Monday 9 January 2012

Review: The Court Painter's Apprentice

Title: The Court Painter's Apprentice
Author: Richard Knight
Publisher: Catnip
Publication date: January 1st 2012
Book Source: UK Book Tours
My rating: 2/10

Summary:

"Paint what you see, Johann, not what you think you see."

So says the court painter to his young apprentice. But Johann possesses more than the power to paint a person's soul.

He can alter it.

My thoughts:

This book had a lot of promise. Initially I was excited to read it since it could have been a really brilliant read but it really disappointed me.

I thought the characters were really underdeveloped for a start. The novel is pretty short so it felt like there wasn't enough time for me to get to know the characters. Also, there were some characters that were introduced and then they never appeared again so it felt as if there was a few unresolved issues between them and the protagonist.

As for the plot, I just think it was really dry. Nothing really of interest happened until the end which was quite anticlimactic. Whilst reading the book I was frustrated more than anything because the writing style is beautiful. It produced this atmosphere where I felt like I was sitting in front of a fire listening to my parents telling me bedtime story. It was frustrating because nothing happened in the book that caught my interest. It was a real shame.

It was a really quick read though and I can't help but think, because of the storytelling feel to the novel, a lot of people will enjoy this read - it just wasn't for me.

Richard Knight:

Goodreads

Challenges this book counts towards:


1 comment:

Jules said...

While I'd probably have the same issues with character development as you did, something about the book appeals to me thanks for bring it to my attention.