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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
Loved the way the story makes a full circle, I hated Xavier from the moment I read his name (wondering if watching One Tree Hill has put me off that name) anyway I am very glad she chose to leave him although I predicted early on that he would return. It was a predictable read but I loved every minute of it.
On the whole I didn't mind this book - although definitely not her best work.. The beginning of the book got to me a little bit as it was very similar to "The Midnight Rose". The story did get better in a way.. The beginning about the orchids was a waste of time as it didn't really add much to the overall story... The ending was similarly a bit ridiculous - bam! Lidia is now super rich! Also didn't buy the story about Julias husband - that was a bit silly.. I did also find it annoying that she used so many French words throughout (I don't speak French), and found it a bit cringeworthy (not sure if it bordered on racist?!) that she wrote in broken English for all the Thai people... Also waaaaaay too many English colloquialisms - eg. Jolly good chap" etc etc. I was also really expecting Kit to end up being a bad guy?
For all the negatives, she does really build her characters well and you feel like you know them... The way Julia and Alicia spoke to each other though was perhaps juvenile - I didn't really buy that.. There were some flaws in the building of Harry and Olivia's relationship as well...
For all the negatives, she does really build her characters well and you feel like you know them... The way Julia and Alicia spoke to each other though was perhaps juvenile - I didn't really buy that.. There were some flaws in the building of Harry and Olivia's relationship as well...
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Es war interessant für mich, da die Geschichte teilweise in Bangkok spielt, wo ich erst vor ein paar Monaten war.
Ich finde es gut, dass kein klassisches Happy end erzwungen wurde (zumindest bei der back story), sondern der Ausgang realistisch ist, besonders wenn man die Zeit in der es spielt berücksichtigt.
Ich finde es gut, dass kein klassisches Happy end erzwungen wurde (zumindest bei der back story), sondern der Ausgang realistisch ist, besonders wenn man die Zeit in der es spielt berücksichtigt.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A sweeping, multi-generational story full of love, heartbreak, hope, and redemption. Maybe a bit cliche at times, but still a satisfying read. I couldn't put the book down.
Veel te klef en traditioneel. Diagonaal toch uitgelezen. Een extra ster om het Thaise deel.
Why would the main character keep referring to her granddad as 'grandfather Bill' throughout the whole book? Never granddad or grandpa but always 'grandfather Bill'. It reminded me of those weird people in True Blood and how they kept saying ' vampire Bill'
Expected to like this but no. I was really irritated the entire time. Dialogue felt immature and unrealistic, lots of twists that were silly... don't compare this to The House at Riverton, this doesn't measure up at all.
Ok, parts of this book were a little too fanciful and squishy for my taste, but it also had a bit of a Downton-esque quality about it. If you're willing to suspend some rational thinking for a bit and just go with the flow for an escape, you might enjoy it. Just don't think too hard!
This novel is so bad it is a shame to the written word. I cannot believe I read through 577 pages of clichées, stick figures, stupid plot and uninteresting intrigue. I should have left it at page 80, with "Oh Julia, I'll never forget until my dying day, the moment I walked into that Magnolia bedroom and saw her for the first time". That should have been a hint that there were only worse things to come.
The story is that of Julia, who is in deep morning after the loss of husband and child. She's back in her childhood surroundings, near the magnificient Wharton Hall. She slowly returns to life and finds out about the secrets that tie the heir of Wharton Hall to her own family. Somewhere in this Julia falls in love with the current Lord of Wharton Hall, Kit. Predictable from the description of their first meeting as children.
This book does not have a single redeeming quality. However, when Julia's dead husband turns out to not be so dead after all - having survived the train crash - that took the prize as the worst plot twist to ever come to print. This is not a book that will enjoy the comfort of my shelves, it will be thrown into the paper recycling bin. I never throw books away, ever, but "Hothouse Flower" deserves nothing better than a new life as toilet paper.
The story is that of Julia, who is in deep morning after the loss of husband and child. She's back in her childhood surroundings, near the magnificient Wharton Hall. She slowly returns to life and finds out about the secrets that tie the heir of Wharton Hall to her own family. Somewhere in this Julia falls in love with the current Lord of Wharton Hall, Kit. Predictable from the description of their first meeting as children.
This book does not have a single redeeming quality. However, when Julia's dead husband turns out to not be so dead after all - having survived the train crash - that took the prize as the worst plot twist to ever come to print. This is not a book that will enjoy the comfort of my shelves, it will be thrown into the paper recycling bin. I never throw books away, ever, but "Hothouse Flower" deserves nothing better than a new life as toilet paper.