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suzea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
renuked's review against another edition
4.0
The reviews are admittedly poor for this novel, but I was intrigued by the Loch Ness Monster hunt in the middle of WWII. Who would be stupid enough to do that? (I got my answer...) Honestly, 2/3 of the characters were the worst people on the planet, and I completely understand why that makes the majority of this book unlikable, but I felt like it was pretty applicable to current events. The ending was almost too perfect, I wish Gruen had left a few things up to the reader, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere and Maddie's character development. Overall, monster hunting in WWII was so helplessly weird that I couldn't help but enjoy it.
dlperin's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
brysonsmommie84's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Abandonment, Child death, Suicide, and War
colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
4.0
I'm giving it 4 stars, but really more of a 3.5. Well told, typical Gruen, with a happy ending. The author brings up many issues, and I could relate to the difficult characters, although it starts out somewhat slow. A definite good read though.
The lamplight flickered off the bottles on the shelves behind the bar, reflected and amplified by the mirror behind them. It looked for all the world like there was an identical, inverted room just beyond, and for a moment I wondered if I was in the wrong one.
I was dizzy with food-lust.
I’d never had beer before-our crowd considered it lowbrow-and I sipped it with apprehension.
The lamplight flickered off the bottles on the shelves behind the bar, reflected and amplified by the mirror behind them. It looked for all the world like there was an identical, inverted room just beyond, and for a moment I wondered if I was in the wrong one.
I was dizzy with food-lust.
I’d never had beer before-our crowd considered it lowbrow-and I sipped it with apprehension.
jimmyjamesnickels's review against another edition
1.0
In one of the first few chapters of the book, the milksop protagonist Maddie muses about the abuse she endured as a child, from her mother. At one point, Maddie recalls, her mother began to make arrangements for the teenage Maddie to have both a nose job and a frontal lobotomy.
As one does.
Consider: At this point in the book, I brightened up and felt my first real pang of sympathy for Maddie. It wasn't her fault, her wishy washy weakness, her airy fairy hard to follow stream of consciousness; the poor woman wasn't an obnoxiously weak character, her frontal lobe had scrambled. Not spoiling anything, but the reader is quickly reassured, Maddie had NOT gotten lobotomized as a teenager.
I honestly read several chapters with the suspicion (or should I say hope?) the whole 'not lobotomized' ~thing~ was just a red herring.
At the Water's Edge has Roaring 20s selfish excess set at the end of World War 2, in the Magical Mystical Fairyland of Scotland. The book feels weirdly completely out of time, as if the author had intended to set her story during the 1920s or thereabouts and realized she couldn't shoehorn in WWI as neatly as she hoped, so just Kanye shrugged and bumped it up to the second world war. And it's just *weird*...it's the sensibilities and excess attitudes we've come to associate with the Great Gatsby set during WWII for no reason other to toss in two-ish scenes of air raids and constant mention of women using gravy to simulate stockings.
The character of Daisy Buchanan/Zelda Fitzgerald will be played here by Maddie, along with her overbearing and intolerable ultimate Fancy Nancy Boy husband Ellis. They, along with Ellis's "Are they or aren't they" bestest friend Hank, start the book leading the sort of Roaring 20s pointless aimless decadently soulless richperson life of frittering away Daddy's money by dressing well, going to parties and drinking til the cows come home. After getting more or less disowned because of Reasons (read the jacket blurb) Maddie and the Ambiguously Gay Duo set off to the magical fairy tale land of Scotland, to redeem Ellis's father's dignity by proving the resistance of the Loch Ness Monster. In Scotland, the three of them stay at a hotel run by a host of charmingly Scottishly Scotspeople stereotypes. And of course, OF COURSE, the inn is owned by an attractively dark and mysterious walking sex cliche by the name of Angus. The only thing about Angus which is NOT stock character and cliched is the saving grace of his last name not being MacCloud.
I feel this book started out as one thing, but for whatever reason got changed hack and slash style into something else. The 1920s set in the 1940s aside, the book simply does not flow well from one chapter to another. Reading it was not enjoyable. It's rough and stilted, the character's inner monologue jumping around madly with little connection between one scene to the next. As I said up paragraphs I honestly was willing to believe that Maddie's slap dash narration was due to brain damage. That would have been redemptive to the alternative, which is this weak story jam friggen packed with lazy romance novel cliches.
And that's the problem I had with this book. It was just one stinking pile of weak, boring cliches. AtWE is utterly and totally straight forward in the sense of what you think might happens does happen, but in the most uncreative, unimaginative ways. The characters are stock, the 'action' such as it is, is plodding. The story arc is mostly nonexistent and fundamentally pointless in it's frustrating predictability. Everything is neatly wrapped up with a pretty pink bow in the end, only missing the words "And they lived happily ever after" to complete the childish fairy tale vibe.
If the author's intent was to make me feel disgust over her leading lady's spinelessness and weakness, mission accomplished. Maddie's one of them there bland and uninteresting heroines (at best) who has little going for her other than she's down trodden, beautiful and everyone loves her on sight, a boring "Insert yourself here, bored reader!" style. To me, Maddie is whiny and indecisive, leading to the sort of manufactured conflict time and time and time again which would be solved instantly with just a quick conversation.
There are times I can read lighter, more bubblegum-y style beach read books and appreciate them for the fluff they are. This was just disappointing and not enjoyable. If you're looking for something mindless and mild in the sense of The Notebook, go for it. While I've heard the Loch Ness itself is deep and mysterious, At the Water's Edge has all the depth and charm of a mud puddle.
As one does.
Consider: At this point in the book, I brightened up and felt my first real pang of sympathy for Maddie. It wasn't her fault, her wishy washy weakness, her airy fairy hard to follow stream of consciousness; the poor woman wasn't an obnoxiously weak character, her frontal lobe had scrambled. Not spoiling anything, but the reader is quickly reassured, Maddie had NOT gotten lobotomized as a teenager.
I honestly read several chapters with the suspicion (or should I say hope?) the whole 'not lobotomized' ~thing~ was just a red herring.
At the Water's Edge has Roaring 20s selfish excess set at the end of World War 2, in the Magical Mystical Fairyland of Scotland. The book feels weirdly completely out of time, as if the author had intended to set her story during the 1920s or thereabouts and realized she couldn't shoehorn in WWI as neatly as she hoped, so just Kanye shrugged and bumped it up to the second world war. And it's just *weird*...it's the sensibilities and excess attitudes we've come to associate with the Great Gatsby set during WWII for no reason other to toss in two-ish scenes of air raids and constant mention of women using gravy to simulate stockings.
The character of Daisy Buchanan/Zelda Fitzgerald will be played here by Maddie, along with her overbearing and intolerable ultimate Fancy Nancy Boy husband Ellis. They, along with Ellis's "Are they or aren't they" bestest friend Hank, start the book leading the sort of Roaring 20s pointless aimless decadently soulless richperson life of frittering away Daddy's money by dressing well, going to parties and drinking til the cows come home. After getting more or less disowned because of Reasons (read the jacket blurb) Maddie and the Ambiguously Gay Duo set off to the magical fairy tale land of Scotland, to redeem Ellis's father's dignity by proving the resistance of the Loch Ness Monster. In Scotland, the three of them stay at a hotel run by a host of charmingly Scottishly Scotspeople stereotypes. And of course, OF COURSE, the inn is owned by an attractively dark and mysterious walking sex cliche by the name of Angus. The only thing about Angus which is NOT stock character and cliched is the saving grace of his last name not being MacCloud.
I feel this book started out as one thing, but for whatever reason got changed hack and slash style into something else. The 1920s set in the 1940s aside, the book simply does not flow well from one chapter to another. Reading it was not enjoyable. It's rough and stilted, the character's inner monologue jumping around madly with little connection between one scene to the next. As I said up paragraphs I honestly was willing to believe that Maddie's slap dash narration was due to brain damage. That would have been redemptive to the alternative, which is this weak story jam friggen packed with lazy romance novel cliches.
And that's the problem I had with this book. It was just one stinking pile of weak, boring cliches. AtWE is utterly and totally straight forward in the sense of what you think might happens does happen, but in the most uncreative, unimaginative ways. The characters are stock, the 'action' such as it is, is plodding. The story arc is mostly nonexistent and fundamentally pointless in it's frustrating predictability. Everything is neatly wrapped up with a pretty pink bow in the end, only missing the words "And they lived happily ever after" to complete the childish fairy tale vibe.
If the author's intent was to make me feel disgust over her leading lady's spinelessness and weakness, mission accomplished. Maddie's one of them there bland and uninteresting heroines (at best) who has little going for her other than she's down trodden, beautiful and everyone loves her on sight, a boring "Insert yourself here, bored reader!" style. To me, Maddie is whiny and indecisive, leading to the sort of manufactured conflict time and time and time again which would be solved instantly with just a quick conversation.
Spoiler
At one point, Ellis threatens to have Maddie committed to an asylum against her will and lobotomized, and instead of reaching out to her newly minted Scotland-is-Magical friends, she instead does...nothing. For real. No-thing. She takes no action, she does nothing to protect herself or prepare or anything.There are times I can read lighter, more bubblegum-y style beach read books and appreciate them for the fluff they are. This was just disappointing and not enjoyable. If you're looking for something mindless and mild in the sense of The Notebook, go for it. While I've heard the Loch Ness itself is deep and mysterious, At the Water's Edge has all the depth and charm of a mud puddle.
lindab66reads's review against another edition
5.0
I loved it, and identified probably a little too much with Maddie. I love a good hero and heroine, and happy endings for that matter. It reeks of some good folklore!
jessrunsforpie's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this story, which sucked me in pretty quickly and I found myself really rooting for the main character. I did think the development of the characters was a bit shallow though, and the ending left a lot to be desired. This was an entertaining read but didn't blow me away.
icalyn_13's review against another edition
4.0
As the follow-up novel to one of my favorites, this book had a very high bar set for it. Similarly to Water for Elephants, she uses prose to set you in the time and place so vividly that you get lost in the story. Maddie's story was a great one. A marriage that seems so full of joy, despite the hatred of her mother-in-law. An adventure. The deepening realization that her husband isn't the man she believed he was. The threats. The love. It's a great book--not quite as amazing as WFE, but there are so few books that are, it would be a mistake to hold this one to that standard. Instead--appreciate this book on its own terms, and you won't be disappointed.
arielstarr001's review against another edition
5.0
Another book that makes me want to drop everything and move to Scottland.