Friday, December 14, 2007

The China Garden

I need to stop reading worthless books. I wasted a whole day with Liz Berry’s The China Garden and will make this review short because I don’t want to waste your time.

Once again, Berry has an interesting premise. Clare moves with her mother to an old English estate and discovers both the people and the land have secrets.

However, the book can’t decide what it wants to be: a mystery, a romance, a treastise on ecological responsibility, or a guide to paganism. One moment Clare wants to save the planet; the next she’s frolicking in the grass with her boyfriend Mark. I was surprised by several rather graphic sex scenes in an otherwise tame young adult novel.

I found this book because it was on Amazon’s bestsellers list, so someone is reading it. I just wish I’d spent my time on something a little more worthwhile.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obviously, you need to adjust your opinion slightly. I read the book and found it so riveting that I couldn't put it down. If you can't say anything nice, please, please, don't say anything at all.

Blogger said...

I welcome your opinion. I gave reasons why I did not like the book (I write about every book I read--some I like, some I do not). Please share your reasons for liking the book. A well-presented argument might persuade me to take another look.