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edottiffany's review against another edition
2.0
So, I greatly disliked this book. And, I'm really disappointed because I had really wanted to read it and the cover is seriously so beautiful.
I was disappointed fairly early on because the story progressed very slowly. Painfully slow. There was actually a moment where I thought that the book would get better because the story finally picked up, but it was short-lived, and I was left entirely underwhelmed by Hooper's first novel.
There are really three things that contributed to my low rating:
1. The lack of quotation marks for dialogue. Oh my goodness. I think this was the worst literary decision the author made. There was A LOT of dialogue in this book, and I found it completely inappropriate to not assist the reader by including quotation marks. I found myself needing to reread conversations because I didn't realize someone was speaking at first. It was a big reason why I struggled to get through this one.
2. The magical realism was really disappointing. I actually love magical realism, but this was not integrated into the story properly in my opinion. I found it jarring and questioned the author's intentions for including it.
3. What was the point? Hooper drug out a fairly benign and uninteresting love triangle by narrating in roundabout ways and to what end? I don't know. I couldn't figure out the objective when I started the book, and when I got to the end, I still didn't know WHY this story needed to be on paper?
Apologies for the quickly whipped up review. Hopefully someone still finds it useful!
I was disappointed fairly early on because the story progressed very slowly. Painfully slow. There was actually a moment where I thought that the book would get better because the story finally picked up, but it was short-lived, and I was left entirely underwhelmed by Hooper's first novel.
There are really three things that contributed to my low rating:
1. The lack of quotation marks for dialogue. Oh my goodness. I think this was the worst literary decision the author made. There was A LOT of dialogue in this book, and I found it completely inappropriate to not assist the reader by including quotation marks. I found myself needing to reread conversations because I didn't realize someone was speaking at first. It was a big reason why I struggled to get through this one.
2. The magical realism was really disappointing. I actually love magical realism, but this was not integrated into the story properly in my opinion. I found it jarring and questioned the author's intentions for including it.
3. What was the point? Hooper drug out a fairly benign and uninteresting love triangle by narrating in roundabout ways and to what end? I don't know. I couldn't figure out the objective when I started the book, and when I got to the end, I still didn't know WHY this story needed to be on paper?
Apologies for the quickly whipped up review. Hopefully someone still finds it useful!
vivian_bookaholic's review against another edition
3.0
Cuốn này chả biết nói sao, gần 2/3 cuốn sách hơi chán, dài dòng, không hề có cao trào. Được cái cách hành văn gọn ghẽ nên nếu tập trung đọc thì đi cũng khá nhanh, nhưng đã bỏ xuống rồi thì không có cái động lực bánh cuốn nào để đọc tiếp luôn á! Mỗi đoạn gần cuối vớt vát lại được tí nhưng bị một nỗi là cái kết khá khó hiểu????? Bây giờ vẫn còn hoang mang rốt cục người ra đi là Etta hay Otto hay một trong hai người đã không còn nữa??? CLGT :v
Nói chung cuốn này được cái rất hay là tác giả lồng khá nhiều yếu tố,câu nói lẫn hình ảnh ẩn dụ cho độc giả suy ra chân tướng cuối cùng, nhưng ngặt nỗi trình độ mình chưa tới nên đọc xong không hiểu gì. Có lẽ không hợp với giọng văn cao siêu này cho lắm!
Nói chung cuốn này được cái rất hay là tác giả lồng khá nhiều yếu tố,câu nói lẫn hình ảnh ẩn dụ cho độc giả suy ra chân tướng cuối cùng, nhưng ngặt nỗi trình độ mình chưa tới nên đọc xong không hiểu gì. Có lẽ không hợp với giọng văn cao siêu này cho lắm!
ava96's review against another edition
4.0
A touching book about people's journeys that they need to take, and about love. The interweaving of the stories from the past and present of the characters was wonderfully executed.
greenseeds's review against another edition
4.0
Quirky, fun read. Love Etta and her journey. A beautiful love story of many threads.
elineschimmel's review against another edition
3.5
3.5 stars. This is a beautiful story but it has a lot of narrative gaps. In a way that is what makes it beautiful, but for me it also made it confusing. I felt like I really needed to “work” through this story to understand what I was reading. However I did enjoy it as it is a heartwarming theme.
lorimichelekelley's review against another edition
2.0
Audio edition: This book was so boring! It seemed to me that the author read "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" and decided to write one with a female protagonist. It just didn't work for me. The story was mundane and the characters uninteresting - they were just so good. If you've ever read a book written for the Amish, it's kind of like that. There's stuff going on, but everyone is just so peachy clean with feeding the chickens and walking to church, that it just doesn't ring true. I felt like it was telling the story from the viewpoint of a child who just never realized that his parents are real human beings with complicated emotions and moral struggles. If you're into that James Herriot kind of story and wouldn't mind a little magic realism mixed in, you might like it.
krisrrr97's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't expect this book to be as good as it ended up being. Very nice, gentle, beautiful, with a sad cloud hanging over.
skikatt68's review against another edition
5.0
can't begin to explain how much I liked this book. ...the journey, the connections we make along the way, and how we are shaped because of them.