Flowering Judas

If someone had told me it was going to take me forever to finish this book I'd have argued till I used up all the words in my brain box.

Picking up this book, I was jazzed because the cover was alluring and the praises were giving everything I needed to get me reading between lines. I'm someone that when I start a book, it takes something really frightening or painful before I put it down and the next time I'm picking it up, I make sure to finish it but this one was completely different. It got so bad that I was beginning to think I was at fault. ‘Am I now a lazy reader?’ I asked myself until I realized that it wasn't me. The people who gave the reviews on the first page must have been paid to do so.

Charmian is the principal character in this novel and the only thing I liked about this novel was Charmian’s personality. She had her life put together. I love me, a sassy queen who knows what she wants and doesn't have to stretch too much to get it. I enjoy books where women are independent and this gave me a kind of boost to want to read further. Also, the fact that revenge was part of the theme in this novel made me want to know more but the more I tried reading past a page, the more my eyes got heavy.

I don't know if Palmer was trying to imitate the writing style of Charles Dickens because of its complex nature but the difference is that in this one, the sentences almost didn't flow properly into each other. I had to read some lines thrice to get what was happening in that scene. The words weren't concise enough as it was written with overly convoluted grammar. It makes me feel she was bragging about how well read she was and then goes on to display in it her novel by using too complex words.

The praises here say that this novel is humorous but to be frank, I found nothing funny. Were they paid to write these praises? I'd say probably because I can't relate to most of the things said here. The only part I'd say I slightly related to was the aspect of the novel being a satire. Of course it somehow ridicules the society bringing to light how the people in power are corrupt and work hand in hand for another's downfall, etc etc.

Or maybe, it's only a millennial or the generation before millennials that can read and have a good understanding of this book because it's not within my ken. I admire Charmian but the later happenings in the novel are just boring.

It took me months to complete this but while it was aside, I read more than six books. I think a lot of people will agree with me that when a novel is written with overly complex words, the reading experience is less enjoyable. Clear and concise language does the trick. Even Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare and the rest had their ways with words that made their complex writings enjoyable.

I was really disappointed me with this one and this just had to turn out almost as a rant post because I was indignant that a book with such a beautiful cover could turn out so boring. ^{My take though.}

Would I recommend this book ever? Maybe. Because it may come in handy to someone who wants to be skilled at writing complex words as in someone in the medical field. But would I recommend this book for entertainment or relaxation? No.