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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Binchy's novels are a safe read for me. What I mean is that I know what I'm in for - a quaint story with colorful characters that almost always is sure to please.
I'd been enjoying this just fine up until about 2/3 of the way through. A particular plot point frustrated me so much that I Googled the ending, & yep, I can save myself that remainder of time as it apparently only gets worse.
I initially started reading this book because I was sure my sister, a fan of Maeve Binchy, lent it to me and thought I'd like it better than the other Binchy books I've read. (She doesn't remember owning it, though, so now I'm not sure where it came from...)
And I did find it interesting at the beginning...young, smart, poor girl in post-WWII Ireland, growing up in a town on the coast that booms as a resort town during the summer months and is only populated by locals in the winter. There's quite a cast of local, and regular visiting, characters, whose lives, loves, and lineages all intertwine.
I had to take a break from reading it for quite a while, because, even though I liked it less and less as the story went on, I was still pretty invested in it, and when it came to the point where I was sure a couple of the characters were going to ruin their lives and futures, it was starting to make me--literally--sick. I finally came back to it this week, to finish the last 100 or so pages, now that I had some distance. And it was good, because I could finish, wasn't so involved in what was going on, and could dislike the whole end of the book without making myself sick with worry over the characters.
I think this is it for me and Binchy. I've read three of her novels, and just don't like the way her stories and characters go. There's only so much pathos and unhappiness and poor choices I can take.
And I did find it interesting at the beginning...young, smart, poor girl in post-WWII Ireland, growing up in a town on the coast that booms as a resort town during the summer months and is only populated by locals in the winter. There's quite a cast of local, and regular visiting, characters, whose lives, loves, and lineages all intertwine.
I had to take a break from reading it for quite a while, because, even though I liked it less and less as the story went on, I was still pretty invested in it, and when it came to the point where I was sure a couple of the characters were going to ruin their lives and futures, it was starting to make me--literally--sick. I finally came back to it this week, to finish the last 100 or so pages, now that I had some distance. And it was good, because I could finish, wasn't so involved in what was going on, and could dislike the whole end of the book without making myself sick with worry over the characters.
I think this is it for me and Binchy. I've read three of her novels, and just don't like the way her stories and characters go. There's only so much pathos and unhappiness and poor choices I can take.
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I do enjoy Maeve Binchy's books and how she can pull you into a 400+ page book but take a while to create the tension for the plot to proceed. Echoes centers on a small Irish village where the discrepancies in income leads to judgments of what one can or cannot accomplish. It also leans heavily on your dreams may take a sidetrack due to circumstances.
Clare is from the poor side of town, a shopkeeper's daughter and David is the son of the local doctor. But their dreams are far from this village or are they?
Clare is from the poor side of town, a shopkeeper's daughter and David is the son of the local doctor. But their dreams are far from this village or are they?
possibly the worst of the bunch. I'm still shaken up by the awful and unfair ending.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF FUCKING SHIT IS THIS???? i read an almost 500 page book for that stupid ass, rich, loser man to CHEAT on her???
first of all, he’s SIX YEARS OLER THAN HER!!! he called her LITTLE clare when they kids, they got together when he was 25 and she was NINETEEN! just a baby!! but i was willing to look past that, because old books have questionable age gaps, but….
HE GOT HER PREGNANT! she got pregnant and missed her exams and didn’t get the degree she worked hard for. he had EVERYTHING handed to him! and she had to work for scholarship after scholarship just for everything to get ruined because he to filled her with ideas that he loved her, that she was his soulmate— and then he got her PREGNANT and they got MARRIED when she’s 19 and then she doesn’t even graduate university and has to move back to her home town WHICH SHE WORKED ALL HER LIFE TO MOVE OUT OF!!! and all that would have been, not great, but at least okay if he was a good husband. but he CHEATED! he cheated! and then complained about her sadness, she has postpartum depression and was reasonably fucking upset because he RUINED her life, STOLE HER YOUTH, but she never complained to him or blamed him— yet HE said that talking to his fucking mistress was like taking a warm bath because clare was SO dreary. and she STAYED with him?!?!? GIRL KILL THAT BITCH!!! HE DIDN’T EVEN SEEM SORRY?!?!?!
HE STOLE HER YOUTH!!!! SHE WANTED TO WAIT UNTIL SHE WAS 34 AND HAD A CAREER TO GET MARRIED!! SHE HATED CASTLEBAY!!! THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE HOUSE THAT WAS HERS!!!
even gerry would have been better than david.
first of all, he’s SIX YEARS OLER THAN HER!!! he called her LITTLE clare when they kids, they got together when he was 25 and she was NINETEEN! just a baby!! but i was willing to look past that, because old books have questionable age gaps, but….
HE GOT HER PREGNANT! she got pregnant and missed her exams and didn’t get the degree she worked hard for. he had EVERYTHING handed to him! and she had to work for scholarship after scholarship just for everything to get ruined because he to filled her with ideas that he loved her, that she was his soulmate— and then he got her PREGNANT and they got MARRIED when she’s 19 and then she doesn’t even graduate university and has to move back to her home town WHICH SHE WORKED ALL HER LIFE TO MOVE OUT OF!!! and all that would have been, not great, but at least okay if he was a good husband. but he CHEATED! he cheated! and then complained about her sadness, she has postpartum depression and was reasonably fucking upset because he RUINED her life, STOLE HER YOUTH, but she never complained to him or blamed him— yet HE said that talking to his fucking mistress was like taking a warm bath because clare was SO dreary. and she STAYED with him?!?!? GIRL KILL THAT BITCH!!! HE DIDN’T EVEN SEEM SORRY?!?!?!
HE STOLE HER YOUTH!!!! SHE WANTED TO WAIT UNTIL SHE WAS 34 AND HAD A CAREER TO GET MARRIED!! SHE HATED CASTLEBAY!!! THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE HOUSE THAT WAS HERS!!!
even gerry would have been better than david.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
reflective
sad
slow-paced
It breaks my heart to give a Maeve Binchey book anything less than four stars, but this one just isn't on the level of my favorites. The early chapters of the novel convinced me that it would be my VERY favorite--but then it felt like the author just lost the thread. One thing happens, then another, then another. Why? Who knows. The characters become entirely unbelievable. Whole plot lines are just abandoned. In the end, I was skimming--and the ending is ridiculous. I'm on a mission to read Binchey's entire catalog, but this one was a disappointment.