Complex But Enjoyable
4 out of 5 stars
Going into and planning for a 22+ hour audiobook read is quite a daunting task, but I cannot imagine the time and effort that Oakley put into writing it. The amount of detail that went into each character, setting, and chapter felt insanely well-researched. I could tell that Oakley was trying to write the most authentic book that she could while still calling it fiction.
I went into it pretty blind, not really knowing exactly what it was going to be about and it didn’t hurt or help my reading. After finishing it, I went to see what others thought about it (something I don’t normally do) because it was such an interesting book I had to know what other reviewers thought about it. I didn’t see any or many audiobook reviews, but I did see lots of great reviews on the kindle edition, and for good reason. It was interesting from beginning to end. I was genuinely worried I was going to get bored or that some things would be mundane as the book continued – but I didn’t feel that way very often. Oakley did a great job with the pacing and setting expectations of the flow of the book from the get-go.
I don’t want to talk too much about the story itself since this book is 500+ pages and 22+ hours – giving a one-paragraph synopsis wouldn’t be doing any of it justice. Just know that as a history nerd, I loved reading about things that I had no idea happened. This was definitely one of those historical topics.
Overall, I thought that Oakley’s The Jossing Affair was an interesting and thought-provoking historical fiction book. One that isn’t short on research or on intrigue. As I said above – it was complex but enjoyable. 22+ hours is a great way to spend a credit, especially if you’re into historical fiction about places and things you may have never known or heard about.
Book Description:
