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shancock4
Oct 22, 2011shancock4 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Kostova's "The Historian" was one of those rare "perfect" books. It was gripping, the characters were well-rounded, I was invested in every moment of the book. It's supernatural tone and the sweeping historical searches and locales was fantastic. "The Swan Thieves" feels like it's going to be more of the same, except it never seems to launch past a sense of anticipation. I was getting close to the last 30 pages when I realized that nothing was happening in the book - it was all build-up. To what? To nothing. They wrapped up the central "mystery" in one page, and the central "plot" in one quick line of dialogue and that was it. It was over. Who was the protagonist of this book? The artist or the psychiatrist? Was it about obsession? Or was about not knowing people's real stories? Or was it about creating art? Or was it about how history bleeds into the present without our knowledge? Or was it about being true to yourself? I'm not sure what this book was about, and I'm still sort of unsure if I actually liked this book. The characters were well-drawn, and like I said, it has one heck of a build-up (to nothing, don't forget!) Definitely a disappointing follow-up to "The Historian." I have a feeling this book will linger in my mind as I try to puzzle out what I came away with from reading it. Read it, if you liked her first book, but don't expect anything as spectacularly good as that first novel.