After last week's book review, I decided to go with something a bit lighter for this week. Lighter and shorter.
Have you watched Downton Abbey? Did you like it?
Do you like parodies of things you like?
If the answer to the above questions is "yes", then you will probably like this book. If not... well, you probably won't.
Or be indifferent to it, like me.
I like parodies.
I even like parodies of things I really enjoy.
And while I like the idea of Downton Abbey and am 100% sure I would love the show, I haven't seen it. (I know, I know.) And yet, I read this book.
And it was very... meh.
I won't go into the whole plot because, well, it is a Downton Abbey spoof. The gist is, The Crawfish family spends their days and nights having twenty-two course meals and enjoying being wealthy. But the sinking of the ship the Gigantic affects the future of the Crawfish line, and soon the whole family future and wealth is called into question. We follow the servants and the nobility, all in a great big ridiculous melodrama.
Some parts did make me chuckle out loud.
"She arrives on a crisp autumn breeze and virtually melts Roderick's heart on sight, sweeping him off his feet like a mixed metaphor that wants to be a simile but ends up one big confusing cliché."
But most of it is just... silly. I'm good with melodrama; I even like soap operas on occasion. I like satire and parody. But the humour in here is largely slapstick and honestly reminiscent of being written by a junior high boy. And that type of humour is fine... it just isn't my style.
Honestly, it made me a little less anxious and excited to watch the show.
So, it was fine. I'd give it, say, 2.5 stars out of 5. (I know I don't always assign a star rating on here, but for some reviews I find it helpful.) Since I like books from this time period, I did enjoy a bit of the humour pointed at, say, class distinction, but overall it was a dump of plot points set against a backdrop of slapstick and sex and fart jokes.
I'm not disappointed I read it (and it was a quick read), but it just certainly was not my cup of tea. (Get it? Cup of tea? Because, you know, they drink a lot of tea in Downton Abbey...) That joke was about as well-thought-out as some of the ones in the book (and like I said, some was good, some okay, some just not).
What was the last book you were very "meh" about? And did you watch Downton Abbey? Do you recommend it?
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