Erin (Historical Fiction Reader)’s Reviews > Defending Alice: A Novel of Love and Race in the Roaring Twenties > Status Update

Alice's lawyer's closing argument took almost an hour of audio to get through. That's almost an hour of rehashing all of the arguments this character made in the seventeen hours of content that preceded it.

This might be reasonable in a courtroom, but it kills the pace of a novel and causes the reader's eyes to glaze...

Chugging away...

Rereading (because comparison shouldn't be based on memories of a book I read two years past).

Interestingly, the book improves when you know how slow it's going to be from the start.

Closing arguments from both attorneys took 30 pages (1 hour of the audiobook). The INSANE amount of repetition kills this fiction...

Was feeling generous yesterday but the readability of this so-called fiction is nil. I'd rather read the court docs! I have a degree in legal studies and couldn't help looking, the write ups on this case have better movement than this doorstop...

Great material but horrible execution.

Listening as I work and am convinced I'll be giving this book a very generous three.

It has a lot of flaws but it has some interesting themes, especially for those with an interest in US law and the trial process.

Knocked out another chuck of this doorstop while getting in my daily miles. Wish the story were more engaging. Maybe then I wouldn't be so attuned to my sore posterior.

The book has some good themes, but I'd have much rather taken in this story from the perspective of one of the jurors. The lawyer hearing her side, his side, and arguing to the court is in a word... boring.

Repetition makes good case prep, but it doesn't do much in terms of world building, character development, or pacing. #snoozefest

The amount of rehashing... oh my god! Where was the editor? I really don't need three versions of every event.

Also, if I read that "boys only want one thing" one more time, I'm going to throw my phone at the wall.