Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy
My Rating: 4 stars
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review
Constant Guests is the debut novel of Patricia Nedelea. It is a mixture of historical fiction, mystery and fantasy. It consists of four story-lines set in present-day France; Translyvania, 1991; Tuscany, 1389 and Patmos, c.100.
The main plot is centered around Isa when she discovers that she was adopted by her aunt and her real mother is someone she doesn’t know at all. She then goes on a journey to find out about her mother’s past.
All the story lines in the book are very different from each other. They are the essence of the book and what makes it so interesting. They make the plot very complex but ultimately have a connection with each other. There is constant suspense and mystery that just keeps on getting thicker. All revelations are extremely unexpected and shocking. There is also a lot to take in to keep up with the plot. However, about halfway through, things finally start to make sense.
The few moments of humor in the book didn’t fit at all. The plot kept on getting more and more twisted. I did enjoy that but it was getting too complicated to be fun and I just wanted to be done with it. Also, with such a complex story it is understandable that the book will be long but it still felt a bit dragged out to me. I thought that it was too much crammed into one book and I had the urge to give up on it.
The characters in this book are not very likable. I found the main character Isa to be ungrateful and self-absorbed. I thought that she was being too hard on her adoptive mother Victoria. Victoria did have her faults but she also seemed to genuinely care about Isa. I also found the things she said and her reactions annoying sometimes. However, I did feel bad for her towards the end.
This book is honestly a mind blowing read.It is the kind of book that is unique and we can take a lot from. It takes us to many places, many times and shows us different aspects of human beings. It was amazing how all the stories came together in the end and still there were new things revealed. I really appreciate this book as a work of literature. It is not only entertaining but very informational too.It contains a lot of history and we learn a lot from it.It is also very well written and we can see that a lot of research and effort has been put into it.
I highly recommend this book!
