March group read discussion thread

[SusanH]

Here is our discussion thread for The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. Have at it but beware of spoilers!

[SusanH]

I'll go first. I just finished it this afternoon and found it to be a very light, fun read. I had a few quibbles with it - Amy was far too modern in her expressions, attitudes and actions, it was far too easy to just hang out unobserved in Napoleon's office, and the framing tale seemed kind of tacked on. But I did enjoy it and will no doubt read the sequel to see where they go next.

So, who did you think the Pink Carnation was? I was hoping it would be who it turned out to be and felt relieved to be right. No other character really made sense.

[eviesmom]

I finished it last week and I had the same quibbles as Susan. The other thing I found annoying, and it really impaired my enjoyment of the story, was how hard the author tried to be light and amusing. It felt very forced in a few places especially toward the beginning of the novel. I felt like the author had to take every conversation to the Nth degree and wring every ounce of witticism from it. I almost couldn't finish it. The characters were all stock, I've met them all before in other novels, but they were entertaining nonetheless.

I was only partly right about the Pink Carnation as I thought it was Amy with Jane helping her, not the other way round.

I will of course be reading any future novels because I am unable to leave a series unread and because I am a fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

[Maribeth]

I just finished this and it was definitely a "calgon take me away" book for me. Between the hacker and spending the last 2 days at the hospital with my dad, I needed something like this. I'm not sure I would have been as enamored reading it with a clear and rested mind though. As it was, the quibbles I have didn't really bother me and I focused on the relaxation it provided.

The author looks so young in her picture so I checked out her bio and she's 26, a law student and a PhD candidate. How did she have time to write this book? Maybe she wrote it in high school which would explain why the writing sounded a little immature in spots to me. I remember rolling my eyes at a few lines that I'm sure the author found funny. Still, I enjoyed the book and I'm anxious to see how the author matures in future books. I'll definitely read the next one.

I thought Amy was the Pink Carnation until Miss Gwen gets into the act with her novel and plotting. It seemed odd to me that this spinster/chaperone who was so severe and took her chaperoning so seriously would be interested in reading/writing a novel and would encourage/allow the girls to plot and put themselves in such danger. I thought perhaps she became the Pink Carnation which would "sort of" explain her change. I should have realized it would be the mature and level-headed Jane. I was fooled but I did guess it was a woman early on.

All in all, despite the quibbles, I enjoyed this book and I'll definitely read future books by the author.

[dane]

I'm a little late on this one, but thought I'd post anyway.

I really enjoyed the book. It was a very quick, fun read. I think they left a whole lot to be resolved in the next novel, so I'm sure I will read it too. There were several things that I thought were too easy to figure out, but I was fooled by the Pink Carnation. I thought it would end up being Ms. Gwen. Hopefully there will be more mysteries in the next one!

Dana.

[Chelsey]

Overall, I thought this was good. I'd expected more history and less bodice ripping, but I can't say I was disappointed. I did have the same quibbles as the others. Mostly, that I could see that the Pink Carnation was a woman (either Amy or Jane) from a mile away, so why couldn't the Harvard PhD candidate? Also, I thought Amy came across as very young - like in her early to mid-teens. And then all of a sudden we get lots of reminders about how Amy is 20. Just so we don't think that Richard is some sort of pedophile.

I liked how the end didn't wrap everything up neatly (I was sure that at some point, Collin would declare his undying love for Eloise), and I'm sure I'll read any sequels. And she set up the potential for dozens.

[Ruby]

Okay - I'm three years late on this, but I found it in the library and only found out that it had been a group read when I was part way through it.

I really enjoyed it, but I have to agree with Susan's assessment that it was a bit too modern and unlikely to happen. I also didn't like how in the middle of a conversation the author would show us the looong thought process of one of the characters before responding and I would loose track of what was being discussed.

Overall it was very good - I also read the next one - The Masque of the Black Tulip and have the third, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, sitting on my pile of books