76. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig (Historical romance) 386 p.

I had a feeling this book wouldn’t be for me, but I read it anyway because I’ve heard many good things about it. That was my first mistake. I was hoping it would be a light-hearted, historically-accurate adventure story, with a bit of romance thrown in. Instead, it read like a cross between the most boring kind of chick lit and a mediocre Regency romance. In fact, it made me remember everything I hate about both genres, like the stereotypes and the terrible clichés.

Peopled with caricatures rather than characters, the story was as over-the-top as a Monty Python sketch, but without being particularly funny. The dialogue, especially the flirtation, was really embarrassing. When I read a book, I can either take the characters seriously as human beings with problems I care about, or I can treat it as a farce—not both, which it seemed like The Pink Carnation was asking me to do.

After reading so much of Anne Perry’s brilliant historical fiction lately, I was all the more aware of this book’s faults in that area. If Lauren Willig has the slightest feel for the people or the society of Regency period, she certainly didn’t let it influence the writing of this story.

I will admit that there were a few parts in the middle that made me laugh, but for most of the time, I was forcing myself to read it. If you enjoy chick lit or historical romance novels, there’s a good chance you’ll like this. Since I don’t enjoy either genre, it’s really no surprise I didn’t like The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.

Pages read: 22,157

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, A ~ Z Reading Challenge, Lauren Willig, Pink Carnation