Reading is one of my favorite hobbies that I like to do whenever I have time left to spare from all my homework assignments or chores around the house. Though it may sound a bit strange, I enjoy being in the library to look for interesting books to read and, if they are really good books, I would check them out and then read them at home. One of the books that I came across with a few months ago was called I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter, a historical fiction type genre. That type of genre rarely gets my attention because it gets boring in my opinion, but this story captured my attention because it mashed well with the author’s small bits of fiction in the 1600s time period, the characters were great and believable, and the story was original in my own opinion.
I liked the way the author put in Rembrandt’s paintings in the story because it gives out a few clues that would help the reader understand what’s going on with the artist’s life and the main character in the story. At first, I didn’t know why the author included some of his famous paintings in the story, but as the story progressed, it later made sense because it not only revealed some dark secrets of the artist’s life, but it also showed how he was feeling inside of him (in the story, not in real life). Also, the setting of this story felt believable even though I didn’t know much about the life in Amsterdam in the 1600s. The 2nd plague (I think) that was introduced in the near climax of the story made me see the harsh life that these people might have gone through which was really a tragic time for these people. The social lifestyle that they had during this time period was also the key point on giving this story some flavor into it because it gave some complex issues that these characters had to face through like, for example, the main character falls in love with a gentleman that is from a higher social rank whereas the main girl is at the way bottom and though they love each other, their social status becomes an obstacle for their families in the story.
As I read this story, the author described the characters so well that I could almost picture them in my mind and made me feel like they were real people. They all had unique characteristics that fitted and suited well for each character and because it was told by the observation of the main character, they were sometimes complicated to figure out on what they are thinking or how they will react certain situations. There were times in the story where I thought some characters were a certain type of person in the beginning, but at the end they turn out to be a different person. The characters really surprised me when they made a twist throughout the story.
For me, it was original in a sense because the main character was using some technical terms that are normally used to described art that she later applied them into her life which was really different and interesting at the same time. Though there are points in the story where you have the classic love triangle and dramas, the description of an artist’s life is something that people, including myself, have never read before and is something that’s worth knowing about. For example, in the book, it described how harsh life was for main character’s family because of the harsh “art competitions” that they were facing through and the artist’s family depended on the money that the artist earned from his sale of art.
My review for this book might not have been the best because I simply cannot write the right words to describe how I feel about this book but to say that this is indeed the greatest book I have ever read. I would recommend people to read this book, mostly for girls. I don’t know if guys would like this book, but if you’re a guy who likes to read whatever literature you could find, I would invite you to read this book if you want to. It’s really awesome.
