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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Liv has just gone through a divorce when her 99 year old grandmother from Paris arrives to bring her back to France. Her grandmother Edith, has a story to tell,of love and loss, light and darkness, during WWII in Nazi occupied Champagne. There are some twists to the dual timeline story, and much to tug at your heartstrings, including efforts by many owners of the vineyards to Resist. Recommended.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Not quite what I expected. It's one of those books that weirdly kept me reading even though there's a lot about it that bothered, annoyed, and even frustrated me.
My biggest issue is that in no way in the days of #MeToo should rape be in a book unless it's a major plot line! Such as the book being about overcoming sexual assault or enacting revenge on a rapist. There were 2 rape scenes in this book, one that was WHOLLY unnecessary and one near-rape scene that could have been shortened and more insinuated than described.
Many plot points were a bit too convenient. It doesn't add much depth to the story and seems lazy on the author's part.
The present day story was a huge letdown for me. While I loved the Grandma Edith who drinks too much and is so French, Liv is unbearably stupid. A very obvious plot point was kept from her by two characters, even with ample opportunity to say the four words to reveal it, and that was frustrating to read, even though they did finally tell her halfway through.
The story of the past was barely about the Resistance. "The work ____ did with the Resistance" was mentioned many times, but we didn't see any outcome of that work. The story is really just about these people who run the vineyard, and none of them are likeable.
I'm not one to try to predict the ending, as I don't want to ruin the actual story. But this one was so predictable that I couldn't prevent the prediction creeping into my thoughts.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Book of Lost Names either ... Maybe Kristin Harmel isn't for me.
My biggest issue is that in no way in the days of #MeToo should rape be in a book unless it's a major plot line! Such as the book being about overcoming sexual assault or enacting revenge on a rapist. There were 2 rape scenes in this book, one that was WHOLLY unnecessary and one near-rape scene that could have been shortened and more insinuated than described.
Many plot points were a bit too convenient. It doesn't add much depth to the story and seems lazy on the author's part.
The present day story was a huge letdown for me. While I loved the Grandma Edith who drinks too much and is so French, Liv is unbearably stupid. A very obvious plot point was kept from her by two characters, even with ample opportunity to say the four words to reveal it, and that was frustrating to read, even though they did finally tell her halfway through.
The story of the past was barely about the Resistance. "The work ____ did with the Resistance" was mentioned many times, but we didn't see any outcome of that work. The story is really just about these people who run the vineyard, and none of them are likeable.
I'm not one to try to predict the ending, as I don't want to ruin the actual story. But this one was so predictable that I couldn't prevent the prediction creeping into my thoughts.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Book of Lost Names either ... Maybe Kristin Harmel isn't for me.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Set up felt too drawn out for the present day to the point it was frustrating and I found myself only enjoying the past storyline. Comes together nicely at the end though.
I rated this lower than I normally would have for my favorite genre, historical fiction, for one main reason only: I didn’t think it was very well written. Sentence construction was elementary—it felt like anyone could have written it. And the use of “anyhow” throughout the entire book completely grated on me (the word is “anyway”). I thought the story started slow but then the last third of the book got so much better.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated