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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
If you are a Kate Morton fan, then this is the book for you. Three generations of women, three love affairs, art, war, and parents who don't tell the whole story. All in one beautiful New York City mansion.
3.5/5 Stars
Sadly Predictable
Perhaps I didn't figure out EVERY twist of the story, but I hate when I'm less than half way through and I know exactly where and how things are going. This was a trilogy of characters braided together in a VERY romantic historical fiction. It should rather read historical ROMANCE novel, and a very ordinary one at that.
I hate to say it, because I love all three of these authors, but this just missed the mark for me.
Sadly Predictable
Perhaps I didn't figure out EVERY twist of the story, but I hate when I'm less than half way through and I know exactly where and how things are going. This was a trilogy of characters braided together in a VERY romantic historical fiction. It should rather read historical ROMANCE novel, and a very ordinary one at that.
I hate to say it, because I love all three of these authors, but this just missed the mark for me.
Reader, I will confess that I anticipated this book for months before its release, but with one thing and another, I did not have the opportunity to give this book the attention I knew it would need for several months. Gladly, I found my space recently, and finished.
The Forgotten Room is a the rare case where three unique writes have created a single, seamless story of three generations of women. It was fun to guess who wrote which part, and there are little clues, if you look carefully enough.
The story is, at its core, about the decision each of the women makes about true love and about how much of her story to share with her daughter. While the reader gets continual glimpses at the exact dilemma each will face, the story is told in alternating perspectives, not chronologically, so we are kept guessing until the last chapters.
Reader, I admit that the relationships and the family tree can get a small bit intimidating, but that is mostly due to the undulating perspectives. Frankly, told in a chronological order, the story would be more, well, straightforward, but then, we wouldn't see the patterns and cycles of these women's lives as clearly. Using the changing perspectives, we know what choice each woman will make (even before we know why), but we keep cheering for the one we wish her to make. That's writer's magic, and in this book, threefold over.
I received the Advanced Uncorrected Proof for free through Goodreads Giveaways, and so was encouraged to review it, however this did not influence what I wrote in my review.
The Forgotten Room is a the rare case where three unique writes have created a single, seamless story of three generations of women. It was fun to guess who wrote which part, and there are little clues, if you look carefully enough.
The story is, at its core, about the decision each of the women makes about true love and about how much of her story to share with her daughter. While the reader gets continual glimpses at the exact dilemma each will face, the story is told in alternating perspectives, not chronologically, so we are kept guessing until the last chapters.
Reader, I admit that the relationships and the family tree can get a small bit intimidating, but that is mostly due to the undulating perspectives. Frankly, told in a chronological order, the story would be more, well, straightforward, but then, we wouldn't see the patterns and cycles of these women's lives as clearly. Using the changing perspectives, we know what choice each woman will make (even before we know why), but we keep cheering for the one we wish her to make. That's writer's magic, and in this book, threefold over.
I received the Advanced Uncorrected Proof for free through Goodreads Giveaways, and so was encouraged to review it, however this did not influence what I wrote in my review.
Don't get me wrong, this is well written, and I was so on board for the first 75% of the book. Then, all the angst was explained and there was no reason for it. Ladies, if you meet the love of your lives multiple times, communicate for heavens sake. Is it supposed to be romantic that these women suffered their whole lives and used the nice men around them while they pined for assholes abroad? No, girl, any relationship book will tell you to open your stupid mouth and communicate.
UGH
UGH
** I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review
This book is the story told from the viewpoint of 3 women, all of different generations, and all of them have found their soulmate. It is fascinating to listen to their stories and to see how all 3 women (and the men that they loved) tie together. All of the characters, even those who were not so nice, felt real and as if you were there watching it all unfold. This is definitely a book you won't want to miss.
This book is the story told from the viewpoint of 3 women, all of different generations, and all of them have found their soulmate. It is fascinating to listen to their stories and to see how all 3 women (and the men that they loved) tie together. All of the characters, even those who were not so nice, felt real and as if you were there watching it all unfold. This is definitely a book you won't want to miss.
This book was a lovely surprise. I expected to enjoy it, as I've read other books by two of the three authors. But I really, REALLY enjoyed this triple story and am so glad I finally got around to reading it [it was on my TBR for ages].
I enjoy dual-timeline stories when they are done well. This book delivered, not two, but three separate but connected time- and storylines, with three different female protagonists. All of the women were very different, but I so liked each one of them, and enjoyed going along on their journeys as they discovered their family histories, and learned how they were connected by a Beaux Arts mansion in Manhatten.
The three authors here must have thoroughly collaborated in how this book was written, because if you didn't know that three separate authors wrote it, you would never know. The three stories flow, inter-connect and shift back on themselves effortlessly and seamlessly. This feels like one really great story about three generations of women, which it is, but the fact that three authors collaborated to write this makes it, to me, even more impressive. I loved this book from first page to last!
If you like strong female characters dealing with the difficulties life throws at them, turn-of-the century New York [the descriptions of the city and its events is a well-done extra feature of this book] and multiple time-line stories interconnecting in interesting ways, I highly recommend this book!
I enjoy dual-timeline stories when they are done well. This book delivered, not two, but three separate but connected time- and storylines, with three different female protagonists. All of the women were very different, but I so liked each one of them, and enjoyed going along on their journeys as they discovered their family histories, and learned how they were connected by a Beaux Arts mansion in Manhatten.
The three authors here must have thoroughly collaborated in how this book was written, because if you didn't know that three separate authors wrote it, you would never know. The three stories flow, inter-connect and shift back on themselves effortlessly and seamlessly. This feels like one really great story about three generations of women, which it is, but the fact that three authors collaborated to write this makes it, to me, even more impressive. I loved this book from first page to last!
If you like strong female characters dealing with the difficulties life throws at them, turn-of-the century New York [the descriptions of the city and its events is a well-done extra feature of this book] and multiple time-line stories interconnecting in interesting ways, I highly recommend this book!
I didn't know whether to give this book 2 stars or 4 stars... or even 1 star.
Reading this book was a little bit like trying on a fuschia lipstick. Beautiful, but not for me.
Readers who love bittersweet will love this book, but one of my greatest fears is regret and this story is solely propelled by the deep dark regrets of each generation.
For me, the most unforgivable parts of this book were each generation's romance is clouded by the possibility that the couple is closely related. It's hard to get invested in a romance when the whole time you're screeching "is this incestuous????"
The next most awful part was that the 1920s couple included a married man. No. NO. Adultery is not bittersweet. Don't ask me to want them to commit it. Get away from me.
Third worst: I'm not convinced that the 1890s couple couldn't have worked out. Why did she even leave? Who knows?
Fourth: the 1920s story and the 1940s story are both cases of insta-love which I'm 1000% over. And all three stories include varying degrees of love triangles. No thanks.
Okay one last thing, I'm so annoyed over the two generations of women who settled for marriages with men they didn't really love. That's so selfish!!! It made me dislike both of those characters really deeply.
It was fine, I suppose. I might try some of these authors' other books. But I don't know if I'd recommend this one.
Reading this book was a little bit like trying on a fuschia lipstick. Beautiful, but not for me.
Readers who love bittersweet will love this book, but one of my greatest fears is regret and this story is solely propelled by the deep dark regrets of each generation.
For me, the most unforgivable parts of this book were
The next most awful part was that the 1920s couple included a married man. No. NO. Adultery is not bittersweet. Don't ask me to want them to commit it. Get away from me.
Third worst: I'm not convinced that the 1890s couple couldn't have worked out. Why did she even leave? Who knows?
Fourth: the 1920s story and the 1940s story are both cases of insta-love which I'm 1000% over. And all three stories include varying degrees of love triangles. No thanks.
Okay one last thing, I'm so annoyed over the two generations of women who settled for marriages with men they didn't really love. That's so selfish!!! It made me dislike both of those characters really deeply.
It was fine, I suppose. I might try some of these authors' other books. But I don't know if I'd recommend this one.
Good story, I really like the main characters. It took my a long time to red it for some reason.
Super frustrating and so predictable book. Even though the authors tried to build up some surprise factors, there were none. Everything was so obvious. And honestly, Lucy's part was not even required.
dnf. Multiple viewpoints, cheesy insta-romance stories, Kate the "doctor" extremely unprofessional.