TBR Jar Review: Camille: The Lady of the Camelias by Alexandre Dumas fils

I picked this one out of my TBR Jar and decided to give it a go. It’s one of those books that always seem to be floating around your subconscious but you never really actively think about picking it up. But I finally did!

The narrator of this book is a man who comes upon a poster for an auction for the possessions of a lady. He finds out that this lady is a courtesan and I believe he had some sort of connection with her, because he goes and ends up buying a book. A little while later a young man comes looking for this book and wants to buy it off him. They end up becoming friends and the young man tells the narrator the story of his relationship with Marguerite, the courtesan, and why this book means so much to him. 

The story itself is very Moulin Rouge-esque, but sort of lacklustre in my opinion. I think this is because I find that stories told in the first person always seem to lack something when it comes to building an atmosphere and a vibe. The same with the characters, we only get to know them through the eyes of the narrator and that always leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. 

I gave this book 2 stars out of 5. 

The next pick from my jar is “Gardens of the Moon” by Steven Erikson. This is the first book in a series consisting, I believe, of 10 books called “The Malazan Book of the Fallen”. I debated whether I was going to read this, as I don’t really feel up to starting such a long series. But to be completely honest it was the 10th book or so I picked out of my jar, so I figured it was time to buckle down and commit. The other books I picked either weren’t available from my library (they went back in the jar) or they just didn’t sound like something I wanted to read so they went in the trash. (Not literally, I don’t own the books, just the little papers with their titles on them).