Annie Louise Twitchell

This was a light short story that didn't take itself too seriously, and the style was endearing. It's one of those fairytales that makes fun of fairytales, which I tend to enjoy.
While I did enjoy this one, it didn't feel like it really had a point. It felt like it was purely entertainment rather than any real substance, and while some things were over-described in the beginning I feel like the emotions near the end were under-described. I would have liked at least some more emotional depth from the characters.
Despite that, I did enjoy this story and I'm not sorry I read it.… (mehr)

Through the Pages read like a Hallmark movie, and, fortunately, I have a soft spot for Hallmark movies. It’s sweet, predictable, follows the basic plot formula of: Girl with no purpose moves to a country town, meets a challenging friend/family member, learns important life lessons, and finds her purpose, all while falling in love with a sweet country boy. I think the thing that draws me to these stories most is a combination of the characters and the whimsy of the setting, and that was no different in Through the Pages. The characters, while simple, are endearing. Misty herself wasn’t my favorite, but it’s common for the main character to not be my favorite so I don’t think that was necessarily an issue with Annie’s writing.

I did think that character development and character relationships were rushed in a lot of places. Misty’s emotions tend to ping-pong, especially at the beginning, and I saw a lot of conflicting feelings more than a smooth progression. Obviously having the change be too smooth and agreeable would be unrealistic, but I think Misty’s character arc needed some refinement.

The timeline in this book is rather rushed through, which works most of the time and fits the story, but I feel like we lost some vital relationship growth and individual character growth through the timeline gaps. If we’d been able to see the character growth that happened in between it would have been fine, but it seemed like the characters’ arcs didn’t progress during the weeks and months that were skipped and we were just thrust back into the same struggles they’d had before.

The setting of Mill’s End, however, was wonderful. Particularly in the first half, as we were becoming familiar with the town alongside Misty, it had a great whimsical feel to it and I loved the details that went into that. Misty’s first date was probably my favorite section; the Lakeside Diner really caught my attention and made me wish I could go to a small town for a while and enjoy the peace and quiet and community.

Overall, the characters and setting were enough for me to enjoy this book a lot even though I would have preferred more depth in the character development. The overall themes were good, and I consider Through the Pages a four-star book.… (mehr)