" Frankly, this was a boring book. I thought the characters were flat and boring, and I never grew to care about any of them much. I also don't care for the author's writing style. Far from being a "Tale" it's mostly just a series of random and mostly meaningless flashbacks mixed with current events that weren't tied very closely together. I think the author depended too heavily on flashbacks to develop the characters, rather than letting their actions build their descriptions. I'm far from needing a linear story, but this jumped back and forth way too much and made it confusing. I never knew where I was... her childhood, two months ago, relatives 200 year plus, teenager, current happenings, 10 years ago, with her parents before her birth, etc. I also thought that the author's attempt at being poetic or lyrical fell short and came out as longwinded with almost a pompous feel. I have to admit that I abandoned this one about 2/3 of the way in. Maybe there was some great twist in the end that tied it all together, but my time is precious and I was through giving it to this book. "
— Rebecca, 2/19/2014