I love Ms. Thomas' work, the darker, the more twisted, the more mind messing, the better.
However, this one, while mind messing, is not excessively dark.
But honestly, this one did take me a little time to settle into & enjoy. Well, initially that was my impression. The writing itself was no issue at all (as I would expect) & the characters intrigued me BUT this one hopped back & forth from the present to various times in the past for the characters. And I personally am not a big fan of that.
BUT . . . .
I quickly realized I kept reading because I HAD to know what was GOING to happen as well as what HAD happened to bring Livia to the situation in which she found herself. And thus I was somewhat shocked to find I was not bothered by the time flips. At All.
As always with one of Ms. Thomas' books, one truly shouldn't describe much about the plot or even the characters in order to preserve the twists & turns as well as surprises her plots serve up to the unsuspecting reader. And that is one of her signature strengths, her deft ability to keep readers on their toes. And I thrive on that.
This one is like a puzzle where you only see one piece at a time until you begin to see where one might fit the other. And very slowly a picture emerges yet once the puzzle is completed it just may NOT be an image you expected.
Livia was a wonderfully pragmatic intelligent woman who wanted things in life: love, marriage, children. And while she was methodical in her search of those goals, at no time was she greedy, duplicitous, selfish or grasping. Merely a woman who had decided what she wanted, how to get it & stuck to her guns.
The male(s) of this story were varyingly more difficult to like, much less love. But Ms. Thomas gives us tiny slices into their psyche & personalities. Their intent & their goals. Which are most certainly NOT as ethical as Livia's.
So, go into this one with as little foreshadowing as possible. And if time bouncing isn't necessarily your thing, my advice? Persevere. Seriously, persevere.
I was thoroughly enthralled with this one & read it in ONE sitting because I couldn't put it down. Not due to any over the top life & death situation but due to the ever increasing suspense of how these characters came together as they did, of reading as Ms. Thomas peeled back the layers of characters the reader may have incorrectly 'assumed' were something they were not, of being swept into the journey along with a somewhat shell shocked Livia as Fate cast Livia's dice for a future she never could have imagined.
This one will pull you in & KEEP you deeply intrigued as well as increasingly invested in the plot & characters. There is deft & subtle tension that will keep the reader on delicious tenterhooks, sensual & sizzling steam to curl your toes, emotional suspense & enlightenment to engage the reader to care about Livia & her situation.
The story is beautifully & smoothly written, nothing yanks the reader from the flow & Ms. Thomas knows how to capture a readers emotions with a wonderfully light & subtle touch.
I vastly enjoyed this one & I think most readers will too.