Title: Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary
Author: Pamela Dean
Publisher: Tor
Where You Bought This Book: I ordered it, through Bookfinder.com, from an independent American book seller.
Main Characters:
1. Gentian
2. Her sisters, Juniper and Rosemary
3. Their parents
4. Gentian’s best friends
5. Dominic, the boy-next-door
What It’s All About:
As I’ve said before, I’m not sure. The book is pretty plotless, but basically it’s about Gentian and her sisters coping with a very odd new neighbour, Dominic. He’s handsome and speaks in quotes, and he lives at an address the post office insist doesn’t exist.
Dominic wants the three sisters to help him build a time machine but this doesn’t happen til the end of the book. In fact, nothing much happens until the last four or so chapters. Before that, it’s all Gentian and various other characters discussing literature or science or feminism. This makes the book rather unbelievable seeing that she is 13.
What happens finally is quite devastating and you wish Pamela Dean had got to it earlier.
What I like About It:
1. It’s not believable that modern-day 13-year-old girls should spend so much time discussing poetry and feminism, but I did enjoy the conversations Gentian has with her best friends.
2. The poetry that’s supposed to be written by Becky, Gentian’s favourite best friend.
3. The bits which describe the planets and stars Gentian looks at with her telescope.
What I Dislike About It:
There’s nothing I actually dislike. I actually like books that are full of rambling conversations, where nothing much happens, but I guess I wasn’t expecting it of a children’s book, and a fantasy ones at that!
Other Books I’ve Read by the Same Author:
I haven’t, but now I want to.
If You Like the Sound of this Book, You should also Check out these Titles:
1. Katherine Mansfield’s short stories.
2. A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen.
3. The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones. This one also features sisters and a beautiful boy.
Name of Reviewer: Daphne Lee
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