This is one of those books that, were I not reading it for book club, I'd never pick up on my own. If I had, I'd put it back after reading the first page, which contained two or three grammar errors (they continue throughout the book, incidentally). Additionally, I found myself correcting awkward phrasing. These problems are only surface, however.

Most disappointing is the inelegant structure. The stories in the historical chapters are unfocused, often centering on characters that have little to do with The Book. In these chapters, Brooks also chooses to change from third to first person about 3/4 of the way into the book. I believe she made this choice to make her big reveal a surprise, but it strikes me as laziness. Another lazy storytelling method Brooks employs is telling rather than showing. She explains that conversations or events went on for long periods, but we, as readers, have no sense of that because she doesn't allow us to be privy to the details.

My final issue is that I didn't care about most of the characters. In the historical chapters, many characters appear so that we can see their suffering, but they have little other purpose. Much of this suffering and the violence perpetrated against them is gratuitous, does little to further a plot, and sometimes causes them to react in ways that seem unrealistic. Additionally, I wholly disliked the protagonist, Hanna, whose chapters I trudged through, dreading the vague details of her personal life, disputes with her mother, and romance with a museum curator.

In sum, I feel Brooks really needed a better editor than the one she had, one who could have, perhaps directed what feels like a highly-contrived first or second draft into a fully-realized work.