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Title: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Author: Katherine Howe
Published: New York: Hyperion, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 371
Total Page Count: 104,788
Text Number: 301
Read Because: recommended by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aphoenixrain, borrowed from the Corvallis library
Review: Harvard graduate student Connie should be starting research for her dissertation in Colonial history—but when she discovers an ancient key in her abandoned ancestral home, she begins an unlikely search for a one of a kind primary source: a physick book written by a woman named Deliverance Dane. Couching a light summer read in the guise of an academic mystery is a promising combination, but The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is betrayed by Howe's utter artlessness and poor plotting. Howe's voice is amateur and offputting, with little than constitutes style save for some turns of phrase which soon become repetitive. The style itself never improves, but as the reader adapts to it the book becomes popcorn literature—consumable, even verging on addicting, but never particularly good. The academic mystery is engaging and balances out the book's potential for fluff, and the fantasy elements are sufficiently intriguing and—in their historical context—unique. It's possible to race through the bulk of the book on these factors alone, but there are frequent annoyances—and first among them is the predictability of the plot. Wherever there are clues enough for the reader to solve part of the mystery, he will—almost immediately, and long before Connie catches on. The historical flashbacks exaggerate this issue, laying hints and foreshadowing on so thick that they leech away all mystery. For the most part, the balance between intriguing attempt and rocky execution leans just far enough towards the former to sustain the book, but the climax, especially the reveal of the antagonist, falls completely flat. It don't feel tacked on (there's too much foreshadowing for that), but it does feel out of place—a book like this doesn't need a final confrontation with a big bad, but Howe provides one anyway and the effect is exaggerated and cheap, discarding all intrigue promised in the premise.
My issues with this book may simply be personal. I tend to avoid light reads like this because they rarely work out for me, and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is no exception. I have standards of quality which may be higher than a book like this intends to deliver, and make little allowance for books that are more fun and engaging than they are skillful. In many ways, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane was exactly what I set out to read: a light fantasy about witchcraft and women with an intriguing academic and historical angle, set snugly in a superbly rendered Massachusetts. I appreciate these attempts and intentions, and at its best even enjoyed the book as a consuming and unusual mystery, but the writing leaves something to be desired, the plot falters too often, and I can't look beyond those flaws to appreciate a fun little summer read. I can't in good faith recommend it, either—but I'll admit that other readers may better enjoy this book than I was able to.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Katherine Howe
Published: New York: Hyperion, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 371
Total Page Count: 104,788
Text Number: 301
Read Because: recommended by
aphoenixrain, borrowed from the Corvallis libraryReview: Harvard graduate student Connie should be starting research for her dissertation in Colonial history—but when she discovers an ancient key in her abandoned ancestral home, she begins an unlikely search for a one of a kind primary source: a physick book written by a woman named Deliverance Dane. Couching a light summer read in the guise of an academic mystery is a promising combination, but The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is betrayed by Howe's utter artlessness and poor plotting. Howe's voice is amateur and offputting, with little than constitutes style save for some turns of phrase which soon become repetitive. The style itself never improves, but as the reader adapts to it the book becomes popcorn literature—consumable, even verging on addicting, but never particularly good. The academic mystery is engaging and balances out the book's potential for fluff, and the fantasy elements are sufficiently intriguing and—in their historical context—unique. It's possible to race through the bulk of the book on these factors alone, but there are frequent annoyances—and first among them is the predictability of the plot. Wherever there are clues enough for the reader to solve part of the mystery, he will—almost immediately, and long before Connie catches on. The historical flashbacks exaggerate this issue, laying hints and foreshadowing on so thick that they leech away all mystery. For the most part, the balance between intriguing attempt and rocky execution leans just far enough towards the former to sustain the book, but the climax, especially the reveal of the antagonist, falls completely flat. It don't feel tacked on (there's too much foreshadowing for that), but it does feel out of place—a book like this doesn't need a final confrontation with a big bad, but Howe provides one anyway and the effect is exaggerated and cheap, discarding all intrigue promised in the premise.
My issues with this book may simply be personal. I tend to avoid light reads like this because they rarely work out for me, and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is no exception. I have standards of quality which may be higher than a book like this intends to deliver, and make little allowance for books that are more fun and engaging than they are skillful. In many ways, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane was exactly what I set out to read: a light fantasy about witchcraft and women with an intriguing academic and historical angle, set snugly in a superbly rendered Massachusetts. I appreciate these attempts and intentions, and at its best even enjoyed the book as a consuming and unusual mystery, but the writing leaves something to be desired, the plot falters too often, and I can't look beyond those flaws to appreciate a fun little summer read. I can't in good faith recommend it, either—but I'll admit that other readers may better enjoy this book than I was able to.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
