Book Review – THE SWAN THIEVES by Elizabeth Kostova
BOOK RATING: The Story 4.5 / 5 , The Writing 5 / 5
BOOK REVIEW: Engrossing. In my opinion, elements that make for an excellent novel are deep, intertwining storylines and thought provoking and elegant prose. The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova ticked all those boxes for me.
Kostova invests considerable time and effort building the multiple storylines and complex characters. Stylistic elements such as the use of multiple narrators and stories told in reflection through a series of letters read by those narrators, bring a timeless quality to this novel which I found very appealing.
The Swan Thieves has invariably been compared to Kostova’s first outing, The Historian, and found lacking by reviewers. I must agree it didn’t quite reach the lofty heights of her first novel – it was again very engrossing, but not quite as compelling. The characters do not evoke as much empathy from the reader and the ending is a little more obvious. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed The Swan Thieves and believe it is a high quality read in its own right, and a must for artlovers.
Find out more about this book: The Swan Thieves (The Book Depository), The Swan Thieves
Previous title by this author: The Historian (The Book Depository), The Historian
This book qualifies for my participation in the Chunkster Reading Challenge (564 pages) and the Global Reading Challenge (North America).
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