book to Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, but I think it has a lot more in common with War and Peace by Tolstoy. I won’t say in which aspects, exactly, but it’s basically Austen meets Tolstoy meets Maggie Stiefvater.
I don’t usually have a love for fantasy. I like stories with magic, but fantasy doesn’t draw me in. Perhaps that is partially why I didn’t LOVE this story. You may enjoy it more if you love stories that revolve around magic.
(I read this book out of curiosity since it is one of my best friends’ all-time favourite books.)
The principal aspects I enjoyed were how epic and well-crafted the story is. You get the overwhelming sense that the author knew these characters in and out, that she lived in the story. It’s long without seeming tedious. It is definitely a book more for people who like to delve deeply into the lives of their main characters.
However! I found the following issues with it:
- It’s too long. The length is handled as well as possible, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been cut down
- I wanted to call this book “tangential,” but it would be more accurate to say that it focuses too often on characters and plots I didn’t particularly care about
- Norrell’s character is this “bookish” type, right? He loves books. He’s a curmudgeon and an unabashed (and, frankly, unchecked) nerd and pedant. OK, cool. I think these facts were repeated and played out way too much
- I gave this book 3* but I gave War and Peace 4*. Why? The main benefit of War and Peace is that it contains insightful and clever passages, scenes and interactions between characters. Jonathan Strange doesn’t offer anything in the way of social commentary. I get it; that’s not the point. But it is a factor in my personal enjoyment
Since every other reviewer of this book is either in love with or hates the footnotes in this book, I must comment on them. I can’t say I cared either way. I think the book could (and probably should) have done without them, but they weren’t a hassle to read, either.
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