Shelf Full of Books

I blog about about the books I read which range from children's books to suspense/thrillers. The books are recently published.

Alice of the Rocks by E. Graziani

 

Elisa lived in 16th century Florence Italy as a scullery maid in the Medici household. Accosted one day by two courtiers, her honour remained intact when she was saved by Count Claudio Moro.

Alice lived in the late 2020's and was on holiday in Florence with her aunt and uncle as her parents had to return early to their home in Canada. They were staying in a villa that belonged to friend of the family.

 

Alice of the Rocks is part historical fiction, part science fiction/fantasy and part clean romance. It was wonderfully imaginative. The story is told from the point of view of the characters in the 16th century and also from the point of view of the characters living in the 21st century. I thought the characters felt realistic to their time.

 

The plot of the story was quite interesting and quite likely would have theoretically fit in with what Leonardo da Vinci would have studied in his research of nature if it could have actually happened. I thought that what did occur was unlikely to ever happen, but if it could, it would be exceedingly dangerous. Travel of this sort has been explored in all kinds of science fiction stories.

 

There were a lot of plot twists and turns in Alice of the Rocks. Some of them involved jealousy, revenge, nature, the plotting and planning of various characters trying to manipulate events to their benefit. I found these twists very interesting to watch unfold as we moved from on time era to the other as the story developed and we could begin to see how the events from the 16th century were related to the 21st century.

 

I enjoyed the relationship that developed between Alice and Claudio and appreciated the fact that she did feel conflicted regarding her boyfriend back home. I think the decision she had to make near the end of the book would have been extremely difficult and I am glad that I was not in her position of having to make that decision and having to live with it.

 

The pacing of this novel was excellent. The speed varied appropriately according to the activity taking place in the story. I found Alice of the Rocks to be a very engaging novel. It held my attention all the way through without lagging in places.

 

The only thing I'm not sure about is why the book was titled Alice of the Rocks. I don't see any significance of that title to the story. Nevertheless, the story was very much worth reading and I would highly recommend it to readers of any of the following genres: historical, science fiction, fantasy and romance. I gave this book 5 stars out of 5.

 

Thank you to the author for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

 

To see my full review to go Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2015/05/book-review-alice-of-rocks-by-e-graziani.html

Source: http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2015/05/book-review-alice-of-rocks-by-e-graziani.html