Scan barcode
samoore3s's review against another edition
3.0
MAJOR SPOILERS
This book was pretty good up until the twist. It just seemed like poor taste. If she hadn’t been so in love with Charlie then magically falling for Liam would have been fine and even if more time had passed and they hadn’t slept together but the fact that she slept with Charlie and then like 2 weeks after he broke her heart she fell in love and slept with Liam completely ruined the book for me.
This book was pretty good up until the twist. It just seemed like poor taste. If she hadn’t been so in love with Charlie then magically falling for Liam would have been fine and even if more time had passed and they hadn’t slept together but the fact that she slept with Charlie and then like 2 weeks after he broke her heart she fell in love and slept with Liam completely ruined the book for me.
chava81's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
meg_beth_like_littlewomen's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I often found the main character’s thoughts to be frustrating and unrealistic. Her immediate tendency to discount others’ feelings or intentions as genuine or altruistic was frustrating at times. It seemed like she immediately jumped to the worst conclusion every time she was in a position where another character was the least bit elusive or unsure. Maybe I’m seeing it through my 21st Century lens but it got a little tiring. However the story was intriguing and I was motivated to learn what would happen. I felt a few plot points aligned with The Notebook which may have given this book some inspiration.
huntressskyfire's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
kudragrace's review
4.0
Young girl sent from Italy to American during WWII. Befriends a family of sons. During the war she is a journalist enmeshed in the consequences of war and running from/chasing life. I enjoyed the perspective and changing relationships as life happens.
strawberrymivvy's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Quite frankly, this book bored me and I'm amazed I finished it! I've loved other books by this author and wanted it to get better, but it never did.
Despite having travelled to the US by herself as a teenager, Adelia never seemed to develop any true grit or ability to think for herself and allowed herself to be consumed by the Connolly family.
The author mentioned it was a book she'd had the concept for 20 years earlier, and I honestly don't believe she should have gone back to it. A flat narrative with ridiculously text-filled pages did not invite engagement. It was also FULL of editing errors - spelling errors, incorrect use of words, doubling of words - maybe later editions corrected this but it was truly annoying.
If this was the first book by this author I'd read, I would not read more. Even as a love story, rather than WWII fiction, it didn't really work for me with its too tidy ending and feelings seemingly coming from nowhere.
Despite having travelled to the US by herself as a teenager, Adelia never seemed to develop any true grit or ability to think for herself and allowed herself to be consumed by the Connolly family.
The author mentioned it was a book she'd had the concept for 20 years earlier, and I honestly don't believe she should have gone back to it. A flat narrative with ridiculously text-filled pages did not invite engagement. It was also FULL of editing errors - spelling errors, incorrect use of words, doubling of words - maybe later editions corrected this but it was truly annoying.
If this was the first book by this author I'd read, I would not read more. Even as a love story, rather than WWII fiction, it didn't really work for me with its too tidy ending and feelings seemingly coming from nowhere.
atf1216's review against another edition
5.0
There are very few books that I can read in one sitting but this is one of them. Pam Jenoff is a personal favorite of mine and I remember the day this book first came out and I read it in the matter of hours. I was attracted to the story of Addie and the Connally brothers. While yes, Addie and Charlie and all the boys are flawed, I feel that that it what makes them human and I was engrossed in their dynamic. I pulled this book off my shelf the other day because I needed something and today, I just tore through it once again. Like the one review on the book says, it absorbs you and I was completely absorbed by the smell of the shore and the feel of the water just like Addie and the Connallys.
rmarcin's review against another edition
3.0
I went back and forth from liking this book a lot, to just liking it a little. Addie is sent to America by her Italian Jewish parents to escape fascist Italy. She goes to live with her aunt and uncle in Philadelphia, then spends the summers at the shore near Atlantic City, NJ. There she meets an Irish American family and becomes like a sister to the 4 boys and a daughter to the mother. However, tragedy strikes and everything changes. Addie runs off to London, but tries to find her way home again. It is a story of love, forgiveness, and finding your way.
lisawreading's review against another edition
2.0
I really want to find the positive in this book, which I expected to like much more than I actually did.
The bare bones of the plot seemed promising: A young girl escaping wartime Europe on her own ends up being taken in by the rowdy boys of the family next door. Addie loves all of the Connally boys, but falls in love with Charlie. War gets in the way, as does a family tragedy, and Addie ends up running away again and again, always looking for meaning and a place of her own.
The problem I had with this book is that none of the relationships felt convincing. In particular, Addie has at different points in the book three different love interests, but they all seem rather circumstantial. I never really got the emotional intensity that should have been there, and Addie's decision-making appears illogical at times.
As I turned the final pages, I still didn't understand why Addie had made some of the choices she'd made, and certainly never connected with her feelings. Perhaps there was too much telling and not enough showing: We're told about Addie's thoughts and motivations, but it all seemed very surface-level.
The time period and settings are all very dramatic, as you'd expect for a novel set during WWII, but for a historical romance, the romances themselves were dry and not terribly interesting or compelling.
The bare bones of the plot seemed promising: A young girl escaping wartime Europe on her own ends up being taken in by the rowdy boys of the family next door. Addie loves all of the Connally boys, but falls in love with Charlie. War gets in the way, as does a family tragedy, and Addie ends up running away again and again, always looking for meaning and a place of her own.
The problem I had with this book is that none of the relationships felt convincing. In particular, Addie has at different points in the book three different love interests, but they all seem rather circumstantial. I never really got the emotional intensity that should have been there, and Addie's decision-making appears illogical at times.
As I turned the final pages, I still didn't understand why Addie had made some of the choices she'd made, and certainly never connected with her feelings. Perhaps there was too much telling and not enough showing: We're told about Addie's thoughts and motivations, but it all seemed very surface-level.
The time period and settings are all very dramatic, as you'd expect for a novel set during WWII, but for a historical romance, the romances themselves were dry and not terribly interesting or compelling.
kdurham2's review against another edition
5.0
check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
A historical fiction that doesn't span a lot of years, but has such a huge sweeping romance that as a reader I had to remind myself again and again that this book was really over just 4 years. Addie leaves her home at a young age to live in America with her aunt and uncle and by chance they have a summer condo next door to a Catholic family with four boys and Addie will find a new kind of family with them.
I loved this different perspective on World War II and how through Addie's eyes the reader sees the impact of the war in the States on the Jewish community. Throughout the story Addie travels to Washington, DC and Europe and in each place she shares how this war is impacting the community. I absolutely LOVED the parts where she was in journalism and reporting on what was happening, I had never read about the journalist endeavors to help the war effort.
A historical fiction that doesn't span a lot of years, but has such a huge sweeping romance that as a reader I had to remind myself again and again that this book was really over just 4 years. Addie leaves her home at a young age to live in America with her aunt and uncle and by chance they have a summer condo next door to a Catholic family with four boys and Addie will find a new kind of family with them.
I loved this different perspective on World War II and how through Addie's eyes the reader sees the impact of the war in the States on the Jewish community. Throughout the story Addie travels to Washington, DC and Europe and in each place she shares how this war is impacting the community. I absolutely LOVED the parts where she was in journalism and reporting on what was happening, I had never read about the journalist endeavors to help the war effort.