The Museum of Extraordinary Things

The prose is a little too purple at times for me . . . but the exposition of NY at that time was very vivd and interesting.

Over-written, over-wrought

This book was ok. Not great but not bad. The constant jumping between first person memoir of two characters and then to third person narrative of the same two people seemed unnecessary. I understand wanting to give a glimpse in to the psyche of each character but the constant back and forth took away from the story for me. Additionally some of the story, especially in the later half seemed rushed and not well developed.

I loved the sense of place and time of this book. I also loved Eddie's journey and his struggle to define himself in a rapidly changing world. I loved Hoffman's use of imagery, especially fire and water. What I didn't love was the fact that Eddie and Coralie's stories didn't cross until two-thirds of the way through the book and that Coralie was such a passive heroine. I'm also not a big fan of Hoffman's version of romantic love, but if you follow her work you have to accept that people fall in love at first sight and have mystical connections that can't be broken. Romances don't really develop, they just are. Still, this is one of my favorite Hoffman novels since Practical Magic. Highly recommended.

I was incredibly disappointed in this book. I admit, my opinion is colored in the fact that I don't usually enjoy historical novels, but really it was not a good book. I think Alice Hoffman wanted to badly to write about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the fire of Dreamland in 1911 that she completely neglected the plot. This was touted as a the story of two characters who come together and fall in love while surrounded by the mystery of a missing girl and while, for the brief moment Eddie was searching for the girl it was interesting. And then, she wrapped that up with hardly a peep in a couple of pages and that was the end of that. After that it was all about the fire of Dreamland. Even that was disjointed and hard to follow. I couldn't figure out how everyone ended up where they were and the culmination of the horrors in the book all come down to one short moment with hardly any fanfare at all. It was a let down.

And as far as the love story was concerned, it was a joke. I felt nothing for either character. I could care less how they got together - which happens so far into the book I was beginning to think they book jacket lied to me. Flat, unsympathetic, boring characters, and unrealistic relationships (Coralie and her father, Coralie and Maureen, Coralie and Eddie). The characters I enjoyed (Beck, Ella, the liveryman, and Mr. Morris), the characters she wrote to have fire and substance were background characters we hardly got to see. It felt like she poured all character into these roles and didn't save anything for Coralie and Eddie.

The writing itself was confusing and repetitious. With the three different narratives the timeline jumped around oddly and there was so much overlapping that I sometimes thought I had accidentally jumped a previous chapter on the kindle.

A disappointment.

Honestly a little bit disappointing. The concept was really cool, but I found it very predictable and almost cheesy.

The storyline focuses on 2 central characters whose upbringing should have never led them to the same path. Somehow their circumstances living in an unforgiving city bring them together.  I was equally fascinated and disturbed at the length amusement park owners went through to bring in or create the illusion of the strange-but-true come to life in order to bring in customers and make a profit.

Hoffman delivers a backdrop of a younger NYC in a time in which the working class man takes a stand and helps shape our future through the development of unions. Added to this is the magical time of technology in which the use of electricity is still in its infancy. The detail and care Hoffman puts into recreating this era made me feel like I got my own private tour back in time. Had this book's sole purpose been to enlighten us about that period in time, I would've given this 4 stars. However, at its core, it is the story of Coralie and Eddie, and I felt that once their paths cross, they lose a certain dimension of their individual selves.  I felt that their coming together felt rushed somehow. I also wanted to read more about the characters that help Coralie and Eddie along the way. I think Mr. Morris and Maureen deserve to be featured in their own story. Perhaps there'll be a sequel? 

Overall, it is Hoffman's beautiful writing that is most magical and will make you want to keep reading on. I've heard her fans say that this is not her greatest work. This book has been my introduction to Hoffman and I really enjoyed her writing style. It did not disappoint and I look forward to reading her even finer works.