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luciearan's review against another edition
5.0
Autorčiny knihy mám moc ráda. Je to příjemná oddechová četba, která pohladí. Ale tato, byla ještě něčím víc. Ne jen příběhem dvou lidí, či jedné rodiny, ale příběhem celého ostrova. Příběhem, který prostě chytí za srdce.
mschrock8's review against another edition
4.0
Borrowed on Hoopla through JCPL.
Listening length 10 hr
Listening length 10 hr
bmallen5668's review against another edition
inspiring
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
I guess it would have been hard to top The Summer Seaside Kitchen, which I thought was excellent (trite Joel element notwithstanding). Why even try? What’s wrong with a perfectly good standalone! I know that series are lucrative but that doesn’t mean every single story warrants a box set! I had the same thoughts about Beach Street Bakery, to be honest.
Speaking of which....
The Mure books have an eerie similarity to the Beach Street books:
Fairly normal, sound woman in first book (Polly/Flora) falls apart in second book and almost loses restaurant (Beach Street Bakery/Seaside Kitchen) due to tedious obsession with obnoxious American man-child (Huckle/Joel).
There is a loveable animal (Neil the Puffin/ Bramble the Dog) that makes the first book brilliant but barely features in the second.
The female MC tries to get off with a local, married man (Tarnie/Charlie) because of some stupid spat with the American man-child.
There is next to no new story or conflict-driven plot but instead, a forced relationship between the two incompatible people (Polly and Huckle/Flora and Joel) gets a lot of airtime. It mostly consists of a refusal to communicate, lying, throwing tantrums and acting like petulant children.
We are also subjected to the PDA, in-your-face belligerence and sheer fuckwittery of an odious contact of the main female (Kerensa/Fintan) and another obnoxious, wealthy American (Rueben/Colton). Then we get two terrible couplings and are expected to feel good about it.
It’s basically the same book!
I was already annoyed with the book less than one hundred pages in: the over-explaining, the lack of plot, the forced political-correctness of everything, the anti-London, the self-pity, the melodrama... it was painful. The overall effect was whiny, forced, trite and cumbersome. This doesn’t even feel like a Jenny Colgan book.
I was disappointed that Flora had become nasty, shrieky and belligerent. All she does is feel sorry for herself and moan on and on about Joel the Twat. Even the sheep on Mure can see they aren’t compatible. Let it go for feck’s sake! I really didn’t enjoy spending so much time inside her head space. I’ve read teenage characters with more personality, self-esteem and depth than Flora.
The pair of them are so immature and melodramatic. It was sickening.
Why did Joel keep referring to Charlie as “Flora’s ex-boyfriend”? Is this just further proof that this relationship is built on assumptions and zero communication? They weren’t an item. Flora just tried to snog Charlie because she was mad at Joel (eye-roll) even though Charlie was in a relationship with Jan.
The villagers and family that made the first book so enjoyable barely featured in this story. It felt more like a really bad soap opera than anything else which may appeal to some but certainly not to me.
I was a bit surprised in the author’s note that Jenny Colgan had received nasty correspondence from whingers for writing a villain that does the same job as they do (therefore, presumably, making an irrefutable claim through a work of fiction that people who do social work as a job are therefore villains *eye roll* The mental gymnastics!). What surprised me was a) she gave them airtime in an author’s note and b) she felt like she had to remedy this by shoehorning a social worker into this book (presumably to offset the villain in a different, unrelated book). That’s ridiculous. It’s called a caricature - sheesh!
This shouldn’t even warrant saying but here we are: Not everything is about you; stop taking personal offense to works of fiction!
The usual feel-good cheerfulness and humour that makes Jenny Colgan so wonderful is totally missing and it makes for a bleak and dragging story. Nothing of consequence happens, there is no character growth or development, which brings me back to my first point: what was the point of this? To turn it into a soap opera?
Lastly, I need to comment on that Agot brat since I let it slide in the first book. That child is so bloody obnoxious. (It wound me up in the first book but it was at least counterbalanced by a plot and likeable characters). If I had spoken like that at four, my parents would have given me a right bollocking! That’s far too old to be baby-talking, shrieking (I assume that’s what the CAPITAL LETTERS represent) and not having the social awareness to communicate properly. Is it supposed to be cute? It’s really, really not.
Given how the Beach Street Bakery series deteriorated over time and the rapid deterioration of the this series, I’ve taken the final instalment of this series, An Island Christmas, off my TBR list. I can’t even imagine how horrible a pregnant Flora will be. I’ll bet you ten bucks that the “drama” (I can hardly call it conflict, can I?) will be her refusal to tell Joel followed by tantrums and breaks ups and shrieking on all sides and probably a bloody marriage proposal... *eye twitch*... just go on without me, guys.
I guess it would have been hard to top The Summer Seaside Kitchen, which I thought was excellent (trite Joel element notwithstanding). Why even try? What’s wrong with a perfectly good standalone! I know that series are lucrative but that doesn’t mean every single story warrants a box set! I had the same thoughts about Beach Street Bakery, to be honest.
Speaking of which....
The Mure books have an eerie similarity to the Beach Street books:
Fairly normal, sound woman in first book (Polly/Flora) falls apart in second book and almost loses restaurant (Beach Street Bakery/Seaside Kitchen) due to tedious obsession with obnoxious American man-child (Huckle/Joel).
There is a loveable animal (Neil the Puffin/ Bramble the Dog) that makes the first book brilliant but barely features in the second.
The female MC tries to get off with a local, married man (Tarnie/Charlie) because of some stupid spat with the American man-child.
There is next to no new story or conflict-driven plot but instead, a forced relationship between the two incompatible people (Polly and Huckle/Flora and Joel) gets a lot of airtime. It mostly consists of a refusal to communicate, lying, throwing tantrums and acting like petulant children.
We are also subjected to the PDA, in-your-face belligerence and sheer fuckwittery of an odious contact of the main female (Kerensa/Fintan) and another obnoxious, wealthy American (Rueben/Colton). Then we get two terrible couplings and are expected to feel good about it.
It’s basically the same book!
I was already annoyed with the book less than one hundred pages in: the over-explaining, the lack of plot, the forced political-correctness of everything, the anti-London, the self-pity, the melodrama... it was painful. The overall effect was whiny, forced, trite and cumbersome. This doesn’t even feel like a Jenny Colgan book.
I was disappointed that Flora had become nasty, shrieky and belligerent. All she does is feel sorry for herself and moan on and on about Joel the Twat. Even the sheep on Mure can see they aren’t compatible. Let it go for feck’s sake! I really didn’t enjoy spending so much time inside her head space. I’ve read teenage characters with more personality, self-esteem and depth than Flora.
The pair of them are so immature and melodramatic. It was sickening.
Why did Joel keep referring to Charlie as “Flora’s ex-boyfriend”? Is this just further proof that this relationship is built on assumptions and zero communication? They weren’t an item. Flora just tried to snog Charlie because she was mad at Joel (eye-roll) even though Charlie was in a relationship with Jan.
The villagers and family that made the first book so enjoyable barely featured in this story. It felt more like a really bad soap opera than anything else which may appeal to some but certainly not to me.
I was a bit surprised in the author’s note that Jenny Colgan had received nasty correspondence from whingers for writing a villain that does the same job as they do (therefore, presumably, making an irrefutable claim through a work of fiction that people who do social work as a job are therefore villains *eye roll* The mental gymnastics!). What surprised me was a) she gave them airtime in an author’s note and b) she felt like she had to remedy this by shoehorning a social worker into this book (presumably to offset the villain in a different, unrelated book). That’s ridiculous. It’s called a caricature - sheesh!
This shouldn’t even warrant saying but here we are: Not everything is about you; stop taking personal offense to works of fiction!
The usual feel-good cheerfulness and humour that makes Jenny Colgan so wonderful is totally missing and it makes for a bleak and dragging story. Nothing of consequence happens, there is no character growth or development, which brings me back to my first point: what was the point of this? To turn it into a soap opera?
Lastly, I need to comment on that Agot brat since I let it slide in the first book. That child is so bloody obnoxious. (It wound me up in the first book but it was at least counterbalanced by a plot and likeable characters). If I had spoken like that at four, my parents would have given me a right bollocking! That’s far too old to be baby-talking, shrieking (I assume that’s what the CAPITAL LETTERS represent) and not having the social awareness to communicate properly. Is it supposed to be cute? It’s really, really not.
Given how the Beach Street Bakery series deteriorated over time and the rapid deterioration of the this series, I’ve taken the final instalment of this series, An Island Christmas, off my TBR list. I can’t even imagine how horrible a pregnant Flora will be. I’ll bet you ten bucks that the “drama” (I can hardly call it conflict, can I?) will be her refusal to tell Joel followed by tantrums and breaks ups and shrieking on all sides and probably a bloody marriage proposal... *eye twitch*... just go on without me, guys.
heidenkind's review against another edition
5.0
All my questions from the end of The Cafe by the Sea were answered! Just as good and I suspect there will be more books set on Mure in the future 😀🙏🏻
kat_vallka's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
lisawreading's review against another edition
5.0
This book picks up the story threads from book #1 and expands them into a broader, interwoven plot that includes more points of view and character perspectives, and I loved it. The widening of the story gives it all much more depth, and I felt myself surprisingly emotionally engaged and invested.
The author has done a beautiful job of creating a living, breathing community inhabited by people who feel familiar and real. I can't wait to continue.
The author has done a beautiful job of creating a living, breathing community inhabited by people who feel familiar and real. I can't wait to continue.
ammbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I am still in love with Mure.... too bad it's an imaginary place.