August 14, 2013

Read This!: The House of Velvet and Glass

By Katherine Howe

I bought this book while on my recent book spree in MN. 

Word of advice: When flying somewhere, don’t go on a book shopping spree unless you have lots of room in your bags and a strong man to carry it.  Yes, Mr. was with me.

Sybil Allston’s mother and sister died on the Titanic.  Two years later, Sybil and her father inhabit their Back Bay mansion in Boston while her brother is at Harvard.  To deal with her loss, Sybil attends a séance on the second anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking.  Here, she believes she makes contact with the other side.  Soon after, her formulaic life is transformed when her brother gets kicked out of school, his “friend” comes to live with them, and she finds she has the ability to tell the future through scrying.  Not to mention, there is a former love suddenly back in her life.  All of this combines to make for a "surprise" ending. 

This book jumps around from the night on the Titanic, to the present-time of 1914ish, to 1860s Shanghai.  All of these help you to better understand the different members of the Allston family and why they make their decisions in life.  While the story was somewhat interesting, it did bore a bit.  I gritted my teeth through the constant use of “obsidian” and “cloying”.  Moreover, it took everything in me not to write a letter to the publisher when I saw the phrase “I could care less”.  It’s “I couldn’t care less”!!!!!!!!!  If you could care less, then you care about it.  BIG SIGH….  I also thought the romance between Benton was forced.  Semi-spoiler.  I get that they had a thing in the past and he married someone else but then suddenly he is back on the scene randomly and she is calling him every two seconds.  Huh?  (The former wife died, he was not stepping out on her.)  Then his explanation for why he married this other girl was lame.  Side-eye.  Either way, it wasn’t a bad read but it wasn’t the best I have read lately. 

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