Review - Act Of Faith

England,1640. Sixteen-year-old Isabella is forced to flee her home when her father’s radical ideas lead him into a suicidal stand against Oliver Cromwell’s army.Taking refuge in Amsterdam and desperate to find a means to survive, Isabella finds work with an elderly printer, Master de Aquila,and his enigmatic young assistant, Willem. 

When Master de Aquila travels to Venice to find a publisher brave enough to print his daring new book, Isabella accompanies him and discovers a world of possibility -where women work alongside men as equal partners, and where books and beliefs are treasured. 

But in a continent torn apart by religious intolerance, constant danger lurks for those who don’t watch their words. And when the agents of the Spanish Inquisition kidnap de Aquila to stop him printing his book, Isabella and Willem become reluctant allies in a daring chase across Europe to rescue him from certain death. 




Act of Faith by Kelly Gardiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


3.5




I don’t actually read Historical fiction that often and even though I like the genre I just don’t like many of the books that come out of it. I’m still trying to figure out if I liked this book or not. I read the book in one sitting, but by the end I didn’t feel that satisfied. Everything happened so fast, the problem was fixed and forgotten so quickly.









I think that describes how I felt after completing the book... Not the pants thing though...




Because everything happened so quickly I felt that I didn’t have time to get to know the characters, the story was mainly based around the plot, not that that’s a bad thing, but I felt that the main character Isabella was missing something. Sure, she was a pretty cool heroine, she was stronger and smarter than a lot of girls back then but she just didn’t seem real to me. She was not jumping out at me.









Okay, I have to admit. I really didn’t like Willem. I found what he thought of women annoying and he was a general ass.









Plus the fact that his ass-ness really didn’t change was kind of a let down for me. But Isabella made up for his ass-ness with the fact that she was able to always come up with a good comeback.




I loved Master de Aquila as a character. He was just so passionate about books and freedom of speech! I liked learning about how dangerous just some of the thoughts thought in that time period could be.









What I really didn’t like was the fact that the blurb gave the plot away it also made you think that there would be a bit of a romance between Isabella and Willem. No romance whatsoever, which was the main reason I actually picked up the book.









Or non-existant...




This book is for people that love history and people that are looking for something new to read.




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