//Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free eARC of this book.
//DNF’d at 81% ; but still reviewing it because a)it’s an ARC and it’s basic courtesy to write something, b)81% is a lot for this book and c)I have read enough to have formed an opinion .
Title : Mercer Girls
Author : Libbie Hawker
Genre : Historical fiction
Standalone
Expected publishing : 10th May, 2016
Summary
Goodreads Summary :
It’s 1864 in downtrodden Lowell, Massachusetts. The Civil War has taken its toll on the town—leaving the economy in ruin and its women in dire straits. That is, until Asa Mercer arrives on a peculiar, but providential, errand: he seeks high-minded women who can exert an elevating influence in Seattle, where there are ten men for every woman. Mail-order brides, yes, but of a certain caliber.
Schoolmarmish Josephine, tough-as-nails Dovey, and pious perfectionist Sophronia see their chance to exchange their bleak prospects for new lives. But the very troubles that sent them running from Lowell follow them to the muddy streets of Seattle, and the friendships forged on the cross-country trek are tested at every turn.
Just when the journey seems to lead only to ruin, an encounter with a famous suffragist could be their salvation. But to survive both an untamed new landscape and their pasts, they’ll need all their strength—and one another.
Pros
1. Good, fluent writing : The writing is the saving grace. It’s not exceptional or extraordinary, but with a book which has nothing else to offer, I could only really pay attention to the writing.
Cons
1. Too much detail to unnecessary things, too less for the important ones : Anything happened. Literally, anything at all. Without any reason, without any proper base, without – just, literally anything happened out of the blue.
2. Adding to much to the book : Women rights, romance, friendship, politics, business, employment, marriage, abusive relationships – all these themes are good settings for books, but everything together, the author completely messed it up. Not even a single issue was broadly dealt with, not even a single theme got everything it deserved. By the latter half of the book, my head was paining with all the rubbish.
3. The position of women : I don’t know what happens by the end, but in the 80% that I read, I did not like how women were portrayed. Yes, the novel is set in 1864, I agree, but what I really disliked was how one of the main characters had really low opinions about what women are in society.
I do not feel like writing anymore. Gawd. I hated the characters; the character who had too much of a low-opinion about women, the impulsive ‘free-character-who-is-all-about-rebellion being too wild and crazy and downright stupid and the third woman who is apparently supposed to be the ‘wise one’ being a dull, boring lead.
The romance was really not upto the mark. The book is essentially about these women wanting husbands, but there is no proper process of courting.
Recommend to?
No one. Please stay away.
A ‘good book’ or a ‘good read’?
A bad book and a bad read.
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