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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
I actually really enjoyed this book. I loved how all the characters merged together and became friends. I would definitely recommend this book.
Title: Neighbors
Author: Danielle Steel
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Format: own hardback book
Series: NA
Star Rating: 2.5 stars
tw: cheating, theft, child death, drowning, boating accident, drug use, use of the word Indian, verbal abuse, physical assault, rape, murder
This was not the best Danielle Steel book I’ve read and I’ve read quite a bit of her books. It had its good moments but most of it was just mediocre at best. There were just a lot of things I couldn’t get past but at least the book had a nice lesson: be kind to your neighbors. You never know what they may be going through.
One of my problems was the huge cast of characters. There was one main character, Meredith, and then there were seven supporting characters. There were at least three side stories to go with Meredith’s story with some of their stories intertwining. There was just a lot to keep track of and I was confused at times as to who was who. I even took notes pretty diligently and I was still confused about who was who. I think it didn’t help that the characters had pretty basic names. I’m not expecting fantasy-level names, but I need just some variation so I can somewhat keep track.
I also got to mention. Does Danielle Steel have problems with her kids or just kids in general? I swear in almost every book if the main character has a kid and if they (the parent) are famous/busy, the kid is a huge brat and an absolute menace to the main character. It’s a recurring theme and it just makes me wonder if something is going on. She even has a whole book called The Sins of the Mother in which the main character had problems with all her kids, one of them being almost totally no contact with them. I know this is a bit of a random thing to throw into my review but it’s really been on my mind every time I read a Danielle Steel book.
Overall, this wasn’t the best that Danielle Steel has to offer but it’s not the worst. It had a good message about being kind to everyone as you may not know what they are going through but other than that, this book had no real substance to it. Hopefully, the next one I read of hers is better.
Wow this book was another great one by Danielle Steel!
Meredith White was one of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces. But a personal tragedy cut her acting career short and alienated her from her family. For 15 years, Meredith was living alone in San Francisco with two trusted caretakers. Then, on a muggy late summer day, a massive earthquake strikes Northern California, plunging the Bay Area into chaos. Meredith White’s neighbours didn’t know she was living in the same street as them. Meredith kindly invites her stunned and shaken neighbours into her mostly undamaged home as the recovery of the earthquake begins.
I love how the tragedy of theearthquake bought such a different range of people together and formed relationships with the recluse, a doctor whose wife and children fear him, a young woman dating a dishonourable man, the aspiring writer caring for a famous blind musician.
Her two trusted caretakers aren’t that trustworthy at all. Thanks to the suspicions and the dogged detective work of a disaster relief volunteer, a former military officer named Charles, the shocking truth is exposed and no one saw the events would unfold eventually.
Sometimes events in life bring out the best in people but sometimes they also bring out the worst in people too. Full of unforgettable characters for their own different reasons, stunning twists and turns of events along the way. Throughout it all it shows how love, acts of kindness and a lot of courage can change things in someone’s life and be life changing!
Meredith White was one of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces. But a personal tragedy cut her acting career short and alienated her from her family. For 15 years, Meredith was living alone in San Francisco with two trusted caretakers. Then, on a muggy late summer day, a massive earthquake strikes Northern California, plunging the Bay Area into chaos. Meredith White’s neighbours didn’t know she was living in the same street as them. Meredith kindly invites her stunned and shaken neighbours into her mostly undamaged home as the recovery of the earthquake begins.
I love how the tragedy of theearthquake bought such a different range of people together and formed relationships with the recluse, a doctor whose wife and children fear him, a young woman dating a dishonourable man, the aspiring writer caring for a famous blind musician.
Her two trusted caretakers aren’t that trustworthy at all. Thanks to the suspicions and the dogged detective work of a disaster relief volunteer, a former military officer named Charles, the shocking truth is exposed and no one saw the events would unfold eventually.
Sometimes events in life bring out the best in people but sometimes they also bring out the worst in people too. Full of unforgettable characters for their own different reasons, stunning twists and turns of events along the way. Throughout it all it shows how love, acts of kindness and a lot of courage can change things in someone’s life and be life changing!
I enjoyed the first few hours as the story built about meeting the neighbors after the earthquake, but then it was horribly repetitive and I ended up not caring about the characters' back stories as much. I did not like Jack and Debbie and thought what happened to them was anticlimactic after spending so much time on them. This was my first Danielle Steel novel and not sure I would read another.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a heartbreakingly beautiful story of loss, grief, tragedy, finding your way into the light after it all, and surrounding yourself with people who love and accept you. There was a large cast of characters with their own unique personalities and stories. This book followed them in the aftermath of an earthquake. Their lives intertwined as the plot unfolded, and I loved how they became a found family! Meredith was strong, smart, and she found a way to open up herself again. Her character arc was well written. The plot held my interest and unfolded nicely. However at times it did meander slowly. The plot lines also felt a bit formulaic and similar to other plots from other Danielle Steel books. The ending was fitting and wrapped the story up. I would’ve liked an epilogue to see a little more of the resolution!
Thank you for Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this title.
When a major earthquake hits San Francisco, Meredith White opens the doors of her mansion to her neighbors. A recluse for the last 14 years, Meredith not only opens the gates of her property, but also to the world outside them. As she becomes absorbed into the lives of people she has lived near but never met for years, she begins to realize the vitality she has left behind.
This book follows a typical Steel format: introduce a bunch of characters with a barrage of different storylines, one fading out early to dust ant one final one lingering until the end. While it isn't a bad book, and not hard to follow, there's just a lot going on and it sometimes feels as though there's no real focus. There's the typical tropes==husband cheating with a younger woman, an older man seeing a young woman with a "gorgeous body" and huge breasts who also has brains, and a family torn apart by abuse. These are all storylines that she loves to use, and in this novel, she employed them all.
While not as bad as some of her more recent books, it's still not as good as the books from her glory days.
When a major earthquake hits San Francisco, Meredith White opens the doors of her mansion to her neighbors. A recluse for the last 14 years, Meredith not only opens the gates of her property, but also to the world outside them. As she becomes absorbed into the lives of people she has lived near but never met for years, she begins to realize the vitality she has left behind.
This book follows a typical Steel format: introduce a bunch of characters with a barrage of different storylines, one fading out early to dust ant one final one lingering until the end. While it isn't a bad book, and not hard to follow, there's just a lot going on and it sometimes feels as though there's no real focus. There's the typical tropes==husband cheating with a younger woman, an older man seeing a young woman with a "gorgeous body" and huge breasts who also has brains, and a family torn apart by abuse. These are all storylines that she loves to use, and in this novel, she employed them all.
While not as bad as some of her more recent books, it's still not as good as the books from her glory days.
