This was really a great story. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started listening toThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
This was really a great story. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started listening to this audiobook but I soon found myself hooked. The story touched on so many difficult topics and everything worked together in a way that I wouldn't have expected. I really liked that the story was told from multiple points of view and I thought that each perspective really added an important piece to the overall puzzle. I really ended up enjoying this book.
This is a book that is really about a lot of things. It is a book that tells the story of two sisters, Lily and Rose, mending their relationship. Lily and Rose have seen very little of each other in the years leading up to the start of the book but when Rose needs Lily, she comes to help. That is just one part of the story. This book also focuses on a little girl with disabilities who has a special gift.
Antoinette was a great character. She is nonverbal but she still says so much. She is her mother's world and the feeling is mutual. She is a caring child that doesn't want to see anyone or anything ill or in pain. She is willing to do anything she can to help take care of those that she loves. Unfortunately, Antoinette's gift comes with a price that those who love her work to protect her from.
I loved how so many different elements came together to tell this story. I loved the parts from Rose's point of view that really demonstrated her love for Antoinette. Lily's struggle to fit in and the things she struggles with in her life every day was very well told. Seth and Will both added to the story with their actions in the present and they both had really interesting pasts. I enjoyed the magical realism elements that helped to tell this story.
I loved the narration. I have listened to Andi Arndt several times in the past and have always enjoyed her work. This was the first time that I have listened to Cassandra Campbell and I thoroughly enjoyed the parts of the book that she narrated. I think that using two narrators really added to the impact of the story. Andi Arndt did narrate the bulk of the story but they both did an equally wonderful job. This was an emotional story and both narrators really did a great job expressing a lot of strong feelings.
I would recommend this book to others. This is the first book by Stephanie Knipper that I have read and I am really impressed by her ability to write wonderful characters dealing with a lot of difficult issues. I would definitely like to read from this author in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from HighBridge Audio via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Initial Thoughts I enjoyed this story. The narration was great. I really liked the little bit of magic that made its way into the story....more
This is a really tough book for me to rate and review. Before I started listening to thThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
This is a really tough book for me to rate and review. Before I started listening to this audiobook, I had no idea that the story would so closely follow a kidnapping situation that happened in my hometown. At first, I thought it was a coincidence but the more I listened and the more I realized that the real event had to be the inspiration for this book. I have no problem with books that are inspired by actual events but I do think it is extremely important that enough of the story be changed that it isn't so easily recognizable especially in situations like this one where minors where involved.
The book doesn't exactly follow the actual events. But it is really, really close. The only big differences were the fact that one of the boys in this story has autism and the kidnapper kills himself rather than allow himself to be captured. The other details of the kidnapping are pretty much spot on. One of the boys is kidnapped at age 11 and kept for 4 years until he is found when he is 15. The other boy is kept for 4 days before he was found. The first boy is kidnapped while riding his bike to a friend's house. All of these things happened. I remember seeing the parents of the first boy begging for his safe return for all four of those years. I remember the absolute shock that I felt when they were found safe. I couldn't believe that they were here just miles from my house for that entire time period. The actual rescue took place a little more than 10 years ago when my girls were 12 and 6 and I remember the absolute fear that I felt that something like this could happen so close to home. I think that this had to be a very traumatic experience for everyone involved and I wonder how having a book like this that tells such a similar story makes them feel.
The bulk of this book does take place after the kidnapping and I doubt that Ethan and Caroline's tale during this time would look anything like the actual victims. I did like the focus on therapy for Ethan's family and I really wished that Dylan would have had the same opportunities. I liked the friendship that developed between Ethan and Caroline. They have both been through a lot and sometimes have trouble relating to other people. Ethan has a lot of issues that he needs to work through and he really doesn't have any friends. His mother is extremely overprotective which is understandable considering what they have been through.
I did like the narration a lot. This was the first time that I have listened to either of these narrators and I thought they both did an excellent job. I liked that the use of two narrators to tell this story. I don't think that the book would have had the same impact without the dual points of view. I would definitely listen to both of these narrators again in the future.
I thought the actual story was well done. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn't constantly comparing it to the event it was based upon. I am probably quite a bit older than the target audience for this book and I think most readers will not be familiar with the kidnapping that inspired this book. I just wish that the events in this story would have been changed so that it didn't so closely mirror the actual events.
I received a review copy of this book from Recorded Books via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Initial Thoughts I am going to have to give this one some thought before I can rate and review it. The premise is a little too close to "The Missouri Miracle" that happened in my hometown a little over 10 years ago. I am not sure that the boys involved in that event needed to have a fictional story published that was based on that horrible event.
I am sure that if I wasn't so familiar with the event that had to have inspired this book my feelings would be different. As I listened, I found myself constantly comparing the events in the story to what happened in reality. There are quite a few differences but the similarity is overwhelming....more
This audiobook didn't really work for me. I really wanted to like. I tried really hard to enjoy This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.
This audiobook didn't really work for me. I really wanted to like. I tried really hard to enjoy it...but it just was not for me. I was really excited about this book from the start since the summary sounds really good and that title. Too bad that it didn't live up to my expectations. I actually thought about just stopping this one a couple of times but I had to spend a couple of days in the car so I pushed myself to continue. I really should have went with my first instinct.
I had a hard time connecting with the story at any level. I went in think that this was be a really unique and interesting piece. A story set in Puerto Rico with a girl filled with poison had all of the makings of a book that would be really exciting. It held my attention for the first part of the story as everything was being set into place but as the story moved forward, I found that I was losing interest. The mystery of the story just didn't feel as exciting as it really should have.
I didn't care for any of the characters. Lucas was a rich boy who was more than a little spoiled. Things seemed to go his way no matter what. Isabel just seemed strange to me. I didn't feel bad for her even though she had lived an isolated life. I really just couldn't get myself to feel anything for any of the characters.
I have to say that I am kind of on the fence regarding the narration. Graham Hamilton will not be making my favorite narrators list for this performance but I don't think that his narration took away from the story. I would have liked to hear a bit more emotion in his voice as he read the story but I thought he did a decent job. I would be willing to listen to this narrator on another work in the future.
I am not going to be recommending this book to others. The characters and plot just really fell flat for me. It was a really imaginative idea that just didn't seem to work out in the end.
I received a review copy of this book from Recorded Books via LibraryThing Early Reviewers program for the purpose of providing an honest review.
Initial Thoughts I am not really sure what I thought about this one. It started out strong but kind of fizzled out by the end. I thought it was really a bit strange. I did really enjoy the narrator even if the story wasn't really for me....more
I really enjoyed this book quite a bit. I am not always a fan of books that feature dual timelinThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.
I really enjoyed this book quite a bit. I am not always a fan of books that feature dual timelines but this one worked really well for me. I ended up liking both of the timelines equally and thought that Lucy and Justine both had an interesting story to tell. This story was really focused on the characters with the plot building slowly. I found myself really invested in this group of characters by the close of the book.
This book focuses on Justine and Lucy. When Lucy died, she left everything to her grandniece, Justine. Justine has two little girls and lives with her boyfriend in California but feels something missing in her life. When Justine inherits Lucy's lake house in Minnesota, she takes her girls and moves there in order to get a fresh start. The transition isn't as easy as Justine expects it to be.
Lucy has her own story to tell and decides to write everything down before her death. When Lucy was a child, her younger sister, Emily, disappeared from the lake house and has never been found. Lucy's story tells everything that happened during the summer leading up to Emily's disappearance. Emily's disappearance was heartbreaking and shaped the lives of Lucy and her family.
This book really showed how one event can impact a family for generations. Emily's sisters never really moved on with thier life after she disappeared. I liked watching Justine learn to take care of herself and really decide on what she wanted for herself and her girls. It takes a lot for her to learn to stand up for herself but I have a lot of hope for her by the end of the book.
I would recommend this book to others. It was a book that gave me hope and broke my heart all at the same time. The slower pace was a nice change and I thought it really gave me a chance to connect with the characters. I enjoyed Heather Young's debut novel and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
I won a copy of this book from William Morrow via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Initial Thoughts I liked this one quite a bit. I really enjoyed both of the timelines equally and thought that both Lucy and Justine had an interesting story to tell. The story ended up being very different than I had thought that it would be and I liked the slower pace of the story....more
I have struggled with how I should rate this book. I really liked a lot of things about this booThis review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.
I have struggled with how I should rate this book. I really liked a lot of things about this book but I had a few problems with it. I consider this to be a good book overall that I wouldn't have any problems recommending to most readers. I think that the three star rating that I finally went with is fair.
Let's start with the things that I really liked about this book. First of all, Ruby was a fantastic character. She was smart, resourceful, and very brave. I really wished that more of the book would have come from Ruby's point of view because her outlook on the world was just so interesting to me. I think that the descriptions of her hearing loss were incredibly well done and it added a lot to the story. Ruby was just an amazing child.
The setting in this book was wonderful. This book is set in the winter months in Alaska. I can't imagine that kind of cold. At least, I couldn't before reading this book. I thought that the conditions in this book were fantastically portrayed. I read this book curled in a blanket hoping that I would never experience the kind of cold that I was reading about. There was a beauty to this cold wilderness that really surprised me.
I didn't love Yasmin but as the book progressed I started to understand her a bit. She was a strong woman and very goal oriented. Yasmin was not afraid to take risks. I didn't like her at all for the first part of the story. The way she was with Ruby made me want to strangle her at times. As the story unfolded, her character really started to grow. She got to know Ruby a bit better and before everything was over, I had warmed up to her a bit.
The main problem with this book is that it felt like two different stories to me. There is really very little cohesiveness between the first 2/3 of the book and the final section. I mean some of the characters are the same and they were still in Alaska but that was about the only connection. It was almost like the majority of the book was really just trying to get to the very exciting ending but it was such a sudden change in pace that it just didn't work for me. The sudden shift in the book was really quite jarring for me and took me out of the story.
I would recommend this book to others. The descriptions were lovely and the writing style was really nice. This is the first book by Rosamund Lupton that I have had a chance to read. I would definitely read more of her work in the future.
I won an advance reader edition of this book from Crown Publishing in a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway for the purpose of providing an honest review.
Initial Thoughts I didn't hate it but I did find this book to be incredibly far fetched. The overall plot lacked any kind of cohesiveness. This will end up being either a 2 star or a 3 star book from me. ...more
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