Friday, August 05, 2011

2011 book 198

Jennifer Donnelly's The Tea Rose
I've enjoyed Donnelly's YA books, but somehow her historical adult trilogy had completely escaped my attention. The first, The Tea Rose, centers on a young girl in London at the time of Jack the Ripper. She dreams of starting a shop with her love interest, but of course things are never that simple, or else this book would be a lot shorter. Despite patently unbelievable plot points, incorrect history, and a whole lot of sometimes unnecessary drama, I found this story to be entirely engrossing. Donnelly populates her world with likable (ok, not all likable) and realistic characters, and really brings the late 1800s to life. A-/B+.

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