by M. J. Rose
(4/17/2016)
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The plot elements are fascinating to me--Russian emigres in Paris in the last year of World War I, a young woman learning to be a fine jeweler. But the supernatural and witchcraft elements turned me off. Opaline is the daughter of an artist/witch, and the precious jewels she works "speak" to her. I could have done without the talk of witchcraft, books of spells and potions, and semi-immortal great-grandmothers. And the sentence fragments! One or two incomplete sentences, for emphasis, per page is okay, but dozens on every page really were annoying. I believe young women who've aged out of Harry Potter, etc,, would like this more than I did.