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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
If you're going on holiday, you need to take this book with you. It really fills you with a warm glow and reminds you of past holidays spent with your family. Each chapter is told from a different person's perspective so avoid it if you don't like those types of novels - personally, I love them - so you really get to know each of the characters well. I was impressed with the level of detail that Henry put into all of the places she talked about, it made the novel feel so realistic! A perfect beach-read.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
I love Veronica Henry with a passion! She creates novels teeming with characters, intrigue, humour and real-life situations and The Beach Hut is no exception.
This time the action is centred around a beach hut on Everdene Sands. The story spans decades as we grow old with the characters and the twists and turns throughout their life.
The reason why this is 3 instead of 5 is for two reasons. This novel has too many characters. One of the threads could be lost easily and it would still be an enjoyable read. There was one character called Jane and another called Janet. The names are too similar on the page. The second reason is that there is a lack of variety in their story lines. There were too many cheating spouses for my liking. I understand that this is a part of real life, but to have it be the centre of so many story arcs was confusing and boring. It hasn't put me off Veronica Henry at all, but it isn't my favourite of her novels.
This time the action is centred around a beach hut on Everdene Sands. The story spans decades as we grow old with the characters and the twists and turns throughout their life.
The reason why this is 3 instead of 5 is for two reasons. This novel has too many characters. One of the threads could be lost easily and it would still be an enjoyable read. There was one character called Jane and another called Janet. The names are too similar on the page. The second reason is that there is a lack of variety in their story lines. There were too many cheating spouses for my liking. I understand that this is a part of real life, but to have it be the centre of so many story arcs was confusing and boring. It hasn't put me off Veronica Henry at all, but it isn't my favourite of her novels.
This book was really something very special, a true joy to read. I knew from reading "A Night On The Orient Express" that Veronica Henry could craft a cleverly written novel but this book went one step further.
Jane Milton has been recently widowed and left with huge debts by her deceased husband, as a way to solve her issues she decides to sell her family beach hut in the small seaside town of Everdene. What follows is a chapter by chapter journey through the lives not only on Jane and her family but also a whole host of other characters who journey to the small seaside town and the little beach huts on the shore. We are taken back in time to the 60's and a love affair that will shape lives for many years to come. Henry weaves together tales of newlyweds, alcoholism, adoption, grief and they seamlessly blend chapter by chapter touching each other at points, some remaining stand alone tales.
It was a beautiful book, my first real summery read of the year that made me yearn for summer barbeques and fun family days on long summer nights. It made me want to pack my kindle and some wine and sneak off to one of the beach huts for a week and spend time just me and the ocean and the sun. It was so beautifully evocative and atmospheric.
I am absolutelt thrilled that Henry's new summer novel for 2014 is going to be "The Beach Hut Next Door" because if she decides to bring back some more tales from the characters in this book I will happily postpone everything to spend time with them all again, with maybe some new faces. I also nkw know that Henry's writing is clearly of a consistently high standard and so won't wait so long before delving back into the back catalogue for more joy and escapism.
Jane Milton has been recently widowed and left with huge debts by her deceased husband, as a way to solve her issues she decides to sell her family beach hut in the small seaside town of Everdene. What follows is a chapter by chapter journey through the lives not only on Jane and her family but also a whole host of other characters who journey to the small seaside town and the little beach huts on the shore. We are taken back in time to the 60's and a love affair that will shape lives for many years to come. Henry weaves together tales of newlyweds, alcoholism, adoption, grief and they seamlessly blend chapter by chapter touching each other at points, some remaining stand alone tales.
It was a beautiful book, my first real summery read of the year that made me yearn for summer barbeques and fun family days on long summer nights. It made me want to pack my kindle and some wine and sneak off to one of the beach huts for a week and spend time just me and the ocean and the sun. It was so beautifully evocative and atmospheric.
I am absolutelt thrilled that Henry's new summer novel for 2014 is going to be "The Beach Hut Next Door" because if she decides to bring back some more tales from the characters in this book I will happily postpone everything to spend time with them all again, with maybe some new faces. I also nkw know that Henry's writing is clearly of a consistently high standard and so won't wait so long before delving back into the back catalogue for more joy and escapism.
Too many characters. Too many storylines.
And what makes it worse is that the characters were not even interesting or developed well. In fact, some of the main characters were not likeable at all so you couldn’t connect with them.
Also, many storylines just disappeared and left you confused.
So, in the end, it seemed like the author had a lot of ideas and decided to put them all together but failed miserably.
And what makes it worse is that the characters were not even interesting or developed well. In fact, some of the main characters were not likeable at all so you couldn’t connect with them.
Also, many storylines just disappeared and left you confused.
So, in the end, it seemed like the author had a lot of ideas and decided to put them all together but failed miserably.
It ends up sort of being a cohesive story, but part way through I ended up writing a list of each of the 9 characters who'd been introduced (and that wasn't the end)
Some of the stories are unresolved, they were interesting enough to have more than half a chapter.
I picked up this after I've spotted the Christmas sequel, but wanted to read the original before. Not sure I'll try the Christmas one. I've looked at the blurb for the Beach Hut 2, it doesn't look like the unresolved stories are in there.
From other reviews, it looks like this is how the author writes all her books. I'll try the Christmas one, the blurb seems to be about 1 story rather than millions.
Some of the stories are unresolved, they were interesting enough to have more than half a chapter.
I picked up this after I've spotted the Christmas sequel, but wanted to read the original before. Not sure I'll try the Christmas one. I've looked at the blurb for the Beach Hut 2, it doesn't look like the unresolved stories are in there.
From other reviews, it looks like this is how the author writes all her books. I'll try the Christmas one, the blurb seems to be about 1 story rather than millions.