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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
reflective
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ahhh so good, especially on reflection. Not only does it lushly take place in Paris… but also it’s full of self-discovery, you don’t know exactly what or who you are rooting for except you want love + family + a strong sense of self to win - plus it’s a story of a middle age woman going through all of this which is even more amazing
This book brought me into a headspace I'd never explored before, which is rare for me these days (often it feels like I've read every perspective known to humankind!). What was also rare was: for how much I adored the book, I did not stop to highlight a single line. It is not the words that linger, but the storyline. Cross-Smith did an unbelievable job creating a calming read using a deeply chaotic plot. I was always eager to turn to the next page, and it never felt exhausting to do so. My only qualm with the novel was the ending. I almost always dislike when authors leave us wondering what happens next. In this case, it felt particularly lazy to leave us guessing when the whole thing was a meditation on "what's next"...I wish we'd gotten a more straightforward conclusion. But because these characters have been following me around for weeks, now, I still have to give it 5 stars!
Half-Blown Rose was a beautifully written story. Vincent, a 44 year old woman discovers, in a very public way, that her husband has been keeping a secret from her. She travels to Paris for a year to take a break and figure out how she will move forward. In Paris she meets Loup, 20 years younger.
This story is often noted as a love story but I'm not sure how I feel about that. Vincent is still a married woman and to openly flaunt her affair was a little unsettling. Is she justified in her behavior because her husband broke her trust? Does two wrongs make a right? I felt that Vincent was a little self righteous in her attitude toward Cillian. I also think her reaction to the betrayal was over the top.
The beauty of this book is the way that the story unfolds. It is so descriptive that you feel like you are literally there. I can't wait to go to Paris now! The open-ending was frustrating. I wanted to know the fallout from her decision. Overall, the story was ok, but it left me unsatisfied.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for a copy of this ebook.
This story is often noted as a love story but I'm not sure how I feel about that. Vincent is still a married woman and to openly flaunt her affair was a little unsettling. Is she justified in her behavior because her husband broke her trust? Does two wrongs make a right? I felt that Vincent was a little self righteous in her attitude toward Cillian. I also think her reaction to the betrayal was over the top.
The beauty of this book is the way that the story unfolds. It is so descriptive that you feel like you are literally there. I can't wait to go to Paris now! The open-ending was frustrating. I wanted to know the fallout from her decision. Overall, the story was ok, but it left me unsatisfied.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for a copy of this ebook.
DNF. This is an 'eat, pray, love' woman in a mid-life crisis novel. Vapid. Superficial.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
I SOOOO wanted to like this, but it just didn’t hit home the way I thought it would. I switched to audio so I could power through at about 50%, and I should’ve started with the audio. So well done. Vincent (a woman named after Van Gogh) travels to Paris after her Irish husband releases a best-selling book with bombshell secrets. In Paris, estranged from her husband, Cillian, Vincent makes friends and meets Loup, a 24 year old student in her journaling class at the art museum. Vincent develops a crush on Loup, and the first half of the book is dedicated to “will she or won’t she”? part 2. Vincent and Loup travel Europe together, Vincent avoids her husband and children and falls more in love with Loup. Part 3. Vincent returns to the US for her sons wedding, and is forced to encounter her estranged husband. She still loves him, but doesn’t want to get back together with him. But she’s not sure she can leave her family and friends behind and openly commit to Loup either. Her husband asks what it will take for them to get back together, she says he needs to buy her a villa in Tuscany. He does that. But then Vincent finds out she is pregnant at 44 with Loup’s baby (and we get a little father of the bride II action here). Vincent is in tuscany with family, including her husbands son from when he was a teenager, and realizes she is missing Loup because he is family now. She tells Loup to come to Tuscany and the book ends as she is waking Cillian up to tell him about her lover that is on his way. When they leave Tuscany, Vincent decides she will leave both men as lovers but keep them around in her baby’s life (surely to be better than her husband was for 25 years of marriage). The book was slow and we never got to see the consequences of Vincent’s actions. That said, I loved the idea and the setting, and the last 1/3 was much more tolerable and fast paced than the beginning. Not sure I would recommend, but a unique idea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Thank you Libro Fm for the Advanced Listener's Copy.
Warning: This book has no ending. I am sure I will be wondering what happened to Vincent for my entire life time on earth.
Half-Blown Rose is a story of a woman who travels to Paris after her husband's betrayal. In Paris, 44 Year old Vincent falls in love with her 24 Year old art student named Loup. They begin an intense love affair which brings out a part of herself she's never known or explored. Back in the US, her husband, an author named Cillian wants his wife back and he is doing everything he can to win her back.
You can't pick a side in this book. Life is complicated. Relationships are messy. There aren't happy endings in this book. In fact, there is no ending.
Themes: Marriage, Love, Betrayal and Forgiveness.
I loved the audiobook narration.
Warning: This book has no ending. I am sure I will be wondering what happened to Vincent for my entire life time on earth.
Half-Blown Rose is a story of a woman who travels to Paris after her husband's betrayal. In Paris, 44 Year old Vincent falls in love with her 24 Year old art student named Loup. They begin an intense love affair which brings out a part of herself she's never known or explored. Back in the US, her husband, an author named Cillian wants his wife back and he is doing everything he can to win her back.
You can't pick a side in this book. Life is complicated. Relationships are messy. There aren't happy endings in this book. In fact, there is no ending.
Themes: Marriage, Love, Betrayal and Forgiveness.
I loved the audiobook narration.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes