I had high hopes for The WInter Palace as a fan of historical fiction and Russian history. However, the book failed to live up to its potential. The author's creativity in storytelling was not fully realized since the majority of the characters were written one-dimensionally. Overall, the book was arduous to finish, I kept waiting for more character development or for the author to tie up loose ends, but instead the book was more of a "study" instead of a finished work.

This book was a fast read that kept the reader's attention as it explored the friendship between a group of 3 people. For readers who are more interested in going on a journey than in the concrete destination at the end of the story this book is for you. I would definitely recommend this as a book club selection because I think this book has a lot to offer for lively discussions (exploring friendships, falling out of relationships, reuniting and the factors influencing the choices people make). While I think this is a great book for a book club selection because of the discussions that can be had around the book, i would not choose this book to read on a vacation or a weekend afternoon. I did not particularly like and was unable to relate to any of the main characters. If you are a reader who enjoys strong female characters, you maybe disappointed in the female characters in this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was one of the most creative books that I have read in years. It was well-executed and unlike other recent books that stretch the creativity bounds- Before Ever After's creativity was believable. This book is a great individual read, however, I would not recommend the book for a book club. This book exemplifies the art of storytelling, but it is not set-up for the typical book club analysis. If you like Audrey Niffenegger give this book a try.