Zoe Adams
This was nowhere near as good as Again Rachel, but slightly better than Rachel's holiday. However, I find Marian Keyes' oddly addictive, especially on audio, and have already downloaded the next book.... I think the problem with this was just that it got a bit silly in places; however, I thought, as always, Marian Keyes dealt well with difficult issues (grief) in her typical humorous style. So while it didn't always work, I still respect her and admire her skill.
3.75. This was a lovely book. I thought some of the comments about grief, family, love etc, were really profound. It was also a lot of fun. Some of the best bits were the reflective comments about what it means to be gay. I would have given this four stars, but I felt that there were passages which didn't quite work. With a better editor, however, this could have been really good.
This was very well written, and I really did like the way that the idea of family being like a French Braid was explored. However, I felt that this was so short, I couldn't even evaluate it alongside other novels. But what really got me was that the nuance was pretty much lost because the author decided to use the last chapter to explain the comparison between family and french braid, rather than leaving the ideas implicit. I felt a bit like the author didn't trust the readers enough to tease out the implications of the comparison themselves. This rather ruined it for me. I was also a bit perplexed about the first chapter; i expected a tie in at the end, but there wasn't one. So, well written, and good on its own terms, but difficult to assess.
I was really not in the mood for a thriller, but this was a really really great read. It was so character driven such that the crime element was more background than core focus. It was very well written, the character development was great, and, overall, it was just a really compulsive, quality, novel.
This actually started off really really well. But then the sex scene just didn't really fit the tone of the rest of the book, and the story after that just went completely off track. Characters just seemed to be mean for now reason, and the lack of depth in their development became stark. Thus, while the first half was 3.5 stars, it just went really down hill.
So, I couldn't finish this. I made it to 65%, but only because I loved the historical detail, and find food history fascinating. But that was all that was good about this. The writing was so juvenile, and the characters so unbelievable and ridiculous, that I just couldn't continue. I appreciate the historical research that went into this, but it read like a children's book; the story was weak, the characters were pathetic, and overall, I was extremely disappointed.
3.75 -4 stars. I really enjoyed this. It is so so much better than Rachel's holiday, and I loved the way Keyes developed Rachel's character, and how she grew throughout the book. I listened to this on audio, and it definitely helped having Marian Keyes' beautiful lyrical voice reading Rachel. I love her sense of humour, and while often with Keyes, I find the narrative jumpy and all over the place, this was absolutely not the case here. A really really great addition to the series.
2.5 stars. I'm so disappointed! What a wonderful concept, and what poor execution! There was so much promise here, but it just was not realised. The romantic element was unbelievable because Adam's character was completely under-developed. There was no character growth at all, and then everything happened in the last 20 pages, as if the author had suddenly decided she had to finish the book, and tied up everything really quickly. This meant there was no evolution in the relationships or characters over time, and the whole experience was just under-whelming. And yet, the idea was so incredibly promising, and could have been developed so well. Rebecca Searle's writing is, of course, good, and that is what made me finish it; but it was such a disappointment.
This started off terribly, but I really warmed to it: I would say the first half was 2 stars, and the second 4. I think this was partly because Rachel was deliberately annoying and in denial at first; but I did find some of the humor a bit grating at times. However, by the end I was hooked - and bought the sequel immediately.
4.75 stars. This was the best Colleen Hoover I've read yet - and I nearly didn't read it because I thought the premise was cheesy, silly, and derivative. I couldn't have been more wrong. This was so sensitively done, and by about page 50, I was convinced the premise was brilliant. This moved me more than any of Hoover's other books, and it is one of the most touching, and believable, love stories I have read. It's the type of book you just want to hug to your chest as soon as you've finished. Only problem now is that the next book I read will be an inevitable disappointment.
This was another great book by Colleen Hoover. Once again, a really sensitive exploration of a common issue - adultery - and one of the most nuanced and believable I've read. I love how real and complex all Hoover's characters are, and am going to have to restrain myself from reading the rest of her offerings in one go.
This is the weirdest book I have ever read. I didn't understand about 98% of it. I couldn't work out if it was absolutely brilliant but so pretentious, and just plain bad. I suspect it's somewhere between the two. And while it was definitely compulsive, I can't give a book that left me feeling so frustrated, and perplexed, and completely ‘unmoved' any more than 2. But I definitely won't forget it in a hurry.
I really struggled with the way this was written. While there really were some beautiful passages, and some extremely insightful reflections, I found it very hard to remain engaged. Only the small sections about Thomas' relationship with John Cole kept me interested - which was only about 2 chapters out of the whole book.
The first third of this book was barely readable, and I nearly gave up. However, the rest of the book was absolutely brilliant. It is not a book I would say I enjoyed; but it is a book I want to study, write essays on, and discuss endlessly. I want to reflect on its insights about memory, and truth, and the importance of the written word. I'm not really sure what it means to say a book is a good book club book, but if that statement is ever applicable, it certainly applies here.
