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ericadanielle1's review
It was an okay book.The beginning started out a little boring and i had to force my self to continue reading but it started getting better towards the middle
freemajo's review
2.0
Too boring to even bother finishing. I got 30% through the book, and all that happened was the main character complaining about her new stepmom.
nae1226's review
4.0
The setting is an island near New Zealand. The turn-of-the-century setting and the details of daily life enhance the story. Marriage and women is the main focus. The contrast of the female characters adds to the series. I think it would work for YA literature.
ancequay's review
3.0
I got this free from Amazon, and it was not the light historical romance I was expecting. In fact, it was not at all the kind of book I would have read if I had known more about it. I like my comfort reading with a tidy happily-ever-after for all involved, which did not happen here.
That being said, this was an extremely compelling book. It was well-written, hard to put down or stop thinking about, and very easy to get lost in. I loved the descriptions of late 19th, early 20th century farm life, the Kiwi slang, and the portrayals of a wide variety of marriages and families. The main character, Amy, was too much the martyr to be relatable for me, but many of the others were extremely real, three-dimensional characters.
I liked the book well enough to buy the other three books in the series (with eyes wide open as to the lack of universal happily-ever-afters). For the record, the books are really more parts of one story, Amy's life, than they are individual stories capable of standing on their own.
That being said, this was an extremely compelling book. It was well-written, hard to put down or stop thinking about, and very easy to get lost in. I loved the descriptions of late 19th, early 20th century farm life, the Kiwi slang, and the portrayals of a wide variety of marriages and families. The main character, Amy, was too much the martyr to be relatable for me, but many of the others were extremely real, three-dimensional characters.
I liked the book well enough to buy the other three books in the series (with eyes wide open as to the lack of universal happily-ever-afters). For the record, the books are really more parts of one story, Amy's life, than they are individual stories capable of standing on their own.
melissasbookshelf's review
4.0
I got this book for free from Amazon and decided to download it because my brother lived in New Zealand for 2 years and I came to love the country seeing it through his eyes.
This book while lengthy takes you on a journey through 19th century New Zealand through the experiences of a young girl and her family. The series follows the life of Amy who at the beginning of this book is a 12 year old farm girl. Amy's father after being a widower for several years decides to suprise his family by bringing home a new wife. Amy has been taking care of the house, meals, her older brothers and all their needs and her father for years and this new step-mother is an absolute WITCH! Because of the lack of supervision, abuse, and cruelty of her step-mother, Amy seeks love from the wrong places. There are some sexual scenes in the book, but they are there for a purpose and there are definite and heart breaking consequences from the wrong choices made. This was a long, epic, descriptive book that sucked me in to the point that I had to read Mud and Gold the second book in the series to find out what happens to Amy. The characters are rich and complex. I really enjoyed this book!
This book while lengthy takes you on a journey through 19th century New Zealand through the experiences of a young girl and her family. The series follows the life of Amy who at the beginning of this book is a 12 year old farm girl. Amy's father after being a widower for several years decides to suprise his family by bringing home a new wife. Amy has been taking care of the house, meals, her older brothers and all their needs and her father for years and this new step-mother is an absolute WITCH! Because of the lack of supervision, abuse, and cruelty of her step-mother, Amy seeks love from the wrong places. There are some sexual scenes in the book, but they are there for a purpose and there are definite and heart breaking consequences from the wrong choices made. This was a long, epic, descriptive book that sucked me in to the point that I had to read Mud and Gold the second book in the series to find out what happens to Amy. The characters are rich and complex. I really enjoyed this book!
mordecai's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
kargoforth's review
3.0
A historical novel, first in a series that is readable but not completely predictable. It is set in New Zealand and deals with difficult issues of the day. The characters are drawn very well and the story is captivating
qofdnz's review
3.0
Not exactly a great literary piece, this book is readable but lacks anything to encourage you to want to read the next book. It also finishes entirely mid stream. If you want to read about the boring lives of some fairly abhorrent characters, have at it.