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ClareR (6106 KP) rated The Figurine in Books

Nov 20, 2023

The Figurine

Victoria Hislop | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I do love Victoria Hislop books, and in The Figurine I was transported back to Greece in the 1960’s with dictators ruling and a young girl, Helena, visiting her affluent grandparents on her own. Her grandfather is authoritarian, aloof, and never really connects with his granddaughter, but her grandmother clearly adores her. Through these summer visits, Helena grows to love Greece, even if she never manages to form a relationship with her grandfather.

As she gets older, Helena goes to university, meets a man who convinces her to go on archaeological digs on Greek Islands, and she then discovers antiques in her grandparents flat after their deaths - antiques that should not be owned by a private collector at all. These antiques are not acquired under legitimate means, and just how they were acquired soon becomes very clear to Helena. With the help of some Greek friends she is able to start the process of returning the valuable antiques to their rightful owners - the Greek people.

There is still the matter of a dodgy, antique smuggling boyfriend to deal with, and to do so involves the help of friends in London. So this story goes between London and Greece - and believe me when I say that Greece is painted in a much more favourable light than London. Everything seems grey and cold in London, and Greece is all sunshine and warmth. I know where I would rather be.

I love how Hislop writes about Greece: she’s clearly a Hellenophile, and why wouldn’t she be?! It’s a beautiful country. And when the matter of an ancient figurine comes up (that of the title of the book), we see how important even the smallest piece of Greece’s history is to the country as a whole.

Another gorgeous book from Victoria Hislop - a good one to read during the dull winter months that we have coming our way!

Read on The Pigeonhole.

Kudos

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Maidens in Books

Jun 24, 2021

The Maidens

Alex Michaelides | 2021 | Mystery, Thriller

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

A lackluster and dull thriller

Mariana Andros is a group therapist and Cambridge University graduate. She is mourning her late husband, Sebastian, when their niece, Zoe, calls, upset because a friend at Cambridge has been murdered. Mariana and Sebastian raised Zoe as a surrogate daughter, so Mariana heads to Cambridge and St. Christopher's College to be there for her. There, Mariana feels she can help her friend and fellow therapist, Julian Ashcroft, in looking into the murder. Mariana is convinced that Greek tragedy professor Edward Fosca is responsible. He is followed around by a group of female students, deemed The Maidens, who seem obsessed with Fosca and his teachings. When another girl, a Maiden, is found dead, Mariana vows she will do anything to stop him.

"Death was no stranger to Mariana; it had been her traveling companion since she was a child--keeping close behind her, hovering just over her shoulder. She sometimes felt she had been cursed, as if by some malevolent goddess in a Greek myth, to lose everyone she ever loved."

Unpopular opinion time... this book did not work for me. I did not find it engaging nor interesting. I had to force myself to keep reading, as I did not care for any of the characters, including Mariana and Zoe. Mariana is fixated on Edward Fosca from the beginning and seems convinced she should insert herself in a rather serious murder investigation despite not seeming one bit qualified. I'm not sure how her group therapist qualifications lend her any credentials and she lies constantly, much to the annoyance (justified) and detriment of the police. There are basically no sympathetic characters, and there seems to be no reason to care about the murdered women, as we're given no background on them. Some characters (e.g., Julian) seem inserted for no reason whatsoever.

There is a lot of Greek mythology tucked into the story and perhaps I was just over it, as I've read several books revolving around Greek myths lately. It was a lot, though, and sometimes did not seem relevant to our story.

This thriller is certainly atmospheric, with Cambridge playing a strong role in the setting. You definitely feel a part of the academic setting, and I learned a lot about the university while reading. It's dark and somewhat foreboding, but since I was not fully invested in the story, I could only feel so tense. There are some twists, but the big twist came too late and seemed too preposterous to be truly exciting. The author throws in so many red herrings that you find yourself almost rolling your eyes.

Still, this is a very popular thriller for many readers, so chances are it may work for you. For me, it just didn't hold my interest or seem all that, well, thrilling. 2 stars.