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trin's review against another edition
3.0
A generally charming novel about the eccentric residents of a pair of Maine islands inhabited mostly by lobstermen. This book benefits from well-drawn characters and frequently fantastic dialogue, but is hampered by some pretty major pacing issues. Gilbert does a wonderful job creating Ruth Thomas and her world; Ruth is just the kind of heroine I like—tough and funny, far from perfect, clever but vulnerable—and I identified strongly with both her love for her small community, and her feelings of not quite fitting in there. However—the pacing. The book is slow to start and the end is incredibly rushed, to the point where Ruth’s arguably most important acts occur off-stage, between the last chapter and the epilogue. I was really thrown: why, instead of getting to see Ruth rise above a series of hard knocks and maneuver both herself and her island into a better life, are we just quickly told about these events in a few summary paragraphs? That almost felt like it should be the real meat of the novel, but it’s just glossed over. I was also disappointed that we didn’t get a resolution to Ruth’s mother’s story, and that Ruth’s love interest remained so lightly sketched (though there it may just be that taciturn guys are not my type). Like [book: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift] (and the more I think about it, the more this book reminds me of some of [author: Elinor Lipman]’s work), I loved the heroine and enjoyed the book, but was disappointed that it stopped just when things really started to get interesting.
krista_billings's review against another edition
1.0
Couldn't get past the first couple of chapters.
In fairness, I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator's voice and her representation of the accent was what completely distracted me. Should I decide to attempt to read the printed book, might revise my writing.
In fairness, I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator's voice and her representation of the accent was what completely distracted me. Should I decide to attempt to read the printed book, might revise my writing.
mxshining's review against another edition
3.0
I was disappointed in this book. I was expecting a lot more and I thought there was a lot of repetition in the book and it was also quite slow. The part of the book I liked best was the epilogue, because that was really interesting. That part should have been elaborated on. (I think, however, that I would have been less disappointed if the end of the story had not been described on the back of the book. That's kind of stupid...)
bookshopmermaid's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
seahorsesister's review against another edition
4.0
Gilbert had written a perfect, old fashioned novel, newly fashioned with her braid of island history and island present--until about page 200. Carefully crafted characters, subtle and loveably strange turned ordinary and it became a race to a predictable finish. I would trade the neat bows she added to the end for the knots and tangle she launched and seemed to steer with carefully crafted lines, thrown abandon in the beginning.
filiparferreira's review against another edition
3.0
Não é a tradicional história romântica que nos tentam vender na capa. Esta é uma história dura e o título em inglês dá-lhe mais crédito (stern men). Já tinha lido boas críticas e fiquei surpreendida com o livro quando chegou à biblioteca, porque realmente a capa e o texto promocional levam-nos ao engano. É um livro estranho, tanto pelo que promete e depois pouco cumpre, mas sobretudo porque parece mesmo ser um livro que escapou um bocadinho ao controlo da escritora (é uma das suas primeiras obras). Há muitas partes da narrativa que podiam ser mais exploradas e outras que merecem imensa atenção, não sendo centrais para a história. De uma forma geral, gostei de ler. É uma história sobre a dureza da vida no mar, contada de forma original, mesmo se não muito bem conseguida.