Review of The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel
-
Violet Devreaux
- Posts: 328
- Joined: 13 May 2025, 16:38
- Favorite Book: This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Currently Reading: The Book of Records
- Bookshelf Size: 486
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-violet-devreaux.html
- Latest Review: The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel by Evy Journey
Review of The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel" by Evy Journey.]
The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel by Evy Journey follows Clarissa, a graduate student in the arts, who pairs up with a journalist, Nathan, to investigate the reappearance of a stolen illuminated manuscript from World War II. The characters track down various leads to determine when and why the manuscript was stolen while Clarissa tries to figure out her thesis topic and deals with family issues.
This novel was a mixed bag. On one hand, I enjoyed the history in the novel about art theft by Allied forces after the fall of Nazi-occupied regions. The author clearly did in-depth research for the book. Unfortunately, the writing itself is clunky, overly wordy, and one-dimensional. It fails the “show, don’t tell” test. As the reader, we are given constant extraneous information and what feels like an odd psychological analysis of the characters. There’s no real room for inference or subtlety. The characters can feel one-dimensional despite having so much information dumped about them into the story. Their emotions and even the dialogue just don’t read naturally.
The writing style often resembles a student using a thesaurus to beef up their essay vocabulary; words are used in ways that come off as awkward and just don’t quite fit. There are plenty of verbose authors whose books read just fine, but in this book, it’s not pulled off gracefully. Also, the character writing felt childish to me. Although I understand what the author was trying to do, I just think that they didn’t quite achieve it, particularly when it came to the main character’s relationship with her brother and the romantic lead, Nathan. Multiple of the themes, including the main character’s feeling of loneliness from being raised as a military brat without a permanent home, had potential, but they weren’t executed with the depth or eloquence required to engage the reader emotionally or intellectually.
Lastly, the end of the book is anticlimactic. We’re built up to expect that the mysteries surrounding the manuscript will be revealed to the characters, and we do get some resolution, but the novel does it in a rapid-fire and disappointing way.
I noticed issues with punctuation use throughout the book, but I wouldn’t say they impact the readability in any major way.
The book is at its strongest when it’s focused on the history and the art. If you enjoy art history, particularly when it intersects with military history, art theft, and academia, you will probably enjoy those portions of the novel. It also involves quite a bit of travel, so if you enjoy descriptions of foreign locales, that’s a bonus.
I think the author certainly has potential. As their writing matures a little and becomes more nuanced, they will likely hit their stride. I would rate this book three out of five stars. It’s neither particularly good nor particularly bad. All in all, it’s a middling experience. Three stars were earned for the content pertaining to art history, which I found interesting. The remaining two were deducted for punctuation issues and the aforementioned issues with the writing style and flow.
******
The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel by Evy Journey follows Clarissa, a graduate student in the arts, who pairs up with a journalist, Nathan, to investigate the reappearance of a stolen illuminated manuscript from World War II. The characters track down various leads to determine when and why the manuscript was stolen while Clarissa tries to figure out her thesis topic and deals with family issues.
This novel was a mixed bag. On one hand, I enjoyed the history in the novel about art theft by Allied forces after the fall of Nazi-occupied regions. The author clearly did in-depth research for the book. Unfortunately, the writing itself is clunky, overly wordy, and one-dimensional. It fails the “show, don’t tell” test. As the reader, we are given constant extraneous information and what feels like an odd psychological analysis of the characters. There’s no real room for inference or subtlety. The characters can feel one-dimensional despite having so much information dumped about them into the story. Their emotions and even the dialogue just don’t read naturally.
The writing style often resembles a student using a thesaurus to beef up their essay vocabulary; words are used in ways that come off as awkward and just don’t quite fit. There are plenty of verbose authors whose books read just fine, but in this book, it’s not pulled off gracefully. Also, the character writing felt childish to me. Although I understand what the author was trying to do, I just think that they didn’t quite achieve it, particularly when it came to the main character’s relationship with her brother and the romantic lead, Nathan. Multiple of the themes, including the main character’s feeling of loneliness from being raised as a military brat without a permanent home, had potential, but they weren’t executed with the depth or eloquence required to engage the reader emotionally or intellectually.
Lastly, the end of the book is anticlimactic. We’re built up to expect that the mysteries surrounding the manuscript will be revealed to the characters, and we do get some resolution, but the novel does it in a rapid-fire and disappointing way.
I noticed issues with punctuation use throughout the book, but I wouldn’t say they impact the readability in any major way.
The book is at its strongest when it’s focused on the history and the art. If you enjoy art history, particularly when it intersects with military history, art theft, and academia, you will probably enjoy those portions of the novel. It also involves quite a bit of travel, so if you enjoy descriptions of foreign locales, that’s a bonus.
I think the author certainly has potential. As their writing matures a little and becomes more nuanced, they will likely hit their stride. I would rate this book three out of five stars. It’s neither particularly good nor particularly bad. All in all, it’s a middling experience. Three stars were earned for the content pertaining to art history, which I found interesting. The remaining two were deducted for punctuation issues and the aforementioned issues with the writing style and flow.
******
The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Golden Manuscripts: A Novel by Evy Journey
