What did everyone think of this? Comments on this post shall be included in my review, with credit.
(4/5 stars ****)
This short novel (maybe novella?) didn’t have me gripped automatically, which is why I’ve given it 4 stars. Nonetheless, it was was both entertaining and moving.
I loved the changes in point of view and in time; I felt that this gave the novel some depth to an otherwise uninteresting story about a painting; it needed the jumps in time. I think the story would have felt flat otherwise, just a time line of what happened to the painting. Instead, we focus on the people that the painting touches, including an uncouth maid, a Nazi, and Vermeer’s daughter.
The writing style was what made this novel charming; fresh and uncluttered, the narrative swept you from one place to another without feeling clumpy or awkward, and there were some fantastic moments of inner dialogue which made me, as a easier, emotionally invest in the characters, even if I only met them for about 20 pages. I also liked the vagueness of the first chapter, which investigates how a maths teacher handles discovering his father was both Nazi and thief- there was a sense of detachment and clinical-ness about it which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I feel as though this novel captured art’s power over the human mind and soul, and for that I thought it was marvelous- go read it for yourselves! 
Very much worth a read. Moving and thought provoking, read Pratchett’s essay on assisted dying. Now.
(5/5 stars *****)
Absolutely wonderful. This is my book of August!
Firstly, I adored the characters. Thaniel, the main character, is not the typical steampunk-novel hero- he is not the centre of the steampunk creations or the inventive one… he’s normal, the guy who “sometimes plays the piano”. This is not saying that he’s boring; he sees sound as colour (amazing, huh?) and he hasn’t got the perfect personality to instantly like (or dislike). Mori was incredibly well designed as a character, and for me, he was the reason I picked up the novel and read it so quickly; I needed to know about the watchmaker, and Pulley was successful in capturing my imagination. His unique powers added a sense of the supernatural to the story. One of the only women in the novel, Grace, is both likeable and distasteful at the same time. I enjoyed the fact that she wasn’t the usual woman of victorian-era novels: she disagrees with suffrage to a certain point and is totally damning of her own sex, having no faith in equality or anything but her own science, which she fails at. Grace’s need for a divorce after discovering Thaniel’s love of Mori was both truthful to real life reactions and heart wrenching (but I was also glad- she’s horrid).
Secondly, the prose of the novel was well written and not too faced paced. The novel went along at a comfortable pace, with minute detail but also not lingering too long. The descriptions of the clockwork pieces were fantastic. The atmosphere created by the accounts of Victorian London added to the overall feel of the novel; the novel felt oddly realistic for a piece of speculative fiction.
Finally, the design of the book is absolutely wonderful; the cover I have is beautifully designed and the colours are lovely together. The bright green combined with the black and gold, to me, represent the supernatural element to the underlining steampunk novel and thus the cover fits the novel perfectly. Even the print on the pages was perfect- the book felt nice to hold and it was easy to read because the spacing of the text and the design was pleasant.
My favourite book of the summer so far.
(4/5 stars ****)
This book has been constantly raved about and I admit that I had my reservations. I hadn’t heard of the author before but everyone else seemed to have heard of him. I rush bought it out of guilt- I felt as though I hadn’t read any ‘new’ fiction in ages and was compelled to buy it. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed.
The prose was fast paced throughout and this actually leads to one of my only criticisms… The last 70 or so pages made me feel like I had been bundled unwittingly into a roller coaster and made to ride! A main character comes out of nowhere and dominates, leaving the main main character, Sebastian, behind. I feel as though this novel would have been more rewarding as a slow burner, like the first half of the novel was.
The prose, though fast, was wonderfully written and poetic, and I enjoyed it immensely. The atmosphere was mostly dark and I wouldn’t suggest you read this if you want something short and light. Though compact, this novel is strangely haunting.
The novel has stuck with me because the main character, Sebastian, is not someone I understand and I’m oddly happy about this. He’s unique and controls the overriding atmosphere of the novel, taking it on a dark path that’s truly gripping.
(4/5 ****)
I was expecting to absolutely adore this, but I didn’t. Don’t get me wrong here- I enjoyed the novel, but I wasn’t taken entirely. Let me tell you why. I found the Toller sections… slow. Boring and convoluted; the Ruth sections of the novel were more interesting and seemed less forced than the Toller parts. The Ruth sections saved this novel.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed the writing style as a whole. The style was simple yet descriptive. It suited the tense atmosphere of the novel; as a reader, I desperately wanted to know who betrayed them, not the slow burn of Toller’s inner mind. Maybe if I was in a different mood, I would have enjoyed the entire novel
The plot itself was gripping, tense and different. There are many novels on the market at the moment that focus on socialists and lefties during the rise of Nazi Germany, but I felt Funder spun something new on it. Yes, some of the character’s were Jewish (like many in these types of novels) but it wasn’t something lingered on, which was refreshing. The focus on their desire to get information out of Germany was the centre of the novel and I hadn’t read anything that focused on that before: the split POVs and skipping years made the novel fast paced and I didn’t feel as though there was much holding back concerning the plot.
Overal, very enjoyable.
THE PAGES ROOM 