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kristaallysa1's review
3.0
The writing and plot were nothing special, yet I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a cute story and a light read.
sunflowerdown's review
1.0
This was my first Danielle Steel book and I’m beyond disappointed. The writing alone felt like a mediocre high school project (VERY repetitive). I almost put this book down until I realized I could skim the book and miss NOTHING. So I at least finished it....
tboofy's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book about a royal daughter sent away during a war who died before returning home. What happened while she was away was a mystery only one or two people who lived knew about, and they weren't talking. Very interesting premise and book.
soulkissed2003's review
3.0
Once upon a time, I picked up a Danielle Steele novel because well, if she's so popular surely I would enjoy it. I couldn't tell you which book it was, but I was not enjoying it, so I put it down in favor of something else. This new book, just released August 2020, sounded like it had an interesting story line and I thought, well, maybe it was a fluke and I'll try this author again.
It was not a fluke. But it wasn't as bad as I remembered the other book being. In fact, I enjoyed it, although it's definitely not a favorite. I felt like the book was a bit watered down, as if it was set for a lower reading level. I don't mind that -- but honestly with YA literature having made the strides it has, even if you were aiming for a teen and adult mixed audience, this is almost a little insulting. Some sentences didn't even make sense, though. Both narrative and dialogue passages seemed stiff and did not have a natural flow. Well it's likely an unpopular opinion but it's mine and I'm sticking to it.
The plot line is improbable to the point of impossibility, but then again I'm a sucker for Regency romance novels and I'd say about 85% of them would never happen, either. So why not have some fun with a good story? The story itself is interesting and somewhat suspenseful but because of the writing style the pace was a little choppy.
While this doesn't make me want to run out there and see if any of her other countless books might interest me, it also doesn't completely put me off considering others in the future. We'll see if one day I'm browsing new releases at the library and see something that makes me look twice.
It was not a fluke. But it wasn't as bad as I remembered the other book being. In fact, I enjoyed it, although it's definitely not a favorite. I felt like the book was a bit watered down, as if it was set for a lower reading level. I don't mind that -- but honestly with YA literature having made the strides it has, even if you were aiming for a teen and adult mixed audience, this is almost a little insulting. Some sentences didn't even make sense, though. Both narrative and dialogue passages seemed stiff and did not have a natural flow. Well it's likely an unpopular opinion but it's mine and I'm sticking to it.
The plot line is improbable to the point of impossibility, but then again I'm a sucker for Regency romance novels and I'd say about 85% of them would never happen, either. So why not have some fun with a good story? The story itself is interesting and somewhat suspenseful but because of the writing style the pace was a little choppy.
While this doesn't make me want to run out there and see if any of her other countless books might interest me, it also doesn't completely put me off considering others in the future. We'll see if one day I'm browsing new releases at the library and see something that makes me look twice.
zguettler333's review against another edition
1.0
I work in a library. A lot of patrons checkout stacks of her books at a time. I just wanted to give her a try. She really isn't my cup of tea. She was a fast and easy read but other than that there was not much I liked about it.
sunflower_reads's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
coffeeteabooksandme's review against another edition
3.0
I had high hopes for this book based on the description, but it fell a bit flat for me. For starters, I’m not a huge D.S. reader, so her style of writing is a bit jarring for me. There’s a lot of redundancy/repetitiveness that breaks the flow of the story in places.
Also, I think it was difficult for me to stay engaged with the fictional characters because my brain kept wanting to draw the parallels to the real royal family. Every now and then there would be some detail that shadows a real royal family member and I would get distracted for a couple of minutes with trying to figure out how close to reality that detail was, then reminding myself that this is fiction and not an accurate representation of history.
The plot was interesting and the premise was good, the execution just left a little bit to be desired from me.
Also, I think it was difficult for me to stay engaged with the fictional characters because my brain kept wanting to draw the parallels to the real royal family. Every now and then there would be some detail that shadows a real royal family member and I would get distracted for a couple of minutes with trying to figure out how close to reality that detail was, then reminding myself that this is fiction and not an accurate representation of history.
The plot was interesting and the premise was good, the execution just left a little bit to be desired from me.
jennahack's review against another edition
4.0
True Rating: 3.5 stars
I got through this book quickly because it sucked me in. What’s odd is that it wasn’t a fantastic story. It’s more that you just couldn’t figure out exactly where it was going. I can’t believe how many people died in this book. And no, that isn’t a spoiler.
It was a sweet ending and I’m glad I read this book. I will say that this book confirms to me that I’m not the biggest fan of Danielle Steel’s writing.
I got through this book quickly because it sucked me in. What’s odd is that it wasn’t a fantastic story. It’s more that you just couldn’t figure out exactly where it was going. I can’t believe how many people died in this book. And no, that isn’t a spoiler.
It was a sweet ending and I’m glad I read this book. I will say that this book confirms to me that I’m not the biggest fan of Danielle Steel’s writing.
ziyuelan's review
3.0
This was a solid read that built three different women and how their stories connected.
If you are going into this, like I did, with the mindset that the big mystery will be revealed little by little, you are mistaken. And I think that did make my reading experience less amazing than what it could’ve been.
We immediately get introduced to the two first women that will be our main characters and we very quickly discover the third women. This book could easily be divided into three different parts: part 1 - Charlotte ; part 2 - Lucy ; part 3 - Annie.
There is no real mystery to be uncovered but this is rather how three different women who are intertwined travel the craziness that is their life and the world affecting it.
I did thoroughly enjoyed this book and did fly through it once you got settled with the plot and the characters, but since it wasn’t exactly what I had expected to read it was a bit of a let down.
If you are going into this, like I did, with the mindset that the big mystery will be revealed little by little, you are mistaken. And I think that did make my reading experience less amazing than what it could’ve been.
We immediately get introduced to the two first women that will be our main characters and we very quickly discover the third women. This book could easily be divided into three different parts: part 1 - Charlotte ; part 2 - Lucy ; part 3 - Annie.
There is no real mystery to be uncovered but this is rather how three different women who are intertwined travel the craziness that is their life and the world affecting it.
I did thoroughly enjoyed this book and did fly through it once you got settled with the plot and the characters, but since it wasn’t exactly what I had expected to read it was a bit of a let down.
smatthew459's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5