Series: Cross My Heart #1
Genre: YA, historical fiction, mystery
Published on March 13, 2012
Published by Delacorte Books
Pages: 262
Read From: 7.21.12 - 7.21.12
Review
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Cover Blurb: Love the mask - it’s sparkly! And since it is a side profile, the cover doesn’t leer. There’s something of a promise of mystery to it all, which is not at all misleading, though I’ll admit - the smoke just serves to remind me of a cigarette.
What I Liked: Laura is a wonderfully unannoying protagonist: no Attitude, and she’s not helpless or useless. The Author did a terrific job making Vincenzo really creepy and gross. He reminded me of Mr. Gride in Nicholas Nickleby. Giacomo has a gentle, quiet humor that I really appreciated, and though many of the twists were rather predictable, I still liked them.
What I Disliked: What I disliked has to do with the writing.
Believability: I am not all that familiar with Venetian history or politics, so I can’t say too much about the history. From what little I do know, it seems to me that the Author did a pretty good job with research. She definitely did when it came to clothing and social protocol, and the plot itself seemed plausible.
Writing Style: Present tense; bleh. It fit this book fairly well, but I still wish it hadn’t been in present tense. The Author’s descriptions were nice and the dialogue good, though there's a habit of unnecessary detail - why do we need to know what the mouth looks like when shaping the word segreta? Where the story fell down was some plot points. The mystery is good and a lot of twists are good, as I said, but there also could have been much more. A character or sudden revelation would be introduced, and then nothing would happen. Vincenzo makes a very abrupt exit from the story and never appears again; there could have been something more, I felt. And then there’s the secret Laura tells the Segreta as payment for their services. It’s a secret that screams foreshadowing, but nothing at all comes of it.
Content: 1 g--damn.
Conclusion: It’s exciting and well done. And I actually didn’t mind that Laura ended up rescuing Giacomo, because it didn’t feel like a situation put in solely for the purpose of a “gender reversal.”
Recommended Audience: Historical fiction mystery fans, girl read, geared a bit more towards an older audience.
Others in This Series:
1)Cross My Heart
2)Heart of Glass
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