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sheilabookworm3369's review
4.0
Paullina Simons writes strong characters. She doesn’t leave herself much choice. With the suffering she heaps on them, they have to be strong to live through some 600 pages of fictional life. What keeps me coming back to her stories though, are those very same characters. She writes them so true to life that they rattle around in my head every time I put the book down. Irritating, really, when you set a book down, but it won’t leave your head.
Case in point, The Girl in Time Square. I was almost 150 pages in, when I realized this story had the potential to be seriously heartbreaking. I set it aside, thinking I’d pick it up again when I had something funny to read along side it. A few days later, I’m cooking dinner, haven’t found that lighthearted book, and the cop, O’Malley (Paullina writes some of the best cops) is back in my head. Nooo! So I pick up where I left off and read until I have to put it down again. This goes on for days and days, until I get a little over half way through the book. By then it’s too late. I’m in, and can’t put it down until I know what happened / happens.
There are books in this world that are meant to be loved, and there are some that can’t help but be loathed. This has some of both. I don’t know whether to hug it, or throw it across the room. It won’t matter which I choose; neither is going to get the characters out of my head any time soon.
Case in point, The Girl in Time Square. I was almost 150 pages in, when I realized this story had the potential to be seriously heartbreaking. I set it aside, thinking I’d pick it up again when I had something funny to read along side it. A few days later, I’m cooking dinner, haven’t found that lighthearted book, and the cop, O’Malley (Paullina writes some of the best cops) is back in my head. Nooo! So I pick up where I left off and read until I have to put it down again. This goes on for days and days, until I get a little over half way through the book. By then it’s too late. I’m in, and can’t put it down until I know what happened / happens.
There are books in this world that are meant to be loved, and there are some that can’t help but be loathed. This has some of both. I don’t know whether to hug it, or throw it across the room. It won’t matter which I choose; neither is going to get the characters out of my head any time soon.
marryallthepeople's review
3.0
Simons is a great writer and I do get caught up in her writing. Unfortunately this one seems to drag in the latter parts when there seemed too to be too much action and plot holes tied up. All very nice and tidy but still felt rushed at the end.
hannahwoodson's review
2.0
Not good. The blurb on the cover says it's the perfect book because it's part romance, part family drama, part mystery but I fundamentally disagree. Because it is trying to be everything it is successful at nothing. There's way, way too many plotlines and stuff crammed into this book. Nazis, cancer, lottery winnings and so many other threads that are briefly touched on then forgotten about. This author needs a serious editor.
The mystery's not compelling, the romance is icky, the characters do not feel realistic at all and somehow after 500+ pages, the ending seems super rushed. I hated that the main character has this unhealthy, maybe even abusive relationship with a lot of her family members that is never challenged. (Also this is a relatively minor quibble but the professionals in this book keep breaking the boundaries of their professions. Plenty of HIPPA, privacy violations and detectives in sexual relationships with subjects of their investigations)
Would recommend skipping this one.
The mystery's not compelling, the romance is icky, the characters do not feel realistic at all and somehow after 500+ pages, the ending seems super rushed. I hated that the main character has this unhealthy, maybe even abusive relationship with a lot of her family members that is never challenged. (Also this is a relatively minor quibble but the professionals in this book keep breaking the boundaries of their professions. Plenty of HIPPA, privacy violations and detectives in sexual relationships with subjects of their investigations)
Would recommend skipping this one.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
I would have given this book 5 stars apart from the slow beginning - it took me a while to get into this book but once I did it was a fantastic story of life and love, friendship and death. Amusing and weepy and points and felt really involved with the characters.
asorrenti's review
5.0
This was recommended to me by a handful of my friends. So, thinking it was chick lit, i refused for a while, but in the end I finally gave in. It really was a good story. Perhaps not 5 stars worthy, but definitely 4 and 1/2. It was a love story/tear-jerker meets an episode of "Law and Order" and I loved every minute of it. I'll definitely be reading more of Paullina's books.
ralique's review
4.0
I read this because I loved the author's work on the Bronze Horseman series. The beginning was slow here, but I definitely enjoyed the latter half. I think the mystery was resolved quite well as well as tying up all the loose ends.
meegzreads's review
4.0
I felt like this was a bit slow to start with, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. Paullina Simons, yet another fantastic book from you!
nononanette's review
4.0
This book kind of threw me. After reading it I looked at other reviews and saw "this author could use a ruthless editor." Made me laugh because I totally agree, except I still was fascinated by the book. Sure, parts annoyed me and at first I didn't think I would stick with it. I skimmed some sections but eventually went back to reread as I got used to the authors style. Ironically, for a book that covers issues too innumerable to list (the biggies were alcoholism, cancer, family disfunction in many forms, missing persons, and political fanaticism), it starts slowly with Lily's life as just one big parade of nothing; her life was bound up in living vicariously through others. But I loved how the author slowly adds color, depth and detail to every character (sometimes too much!) and her plot, while best not looked at too carefully, actually works for the most part. I ended up loving Lily, her doctor, her friends, her art but let's face it, it was was Spencer who kept us reading. I was desperate to understand him, to discover if he would ever find any peace, make any sense of his life, and his relationship with lily was so complex. they both were complex. She was naively oblivious and yet saw things so clearly. She was so young. You had to wonder if he would have fallen for her if she hadn't needed someone to help her. I was disappointed with how her relationship with her brother developed. I expected so much more from that.
I looked through Simmon's book list and discovered Spencer is a main character in another book that starts 13 years earlier, Red Leaves. It's another mystery, one that reminds me a bit of Gone Girl. I found the beginning basketball game frustrating but since I was familiar with her style, persevered and was rewarded.
I looked through Simmon's book list and discovered Spencer is a main character in another book that starts 13 years earlier, Red Leaves. It's another mystery, one that reminds me a bit of Gone Girl. I found the beginning basketball game frustrating but since I was familiar with her style, persevered and was rewarded.