Lilli de Jong - Likewise Book Reviews

"A grim story that really forces you to dwell on gender inequality throughout the ages. Also some pragmatic issues such as how did babies survive without a breastfeeding mother in pre-formula days.<br/><br/>Knocked off a star because it was just so thoroughly grim. I had to take a break for a few days about 2/3 of the way through. But not before I’d flipped ahead to see just how bad her situation would sink to and whether there was any coming redemption.<br/><br/>I was also distressed by how Lili failed to take the kind of action you or I might—specifically, standing up for herself. Then again, I suppose the author’s interpretation of her character has more historical credibility. To me, nothing spoils a historical novel worse than a protagonist who is so “ahead of her time” as to be completely out of historical context.<br/><br/>A few books back, I read The Terror, which many reviewers seem to have been haunted by afterwards. I found this book way more haunting...Perhaps because the characters may have been fictional, but the situations were not."