When I received Dangerous Decisions through the post, my first thought was ‘oh’. The cover is not very inspiring, and the blurb on the cover didn’t do much to inspire me either.
But, I had said that I would review whatever I was sent, so I finished the book I was reading and set about reading Dangerous Decisions. I gave myself a very generous two weeks to read it (usually I can read at least one book a week) and I have to say that I did manage to read it in less than that time.
It took me a while to get into actually reading the book. I didn’t look forward to picking it up to find out what happened next as I usually do with books…my nosey nature usually taking over. The pace did pick up a little towards the end, but then it felt rushed. So I’m not sure if I would have preferred it to amble along at its previous pace.
The story jumps straight into events, not really giving much background to any of the characters. I thought that maybe this would be given as the book progressed, but sadly not. Some people may be perfectly happy with this, but again my nosey nature means that I want to know as much as possible about the characters – why they are like they are and why they do what they do.
Throughout the story, I had to remind myself that we were in fact in the early twentieth century and not, as I kept thinking, in the world and times of Jane Austen, but then again, I suppose in high society, not that much had changed. There seemed to be very little historical content within the story. The only clue is the mention of certain political characters, but you would have to have a particular interest in random politicians of the time to pick up on these references – I certainly didn’t and I studied pre-war politics at A-Level. Maybe I should have listened more in class?
Luckily, Dorothy, the best friend of the main character (although seemingly of little point to the rest of the story) was there to remind me of the era, with her involvement in the women’s suffrage movement.
I think I struggled to be interested in this book because I simply wasn’t interested in the characters. I didn’t really care what happened to them, as not a single one seemed to have much about them. Helena, the ‘heroine’ is a bit wet, and I prefer my heroines to at least have an original thought in their head. The only character who had a personality was Oliver Faraday, however, there was not a redeeming quality to him to make him human. I usually sympathise a little with the baddies of the story, but not this one.
To sum up, this book was an easy read and I finished it in a few days. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who is looking for a book with lots of historical content, or who likes the books they are reading to give them something to think about. However, if you are looking for an easy book to read on holiday, or just something to distract you on your daily commute, then this might be the book for you.
