Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Half of a good book

I'd give this 2 1/2 stars if I could; this is -half- of a good book. Plot and background - fine. (Several reviewers have mentioned they felt there was too much 'gemology' in this novel, but frankly, it's the only interesting thing here.) Character development and characterization - completely absent.If the author had spent HALF the time developing her characters as she did presenting the stone details, this would have been a good book. It reads as if she was following one-two word descriptions of each character - Kate, beautiful and talented; Sam, rebellious and honorable, etc.A good editor (or even a half-way literate and disinterested reader) could have told her this.Wait for the paperback or get this from the library if you must read it. Not particularly recommended.