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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Thanks to #netgalley and #GrandCentralPublishing for the opportunity to read and review this book by @SuzanneGoldring Pub date July 14, 2020 This was a very interesting story. It tells Evie's story using flashbacks while she is ending her days in an assisted living facility. She lost her husband in WW2 and when she finds out he was sacrificed, she wants revenge. Eva is a cool character as she interacts with her niece and others. I love her personality and her intrigue. I definitely recommend.
3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️
Eva/Evelyn has a secret past that no one knows about. My Name is Eva explores her life at different time periods. She will do anything to keep her secret from getting out, including pretending she was dementia and can’t remember things or remember them correctly.
I really wanted to like this book as I love historical fiction, especially with flashbacks. However, this book just seems to flounder around. The story jumps from place to place with no consistency. The whole premise of the book is she killed a man to get revenge for her dead husband, but we never find how he died or if the man had anything to do with it. I was waiting for resolution and received none. Also, I would think someone would recognize that she doesn’t have Alzheimer’s or dementia as I’m sure people have tried to fake it before.
Some of the other plot lines seemed just thrown in for no real purpose. I did like learning about her time working in a displacement camp and felt more could have been done with that setting. Overall, the story felt very rushed and incomplete.
Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for an e-arc of this book.
Eva/Evelyn has a secret past that no one knows about. My Name is Eva explores her life at different time periods. She will do anything to keep her secret from getting out, including pretending she was dementia and can’t remember things or remember them correctly.
I really wanted to like this book as I love historical fiction, especially with flashbacks. However, this book just seems to flounder around. The story jumps from place to place with no consistency. The whole premise of the book is she killed a man to get revenge for her dead husband, but we never find how he died or if the man had anything to do with it. I was waiting for resolution and received none. Also, I would think someone would recognize that she doesn’t have Alzheimer’s or dementia as I’m sure people have tried to fake it before.
Some of the other plot lines seemed just thrown in for no real purpose. I did like learning about her time working in a displacement camp and felt more could have been done with that setting. Overall, the story felt very rushed and incomplete.
Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for an e-arc of this book.
medium-paced
This book sounded so intriguing, I love a historical fiction filled with spies and espionage, but this one was not the book for me.
I found this novel very confusing. It was hard to follow a bit because the main character, Eva (or one of her other many names) often pretends to be forgetful or puts on the persona that she is constantly making things up. Her niece is sorting out her house and often comes to visit with questions about the estate. Their conversations are very odd and her niece over reacts big time when she finds guns in a random closet. She goes as far as calling the police on her Aunt Eva. I really did not understand that part, it seemed really dramatic and unrealistic. A lot of the conversations between the niece and the aunt were very awkward and the dialogue just was not naturally written.
I found this novel very confusing. It was hard to follow a bit because the main character, Eva (or one of her other many names) often pretends to be forgetful or puts on the persona that she is constantly making things up. Her niece is sorting out her house and often comes to visit with questions about the estate. Their conversations are very odd and her niece over reacts big time when she finds guns in a random closet. She goes as far as calling the police on her Aunt Eva. I really did not understand that part, it seemed really dramatic and unrealistic. A lot of the conversations between the niece and the aunt were very awkward and the dialogue just was not naturally written.
Before I start, I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with a free copy of My Name is Eva in exchange for an honest review.
In all honesty, I didn’t like this novel for several reasons. The greatest problem with it is the structure of the story, or more precisely, the lack of it. The story jumps from 2016 to 1940s, then 1980s, 2016 again, 1950s, 1980s again, etc. This made the story less captivating and there was no mystery as to what would happen. Now, I generally don’t mind flashbacks when they’re done properly. I think that the story would have been much more interesting if the flashbacks were in the chronological order.
Another issue is the fact that Goldring spent too many pages on describing Evelyn’s days at Forest Lawns Care Home. These parts are uneventful and annoyingly repetitive. On the other hand, events that took place during and in the aftermath of WWII are not developed enough.
However, there are some things that I liked. First, I think that the idea is really good. There are not so many stories that revolve around the brutalities that happened after the war. Also, I like that Eva is more of an anti-heroine than a true hero. After all, she’s not much better than the people she hates so much.
You can find my full review here: https://stacked-reviews.com/my-name-is-eva-review
In all honesty, I didn’t like this novel for several reasons. The greatest problem with it is the structure of the story, or more precisely, the lack of it. The story jumps from 2016 to 1940s, then 1980s, 2016 again, 1950s, 1980s again, etc. This made the story less captivating and there was no mystery as to what would happen. Now, I generally don’t mind flashbacks when they’re done properly. I think that the story would have been much more interesting if the flashbacks were in the chronological order.
Another issue is the fact that Goldring spent too many pages on describing Evelyn’s days at Forest Lawns Care Home. These parts are uneventful and annoyingly repetitive. On the other hand, events that took place during and in the aftermath of WWII are not developed enough.
However, there are some things that I liked. First, I think that the idea is really good. There are not so many stories that revolve around the brutalities that happened after the war. Also, I like that Eva is more of an anti-heroine than a true hero. After all, she’s not much better than the people she hates so much.
You can find my full review here: https://stacked-reviews.com/my-name-is-eva-review
World War II is an era that fascinates me. This is mostly why I picked up "My name is Eva". It did not feature as much of the war as I thought it would, but I wasn't too disappointed.
We follow Evelyn, who also calls herself Eva or Evie depending on the contexts, whose husband has been killed during the war. We meet her as an old woman in a retirement home, with many secrets threatened to be revealed when her niece digs a little in her property, now empty. Throughout the book, we discover who Evelyn is, the things she's done and the secrets she hides.
I felt a sense of peace reading this book. It just flows nicely, mixing letters with regular narration, so we get a glimpse of Evelyn's relationship with Hugh, her husband. I liked getting to know this little lady, who doesn't seem like much, but has done a great amount of things in her life, and uncovering her secrets, one page at a time. It made me want to see my grand parents more often and ask them about their life before kids (and I did go there afterwards !)
The reason I'm not giving it a better rating is that it was a little too uneventful for me. Don't get me wrong, there is some action, but I didn't feel too captivated by it, and it didn't make me feel anything in particular. Things happened and I just read them to get to the next part.
Another 'issue' for me was how deconstructed in time the narration was. You can go from a tale set in 2016, then 1945, then 1980, then 2016 again, then 1950, etc... I have no problems with the flashbacks, they're the entire point of the book, but I would have liked the flashbacks to follow the previous one. Like 1945, 2016, 1950,2016, 1980, and so on, instead of jumping back and forth decades.
Besides Evelyn, who was a good enough character, I couldn't feel much for the rest of the cast. They're here, but they don't convey much emotion, especially Pat, Evelyn's niece, who's a little cliché of the kid that doesn't want to be around old people too long.
I would have loved to read more about Hugh, getting to know who he was before being sent to war, how he met Evelyn, how they fell in love, and so on ! Maybe this can be another book ? I think I'd really like that !
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an e-arc !
We follow Evelyn, who also calls herself Eva or Evie depending on the contexts, whose husband has been killed during the war. We meet her as an old woman in a retirement home, with many secrets threatened to be revealed when her niece digs a little in her property, now empty. Throughout the book, we discover who Evelyn is, the things she's done and the secrets she hides.
I felt a sense of peace reading this book. It just flows nicely, mixing letters with regular narration, so we get a glimpse of Evelyn's relationship with Hugh, her husband. I liked getting to know this little lady, who doesn't seem like much, but has done a great amount of things in her life, and uncovering her secrets, one page at a time. It made me want to see my grand parents more often and ask them about their life before kids (and I did go there afterwards !)
The reason I'm not giving it a better rating is that it was a little too uneventful for me. Don't get me wrong, there is some action, but I didn't feel too captivated by it, and it didn't make me feel anything in particular. Things happened and I just read them to get to the next part.
Another 'issue' for me was how deconstructed in time the narration was. You can go from a tale set in 2016, then 1945, then 1980, then 2016 again, then 1950, etc... I have no problems with the flashbacks, they're the entire point of the book, but I would have liked the flashbacks to follow the previous one. Like 1945, 2016, 1950,2016, 1980, and so on, instead of jumping back and forth decades.
Besides Evelyn, who was a good enough character, I couldn't feel much for the rest of the cast. They're here, but they don't convey much emotion, especially Pat, Evelyn's niece, who's a little cliché of the kid that doesn't want to be around old people too long.
I would have loved to read more about Hugh, getting to know who he was before being sent to war, how he met Evelyn, how they fell in love, and so on ! Maybe this can be another book ? I think I'd really like that !
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an e-arc !
It was pacey, and I quite enjoyed the character of Eva, but the tone felt patchy, and some of plot points felt contrived - she was clever spy, but forgot crucial clues etc. And with so much of a focus on two timelines, it felt like the rest of her life was missed for convenience's sake.