Review: A Gathering of Ghosts

A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Every so often I go into a book expecting one thing only to be given something entirely different. Such was the case with A Gathering of Ghosts. I went in expecting a historical mystery, but I was given something entirely different. This isn’t always a bad thing – surprises can be enjoyable – but what I was given instead of the historical mystery I expected failed to wow me.

I enjoy a good historical read with an undertone of magic, and at first I thought A Gathering of Ghosts would provide me with such. I crossed my fingers for an unexpectedly addictive read, for something surprising, but this one never sucked me in. I constantly found myself at a distance, waiting to be sucked in that little bit more.

At first, this was a three-star rating. I enjoyed the history and the different perspectives. As I worked deeper into the book, it became a two-star rating. Things were slow, I was waiting for something big to happen, and I was only reading to see how it came together. In the end, it became a one-star rating because things felt anticlimactic. I expected something much bigger than what we were given, and the end of the book just felt flat to me.

I’m sure there are many who will enjoy this one, but it was not the book I had hoped for.

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