Sara Stockbridge

Rose es una joven pitonisa gitana, algo que en la Inglaterra del siglo XIX no abre precisamente muchas puertas. Pero Rose es astuta y tiene tablas, y gracias a ello se convierte en la chica de confianza de Lady Quayle, una dama de la alta sociedad que llega a solicitar sus servicios varias veces por semana. En una de las fiestas que la pudiente señora organiza, Rose lee en la mano de Emily, una muchacha amiga de la familia, las trágicas palabras "una muerte terrible y violenta". Y aunque Rose sabe perfectamente que la adivinación es un arma de doble filo, se entremete en las vidas de Emily y de Tabitha, hija de Lady Quayle. A medida que pasan los días y se cumplen las profecías, Rose se dará cuenta de que las predicciones pueden tener varias lecturas distintas... algunas de las cuales es preferible no conocer.… (mais)

I got this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers. It took me a while to get around to reviewing it, however, because it took some time to read it... and even then, I ended up not finishing it. Whether it's a bad time for me to be reading this particular book, or whether it's because I'm on a paranormal kick (and this is not a paranormal), or whether it's because of the odd present/past tense style of writing, I just couldn't get into it.

The basic premise was good, or at least what I saw of it. (I'm not sure how much more depth is in the 2/3rds of the book I didn't read.) I like the way the Victorian era is portrayed. From the research I've done, it seems quite feasible. I also like the way the characters are written, mostly. They are believable and likeable. (I actually kept reading as long as I did because of the characters.)

My biggest problem was the way it was written. Some sentences are in present tense and others are in past tense and there seems to be no rhyme or reason for which is used. This drives me ABSOLUTELY CRAZY.

Someone who is less picky about tense and who prefers historical fiction to paranormals might enjoy this book much more than I did. However, I won't be returning to this book as it was not written for people with my personal preferences.… (mais)