A Splendid Ruin by Megan Chance

 

A Splendid Ruin by Megan Chance
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I struggled to read this book and I am also struggling to write a review that describes how I feel about it. I really enjoy historical fiction, and the backdrop of 1906 San Francisco makes for a compelling story, but there was just something about this book that didn't work well for me. The main character May is likable enough, but the entire first half of the book was constantly foreboding, alluding to some big mystery, it actually got very tiresome. The descriptions of the asylum and her treatment there were so brutal and graphic that I felt uncomfortable just reading it and had to rush through that section. The use of the earthquake as her chance to get free was well done, and here is where the author really shined. Her details of the smoke burning their eyes and lungs, the fear and desperation of people after the quake was realistic and compelling. After enduring everything that May went through, the ending wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. Overall this book was mixed for me.