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joaniesickler's review against another edition
4.0
Very enjoyable historical novel of Spain, Morocco, Portugal and the Spanish Civil War and rising Nazism. The life of a poor youn seamstress who rises to become a haute coutre dressmaker amid the intrigue of war. A pleasure.
utahmomreads's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally posted on my blog : http://utahmomslife.blogspot.com/2011/11/time-in-between-book-review.html
On the eve of the Spanish Civil War, Sira, a young dress maker, escapes quickly with her new lover to Morocco. She leaves behind her mother, her former fiance and the father that she has just met for the first time in her life. While in Morocco, naive Sira will have her heart broken, make new friends and find her own inner strength to succeed. Later, the world is embroiled in World War II and Sira is recruited as a spy.
I read the first 200 pages of The Time in Between by Maria Duenas in a single day. I was swept up in Sira's life and the richness of the descriptions of Morocco. Maria Duenas creates a rich and sympathetic character and the reader is immediately entranced by her story and life. However, as Sira, heartbroken, holds off the potential lovers, so too the author seems to hold the reader at arm's length. There are huge sections where the details are told yet there is no passion, no life. The novel redeems itself in the third section and Duenas reclaims the earlier thrill only to have a rushed and incomplete ending. Given that the novel is over 600 pages long there seems little reason to have a quick conclusion.
I loved Sira's character. I loved the plot. I loved the setting. But there was no real passion. I don't enjoy reading "sex scenes" and I'm pleased that this book is free of them. What I mean, is that the scenes between Sira and her main love interest are flat. In fact, there is little intense emotion evoked in any of the scenes that should do so, including when Sira's life is in danger.
I have to admit that I'm holding this book to a higher standard than many. It was better than most books. It has so many great things going for it, I just thought it could have been even better.
On the eve of the Spanish Civil War, Sira, a young dress maker, escapes quickly with her new lover to Morocco. She leaves behind her mother, her former fiance and the father that she has just met for the first time in her life. While in Morocco, naive Sira will have her heart broken, make new friends and find her own inner strength to succeed. Later, the world is embroiled in World War II and Sira is recruited as a spy.
I read the first 200 pages of The Time in Between by Maria Duenas in a single day. I was swept up in Sira's life and the richness of the descriptions of Morocco. Maria Duenas creates a rich and sympathetic character and the reader is immediately entranced by her story and life. However, as Sira, heartbroken, holds off the potential lovers, so too the author seems to hold the reader at arm's length. There are huge sections where the details are told yet there is no passion, no life. The novel redeems itself in the third section and Duenas reclaims the earlier thrill only to have a rushed and incomplete ending. Given that the novel is over 600 pages long there seems little reason to have a quick conclusion.
I loved Sira's character. I loved the plot. I loved the setting. But there was no real passion. I don't enjoy reading "sex scenes" and I'm pleased that this book is free of them. What I mean, is that the scenes between Sira and her main love interest are flat. In fact, there is little intense emotion evoked in any of the scenes that should do so, including when Sira's life is in danger.
I have to admit that I'm holding this book to a higher standard than many. It was better than most books. It has so many great things going for it, I just thought it could have been even better.
mf1sh5r's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
betseyboo's review against another edition
2.0
This book could use some editing. It wasn't horrible, but I wouldn't recommend it to others.
pam2375's review against another edition
3.0
This book was good not great. It was fairly well written. Very descriptive, decent character development, and after I think about it - a lot did happen. I was just bored by this for the most part. There were definitely some really good moments where I didn't want to put it down. Overall, I think it was just sort of boring. Nothing really happened. There was a lot of predictability and I didn't find Sira to be an amazing character that I wanted to know more about. I think I was just let down -all reviews made it seem like the AMAZING book of the year. Don't avoid this book, I would just say don't go out of your way to read it.
libraryam's review against another edition
3.0
It was just alright for me, dawgs.
I loved the concept; it just moved too slowly for me.