Reviews for The Jewel of St. Petersburg

The average rating for The Jewel of St. Petersburg based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-12-19 00:00:00 Andrew Donaldson I really wanted to like this book. I love historical fiction and was very excited to read a book set during the Russian Revolution. That being said, this book fell flat in a lot of areas. The characters were empty shells. I found myself only really caring about the secondary characters. Actually, just one: Liev. And perhaps the doctor's daughter, who makes only cameo appearances. Jens and Valentina? Not so much. I didn't dislike either of them; they were just too good, too flawless. Valentina plays the piano. Valentina sacrifices herself for her sister. She's beautiful and is from an affluent family. All of this would be fine, except that Jens seemed to love her for completely unbelievable reasons. Oh a bomb went off in a tunnel? Valentina heard it, when few others did. Jens thinks at this point: "Such sharp ears. She was alert, she listened. Most people didn't listen." We're constantly told how much they love each other, how much they need each other. But aside from their desperation, I never really saw why these two people should be together. I felt like I was going in circles when I was reading this book. I found myself clinging to the minor characters or the occasional prettily woven phrase to keep me from giving up on it. Around page 300, I decided I was sick of this soap opera and despite the fact that there's less than a hundred pages left, I had no desire to continue reading it. I've put it on my pile of books to donate; hopefully someone else will enjoy it more than I did.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-01-26 00:00:00 Stephen Brady [ I believed that the h/h would end up together in the The Girl from Junchow and when Valentina died in The Russian Concubine, it was like somebody had slapped me in the face. (hide spoiler)]