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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.
Where do I start? In typical Steel fashion, this is meant to be a heartwarming novel of a woman overcoming adversity. What it actually is is a bunch of pandering nonsense that is tonally wrong and a little insulting to the reader.
Melissa is an angry, hard woman that left her life in New York after the death of her young son. Her marriage ended with the death of her child, and she moves to the Berkshires in Massachusetts to revive an old Victorian house. She's a very unpleasant woman. Her issues stem from an uber-religious, unrelenting mother, a drunk father, both of whom died young leaving her to raise her younger sister. When Hattie, her sister, does the unthinkable and becomes a nun, Melissa distances herself from her. I'd say she's a loner, but what she really is is a deeply unhappy, bitter, hard woman. Obviously, as if this isn't enough, she has a dark secret. What do you ask? Well! In the way, way back time of 1987, she was shipped to Ireland in shame to deliver a baby in a convent! The baby was then handed off to a new family! Gasp!
The adoption plot is weak at best. Steel writes about the 1980s as if it was an absolute scandal for a 16-year-old to give birth. Yes, it was looked down on, but as a child born to a 16-year-old in 1983, I can promise you I wasn't born in a convent and ripped from my mother's arms. The 80s weren't the 60s, but Steel writes as though it was.
Steel must have known her storyline was weak because about halfway through the book, she changes lanes to the subplot. And again, she completely fumbles. It was a kiss-off to the #MeToo movement that I saw coming from a mile away. It wasn't even done well or in a new or interesting way. It was regurgitated information that she used to shore up a bad plotline, and only succeeded in making the entire book worse. The ONLY reason I'm giving this book 2 stars is that I finished it.
Where do I start? In typical Steel fashion, this is meant to be a heartwarming novel of a woman overcoming adversity. What it actually is is a bunch of pandering nonsense that is tonally wrong and a little insulting to the reader.
Melissa is an angry, hard woman that left her life in New York after the death of her young son. Her marriage ended with the death of her child, and she moves to the Berkshires in Massachusetts to revive an old Victorian house. She's a very unpleasant woman. Her issues stem from an uber-religious, unrelenting mother, a drunk father, both of whom died young leaving her to raise her younger sister. When Hattie, her sister, does the unthinkable and becomes a nun, Melissa distances herself from her. I'd say she's a loner, but what she really is is a deeply unhappy, bitter, hard woman. Obviously, as if this isn't enough, she has a dark secret. What do you ask? Well! In the way, way back time of 1987, she was shipped to Ireland in shame to deliver a baby in a convent! The baby was then handed off to a new family! Gasp!
The adoption plot is weak at best. Steel writes about the 1980s as if it was an absolute scandal for a 16-year-old to give birth. Yes, it was looked down on, but as a child born to a 16-year-old in 1983, I can promise you I wasn't born in a convent and ripped from my mother's arms. The 80s weren't the 60s, but Steel writes as though it was.
Steel must have known her storyline was weak because about halfway through the book, she changes lanes to the subplot. And again, she completely fumbles. It was a kiss-off to the #MeToo movement that I saw coming from a mile away. It wasn't even done well or in a new or interesting way. It was regurgitated information that she used to shore up a bad plotline, and only succeeded in making the entire book worse. The ONLY reason I'm giving this book 2 stars is that I finished it.
FINDING ASHLEY is the story of two sisters who reconnect after many years to try to find one woman’s daughter who was given up for adoption. There is a great deal of backstory at the beginning of the book, and as other reviewers have pointed out, it becomes repetitive in places. Melissa lost her ten-year-old son to cancer and she and her husband divorced shortly after that. Now she lives a reclusive life restoring her house in Massachusetts. She used to be an author and gave that up, too. Her younger sister Hattie is a nun, but Melissa stopped speaking to her once Hattie entered the convent because Melissa is traumatized after giving up a baby for adoption as a teen. Hattie decides to try to help Melissa find her daughter, Ashley, who would now be in her thirties. This novel explored adoption, the MeToo movement, abuses through the church and second chance relationships.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
Thank you again @netgalley and @randomhouse for allowing me to read this ARC Finding Ashley by @officialdaniellesteel .
Sisterhood bond. Family. Secrets. Love.
Another great book that I read in 1 day.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Synopsis:
Melissa Henderson is leading a quiet life. Once a bestselling author, she now pours all her energy into renovating a Victorian house nestled in the foothills of rural New England. Six years ago, she lost her young son to cancer, and her marriage dissolved. She stopped writing. It was only when she bought the old house that Melissa found a purpose, and came alive as she made it beautiful again.
After a wildfire that threatens her home appears on the news, Melissa receives a call from her sister, Hattie. They were close once, but that was before Melissa withdrew from the world. Now Hattie, who became a nun at twenty-five, is determined to help Melissa turn a new page, even if it means reopening one of the most painful chapters of her life.
At sixteen, a pregnant Melissa was sent to a gloomy convent in Ireland to have— and give up—her baby, to spare the family shame. All these years later, Hattie feels compelled to embark on a journey that will change both their lives forever, and track down the child Melissa gave up.
Coming out April 2021
#bookstagram #booklover #booknerd #bookreview #daniellesteelbooks #netgalley
Sisterhood bond. Family. Secrets. Love.
Another great book that I read in 1 day.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Synopsis:
Melissa Henderson is leading a quiet life. Once a bestselling author, she now pours all her energy into renovating a Victorian house nestled in the foothills of rural New England. Six years ago, she lost her young son to cancer, and her marriage dissolved. She stopped writing. It was only when she bought the old house that Melissa found a purpose, and came alive as she made it beautiful again.
After a wildfire that threatens her home appears on the news, Melissa receives a call from her sister, Hattie. They were close once, but that was before Melissa withdrew from the world. Now Hattie, who became a nun at twenty-five, is determined to help Melissa turn a new page, even if it means reopening one of the most painful chapters of her life.
At sixteen, a pregnant Melissa was sent to a gloomy convent in Ireland to have— and give up—her baby, to spare the family shame. All these years later, Hattie feels compelled to embark on a journey that will change both their lives forever, and track down the child Melissa gave up.
Coming out April 2021
#bookstagram #booklover #booknerd #bookreview #daniellesteelbooks #netgalley
emotional
medium-paced
This romance novel was one of the better recent Danielle Steel novels I’ve read. I often find her more recent work too formulaic and predictable, but this one had more substance to it as it explored some of the issues of adoption and women being exploited. The romance aspect of the story was still predictable, but I did enjoy the interaction between the two sisters and their reconciliation with each other and with their pasts. 3.75/5 stars.
DNF 19% of the way through. Every single paragraph was a repeat of what the author just said. Good lord.
Good book about a woman dealing the grief over the death of her son and a subsequent divorce. Add in an abusive childhood, an estrangement from her only sibling, and the memories of a baby die was forced to give to as a teenager, and this about covers the awful things in her life. She spends all her time renovating an old house and in the process Fina forgiveness, love, and her daughter. This was a one-day read for me (staying up much too late finishing it).
Melissa is a middle aged woman who has isolated herself from friends and family in an effort to control her grief over her young son's death from cancer. Her sister Hattie is a nun, and Melissa despises nuns, because when she was just a teenager, her mother forced her to go to a convent with other unwed young girls, to give up her baby for adoption. Hattie had her own devastating reasons for entering a convent. Hattie hopes that by trying to find Melissa's long lost daughter, Ashley, that she can find healing for her sister, but her search will upend everything about both women's lives.
As an adoptee myself, I am always interested in reading good fiction that covers this important topic. Many people think adoption is happy endings, but often it involves trauma and sorrow for the birth mom and the adoptee, as well as extended family. A lot of adoptions involve exchanges of large amounts of money, often to a religious organization. I am so glad that this book tackled these darker aspects of the adoption industry -- because make no mistake, it's a profitable business -- without shying away from reality. Other topics covered include rape, toxic parenting, and grief.
Sure, it's fiction, but it took a good long hard look at some of the more traumatic aspects of adoption and whether you have been affected by adoption in some way or not, I think it's an important book to help educate people who may not realize all that goes along with it.
As an adoptee myself, I am always interested in reading good fiction that covers this important topic. Many people think adoption is happy endings, but often it involves trauma and sorrow for the birth mom and the adoptee, as well as extended family. A lot of adoptions involve exchanges of large amounts of money, often to a religious organization. I am so glad that this book tackled these darker aspects of the adoption industry -- because make no mistake, it's a profitable business -- without shying away from reality. Other topics covered include rape, toxic parenting, and grief.
Sure, it's fiction, but it took a good long hard look at some of the more traumatic aspects of adoption and whether you have been affected by adoption in some way or not, I think it's an important book to help educate people who may not realize all that goes along with it.