Reviews

The Love Child by Rachel Hore

daisysgreenlight's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Readable but a bit bland and flat compared to other similar stories. Not entirely sure what the point was. No mysteries or reveals but no strong character development or emotion either. Wouldn’t recommend. 

booksnake386's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

ruby_99's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

kolakubez07's review

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5.0

This is my first book I’ve read by Rachel Hore and it certainly won’t be the last. It’s been on my list for a while and I wish I’d have read it sooner.

Here we have a baby who’s adopted to another family but as she gets older she has the natural curiosity of who her real parents are, especially after overhearing conversations she shouldn’t have between her adopted parents.

This story follows both sides of Irene (the child!) and Alice (the real mother!) their stories is like many we’ve heard, having the difficult discussions with those who care the most but bringing the relationships between each other closer!

A nice easy, steady read - it’s a 5 from me!

novellenovels's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

pawswithabook's review

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2.0

Written from two different perspectives, the story about two women connected by blood but living separate lives, is gentle and lovely, but unfortunately lacking in originality and one that has been over-done.

I was longing for a surprise twist, or something to grab my attention, but it wasn't forthcoming...and instead it took far too long to reach the ending I was anticipating from the beginning.

Hore attempts to build atmospheric settings with more descriptive passages, but unfortunately it read more like unnecessary diversions than enhancements to the basic plot.

I did enjoy the more intriguing characters of Helen Juniper, Darius Dell, and Mr Plotka, and wish they could've been developed a little more.

My lasting impression was sadly of a painstakingly slow and predictable read.

bookie_mama_bear's review

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4.0

BLOG TOUR **********
Thank you to @darkroomtours @simonandschuster & @rachel.hore for my copy of The Love Child.
*******************************
This is a historical fiction set during 1917-1940. It’s based on the story of Alice who is forced to give up her baby and subsequently Irene and the struggles she faces being an adopted child. The relationships are extremely well portrayed and developed. Both female characters grow throughout the book dealing with the shame of Alice’s choice. There is loss and sadness in spades but there is also love, family and friendship throughout to help balance out the lower points of the book. The book covers how difficult life was for an aspirational woman back then. From their birth control options right through to career choices. The writing is really beautiful as is the language used. It’s highly descriptive and goes into lots of detail for each woman. The ending was wonderful! I’m definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for more of Rachel’s work, I thoroughly enjoyed this.
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