The American Heiress

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Thu May 5th, 2011, 11:10 pm

Yes there were suppose to do as they were told. Money may have been involved I'm not sure. I might have skipped over that part. Or maybe its later in the book?

I dont remember.

I'm trying to read it with new eyes now and not with my YA hat on. Its hard for me to switch in the middle of a novel, and there is hardly any dialogue,which I hate.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 12:33 pm

A friend of mine just gave this a good review and four stars. I'm going to bump it up.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 5:47 pm

I just posted my review. I think I know the problem I had with the book. It was too average.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Mon May 16th, 2011, 2:04 am

I've noticed that someone seems to be going through and hitting the reviews since the 3 star ones(mine included) got hit with some neg votes.

Wonder if its a crazed fan or an unhappy author.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon May 30th, 2011, 10:37 pm

I'm just now starting this. Have been avoiding the reviews on Amazon until I'm further in.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Tue May 31st, 2011, 12:22 am

About 100 pages in and I'm enjoying it so far. It is a lighter read, but funny at times and Goodwin seems to be poking fun at both the Brits and us Yanks. I'm waiting to see how the relationship with the Duke turns out, but I'm guessing they get married.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Tue May 31st, 2011, 1:03 am

I found it to be very poor writing the way she made them meet. I mean duh. A 5th grader could have had more imagination.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue May 31st, 2011, 1:45 pm

I read it a while back. Paraphrased from my review elsewhere:

I loved the atmosphere and I felt the author had a strong feel for the atmosphere of the 1890's in terms of the country house moneyed faction. The clothes, the jewels, the manners, the judgemental and the often stultifying society with its dark underbelly of lust, envy, and wasteful greed was very well observed and protrayed. I thought the writing style was bright and elegant with a smooth, page-turning flow. The way the ambience of the times is captured is the novel's particular strong point.
On the down side, the leading characters of Cora and Ivo are never fully developed. Ivo remains a two dimensional person and I couldn't understand what Cora saw in him. Cora came over as bland and at time fairly nondescript except in terms of her physical attributes which were dwelt upon in detail. She would have occasional bursts of spirit, but the character never really came together as a whole. The conflict often pulls back from going the full distance and thus short changes the reader.
Still, this is an okay light novel that I enjoyed reading, albeit not a great one. Three and a half stars.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Tue May 31st, 2011, 3:04 pm

I loved the atmosphere and I felt the author had a strong feel for the atmosphere of the 1890's in terms of the country house moneyed faction. The clothes, the jewels, the manners, the judgemental and the often stultifying society with its dark underbelly of lust, envy, and wasteful greed was very well observed and protrayed.

I'm only about 120 pages in and that is my favorite part as well. I love all that filthy money, jewels, clothes, etc. It reads very fast (well the font is pretty large) and it is definitely a lighter read.

If the characters aren't fleshed out as EC has noted, that will be a disappointment for me, but time will tell.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Tue May 31st, 2011, 8:07 pm

Trust me they aren't. I mean the fact that she meets him the way she does is just sad. And the fact she was in love with Teddy 10 pages back and then suddenly falls for the Duke?

Hello, what about the other guy you loooovvvvved so much.

She's just kinda there, floating about her new world.