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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
This book was full of action. It is adventurous, survival, and a love story. Though parts of this historical fiction book seemed too exaggerated, it was exciting to read.
Towards the beginning of each year, it never fails that I come across a phenomenal novel that leaves me wondering if I will read another book this year that could possibly be better. For 2021, this honor goes to Beneath A Scarlet Sky.
I experienced this book on Audible so I want to begin by giving massive kudos to the narrator, Will Damron. Listening to Mark Sullivan’s account of Pino Lella’s life was extraordinary. So much so that I needed to remind myself that this was a work of nonfiction. In those moments, I had to pause the story because I’d be distracted from Pino’s story as I contemplated how real these people are in his memory and how it is such a feat for an author to weave another’s memories into such a vivid story of sacrifice, love, and loss in war.
If permitted, I’d give more than 5 stars to the narrator, author, and the story in every way!
I experienced this book on Audible so I want to begin by giving massive kudos to the narrator, Will Damron. Listening to Mark Sullivan’s account of Pino Lella’s life was extraordinary. So much so that I needed to remind myself that this was a work of nonfiction. In those moments, I had to pause the story because I’d be distracted from Pino’s story as I contemplated how real these people are in his memory and how it is such a feat for an author to weave another’s memories into such a vivid story of sacrifice, love, and loss in war.
If permitted, I’d give more than 5 stars to the narrator, author, and the story in every way!
It took about 60 pages to get into the story but after that I was completely hooked. This is a story that is going to stay with me.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
stale but couldn’t put it down
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, War
The combination of fictionalized story based on a real person's experiences didn't really work for me in this book. Based on a bit of background reading on this book, it's pretty unlikely that all of these events happened to the real Pino Lella (and the author admits as much in his author's note).
I think if Mark Sullivan had written a completely fictional tale around a fictional hero, he'd have had to make the events more realistic, so this was a situation where the extraordinary events could have been enough to carry the story if true, but since they probably weren't, the writing was nothing special and the plot was without much depth or tension.
I think if Mark Sullivan had written a completely fictional tale around a fictional hero, he'd have had to make the events more realistic, so this was a situation where the extraordinary events could have been enough to carry the story if true, but since they probably weren't, the writing was nothing special and the plot was without much depth or tension.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
I am very surprised at how terrible the writing was, especially since this has been highly recommended by a number of people. I don't know if it gets better, I stopped after the sentence "Pino's father went berserk."
slow-paced
Beneath a Scarlet Sky takes readers on a journey through the eyes of young Pino Lella. Pino is a fantastic narrator, and Sullivan does an incredible job of making the reader feel like they are right with Pino every step of the way, through joy, love, tragedy, and incredible grit. The novelization of Pino Lella's true life story is set amid World War II in Italy, revealing a front of the war rarely discussed.