In 900 pages there was plenty of room for things I really liked and things that bugged me. I really appreciated how [a key antagonist] was portrayed as an aficionado and collector of history and, how successfully Kostova engaged history itself as a powerful force that swept the characters along in its wake. I wish that she could have shown [that key antagonist] caught in that irresistible force even more - I have had a long standing wish for a vampire story that conveys the deep loneliness and pain of a detached existence that would be suffered by an immortal character. The intertwining of the stories of Paul, Helen and their daughter was wonderful and I really appreciate nonlinear story structure, but for some reason her short chapters got on my nerves a bit - about midway through the book I started to feel like I was watching a soap opera in which we swung back and forth between short takes of Chloe and young Doctor Martin, then Brittany and Clark (who, unbeknown to them both is her brother), then back to Chloe and her doctor, etc. Maybe it was an overdose of cliffhangers at the end of so many chapters that felt like a series of cymbal crashes. The chapter with [a key protagonist's] letter was one of my favorite parts of the story, and it brought back memories of Bram Stoker's Dracula, which was also epistolary. I found the fate of one key character uninspired and wonder if by that point the author was ready to move on to another novel.

Be sure to enjoy a mocha while you're there! The reading and the view are best at the counter by the door.