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goodem9199's review against another edition
3.0
I was super skeptical...the title has that four letter L word in it, but I gave it a shot because it dealt in WWII. Not half bad. Not half great. Pass unless your only other choice is Snookie's book.
librariansrule's review against another edition
4.0
Lots and lots of lovely phrasing. Heartbreaking scenarios. Best sentence, though, is the very last one.
bookishcoffeelover's review against another edition
2.0
A story of love, war, loss, and the scars they leave, Next to Love follows the lives of three young women and their men during the years of World War II and its aftermath, beginning with the men going off to war and ending a generation later, when their children are on the cusp of their own adulthood.
I find that I am not able to give a full review for this book, as I could not finish it. Maybe someday I will be able to pick it up again and have the patience to read it. But for now it just seems to drag on and quite frankly is a bit boring. I love history and was hoping that this book about the lives of 3 women during WW II would be really good. From what I did read of it I found that the POV change between the 3 women was not executed as smoothly as it could have been. I often felt lost and confused with all the jumping around. The letters between the women and their men seemed endless and pointless. A few here and there would have been better.
Overall I do hope that one day I can finish this book. I think anyone who enjoys the genre will probably like this book.
I find that I am not able to give a full review for this book, as I could not finish it. Maybe someday I will be able to pick it up again and have the patience to read it. But for now it just seems to drag on and quite frankly is a bit boring. I love history and was hoping that this book about the lives of 3 women during WW II would be really good. From what I did read of it I found that the POV change between the 3 women was not executed as smoothly as it could have been. I often felt lost and confused with all the jumping around. The letters between the women and their men seemed endless and pointless. A few here and there would have been better.
Overall I do hope that one day I can finish this book. I think anyone who enjoys the genre will probably like this book.
samstillreading's review against another edition
4.0
Next to Love was an absolute find on Net Galley for me. This was such a cozy book to read despite its content. The book opens as Babe, who is running the Western Union Telegram office in a town in the USA, is rushed off her feet as telegrams flood in from the War Office. The town receives many cases of bad news in just one day, affecting her friends Millie and Grace but not her.
The narrative then moves back in time to before America’s entry into WWII when all three of the girls were still at school. It then goes through each of their marriages and how they received the news that their husband was dead – or alive. But the majority of the book focuses on the period after the war and the issues each woman faces. Babe got Claude back, but he’s not the same man. How can they go on? Grace lost her husband and is extremely devoted to his memory – how can she move on? Some say that Millie is moving on too quickly from her widow status, but is she? Feldman covers many topics that are not generally discussed in books set in this time period – post-traumatic stress disorder, remarriage and grief. She also tells us the story from the female, left behind point of view which is refreshing.
This was a quick read and is very easy to pick up again after a day of work or during busy times. My only small gripe would be that it would be useful to have different fonts for each of the girls’ perspectives – it can occasionally be difficult to keep track of whose story is being told.
This is not a war story, but a story about the personal effects of war. The reactions and thoughts of each characters will remain with you long after the book is closed.
Thank you to Random House for allowing me to read this galley.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
The narrative then moves back in time to before America’s entry into WWII when all three of the girls were still at school. It then goes through each of their marriages and how they received the news that their husband was dead – or alive. But the majority of the book focuses on the period after the war and the issues each woman faces. Babe got Claude back, but he’s not the same man. How can they go on? Grace lost her husband and is extremely devoted to his memory – how can she move on? Some say that Millie is moving on too quickly from her widow status, but is she? Feldman covers many topics that are not generally discussed in books set in this time period – post-traumatic stress disorder, remarriage and grief. She also tells us the story from the female, left behind point of view which is refreshing.
This was a quick read and is very easy to pick up again after a day of work or during busy times. My only small gripe would be that it would be useful to have different fonts for each of the girls’ perspectives – it can occasionally be difficult to keep track of whose story is being told.
This is not a war story, but a story about the personal effects of war. The reactions and thoughts of each characters will remain with you long after the book is closed.
Thank you to Random House for allowing me to read this galley.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
edanar's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jadeeby's review against another edition
3.0
Originally posted at my blog Chasing Empty Pavements
The Good: I think this novel really detailed the effects of WWII on American Families. The portrayal of before, during and after the war are eerily accurate. My grandfather was a WWII veteran with a purple heart and I’ve heard many stories of the war since I was a little girl and this novel describes a lot of what my grandfather went through. This story follows three young women who grew up together and all married men who went off to fight in the war. Each one has a differing experience regarding their husbands and the war. I like that the author decided to show 3 very different women going through 3 very different experiences and how people handle grief and trauma differently. There were a few scenes that were so vividly written, I felt the same things the character was feeling. I think the author really did their research because this novel felt very authentic.
The Bad: Even though there were those scenes that were so vividly written, they were few and far between. 80% of the novel I felt like I was making myself push through just because I knew once in a while a great scene would pop up. And that is how the entire thing went. I would just be humming along and then BAM a great scene…back to humming along and BAM another great scene. I would have preferred to have lots of great scenes and been enthusiastic to read the entire thing instead of forcing my way through it. Also sometimes I felt manipulated by the characters. Like I would get used to Babe being a certain way and when she wasn’t acting like herself it felt out of character and wrong. Maybe it’s just me, but that really bothered me.
Overall this book was an alright read, something I would only recommend to history enthusiasts who strive to find novels that accurately detail a time period. I would give this book a C-
**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
The Good: I think this novel really detailed the effects of WWII on American Families. The portrayal of before, during and after the war are eerily accurate. My grandfather was a WWII veteran with a purple heart and I’ve heard many stories of the war since I was a little girl and this novel describes a lot of what my grandfather went through. This story follows three young women who grew up together and all married men who went off to fight in the war. Each one has a differing experience regarding their husbands and the war. I like that the author decided to show 3 very different women going through 3 very different experiences and how people handle grief and trauma differently. There were a few scenes that were so vividly written, I felt the same things the character was feeling. I think the author really did their research because this novel felt very authentic.
The Bad: Even though there were those scenes that were so vividly written, they were few and far between. 80% of the novel I felt like I was making myself push through just because I knew once in a while a great scene would pop up. And that is how the entire thing went. I would just be humming along and then BAM a great scene…back to humming along and BAM another great scene. I would have preferred to have lots of great scenes and been enthusiastic to read the entire thing instead of forcing my way through it. Also sometimes I felt manipulated by the characters. Like I would get used to Babe being a certain way and when she wasn’t acting like herself it felt out of character and wrong. Maybe it’s just me, but that really bothered me.
Overall this book was an alright read, something I would only recommend to history enthusiasts who strive to find novels that accurately detail a time period. I would give this book a C-
**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
ksdambro's review against another edition
1.0
Didn't finish. I get my "to-read" suggestions from the myriad magazines I read. Don't recall where I got this one. Not good.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
3.0
Ellen Feldman's last book, Scottsboro, made my "best of" list in 2009 and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. It was an amazing, thought-provoking book. So I was very happy to see that she had a new book out called. Set during and after the Second World War, Next to Love follows the lives of three women as they watch their husbands leave to fight in the war, with some never returning home and those that do are changed in fundamental ways. Feldman is both a talented writer and a gifted storyteller, so her three women and their stories make for a compelling read. There's Millie who, having lost both her parents young, feels that she can't possibly lose her charming husband, and Grace, who puts great store in the life she and her husband Charlie imagine they'll share when he returns to her and the baby. The greatest focus and most interesting character is Babe who, despite growing up in the wrong part of town, nonetheless falls in love with a boy from a good family and they continue their relationship despite the disapproval of many. Babe is well aware of how and why she doesn't (and cannot) fit in and be accepted and while it gives her an edge, she doesn't allow it to make her bitter. The war gives her more freedom than she could have expected, allowing her to work at the Western Union, instead of cleaning houses or at the five and dime. She's determined to make her own path, even if it's well within the boundaries of her small Massachussetts town.
I had a hard time putting this book down. It's highly readable but, in the end, it lacks the fire and bite of Scottsboro. This is a straight up historical novel with sympathetic characters doing their best at a turbulent point in history. I enjoyed it, but doubt I'll still be thinking about it in a few days. I hope this isn't a direction that Feldman has decided to go, although it's probably a much more salable book than Scottsboro.
I had a hard time putting this book down. It's highly readable but, in the end, it lacks the fire and bite of Scottsboro. This is a straight up historical novel with sympathetic characters doing their best at a turbulent point in history. I enjoyed it, but doubt I'll still be thinking about it in a few days. I hope this isn't a direction that Feldman has decided to go, although it's probably a much more salable book than Scottsboro.
brighteyes1178's review against another edition
3.0
I'd give this 3.5 stars... I'm not sure that this book will stay with me long, but it certainly gave a snapshot of America during and after World War II, particularly from a female perspective, that I found intriguing, and I was curious enough about the fates of the characters to keep reading. Pleasant, and somewhat entertaining, I'd say, though definitely not "impossible to put down" as a cover review claimed.
deecreatenola's review against another edition
4.0
This book follows Babe, Millie, and Grace from the start of World War II through the 1960s. Each chapter is told through the eyes of one of them. What was confusing to me is that successive chapters go back and repeat the story through the next woman's eyes. I didn't get that this was happening at first. Still, it's an interesting way to tell a story and really shows how people have different impressions of the same situations.
Since the time span of the book is long, a lot of ground is covered, including the impact of war, PTSD long before it was called that, racism, feminism, and even subtle references to homosexuality, although it's never brought out overtly. Since racism figures into it, I would've liked to have seen Naomi's story explored, too.
It was an enjoyable read. I easily got caught up in the characters' lives.
Since the time span of the book is long, a lot of ground is covered, including the impact of war, PTSD long before it was called that, racism, feminism, and even subtle references to homosexuality, although it's never brought out overtly. Since racism figures into it, I would've liked to have seen Naomi's story explored, too.
It was an enjoyable read. I easily got caught up in the characters' lives.