The Miniaturist

Amsterdam: Where the pendulum swings from God to a guilder.

This started out well but it turned out to be quite a lackluster. The setting was pretty much ruined by unconvincing characters who had unclear, non-nonsensical agendas. Despite having a few major players we barely find anything more meaningful about them, not just their secrets. Their interactions are maybe too superficial and there are more questions that answers at the end, including how the miniaturist knew what would happened in the future or what had already happened but was never revealed to the public.. I was pretty much drawn it by the blurb which clearly oversells the miniaturist and it will probably lead to many people being disapointed. The themes tackled are intriguing but I wasn't sold on the execution despite the fact that the writing style was quite enjoyable.

Beautiful prose, really fascinating story. I had heard a lot about Jessie Burton's books but I was so surprised about how much I liked this one. Highly reccomend to anyone who likes fabulism and poetic writing styles.

4.5 stars. I was so pleasantly surprised with this book. I noticed it only had a 3.5 rating and did not expect much. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the characters, the mystery and even the way some big issues were dealt with. Yes, Burton probably tried to do too much, but I appreciated that Nella wasn't always this fierce heroine, I liked her growth and her flaws.

There are some run-of-the-mill things about this story: powerless women struggling for self determination in 17th century Europe, oppressed by a rigid society where everyone polices each other and where religious authorities have no mercy. A young woman enters a household that seems hostile, but through her upright character and kindliness she wins friendship. However, this novel is anything but ho-hum. Characters steadfastly refuse to do what you expect them to do, or say what you expect them to say. Mysteries are revealed, but in their own time, not when you expect them to be. There is a feeling of out-of-control-ness that is disorienting, but appropriate. A satisfying novel.

Ik heb me echt moeten worstelen door dit boek. Het kabbelt en kabbelt maar door. De personages zijn weinig geloofwaardig en hun acties vaak onbegrijpelijk. Er wordt heel sterk het gevoel van een mysterie opgebouwd, waarbij je als lezer absoluut door wilt lezen om de situatie te begrijpen, om dan jammerlijk aan het einde van het boek op je honger blijft zitten. Zeer ontgoochelend.

(Meer hier)

Good, but not great. No real lasting impact.

I enjoyed this story despite its darkness and somewhat obscure characters. In fact, that may be the very reason I clung to it as I did. The murky environment and unusual characters kept me entangled in the story. I highly recommend reading the prologue again after finishing the book.

I really enjoyed this book although I did find the first 200 pages quite slow going. Really enjoyed the second half of the book and will definitely be picking up the authors next book ‘the muse'.

This was a good book, not my favorite, but still good. I very much enjoyed the author's character development for all of the women in this book. For a historical fiction set in a time where women weren't seen as anything but baby machines, Nella, Marin and Cornelia's stories bloomed pre to post climax. There were a lot of unhappy thing in this book, and it was not that I needed a happy ending persee. But, do I feel like the events that drove these characters to bloom neeed to be wrapped up because the character development theme was not enough to outweight the other themes generated in this novel? Yeah, actuallly, I do. I would give this a solid 3.25-3.5/5 stars.

There were parts where you couldn't put it down but towards the end it started to lose its magic.

It was... fine. Not really my thing. Too many of the characters interactions with each other made no sense to me.

It's also written in present tense third person, which I personally cant stand, though I did get used to it eventually.