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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I wasn't sure how to feel about this book, but I came to really love the characters and the challenges they faced. I don't think I connected personally to any of the characters, but that's become part of the appeal to me.
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you like stories about love and people finding themselves and also Africa, you would probably really like this book.
For the full review - including an acknowledgement that I do, in fact, experience emotions sometimes - follow the link to That's What She Read.
For the full review - including an acknowledgement that I do, in fact, experience emotions sometimes - follow the link to That's What She Read.
Wild child Delilah Drummond has been the subject of one too many controversies over the years. After the death of her current husband, her family bands together to force her to go to Africa to her stepfather's estate to wait until the scandal dies down. She takes her cousin Dora with her and when they arrive they find the house in shambles. Delilah isn't really sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't fixing up a house and doctoring the native tribes in the area. And it definitely wasn't meeting Ryder White a local guide.
I've read most of the Julia Grey series and I like it a lot. When I heard that she was writing this standalone book, I was skeptical. I needn't have worried. The book doesn't take long to get into, and I found myself not wanting it to end. The imagery Deanna Raybourn conjures up of Africa in the 20's was absolutely beautiful. Really made me wish I could have experienced something like this.
Delilah for all her faults, is a good character. I like seeing her on the edge of giviing up and slowly coming back from that edge. Gaining new perspective and life. Thought of as a wild child, Delilah hid herself behind all the wild partying and men because of past hurts. In Africa she discovers you have to put it away. Acknowledge it and put it away because if you lose focus in the wild you can die.
Ryder, too, was a good counterpart to Delilah. Both wounded and neither wanting to open the door of permanence. Somehow, they just fit together.
The main character, however, is Africa, as I said before I can't even tell you how well I thought Deanna Raybourn described the land and animals and natives.
I hope that maybe Raybourn will revisit these characters again, maybe in a short story or ebook. I would love to hear what they've been up to.
I've read most of the Julia Grey series and I like it a lot. When I heard that she was writing this standalone book, I was skeptical. I needn't have worried. The book doesn't take long to get into, and I found myself not wanting it to end. The imagery Deanna Raybourn conjures up of Africa in the 20's was absolutely beautiful. Really made me wish I could have experienced something like this.
Delilah for all her faults, is a good character. I like seeing her on the edge of giviing up and slowly coming back from that edge. Gaining new perspective and life. Thought of as a wild child, Delilah hid herself behind all the wild partying and men because of past hurts. In Africa she discovers you have to put it away. Acknowledge it and put it away because if you lose focus in the wild you can die.
Ryder, too, was a good counterpart to Delilah. Both wounded and neither wanting to open the door of permanence. Somehow, they just fit together.
The main character, however, is Africa, as I said before I can't even tell you how well I thought Deanna Raybourn described the land and animals and natives.
I hope that maybe Raybourn will revisit these characters again, maybe in a short story or ebook. I would love to hear what they've been up to.
The writing is fresh, smart, and funny (three stars) but the overly-explicit and sometimes violent sex scenes (including that of the lions) detracts from the book (one star). Didn't realize that was what passes for romance these days. I liked the Lady Julia series and was surprised that the author writes this type of stuff. I love reading about Africa but the whole thing seemed so familiar, probably because I've read accounts of this Nairobi crowd in the books by Karen Blixen and Elspeth Huxley. It sounded like this would be a good series but the main character, Delilah, is not very likeable. I quickly became bored with her self-destructive behavior and her poor-relation treatment of her cousin, Dora. I did like her friendship with Gideon and Moses, but the cat-and-mouse romance between her and Ryder was predictable.
Favorite character - the monkey!
Favorite character - the monkey!
Wonderful setting in 1920s Kenya - main character is a flapper with a bad reputation. She is sent to Africa to avoid the scandals she has created through England and France. Great characterization.
PG-13 with some "smut." I liked that the character wasn't always completely lovable, but you learn to care for her as she learns to care for those around her. A classic tale that is NOT clean.
This was a beautifully written book packed full of great one liners and quotable moments. The characters are fun but all are a bit one note or exaggerated to fill a specific stereotype. The key relationship in the story seems entirely built on lust and then suddenly becomes a deep emotional bond, which felt a bit rushed, and near the end I wasn't convinced he really would've taken risks like that for her. Fun read regardless!