| Sepulchre | 
 enlarge | Author: Kate Mosse
Publisher: Orion
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £2.22
You Save: £5.77 (72%)
New (30) Used (26) Collectible (2) from £1.40
Avg. Customer Rating:  87 reviews
Sales Rank: 344
Media: Paperback
Pages: 784
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 2
ISBN: 0752893440
EAN: 9780752893440
ASIN: 0752893440
Publication Date: May 15, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: UNWANTED GIFT
|
| Customer Reviews:
"Expository overkill", but still pretty good July 28, 2008
I'm a bit uncertain how to rate this book (three of four stars? I still don't know). I was a bit surprised to find that I kind of love it, but on the other hand, I can see many things that could be better. One of them being the length. Now, I love nothing better than a good, long book, but Sepulchre, with its 700+ pages, could (and should, in my mind) have been a lot shorter. One problem here is how Mosse has to describe everything in detail: what the characters have for breakfast, how they dress, what kind of wallpaper the room has, and so on. It's her style, I guess (haven't read anything else from her), but I ended up just skimming through many pages, and didn't really feel like I'd lost anything.
Another thing is her use of adjectives... could do with less. (This goes with the obsession to describe, I guess.) And the adjectives tended to be a bit... hmm, well, let's just say that things were alabaster, emerald and ebony, not white, green or black. And overall the style was quite... like this: "her copper curls hanged all the way down her back like a skein of silk..." (Or then her alabaster cheeks flushed or her emerald eyes shone... well, who cares. I liked this character, Leonie, nevertheless.)
One minor thing that annoyed me a little was the constant use of French. The characters (most of them, anyway) are French, and every now and then something they say is, for whatever reason, written in French. Trying to make it feel more authentic or something? I dunno. The French sentences weren't that hard nor too central ("Alors, on y va," "Dix minutes d'arret," "qu'est-ce qui s'est passe ici?") and I know a little bit of French so that I understood most of it, but I know how much it bugs me when the author uses a language I don't understand, even if it's something totally unimportant.
Trying to get to the point... the story itself. I found it pretty good, overall. (There are summaries available everywhere, so I won't get into that...) As another reviewer pointed out, the story attempts to be a bit of everything (from romance to coming-to-age story to supernatural thriller), and in the end I've got to say that it does succeed in that quite well. Plotwise there isn't really anything for me to complain about. It's just the way it all is delivered.... I did get the impression that there is a great deal of research behind the book, though.
Maybe the story didn't quite manage to avoid being somewhat cliche every now and then, but it was entertaining enough that I didn't quite care about that. I just wish the author and the editor would have worked a bit more on it - it could have been even better. But check the beginning - if you think you can deal with the style, by all means, do try it.
 not recommended July 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed Labyrinthe for its gripping story and looked forward to reading this one. It was disappointing and actually became a chore to finish. The writing is not crisp and the result is too long; it needed a good editor. Whoever proofread the final version also did a sloppy job.
Mosse has used the technique of duel time periods successfully before, but this time I don't think it worked. The introduction of American English for Meredith's appearance grated and was unnecessary. The characters were not particularly well drawn and suffered from being two dimensional. I found I did not care what happened to any of them.
Average at best July 13, 2008
There are quite a lot of polarised views here and whilst I can appreciate the views of the 1 Star reviewers, I do feel its current average of 3 stars is about right. This is a very average read. The historical story is the saving grace really. I liked Leonie, I thought her characterisation was pretty good and as the real heroine, one wanted her to prevail. the problem for me was the linkages between her and Meredith just didn't stack up. They were just too ethereal. The criticisms already leveled by others about the modern day characters are spot on and for this story to succeed, both strands of the story have got to be credible as has the way they intertwine (obviously notwithstanding the need to suspend belief). The climax is anything but. I couldn't believe how weak it was, given all the build up. I certainly shan't be first in the queue to but Ms Mosse's next offering.
 Completely Brilliant!!! July 13, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Sepulchre is, in my opinion, even better than Labyrinth - it is a very gripping book and i couldn't put it down! The story is told through both the past and the present and both are as exciting as each other. The book seemed slightly slow at the beginning but once I got into it it was hard to stop. This book deserves 5 stars!!!!!
 Do not bother if you have any sense! July 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I had read Labyrinth which was 'OK' but this left me cold! The story could have been so good given the various elements but ended up very weakly crafted and so far too long.The language made me cringe in parts!As the heroine strips off her last undergarment the hero says 'Wow!' That sums it all up really!!!!!!!
|
|
|
