Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Boring!

I was sent this book with the newer one by the same author as a gift. When I was stuck at home with the flu I read through both, thinking there must be something good coming. I was wrong. They are boring and pretentious. Even with a background in history, and a graduate degree in Art History, I found it too forced, as though the author were trying very hard to impress someone. The characters were ridiculous, and the writing style was...well, pompous.