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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
I loved this book more with each turning of the page. A lyrical journey about finding your way home in the midst of tragedy. Easy read, but gave me so much more than I expected. Highly recommended.
This book landed on my reading list after I saw it on Goodreads a couple months ago. It so happens that it is included in my library's mp3 audiobook program, so I downloaded it and started listening a couple weeks ago on my commute to work. I was a little concerned at first, as the narrator's voice is so smooth and mellow that I was afraid I would fall asleep at the wheel! But in fact, I got hooked almost immediately and was quite alert, anxious to hear what happened next. I even ended up finishing the last hour and a half sitting on my couch because I couldn't wait to get back in the car to hear the end. No need for a power plotline in this book - the character development is fabulous! April and Oliver are both such a mess. I wanted to hug and slap them both.
This is like the 4th or 5th time reading this book. I don't know what it is that makes me love it so much. Maybe it's the way the author writes. Sometimes it's very poetic and beautiful. Maybe it's some of the characters and their relationships. There's just enough drama, conflict and frustration mixed with love, hope, and change.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Holy wow. Props to Molly for sending me this to read. It was utterly magnificent. And the ending was just too superb. I didn't want the book to end. I still find myself excited to read for more despite the fact, there's no more!
This book was awful. Written in the third person (which I've often thought of as lazy writing if you can't flesh out the story between one or two characters) this book was confusing and distracting. April was NOT likable. She was predictable. Oliver became annoying and one-dimensional. Etc..Etc..Etc.. Don't want to waste anymore time on this book. The best part was that my book club all bonded over our dislike of this book. We were laughing about it and had a great time with that. Sorry to the author...clearly many loved it... but this was really not for me.
Part of me thinks this is a The last 5% of the book is the reason I have to give it three stars,genius and the other part of me wants to throw my kindle through the wall. I do like books with open or tragic endings, but this one I was fuming by the last page. I do think April and Oliver would eventually end up together, the postcard with the circle address proves it, but call me a cliche I wanted a little more out of the ending. One thing I really loved about this book was the psychic/ soul mate connection between Oliver. He stops playing the piano the exact moment she is raped, and picks up again when she reads his postcard. The last 5% of the book is the reason I have to give it three stars,and I wish this could end up with a sequel but that is unlikely.
April and Oliver were inseperable as children and teenagers, but Oliver went off to college and the two lost touch. Now Oliver is back in town, a newly-engaged law student. Meanwhile April is dealing with the death of her young brother Buddy from a car accident, memories of sexual abuse by a family friend, and the mood swings of a violent boyfriend. Oliver is happy with his perfect fiance Bernadette and the image of their future together. But something continues to draw him to April. This was a well told, melancholy story. You came to really know each of the characters, their strengths and their weaknesses. I couldn't help but think something was missing, though. I kept waiting for more to "happen". I liked that the ending was hopeful.
This was not the story that I was expecting when I picked it up, but once I finished reading I found that I was glad it wasn't. I loved the characters, even when I couldn't understand why they were doing certain things, and enjoyed the way the present and the flashbacks were intertwined. This is definitely one I'll want to re-read in the future, not only because it's a great read but also to see what little things I can catch along the way now that I know how everything works out.