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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
After how much I loved Harold Fry and Queenie, I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately it didn't do it for me. I liked the first half of the book, but the ending was just too contrived for my liking.
A touch too quirky/quixotic for me. While I quite enjoyed Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, this was a light read, but not as strong as that. The ending was too quick, relative to the first part of the book.
A very gentle read, with lots of quirky characters and a lovely storyline. Just what you would expect from Rachel Joyce.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What. A. Disappointment.
What. A. Sorry. Excuse. For. A. Story.
Really.
I absolutely LOVED Rachel Joyce's "The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry" and "The Love Song of Miss Queeny Hennessy", loved the main characters, the dialogues and how she described situations and emotions. So I was quite looking forward to reading this book. I shouldn't have bothered. Utterly boring. Cheesy. Predictable. Not to mention sloooooooooow. In the end I just found myself reading diagonally until something happened. And when it finally did, it was so over the top and unrealistic, it just ruined the little hope there was left. This is so not Rachel Joyce.
True, the storyline does have some potential. In a back neighbourhood in London, in a tiny street where outcasts live, lies a music shop, owned by Frank who refuses to sell anything other than Vinyl. No CDs. No cassettes. He earns little money, instead he helps people by finding the perfect record for them. Then walks in Ilse in his shop, and both are flabbergasted by the other's appearance. And that's where the cheeseball predictable mushy (love) stuff begins. A little jealousy. A little awkwardness. A portion of people who want to stick their noses in. Bad guys, of course, the obligatory treat, in the shape of a development company that wants to demolish all the houses in the little street.... It's all there. All the components for what could be a wonderful story but what really isn't.
While Joyce managed to describe characters brilliantly in her earlier books, now it just doesn't work. It doesn't fit. Something is missing. She tried to be funny several times, but I maybe smiled two times, that's it. I wondered if it has anything to do with the theme of the book, "music", but as a musician, it was just that theme that sounded so attractive in the first place. Rachel Joyce just killed it.
A missed opportunity.
What. A. Sorry. Excuse. For. A. Story.
Really.
I absolutely LOVED Rachel Joyce's "The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry" and "The Love Song of Miss Queeny Hennessy", loved the main characters, the dialogues and how she described situations and emotions. So I was quite looking forward to reading this book. I shouldn't have bothered. Utterly boring. Cheesy. Predictable. Not to mention sloooooooooow. In the end I just found myself reading diagonally until something happened. And when it finally did, it was so over the top and unrealistic, it just ruined the little hope there was left. This is so not Rachel Joyce.
True, the storyline does have some potential. In a back neighbourhood in London, in a tiny street where outcasts live, lies a music shop, owned by Frank who refuses to sell anything other than Vinyl. No CDs. No cassettes. He earns little money, instead he helps people by finding the perfect record for them. Then walks in Ilse in his shop, and both are flabbergasted by the other's appearance. And that's where the cheeseball predictable mushy (love) stuff begins. A little jealousy. A little awkwardness. A portion of people who want to stick their noses in. Bad guys, of course, the obligatory treat, in the shape of a development company that wants to demolish all the houses in the little street.... It's all there. All the components for what could be a wonderful story but what really isn't.
While Joyce managed to describe characters brilliantly in her earlier books, now it just doesn't work. It doesn't fit. Something is missing. She tried to be funny several times, but I maybe smiled two times, that's it. I wondered if it has anything to do with the theme of the book, "music", but as a musician, it was just that theme that sounded so attractive in the first place. Rachel Joyce just killed it.
A missed opportunity.
This was a fun read full of quirky characters and a bit of nonsense! I did love its heartwarming moments and the fact that the author clearly knew about music-- all genres! As a reader, I can tell when the writer is trying to sound like the know what they're talking about, but it was clear here that they really did.
Started really good and ended really good, but seemed to have some unnecessary fluff in the middle which made it hard to get through.
I almost put this one down. I stuck with it because I typically love the author and my sister is also reading it. Just after page 200 (approx two thirds in!) I began enjoying the story line, and loved the rest of the novel.
Good, just not my favorite type of book and I wasn’t super familiar with all the music mentioned