Abandoned 1/3 way throughThe daughter of a perfumer travels to the Isle of Jersey, where she uncovers a mystery involving Victor Hugo’s obsessive search for a way to reconnect with his deceased daughter.“In this world of misery, suffering and horrible injustice, Didine was my own wonder, my own happiness. And in Jersey, she became my own madness.”This was probably a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” Going into this book, I was unaware of the present-day storyline, thinking it was solely about Victor Hugo. I also was unaware that it had anything to do with reincarnation or that it was part of a series. These factors combined left me a bit confused, a bit disappointed, and a bit frustrated, before I even got through the first chapter.I tried to work my way through this story regardless, but found the writing itself to be somewhat plodding. By the time I reached page 100, I felt like nothing had really happened yet; so much of that part was used to tell us all about the main character, Jac, and her past. I’m not sure how much of this would have been redundant for those that had read the previous books, but even within this story, the author seemed to repeat herself. Okay, she’s a skeptic… I get it. Okay, her mother’s suicide messed her up… I get it. Okay, she misses this ex-lover (who by the way, has a wife — as stated about four times)… I get it.Also, there were few sections about Victor Hugo, and those that were there basically were all about how much he liked women and how much he missed his daughter, which also got a bit tedious. I found myself disliking his character, and at that point, called it quits, since that was the only reason I had picked it up in the first place.Overall: Both the subject and the writing were simply not my cup of tea.
