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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing is just…not great. Very repetitive prose and simple writing. Plot wasn’t bad but it could’ve been 100 pages shorter with how redundant it was
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is the first Danielle Steel book that I read and when reading the blurb I thought it was going to be something that I would enjoy but I was slightly bored of this book but couldn't bring myself to DNF as I always like to give a book a chance to improve. In this book, we follow the life of Melissa and Hattie who are sisters. Melissa is spending her time renovating a lovely old school Victorian house after her life changed drastically 6 years ago and she gave her up career as a best-selling author. But one day Melissa receives a call from her sister Hattie informing her that her house has just appeared on this news and this is the start of the two rebuilding their relationship after Melissa withdrew herself from both her family and the world around her. Now, the girls are about to embark on an adventure to find the daughter that Melissa gave up all those years ago when she was a teenager as Hattie is determined to help Melissa turn a new page and regain the life she once had.
I only gave this book 3 stars because of how often I had to put it down and have a breather before returning to it as I was becoming bored of it. Although it was really interesting to read about how the girls rebuilt their relationship and worked together to try and find Melissa's daughter.
I only gave this book 3 stars because of how often I had to put it down and have a breather before returning to it as I was becoming bored of it. Although it was really interesting to read about how the girls rebuilt their relationship and worked together to try and find Melissa's daughter.
It’s my own fault I didn’t like this book. I thought Danielle Steel wrote domestic suspense, and this was absolutely not that. It was a quick read, but the suspense never came.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
I have always loved Danielle Steels books. This one was such a great story! Lots of family drama and secrets, Sisters who find their way back to each and all the secrets come out, but they also gets answers they are needing, also do alot of soul searching,
This book was good, but a little predictable. Melissa took over raising her sister, Hattie after their parents died. Hattie and Melissa both have past traumas that neither of them know about until Hattie reaches out to her sister and tries to repair their bond. When Hattie finds out that their parents made Melissa give up her child when she was 16 in Ireland and has always wanted to find her Hattie makes it her mission to find her. There is a lot of healing old wounds and finding new beginnings in this book.
challenging
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It catches your attention in the beginning then it becomes a bit predictable but I did learn some good messages about life and second chances it was worth my time
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you're looking to read the most dull, cliche, and repetitive book this one is for you. I could tell from the second chapter that this author's writing style was not for me and that feeling continued throughout the read. The amount of times the readers is informed about the main characters anger towards her sister at becoming a nun, or total isolation and solitude after her son's death is amazing. And the author will literally have the characters repeat the same sentence a couple pages apart. Additionally, the characters dialogue is so unrealistic and each characters quotes are paragraphs long and nothing flows like a true and genuine human interaction. Now to the plot, the idea behind the story was interesting, Melissa admits to having had and given up a daughter at 16, but the author resolves this within the first third of the book by having Melissa and her daughter reunited. Then, the author adds a whole new plot line in the last third of the book loosely and generically based on the Me Too movement. Also in the final chapters there's some very racialized and xenophobic undertones to the way the author writes Melissa's concerns about her sister working in Africa. Overall this book was very easy to read because the syntax, sentence structure, and plot are written at a 8th grade reading level but oh my is it boring, dull, predictable, and overall low effort. I will not be reading another Danielle Steele book in my life.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
2.5 Stars
I really liked the plot if this book. The finding your adopted child trope is one I usually enjoy, especially when it involves the churches in the UK or Ireland like this one did.
This is one of Miss Steel's better of her recent books but comes no where close to her older stuff. I found this really repetitive, especially the first chapters. And the writing itself was a little bland.
Overall an ok read and I have to remind myself that the author is chugging these out on a weekly basis and I so wish Danielle Steel would focus on quality and not quantity. I also really wish half stars were a thing.
Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, Danielle Steel and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.
#FindingAshley #NetGalley