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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I absolutely loved this book. It was a page turner but at the same time a lot of the language was really beautiful. I felt that the characters and relationships had depth. Every character had good arch throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the different perspectives. Sometimes that can ruin a book for me, but it only enhanced this one. 5 stars.
I liked this book so much more than Everyone Brave. The story of the friendship between two women who are Olympic athletes, Zoe and Kate's relationship is so complex and twisted. He draws characters that you don't like but still want to know what happens.
I really enjoyed this one. I wasn't sure I would at some points, but the dynamics of the relationships were very interesting.
Dear Chris Cleave.... I wrote my review over at https://letterwritingpractice.wordpress.com/
Another book club book and one that I probably wouldn't have picked up on my own. I didn't love this book but I didn't hate this book either. I found it to be interesting but not one that I loved.
Gold is about 3 cyclists going for GOLD at many different Olympics. You have Jack, Kate and Zoe. All three first meet when they were young and just starting out in cycling. Then there is Sophie, Jack and Kate's daughter who is fighting Leukemia. Kate gives up going to the Olympics after Sophie and once she is diagnosed with Leukemia it looks like her hopes are gone forever.
Gold follows all three with flashbacks and to the present. You learn how each individual was shaped into the adult they are now. Seeing how each one had a different beginning and what drove them to get into cycling. The things they do with and to each other during the book makes for some entertaining and heartbreaking moments.
Gold is about 3 cyclists going for GOLD at many different Olympics. You have Jack, Kate and Zoe. All three first meet when they were young and just starting out in cycling. Then there is Sophie, Jack and Kate's daughter who is fighting Leukemia. Kate gives up going to the Olympics after Sophie and once she is diagnosed with Leukemia it looks like her hopes are gone forever.
Gold follows all three with flashbacks and to the present. You learn how each individual was shaped into the adult they are now. Seeing how each one had a different beginning and what drove them to get into cycling. The things they do with and to each other during the book makes for some entertaining and heartbreaking moments.
My screenwriter boyfriend tells me there is a certain way that stories are supposed to go, a certain formula of events, if you will. Read enough books, see enough movies, and one begins to really believe that. The trick to good story telling is to have stories go in the way that they are supposed to go without giving away, too obviously, where it is going. Gold reads in exactly the way the story is supposed to go. I could have told you from the first 50 pages where the story line should go, and away it went.
Kate, Jack, and Zoe aren't cookie-cutter characters by any means and the plot isn't necessarily a cookie-cutter plot. However, the twists and turns that the story takes on it's track to the Gold, are like the strategic moves made by racers. The tone is set from the starting line, and it can only go a limited number of ways with the choices made by the cyclists on their quests for the Gold Medal.
Don't let the predictability of the story sell it short, however. One cannot help but fall in love with eight-year-old, Star Wars obsessed, Sophie, who fights leukemia and tries with all her little might to keep her parents happy. One cannot help feeling for (and as a fairly bashful woman, also relating to) Kate, her mother, who chooses to miss both the Athens Olympics and the Beijing Olympics for Sophie's health. Zoe's harshness and betrayals, while terrible traits somehow make her a character that you simply want to hug and then slap; her fight to receive a Gold Medal overcomes even her humanity. Jack, Sophie's father, deserved a good shake - I think.
In a lot of ways I felt as though I were reading a Jodi Piccoult novels. The way the story went is very reminiscent of her style; in some ways I was surprised - in a good way - that this was written by a man. Neither she nor Chris Cleave are fabulous authors but the can write a story well, with characters that you can believe and love. It's good book junk food: quick, easy, flowing, happy, "correct."
I received this ARC from Goodreads First Reads Giveaways.
Kate, Jack, and Zoe aren't cookie-cutter characters by any means and the plot isn't necessarily a cookie-cutter plot. However, the twists and turns that the story takes on it's track to the Gold, are like the strategic moves made by racers. The tone is set from the starting line, and it can only go a limited number of ways with the choices made by the cyclists on their quests for the Gold Medal.
Don't let the predictability of the story sell it short, however. One cannot help but fall in love with eight-year-old, Star Wars obsessed, Sophie, who fights leukemia and tries with all her little might to keep her parents happy. One cannot help feeling for (and as a fairly bashful woman, also relating to) Kate, her mother, who chooses to miss both the Athens Olympics and the Beijing Olympics for Sophie's health. Zoe's harshness and betrayals, while terrible traits somehow make her a character that you simply want to hug and then slap; her fight to receive a Gold Medal overcomes even her humanity. Jack, Sophie's father, deserved a good shake - I think.
In a lot of ways I felt as though I were reading a Jodi Piccoult novels. The way the story went is very reminiscent of her style; in some ways I was surprised - in a good way - that this was written by a man. Neither she nor Chris Cleave are fabulous authors but the can write a story well, with characters that you can believe and love. It's good book junk food: quick, easy, flowing, happy, "correct."
I received this ARC from Goodreads First Reads Giveaways.
I LOVED this book. I see that many of the other GR reviews are not as strong as they were for Little Bee, but I disagree--I couldn't put this one down. It is just awesome how Cleave develops each of the characters throughout the novel. I couldn't believe how each one of them changed in my mind so drastically between start and finish. The plot is entirely unpredictable, and I was practically jumping on my couch in amazement ("OMG, did that REALLY just happen!!") during some of the more surprising bits. Plus, I had the added benefit of reading this during the London Olympics (which plays a major role in the novel)--doesn't get better than that! Highly recommend!
I'll start by saying that the author's writing style is excellent, and there were definitely some scenes that I really got into. However...
I didn't like the characters. None of them, really.
I didn't like the plot. Or rather, I didn't like how the plots were intertwined.
There was quite a bit going on in this novel, and I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be focusing on. Maybe that was the intention but I personally found it a bit messy and random.
I didn't like the ending. A bit anticlimactic, I thought.
(After the first couple hundred pages going on and on about Kate being desperate for a shot at gold, I expected a little more.)
I didn't like the characters. None of them, really.
I didn't like the plot. Or rather, I didn't like how the plots were intertwined.
There was quite a bit going on in this novel, and I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be focusing on. Maybe that was the intention but I personally found it a bit messy and random.
I didn't like the ending. A bit anticlimactic, I thought.
(After the first couple hundred pages going on and on about Kate being desperate for a shot at gold, I expected a little more.)
This book was disappointing compared to his previous one, Little Bee. I could not really care whether Zoe won another gold medal. Nor could I care whether Kate did. The choices she had to make seemed to be inserted into the story to make us care about her and her problems. These people didn't engage me. The writing was also so so. The book reminded me of a soap opera. Not up to Cleave's usual. Unless you're a bicycle racing enthusiast I would give this one a pass.