This book veered in a different direction than I had expected, though I wasn't sure I enjoyed where I was taken. A story that revolves entirely around lace risked being boring, and although it didn't reach the great scopes I thought it would it did manage to sustain some of my interest.

I didn't like how there were so many viewpoints to keep track of, though - I confused so many of them. And having them happen in sequence, one picking up where the other left off, felt unpleasant even though it shouldn't have been that way - perhaps I felt like some scenes didn't need to follow so soon after.

On the subject of unnecessary, I often wondered how relevant some of the characters and viewpoints were. Moncher's felt the most pointless, and the two sisters were boring and not particularly linked to the others in a relevant or satisfying way. I also didn't care for some of the goals even if the characters were sympathetic, and I could see where they were going to intersect far ahead of what would've been a satisfying discovery.

I hated the ending, too - especially the last chapter of each viewpoint where it didn't feel like the end of their story at all. There wasn't a flow that felt like it was heading to the end, either - the closer I got to the end, the more I feared that there would be another book afterwards. What happened in the end, too, was terrible. Many of the characters had unsatisfactory outcomes (especially the deaths involved), and I would've wished it otherwise.

The only character I particularly wanted to succeed, and was interested in the most, was the Count. Although, and perhaps it was because I wasn't paying too much attention, I would've liked a more obvious statement as to what was "wrong" with him to begin with instead of being left with the wonder of what could be keeping him from getting what he wanted. I suspected many times that he was a woman crossdressing or that he was both sexes, so to find out otherwise that he had syphilis and that his mother "trained" him to be a woman" made sense but felt too late by that point. His interactions with Remy were interesting and confusing at the same time (which was another thing that made me second-guess everything about him), and I would've preferred some more obvious hints as opposed to the veiled speech and narration involved in his story to clarify that and his proper identity. It's a shame how he ended up, because I would've preferred his success above all.

Perhaps I'll read this book again one day more slowly and with time to digest everything, otherwise it won't be for enjoyment - especially when I know that it'll end with such disappointment - but for clarification and to see how so many viewpoints could be merged together in such a good way plot wise but disastrously character wise.