The Pleasures of Men by Kate Williams

The Pleasures of Men by Kate Williams
Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Historical
Format: Paperback
Rating: **
Bought at Barnes & Noble
The Pleasures of Men

Summary:

July 1840: The young Queen Victoria has just entered her third year on the throne, when a major recession brings London's desperate and destitute into its sweltering streets. While the city crackles with tension, orphaned Catherine Sorgeiul stays locked away in her uncle's home, a peculiar place where death masks adorn the walls and certain rooms are strictly forbidden. Nineteen years old and haunted by a dark past, Catherine becomes obsessed with a series of terrible murders of young girls sweeping the city. Details of the crimes are especially gruesome - the victims' hair has been newly plaited and thrust into their mouths, and their limbs are grotesquely folded behind them, like wounded birds - and the serial killed is soon nicknamed the Man of Crows.

Catherine begins writing stories about the victims - women on their own and vulnerable in the big city - and gradually the story of the murderer as well. But she soon realizes that she has involved herself in a web of betrayal, deceit, and terror that threatens her and all those around her.

Review:

So... the reason I haven't posted in so long is because of this book. Not even joking. I was in Barnes and Nobel killing time, I should know better by now that this is dangerous as I always end up buying something, and I came across this book on the sale rack. I read the summary and thought now this is interesting - I've been on a murder/crime kick lately. $4.98, well you can't beat that plus I got my discount so it was under $5 and I paid cash like a boss.

No. No No. No No NOOO!! Now I know why it was on the sale rack.

This book has so much potential, so much, but it is executed poorly. The story line was all over the place and it was incredibly difficult to follow. I didn't know what was going on half the time. There was this side story about Catherine and her brother and how she killed him that made no sense - it was interesting until you hear the story.

(Spoiler) I really wish Catherine was the killer which was why she knew so much about the murders. It would've made for a better plot line. Straighten out the story line - even if it was intentional to show her disorganized/insane thoughts - it could've been done better ( I mean look at The Sound and the Fury. They found a way to make it understandable).

I'm sorry Kate Williams. It was a great idea, but it definitely needed to be edited a lot more before it was published which is more a failure on your editing group than on you.

Damn those summary writers who made this sound so interesting.

Overall:

Don't waste the money even if it is on sale. I didn't even finish it, I really tried you guys. Though I did skip to see what happened so I'd feel less guilty about not finishing it. I've gotten to a point in my life where I don't have the time to spend on reading books that I don't like

Recommended:

For  no one, unless you're a masochist and will get a kick out of boring yourself. If I had to recommend this book to someone it would be those who liked Historical Fiction I guess.

I wanted to give you all the truth, and here it is. Let me know if you enjoyed this book - I'd really like to know why

Happy Reading!

xoxo Allison