They say that it's harder to writer your second book than your first (even I know that), and that the second usually can't compete if the first was a big success. So I extend my condolences to Lauren Willig. The Masque of the Black Tulip isn't a bad book; I just can't rave over it like the first one. (Maybe the law school/PHD thing proved too much of a load the second time around).
My biggest pet peeve was clever phrases that were used more than once. The first time, it's witty. The second time appears to be a mistake. The third time -- well, the author knows she's being clever, and hopes you won't remember that she used it 100 pages ago. Oh, you need an example? Okay, page 373 (just 26 from the end, I guess she couldn't resist one last go): "Miles made a strange choking noise that sounded like it wanted to be a laugh when it grew up."
It sort of goes along with the not-quite-successful artifice of "defining" chapters. Each chapter starts out with a definition from the Personal Codebook of the Pink Carnation (a character who is barely seen in the sequel). For a couple of chapters, it seemed clever - until I realized it didn't actually say much about the chapter at hand, and then just became a distraction.
I think the reason I wasn't so keen on this sequel, though, was that there were no surprises. It was as obvious who the Black Tulip was as that Miles and Henrietta would end up in marital bliss, from about page 10. The gem of the first book was that it was a witty combination of spy plot and chick lit. This one was an imitation of the first, as opposed to be an enlargement on those ideas.
Having said all that, I am looking forward to the third installment, which promises some romance - finally - for Jane. Jane, who went from dull tag-along cousin to being described as a beauty the classic Greeks could admire. Not sure when that change happened, but that's a criticism for another time.
Oh, and on a final note, I don't hate all books. It's more interesting to talk about their particular foibles -- I can't just say, "I liked it" over and over again, can I?
Next up: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Only 4 more books to read before December 31...I think I might make the goal this year!
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