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bethaniekay 's review for:
One Greek Summer
by Kate Frost
I have mixed feelings about this book, hence the 3-star rating; it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
The best part was the setting. Who wouldn't love a story set on a beautiful and idyllic Greek island? The descriptions of the scenery, the food, the smells, the sounds, and the people were lovely - definitely a bit of escapism. I already had an interest in visiting Skopelos and Skiathos after Mamma Mia! came out, but this has renewed my desire to go (thankfully I have a trip planned there for next year!).
The weak parts, for me, were the actual characters and the storyline. Maybe I'm just not into the chick-lit genre anymore, but I thought the characters were predictable, and the story and the dialogue were a bit elementary and formulaic. I was hoping for something a little more in-depth. And the synopsis made it sound like there were really profound backstories which influenced the relationships between some of the characters (i.e., Harlow and Tyler), but I didn't think anything was revealed that was entirely too shocking. Nonetheless, I did enjoy how the novel concluded - it definitely fet fitting, if not a bit unrealistically romantic. But, those things do happen for some people :)
One last note about the dialogue - although the author got a lot of the actual Greek transliterations correct (I can read some Greek), and some of the broken English from certain characters like Ereni and Stephanos seemed realistic, what did bother me was how many times Adonis used the word 'Mum' in place of 'Mom'. The author is British, and most of the characters also are, so it makes sense for them to use British vernacular -- but it's not common for a Greek to use the term 'Mum', unless they'd spent time in the UK or around people from the UK. It seems like a bit of lazy writing to me. If an author wants the characters to feel authentic, they should be written using the appropriate vernacular and slang.
Overall, I did enjoy this book for what it was - a bit of light, easy, romantic escapism. I'll likely read another in this same genre of books by this author.
The best part was the setting. Who wouldn't love a story set on a beautiful and idyllic Greek island? The descriptions of the scenery, the food, the smells, the sounds, and the people were lovely - definitely a bit of escapism. I already had an interest in visiting Skopelos and Skiathos after Mamma Mia! came out, but this has renewed my desire to go (thankfully I have a trip planned there for next year!).
The weak parts, for me, were the actual characters and the storyline. Maybe I'm just not into the chick-lit genre anymore, but I thought the characters were predictable, and the story and the dialogue were a bit elementary and formulaic. I was hoping for something a little more in-depth. And the synopsis made it sound like there were really profound backstories which influenced the relationships between some of the characters (i.e., Harlow and Tyler), but I didn't think anything was revealed that was entirely too shocking. Nonetheless, I did enjoy how the novel concluded - it definitely fet fitting, if not a bit unrealistically romantic. But, those things do happen for some people :)
One last note about the dialogue - although the author got a lot of the actual Greek transliterations correct (I can read some Greek), and some of the broken English from certain characters like Ereni and Stephanos seemed realistic, what did bother me was how many times Adonis used the word 'Mum' in place of 'Mom'. The author is British, and most of the characters also are, so it makes sense for them to use British vernacular -- but it's not common for a Greek to use the term 'Mum', unless they'd spent time in the UK or around people from the UK. It seems like a bit of lazy writing to me. If an author wants the characters to feel authentic, they should be written using the appropriate vernacular and slang.
Overall, I did enjoy this book for what it was - a bit of light, easy, romantic escapism. I'll likely read another in this same genre of books by this author.