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fuzzywuzzy's review
4.0
I wish it had a little more expressionism and drama but it seemed to lack that. I can appreciate the author taking us through the past so that we understand the whole picture, it just didn't resonate with me with this book. I like for my heart to sink a little, for my pulse to race and to feel like I can't wait to get back to whatever book I'm reading and this book didn't do that for me. I also didn't like the way the book ended. it just wasn't enough.
_barb's review
2.0
Two stars given only because I loved the writing style and the atmosphere of the book. Everything else was awful: from the awful cheating plot to the main character who was and still is a terrible person. Pity, as the story had potential.
I'm glad I read it though; the cover of this book has plagued me for over a decade.
I'm glad I read it though; the cover of this book has plagued me for over a decade.
lillyalaine36's review
3.0
There are so very many fantastic reviews of Louise Douglas' novel online that i thought it must be one to rival 'Me Before You', people have said it made them weep and was very moving - here's how I saw it.
Olivia returns to her small hometown after the death of her husband Luca but no one is pleased to see her. Luca's close knit family treat her as an outcast. there are hints of a big secret to be revealed and early on we become aware of a developing relationship between Olivia and Marc, Luca's twin.
The book follows a pattern of chapters alternating between present day and years before when Luca & Liv were teenagers. The book has a sense of building towards something and pulls you along nicely BUT the ending I found poor. The big secret is actually not that big and the consequences while upsetting for Liv have no repercussions, no conclusion and subsequently lack emotion.
I wanted to know more about Luca, his marriage,his death and his love for his wife. it's all quite superficial and surface in the book and subsequent I couldn't find the emotion other reviewers claimed to.
was it worth the 59p price tag - yes, will I read another Louise Douglas - yes, would I highly recommend it - not really!
Olivia returns to her small hometown after the death of her husband Luca but no one is pleased to see her. Luca's close knit family treat her as an outcast. there are hints of a big secret to be revealed and early on we become aware of a developing relationship between Olivia and Marc, Luca's twin.
The book follows a pattern of chapters alternating between present day and years before when Luca & Liv were teenagers. The book has a sense of building towards something and pulls you along nicely BUT the ending I found poor. The big secret is actually not that big and the consequences while upsetting for Liv have no repercussions, no conclusion and subsequently lack emotion.
I wanted to know more about Luca, his marriage,his death and his love for his wife. it's all quite superficial and surface in the book and subsequent I couldn't find the emotion other reviewers claimed to.
was it worth the 59p price tag - yes, will I read another Louise Douglas - yes, would I highly recommend it - not really!
mavs's review
5.0
Just a book about someone trying to deal with grief, I like it a lot, it leaves me sad that he’s not coming back and I feel like their Story shouldn’t have ended so soon. But that’s life it acts up when you least expect it
_booksanddogs_'s review
4.0
The book tore my heart to pieces! It's a great story but so so sad. The thought of losing the love of your life would be the hardest thing in the world. It's a great story though and written well just make sure you have some tissues!
kelwyngardencity's review
4.0
I’ve seen some very mixed reviews on this book. The negative ones being that the story was boring or they didn’t like the main character. Each to their own. It’s not the most gripping story in the world and yes it does conform to some chick lit tried and tested themes but it’s an easy read (which I needed after the last book I read), reasonably enjoyable and I actually enjoyed the way it alternates between present day and the back story. As for issues with the main character, I guess people didn’t read far enough into the book to get to her background which reveals a lot explaining why she is how she is. Or maybe these people have just never struggled. Anyway in summary this is hardly a groundbreaking literary classic but if that’s what you want why pick up something so obviously of the chick lit arena.
paperbackrooms's review
3.0
I read this is just one day and it was a fine book for that kind of time frame because I doubt I could have lasted much longer with the Olivia, the main character. I felt sorry for her in the beginning as she was having to come to terms with losing her husband but then Marc appeared and you just knew that was going to end badly enough, never mind adding in the rest of her history. Still an all right book but I wish I had been able to like the characters more.
ratherhazy's review
2.0
After seeing such great reviews on Goodreads I really thought I would enjoy this book. Unfortunately I barely made it half way through before speed reading to the end and throwing it on the floor in disgust, it seemed so predictable and I didn't like the way it skipped from time to time.
I understand how other readers would have enjoyed it and a year or two ago I would probably enjoyed it too but its seems my tastes have changed entirely away from chick lit of any sort and so feel free to disregard this review and I am sure you will enjoy it.
I understand how other readers would have enjoyed it and a year or two ago I would probably enjoyed it too but its seems my tastes have changed entirely away from chick lit of any sort and so feel free to disregard this review and I am sure you will enjoy it.
leahmichelle_13's review
I've been wanting to read one of Louise Douglas' books for quite a while now. I got a copy of Missing You back when it first came out, but it's not appealed to me as of yet. I then picked up The Love of my Life at a charity shop a little while ago and because I was looking for a fairly shortish read, I plumped for it one day. I've heard many great things about the book, but it has to be said, I wasn't entirely enamored with the book.
The central premise of the book is the affair that occurs between Olivia and Marc after the death of Olivia's husband, Luca. Obviously their affair is meant to come across as both of them holding on to a part of Luca, but personally I wasn't convinced. It seemed a rather convoluted explanation, so perhaps I missed the point there. I mean, you've just buried your husband and you jump into an affair with his brother. His twin brother, no less. I find that a bit icky. What makes it worse is that neither Marc nor Olivia are repentant about what they're doing. It's as if their affair is the done thing to be doing, that it's actually OK for them to do that, when it wasn't at all. There was no real guilt shown from them, or anything even resembling it.
Another major part of the novel is the lack of relationship Olivia has with the rest of the Felicones due to the fact they felt Olivia had stolen Luca from them. There was a lot of potential there to develop that story even more, but it was just a passing cause, as far as I could tell. It was like, yes, the Felicones do not like Olivia, but that's it, no real reasoning or anything. It should have been explored a lot lot more because that would have been a really interesting avenue for the book to go down. I mean all the essential ingredients were there for a gripping family saga but the lack of anything substantial really let that down for me.
Due to the lack of guilt or remorse shown by Olivia over her affair with Marc I didn't particularly like her. There were no real redemptive features that I could see. As the narrator I had to like her to get into the story but I couldn't, not really. I had sympathy for her regarding the Felicones but in the end, she deserved their hatred, their scorn. The Felicones make up the rest of the cast of characters in the story and despite their reluctance to accept Olivia, I did like them. They were wrong to abuse her so but they were a real family unit, who protect their own at all costs and I suppose I could understand why they were the way they were to Olivia, it was wrong but understandable.
When I started The Love of my Life I was expecting the gripping and intense read that I've read about in the reviews but it all fell a little flat for me. There's no doubt Douglas has talent, but it was wasted on what could have been an amazing story. I got to 100 pages in and then just skim-read the rest of the book and I didn't miss much, not really. Because nothing happens. The Prologue promises some big blow-out between Olivia and the Felicones but that was just a damp squib. The best part of the novel for me were the flashbacks to Olivia's childhood, they were interesting to me. The book I read previous to this blew me away, so the follow up book was always going to be hard to compete, but The Love of My Life was just disappointing. Plain and simple. The plot had a lot of potential, it just wasn't followed through for me. The book was definitely, for me, trying too hard to be deep and meaningful but I just wasn't convinced sadly.This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read
The central premise of the book is the affair that occurs between Olivia and Marc after the death of Olivia's husband, Luca. Obviously their affair is meant to come across as both of them holding on to a part of Luca, but personally I wasn't convinced. It seemed a rather convoluted explanation, so perhaps I missed the point there. I mean, you've just buried your husband and you jump into an affair with his brother. His twin brother, no less. I find that a bit icky. What makes it worse is that neither Marc nor Olivia are repentant about what they're doing. It's as if their affair is the done thing to be doing, that it's actually OK for them to do that, when it wasn't at all. There was no real guilt shown from them, or anything even resembling it.
Another major part of the novel is the lack of relationship Olivia has with the rest of the Felicones due to the fact they felt Olivia had stolen Luca from them. There was a lot of potential there to develop that story even more, but it was just a passing cause, as far as I could tell. It was like, yes, the Felicones do not like Olivia, but that's it, no real reasoning or anything. It should have been explored a lot lot more because that would have been a really interesting avenue for the book to go down. I mean all the essential ingredients were there for a gripping family saga but the lack of anything substantial really let that down for me.
Due to the lack of guilt or remorse shown by Olivia over her affair with Marc I didn't particularly like her. There were no real redemptive features that I could see. As the narrator I had to like her to get into the story but I couldn't, not really. I had sympathy for her regarding the Felicones but in the end, she deserved their hatred, their scorn. The Felicones make up the rest of the cast of characters in the story and despite their reluctance to accept Olivia, I did like them. They were wrong to abuse her so but they were a real family unit, who protect their own at all costs and I suppose I could understand why they were the way they were to Olivia, it was wrong but understandable.
When I started The Love of my Life I was expecting the gripping and intense read that I've read about in the reviews but it all fell a little flat for me. There's no doubt Douglas has talent, but it was wasted on what could have been an amazing story. I got to 100 pages in and then just skim-read the rest of the book and I didn't miss much, not really. Because nothing happens. The Prologue promises some big blow-out between Olivia and the Felicones but that was just a damp squib. The best part of the novel for me were the flashbacks to Olivia's childhood, they were interesting to me. The book I read previous to this blew me away, so the follow up book was always going to be hard to compete, but The Love of My Life was just disappointing. Plain and simple. The plot had a lot of potential, it just wasn't followed through for me. The book was definitely, for me, trying too hard to be deep and meaningful but I just wasn't convinced sadly.This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read