“Andreas Hofer” is an historical novel, based on true events, set in Austria and, more specifically, in Tyrol from 1809-10.

Andreas Hofer the man was a leader in the rebellion against the Bavarians and Napoleon’s French army. Hofer is not the sole focus of the book. In fact no one character takes centre stage, which for me is one of the reasons this tale didn’t appeal to me, as I prefer character-led stories. I may have liked it more had it focused on one, two, or three main characters, perhaps someone less known or completely fictionalised.

This was worth a one-off read but I felt it was let down by being too monotonous. A lot of info gets repeated. Some of the dialogue is unrealistic, such as having one character speaking for lengthy paragraphs, when in reality it’s rare that one person talks and talks. As a rule someone will soon interrupt.

I also didn’t like the way many back to back chapters would consist of nothing but explanation of what this or that person(s) intended to do, while other back to back chapters were endless battles. In other words the book lacks variation.

On the plus side, there is an unpredictable love interest that serves as a distraction to the monotony of the rest of the story. And to be fair to the author, she did a thorough job research her topic. It just needed brightening up, in my opinion. ( )