As You Desire

Hero: Harry Braxton 

Heroine: Desdemona "Dizzy" Carlisle

I started reading As You Desire in early September and I finished it in late November.  It took me a long time to read.  Usually, that doesn't bode well for my enjoyment, since the story seems to be dragging on and on.  In this case, I liked the story, but the words slowed me down.  I needed more time to process the words as I read them.  This wasn't the case when I read My Dearest Enemy, also by Ms. Brockway.  My Dearest Enemy only took a week last year when I read it.  (This was before I began reviewing books.)

Parts of As You Desire that I did not like:

1) The topic of Harry's dyslexia was well incorporated into the story in some places, but it mostly stuck out like a sore thumb.  It could have been better handled.

2) I didn't get why Desdemona reacted the way she did when she saw Harry's name on the will, listing him as the heir of Darkmoor Manor.  I couldn't make the leap from Desdemona making love to Harry to suddenly feeling like the bone between two dogs (Harry and his cousin Blake).  It seemed like a sloppy plot device created to explain why Dizzy left the house unescorted, and thus leading to her kidnapping.

3) Magi got on my nerves.

4) The story never really resolves the money issues Desdemona experienced.  It is left to the reader to assume that her marriage to Harry fixed the turkey farm problems and other cash flow concerns.  It really irked me that Blake kept the gold Apis bull and sold it.  It appeared that he never told Dizzy or Harry about it; I would have liked to know with certainty what happened there.

5) The point of view switched from Dizzy to Harry without clear transitions.  I disliked reading Marta's POV so early in the story.  There were a bunch of times I found myself wishing for a different POV throughout the book.

Things about As You Desire I liked (yes, there are some!):

1) Harry was an absolutely dashing hero with real-life characteristics and flaws.  I was routing for him the whole way through.

2) Desdemona grew as a person during the story (if you ignore her odd reaction mentioned above), and was likable.

I don't like rating books by a star or number system, so here's my rating system:
Bad=Quit reading the book
Fair=It was okay; I finished it
Good=I liked it
Great=I loved it; definitely would enjoy re-reading it someday

Rating for As You Desire: fairly good