The Violets of March

The Violets of March is a book that I should have liked. It's full of intriguing plot elements that, in theory, seem to lend themselves to a good story. Things like a lost diary, family secrets, and parallel storylines linking two generations, plus a lovely setting on Bainbridge Island in Washington's Pugeot Sound. The problem, though, was that all of these parts just didn't come together enough for me. A couple of the characters seemed too shallow, there were a few glaring inconsistencies (like a character mentioning that there were five possible options, listing three of them, then saying, "and the last option is..."), and the pacing just seemed too rushed at times.

I think I actually would have enjoyed this more if it had a hundred extra pages to it and could slow down a bit, taking time to develop things more fully.