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See What I Have Done
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See What I Have Done
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See What I Have Done
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See What I Have Done

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this ebook

Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.


Or did she?

In this riveting debut novel, See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt recasts one of the most spellbinding murder cases of all time into a sensitive and humane portrait of two sisters caught inside a volatile household—and what it means to be free and truly loved.

On the morning of August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden calls out to her maid Bridget: Someone’s killed father. The discovery of the brutal axe-murders of Andrew and Abby Borden under their own roof in Fall River, Massachusetts paralyzes the small community. No one can understand why anyone would want to harm the respected Bordens. But secret witnesses to the crime have a different tale to tell—of a father with an explosive temper; a spiteful step-mother; and two spinster sisters, with a bond even stronger than blood, desperate for their independence.

As the police search for clues, Emma comforts an increasingly distraught Lizzie whose memories flash in scattered fragments. Had she been in the barn or the pear arbor to escape the stifling heat of the house? Before or after she last spoke to her stepmother? Were they really gone and would everything be better now? Through the overlapping perspectives of the unreliable Lizzie, her older sister Emma, the housemaid Bridget, and the enigmatic stranger Benjamin, we return to what happened on that fateful day.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 1, 2017
ISBN9780802189134
Unavailable
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Reviews for See What I Have Done

Rating: 3.3199232567049806 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    ‘’Should it matter when it happened?’’ I’ve always been interested in true and unresolved crimes cases and ever since I watched a documentary about the Borden murders, I try to read as much as possible about this strange, horrific crime. So, I eagerly started reading Sarah Schmidt’s novel which was highly recommended and which I found to be every bit as haunting, mysterious, gritty as the real story.First of all, can I just say that we’re living in blessed times for us readers, because the plethora of beautiful debuts, their quality and exciting writing is every reader’s dream.I don’t think there’s ever been a time when most of the debuts have made such an impact on our community. For the last 5-6 years, we have experienced great literary moments by up and coming writers and this should give us hope for the future.Anyway, back to our book. We start our journey with a quite gruesome scene- but well-composed and intense- when the bodies of the Borden couple are discovered. From then on, we move back and forth in time and through the eyes of Lizzie, Emma, Bridget and Benjamin, we try to glue the pieces of a broken family together, to discover the events that led to the bloody epilogue. Now, this time technique is fascinating, but it also requires serious skills. Schmidt succeeds in this and presents the story in a way that makes you forget you actually know it. The book takes you with it and you cannot help but watching the events unfold with the same trepidation we’d have felt for any novel whose plot was unfamiliar to us.The writing reminded me of Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites. There is the same combination of darkness and a strange tranquility underneath. There are domestic scenes described in realistic detail, moments of family dynamics that are uncomfortable, wild. Bloody images that are never over the top. There is a distinctive aura of Gothic, gritty and primitive at times, but always poetically beautiful. It is difficult to describe it, actually. Imagine a mist that covers every chapter, every paragraph and we have to wait for it to dissolve in order to discover hidden feelings and motives. And believe me, it isn’t easy and in certain moments, the mists remains still, unmoving.This novel is an example of beautiful writing and equally well-written characters. It doesn’t matter whether they are likeable or not. (Frankly, ‘’likeable’’ is boring. Most of the times…) They are interesting, they drive the plot, providing dark company, revealing their souls to us. Emma and Lizzie, the Borden sisters, couldn’t be more different. Emma is the eldest, the sensible one, the daughter who wants to escape the family and yet is shuttered by the murders, because to her ‘’family is family’’, despite the fact that her father was cruel and unloving. Lizzie is the revolutionary, the child that doubts her father’s authority, the one who isn’t willing to compromise, she want to to punish what she considers to be cruelty and injustice. She may come across as petulant, spoiled and selfish. Bridget is the young maid of the household, the one who witnesses everything but is unable to intervene. She understands how heavy the darkness in the house is and tries to break free from Abby’s illogical, erratic behaviour. Abby and Andrew, the victims, the ‘parents’, are awful people.Judging by the way they come across in the novel, I couldn’t say that I felt any kind of pity for them, as harsh as it may sound. Benjamin, a man of ill repute, has his own father- caused traumas and his plans involve revenge, but they’re no well thought-out.This is a beautiful, dark book. Attractive, gritty, exciting, emanating a deep sadness for a family that is destroyed by a tyrannical father and ill choices. I agree with a number of good friends in our community who said that this story isn’t for everyone. You need to invest yourself in the novel, to be willing to think beyond the words you read, to be open-minded. I loved the way Schmidt chose to end the story, it was so well-constructed and powerful.One more brilliant debut by an Australian author, one more brilliant example of Historical Fiction.Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I grew up jumping rope to the Lizzie Borden rhyme, so I was naturally intrigued when See What I have Done came up on the book list. Sarah Schmidt presents a cast of mostly unlikable characters and gives readers a peek into their private thoughts around the time of the Borden murders and thereafter.The tone of the book is tedious and oppressive. Schmidt is excellent at conveying the boredom, the stifling heat, the troubled relationships and the workings of a dysfunctional family and mental illness. The story moved along fairly well for me until after the murders. Here is where Schmidt lost me. Her writing was well done--maybe too much so. The gory details of the bodies, the constant descriptions of the blood, the stomach heaving and the smells, were among the reasons that made me not care too much about reading any further. I felt like I was right there in the house and the only way out of the house was to quit reading.I liked Schmidt’s introduction of Benjamin and he definitely added a thrilling aspect to the story. Overall, I think Schmidt did a great job of descriptive writing and characterization. If you have any questions about whether or not Lizzie is guilty, you won’t after reading this book.Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the opportunity to read this story and give an honest review.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I didn't know anything about the Borden murders (still don't, beyond what I read in this book), so I came to this fresh. I thought it was such an intriguing story, and I liked how the finger never settled exactly on one person and left it open to interpretation as to the range of motives. It shows that even if there is an accepted version, there are always multiple possibilities. Sometimes the writing style jarred me, just a few sentences which needed a bit of polishing, but overall I enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this creepy, page-turning take on the Lizzie Borden story. I agree with another reviewer that Benjamin wasn't a great character but I think he added some menace. But I thought author Sarah Schmidt did a really great job creating a truly scary Borden household, especially of course Lizzie. People familiar with the real life murders will find some genuinely eery touches here and there. If you're not, you should at least read the Wikipedia entry beforehand just to familiarize yourself. I can see recommending this as a stay-up-late read and/or something for the literary beach bag.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hats off to Sarah Schmidt for being able to immerse herself into a dark, atrocious event and find humanity in these sick, twisted characters. Told in 4 alternating points of view, the book leaves us with more questions than answers about the Borden murders; in this horrible, dysfunctional, family motives for murder abounded. But the point of this book isn't to know, but to feel. I felt sadness, pity, frustration, and anger toward this real-life cast of characters. The descriptions were evocative at a sensory level: gut-wrenching renditions of dead bodies, cringe-inducing portrayals of acts of violence, even the food was repulsive. Needless to say, this book is not a light read, but the creepy darkness is appropriate for the subject matter and it is a worthy read. I will definitely be looking for Sarah Schmidt's next novel.Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed this book, especially the first half where Schmidt describes the Borden house of horrors in excruciating and often nauseating detail. I could almost taste that rancid pot of mutton stew on the Bordon's stove, making me thankful I'm thankful I'm a vegetarian.

    Really, what took Lizzie so long to snap?

    Ultimately,the novel suffers from too many narrators--I'm not sure why that fellow Benjamin is around. He's not a proper red herring as Lizzie's guilt was never really in question, and he didn't add much to the narrative. There was also a nod to a murder conspiracy, but this was never developed. I also thought there were too many confusing and ineffective shifts in time. Because of this clutter and confusion, the novel lagged at the end, blunting what should have been a suspenseful ending.

    As a novel of psychological horror, the suspense stems from Lizzie's madness, when the reader recognizes the full depth of Lizzie's depravity. But due to the novel's structural problems, that delicious frisson of terror is missing.

    Still, Sarah Schmidt is a talented writer and this well-written novel is a welcome addition to the Lizzie Borden oeuvre and required reading for all of Lizzie's fans.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    As a fictional work regarding Lizzie Borden and the infamous murders, I was very excited to read this debut novel (plus the cover is amazing). The novel included things that should make a good story: murder, dysfunctional family, creep factor, etc. Overall I was disappointed; I wasn't fond of the writing style and it was a little slow.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If you like to read about body functions, people slurping their food, picking their skin, wiping hands on clothes, then this is the book for you. The mention of these habits, and many more, were mentioned so much that it took away from the story line.Many books are written about Lizzie Borden. There are those who believe she alone was responsibly for the axing of her father and his wife. Then, there is an other minded group who are firm in advocating that she did not do this dastardly deed.The tale of deaths on a stinking hot August 4, 1892 is told from varying points of view of the characters. Broken into chapters, Lizzie, her sister Emma, their Uncle John who visited the family during the time of the murders, Bridget, the Irish maid, and a new before-known character of Benjamin, we learn of their thoughts and behaviours. Benjamin, a creepy near-do-well character who supposedly was hired by Uncle John to perform maiming and killing of the Borden family, was hiding in the house and barn when the murders occurred, leaving him without the payment he was promised. The internal machinations of Lizzie's thoughts are portrayed in a manner that clearly points to an unhealthy mental state. Both Andrew and Lizzie's step mother are not liked, and there is a long litany of grievances they did, with enough ugliness of character to render their bloody, over the edge deaths.The continued hacks to the bodies with a rendering that is clearly one of vengeance is vividly described, and leaves the reader knowing that who ever did the killing was not someone you would like to have in your house for dinner. The reader is left to ponder who actually did the killings. Like many books before this one, this is an ageless tale with no definitive answer regarding who committed the murders.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The murders of Lizzie Borden's parents, along with the court case that decided she wasn't guilty of the murders is an endlessly fascinating facet of American history. Here, Australian author Sarah Schmidt gives us her interpretation of events. It begins with some promise, rendering a portrait of a claustrophobic living situation with an autocratic father making hasty decisions, an older sister torn between a desperation for escape and a love for her troubled little sister, and an unstable and erratic Lizzie. But the characterizations remains opaque, the trial is side-stepped and there's too much wrapped up in the final moments for an event steeped in ambiguity. A story like this requires unanswered questions.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Everyone thinks they know what really happened that fateful day in Fall River. Everyone has an opinion on Lizzie Borden's guilt or innocence.Schmidt explores what could have happened from four points of view: Lizzie herself, Emma, her sister, Bridget, the family's maid, and Benjamin, a stranger brought into the outskirts of their world.There is so much to like about this book. Schmidt has a beautiful lyrical writing style that makes everything that's happening feel both real and surreal.This book is also absolutely fascinating. Schmidt has clearly done her research, and can back her theories up. Even though I know a lot of facts about this case, Schmidt had me turning page after page, having to find out what happens, unable to put it down.I did feel the addition of Benjamin was somewhat unnecessary. The people involved in this true story are already fascinating enough without needing to add in a fictional mysterious stranger.I've always read and watched about unsolved mysteries, and the Borden case is one of those I've read about a lot. So I was extremely excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a work of fiction based on true events, and I was never quite sure how fictionalised everything was.The evidence about the events that led to the murder Andrew and Abby Borden is presented by several narrators, looking for reasons for the murders.We are told in the cover blurb that Lizzie Borden was tried and found innocent, and that no one was ever convicted of the crime. The novel presents a number of possible scenarios but I think you are left in no doubt at the end of the author's conclusion.Nevertheless it is a book that keeps you reading, and it presents an analysis of the main characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Having grown up in the area of course this topic is well-known and widespread, so i felt pulled to read this novel. NO disappointment here!We have all read the Lizzie Borden story or seen the movies....40 whacks and all that, parents murdered, and of course during the times, women were thought of as being incapable of wielding such power.SO. Schmidt gives us an unique perspective by writing from several viewpoints.....Lizzie, her sister Emma, Bridget the maid, John the uncle and Ben- the hired thug. She gives us several possibilities but one reality. Strange household filled with tension and sickness both mental and physical, no matter what ultimately occurred. And i do believe that sister Emma knew the truth from the start.SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE is intriguing from the first page.ps- Lizzie and i share the same birthday!!??? oh noooooooooo a hundred years apart but odd fact to find out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This fictional retelling of the Lizzie Borden murders was gripping from page one. Sarah Schmidt does a wonderful job recounting the events leading up to the infamous murder of Lizzie Borden's parents by telling the story in multiple voices. Lizzie, her sister Emma, the maid Bridget, and a mysterious man by the name of Benjamin view the events though different eyes and add an air of mystery. Did Lizzie Borden really murder her parents with an ax? Why was the Borden house so messed up? What are they all hiding? It's eerie and compelling and an overall quick read. Dark, morbid, and fascinating - historical fiction at it's best!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love reading books that are based on actual, true life people and events. Although this story was a fictionalized version, it was a great interpretation of the life of Lizzie Borden. Lizzie gained infamy after being tried and acquitted for the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.The author did a great job of setting up an atmosphere of a family that just did not seem "right." Very well done and their was a few subtle hints throughout the story of how things unfolded in these murders. At the end of the book the author included true facts. It was fascinating to learn that Lizzie was basically acquitted of these murders because the male jury believed no woman was capable of committing an act like this. Really great book! I received a complimentary ebook via Netgalley.com
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    5502. See What I Have Done, by Sarah Schmidt (read 24 Sep 2017) This is a work of fiction by an Australian writer but she has done considerable research on the Lizzie Borden case, which has long been of great interest to me. Books on the case I have read heretofore are The Girl in the House of Hate, by Charles Samuels (read 4 Jan 1955, re-read 11 Aug 1962), Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story, by Edward D. Rabin (read 11 Aug 1962), Goodbye Lizzie Borden, by Robert Sullivan (read 27 Feb 1977), and Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890's, edited by Joyce G. Williams et al, (read2 Aug 1982), Thus it is obvious that I am interested in the facts of the case. This novel jumps around in time, concentrating on the days from Aug 2, 1892 to Aug. 6, 1892--the date of the murders was Aug 4, 1892. Chapters alternate narrators between figures in the case, and there is one "figure", Benjamin, who is so far as I know entirely fictional. I admit I do not like a book where I cannot tell what is true and what is fiction. So I was often irritated as I read the book, though it ends up as a somewhat satisfying story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Australian Sarah Schmidt takes a whack at the well-known story of the Lizzie Borden case. She structures her novel in chapters devoted to key figures: Lizzie Borden, the accused murderer of her father and stepmother; Bridget, the family maid, who was at home at the time of the murders; Emma, the older sister, staying with friends during the initial events; John, the sisters' maternal uncle; and a wholly fictional character, Benjamin, a thug hired by John to threaten Mr. Borden, supposedly on Lizzie's behalf. We are never witness to the murder or the trial or to any post-trial events: Schmidt focuses instead on each character's observations and psychological responses. Lizzie comes across as a spoiled, immature, perhaps mentally unbalanced woman in her early 30s. Her sister Emma says time and again that Lizzie always gets her way and that even their strict, stingy father gave in to her every whim. Emma's own happiness--a desire to see Europe, dreams of becoming an artist, even a possible marriage--have been constantly thwarted by the expectation that she will, as her dying mother asked, "take care of Lizzie." Uncle John seems to be a little too close to Lizzie. A shady character, he has a history of borrowing money from his brother-in-law but never paying it back. Did he--or Benjamin, a deranged young man who lives only to make enough money to return home and kill his father--have anything to do with the bloody axe murders? Or was Lizzie finally pushed over the brink when her father killed her pet pigeons? While we never get a definitive answer, Schmidt clearly believes that this is the case.The book left me feeling that I had only half the story and with more questions than I had when I started it. I wanted to know more about Bridget, the only apparently "normal" person in the household. Indeed, an entire novel from her point of view would probably have been more interesting. I'm not sure just what role Benjamin is meant to play. Is he a foil to Lizzie, meant to show how he recognizes in her one of his own kind, capable of murder? Or are we to suspect, despite what he tells us, that he is the real murderer that got away? With the entire family barfing up the mutton that has been simmering on the stove for days, why does no one suspect it has been poisoned or gone bad? (Lizzie at one point asks Bridget if there is any prussic acid in the house--a rather heavy-handed hint.) What exactly was it that turned Lizzie against her stepmother, a woman she had called Mother for years but then began referring to as Mrs. Borden?The novel had it's interesting moments, but, for me, too many holes to recommend, even for fans of the unsolved murders.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have never read anything before, fictional or not, about these murders though of course I have heard the rhyme. This is a very interesting take on the Borden family and the murders of the two elder Bordens. Emma, ten years older than Lizzie, a young woman who has had to take on the role as main confidante and caregiver of a younger Lizzie. She promised her mother on her deathbed and Lizzie took full advantage of this promise. Emma, though was not in the house during the times of the murders. Lizzie, in her thirties, acts and sounds like a young child. Stunted growth. The young, Irish servant Bridget is our main narrator.Written in a strange almost dreamlike manner, the ominous tone and the forbading atmosphere of the house permeated throughout. So very strange some of the things going on, from the mutton soup which always seems to be on the stove, never refrigerated, eaten daily to Mrs. Bordens strange attempt to hold on to Bridget. Not a happy home, definitely not a happy family. Two others are introduced to this story, an uncle and a young boy for hire. Not a book I can recommend to everyone, but I thought this was inventive and we'll written, albeit as I said, strange.ARC by Netgalley.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    "Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one."We've all heard the rhyme about Lizzie Borden. In 1892 she was tried and acquitted in Massachusetts for murdering her father and stepmother with an axe. See What I Have Done is the fictionalised tale of Lizzie Borden by Sarah Schmidt and is hitting the shelves in a very big way this month.Emma and Lizzie are sisters with a smothering, symbiotic relationship that crowds every page. The family is somewhat dysfunctional and the claustrophobic relationship between the sisters compounds this.Lizzie was frustrating but that's the point. Their relationship together is somewhere between sisterly love and outright obsession.The book is brimming with envy and loathing between the sisters and even though this is what creates the toxic family environment, reading it left me feeling icky and unclean. With every page I touched I felt as though I was slowly acquiring a layer of grease that wouldn't wash off afterwards.I commend Schmidt for making me experience such discomfort, but in the end the novel just didn't work for me.* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a really good, creepy fictionalized version of the Lizzie Borden story. Like most people, I knew the rhyme, but not much else about Lizzie Borden. This gave a lot of background about Lizzie and her family and what occurred prior to her parents murder. It introduced a fictional witness, Benjamin, to give a third party view of what might of happened. The author clearly did a lot of research and really knew the details of the case. I won a copy of this book from Goodreads.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Virtually every person in this book was portrayed as crazy, nasty, abusive, or exhibiting filthy personal habits of behavior and hygiene. The overall atmosphere was dark and oppressive. I did not like the way the author switched back and forth between the day of the murders and the day before the murders. For a while I thought to myself that all these people ever ate were johnnycakes, mutton soup and pears, but then I realized that it was the same story over and over again, just told by different people over the course of the two days. I wanted to take a shower when it was all over. Yuck.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Oppressively moody, which fits the subject, but makes it heavy and uncomfortable to read. Well-written, but ultimately unsatisfying. I wasn't left with any additional insight into what might have happened with the Bordens than what I originally started with.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Amazing in descriptions to show the oppressiveness of sisters bound to each other whether they want their own lives or not, the heat, the casual cruelty, family abuse and the human wish for love.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If you're fairly familiar with the case of Lizzie Bordon, you can dive right into this book. If, however, you're like me and most of what you know is from a History Channel documentary you watched more than ten years ago, it makes for a rocky start to this book. I did appreciate the author's creativity in her approach to this story, but it did cause a very nonlinear story to emerge, which was frustrating at times, as the characters shifting between the day of the murders and the lives they lived up to that point. A decent book, but I do wish I'd at least read the Wikipedia article about Lizzie Bordon before jumping in.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The story is redundant, fails to flow, and amateurish. It seems to overflow with repetitive smells what it's author lacks in experience and vocabulary.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It was a great read. However, I still don't know for sure that Lizzie did it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3.5 stars!

    SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE is a beautifully written re-telling of the Lizzie Borden story.

    I've always been fascinated by Lizzie Borden. Having lived all my life in Massachusetts, it's a story everyone is familiar with, even children, because of that horrible rhyme: Lizzie Borden took an ax... Because of my interest and due to the reviews of some of my friends, I decided to finally read this book that I had requested from NetGalley last year. I'm glad I did!

    This narrative was split into several different viewpoints which was a bit confusing at first, but became easier as the tale went on. Because the story was told in this way, there ended up being a lot of repetition as each character had mutton soup at various times and they seemed to be preoccupied with pears.

    That said, language is used beautifully even if it was a bit quirky. In fact, the prose was so lyrical at times that it distracted from the story. The characters were vividly drawn though and had strong personalities. I'm not sure how much of the narrative was actually true, but just about everyone in this tale is horrid. The creepy uncle who hangs about touching Lizzie and her sister in inappropriate ways. Mr. Borden who wasn't above smacking his grown children in the face whenever he was displeased. Mrs. Borden, (who was NOT Lizzie's real mother, by the way), seemed more of a doormat than a person. Lastly, Emma, Lizzie's sister, who cannot seem to figure out the simplest of mysteries, even when all the facts were right there under her nose.

    All in all, I did enjoy this story, most especially because of the quirky, but eloquent prose. This story has been told before, but I liked how this tale was presented-so vividly, yet convoluted at the same time. I look forward to reading Sarah Schmidt's work in the future, and I do recommend this book, though it might not work for everyone.

    *Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Mehhhhhhhhhhh. 2.5 stars. This wasn't anything new from the zillion other Lizzie Borden stories out there. And I frankly strongly disliked the way pretty much everyone was portrayed. It's like writers forget that these were real people and thus end up writing borderline offensive portrayals of them.

    There's not much to say about this book. We don't really get any special insight into any of the characters that, again, we haven't seen elsewhere. It's really a shame, especially since I was so looking forward to it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I found this book hard to get through because of the language--it felt like posturing and unfortunately obscured the meaning. I still like the premise, though.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm a sucker for a fictional take on real events and this fit the bill. I was so wrapped into the story that I had to remind myself that it was fiction and not an account of what really happened.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good story