What do readers think of The Secret Language of Stones by M. J. Rose? Write your own review.

Not really my kind of book.. a supernatural romance novel with a predictable ending . The only part I enjoyed were the historical aspects which kept me from giving this book a 2.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The plot elements are fascinating to me--Russian emigres in Paris in the last year of World War I, a young woman learning to be a fine jeweler. But the supernatural and witchcraft elements turned me off. Opaline is the daughter of an artist/witch, and the precious jewels she works "speak" to her. I could have done without the talk of witchcraft, books of spells and potions, and semi-immortal great-grandmothers. And the sentence fragments! One or two incomplete sentences, for emphasis, per page is okay, but dozens on every page really were annoying. I believe young women who've aged out of Harry Potter, etc,, would like this more than I did.

I chose this book thinking it would be a new and different genre for me. I thought the book started out slowly, and I almost put it down. Around page 110 it sparked my interest to continue reading. The paranormal aspect of the book was very intriguing. This book haunted me long after I finished reading it. I will definitely read other books by this author.

This book had a lot of ingredients to make me happy to read it--the era, romance, jewelry, travel, royalty, castles, the supernatural, and magick. Too much plot without more details that could have enhanced the story. Too bad. I could have loved this book.

I really wanted to like this book. I was intrigued by the premise; a jeweler has the unique ability to create talismans to ease the suffering of mothers who have lost sons during a difficult war. At times the book stayed true to this premise and I enjoyed reading the story. But too many times the author strayed and the story read more like a romance novel. I grew frustrated with Opaline's indecisiveness and, for me, it was a distraction. The ending was contrived and predictable and the suspense that the author tried to achieve was not there; by the end I had lost interest. This book might be more enjoyable for those interested in the occult but, for me, it just didn't work.