I usually finish all of my books, even if they're bad. Usually. This book, however, I didn't. It's not because it was especially bad or because the author didn't try. It's just that the book was so incredibly slow that I lost interest & found it boring. If the author had decided to whittle down the pages & condense the story more, it would have been far better. Unfortunately she didn't & I was treated to multiple pages of descriptions of perfume making (which was fun at first but then got dull) & various things that really could have been said in a few pages rather than multiple ones. 
 It kind of felt like a novella or a short story that got stretched out into full length novel form. I'm sure that this book will find an audience with someone, but that someone isn't me. It's a shame because I did eventually skip to the end & while the reveal isn't surprising in the least, it was more interesting than I'd thought it'd be & deserved a slightly better treatment than it got here.