Very tedious to get thru ... UGH!
930849
This book is difficult to read, and keep straight, and I don't have many kind words to express about it.  I'm hardheaded and stubborn and want to finish a book I've started, but I truthfully question my wisdom in (somewhat literally) plowing thru this novel to its end.  If you want fantasy, this book may be for you; I'm much more interested in science-based Science Fiction -- which this is not.
2963089
I wasted far too much time trying to get through this unnecessarily long, much too detailed and very, very tedious book. I read many entertainment biographies, memoirs and autobiographies - they're about 75% of what I read and trust me, this is, the worst!  I finally just gave up about 3/4 of the way through, realizing there was no hope of it improving. Frankly, I don't like Townshend even a little bit now, after "getting to know" him. He comes across as a self-serving egomaniac and a complete bore, who has NO interest in anything beyond himself, his own needs and his music. He's not even approaching a well-rounded human being...or even a nice one. I've come to the conclusion that unless you were a rabid Townshend and/or The Who fan, you are highly unlikely to enjoy this book, written by a truly despicable, selfish, self-involved "man".
2886094
My goodness, I have never read such a tedious book in all of my life.  It's so boring, I feel like weeping!  I am sorry Ms. Laurens and to those who are a fan of hers.  I have tried and tried to continue reading this book but each page just simply didn't enthralled me.  Worst, it makes me sleepy.  It's a good sleeping therapy, I say!  It took me 5 days, 5 days of dragging myself just to get to the 200+ pages and still no excitement building up.  So, finally, I have given up.  -- CLOSE THE BOOK --
I have griped about books that I THOUGHT were overly detailed and have lots of unnecessary/repetitive descriptions but after this one, I'll think twice before complaining so again.  Never have I read one as bad as this book.  Talk about EXTREMES!  OVER-detailing is an understatement to describe this one.  Perhaps I could even bypass this flaw if scenes were interesting enough and not repetitive.  Ugh!  Cut it and get to the point.  This is simply not for me.  The hero and the heroine in the first story, Tangled Reins, Marc and Dorothea's character was no help at all either.  Both are just too unlikable for me to continue on... No character development, no foreplay or byplay, no sexual tension, no love... what's left?  None... just 2 characters in motion.  At least, they're moving!  Aside from the plot (What plot?), the writing style also made this book more tiresome.  It's too compacted, no spaces or next line to seperate dialogues (not that there's much of dialogues there anyways).  I guess this is needed to save space for the next story.  Again, it isn't my kind of book.
I have never rated 1 star in any of my book readings.  I told myself that I'll only rate 1 star to a book that I couldn't finish at all and I even told myself that this will never happend or I'll surely rue that day.  Alas, the day has come!  However,  now that I am thinking about it (and perhaps I am just being generous), it certainly isn't fair to rate this book a 1 star just because I COULDN'T finish it.  I rated it two stars instead because who knows the second story, FAIR JUNO would come out better or perhaps who knows the ending of the first story, Tangled Reins, might suddenly improved. READ IT YOURSELF.  I, on the other hand, simply don't have the inclination whatsoever to find out.  Sorry, this is my first of Stephanie Laurens and I am the kind of person who never say never... but, at this moment, if asked to read one of her works, I would most politely decline. (This is suppose to be one of her earlier works so perhaps that explains it).  I am sorry, Ms. Laurens and her fans.  Once again, this is only my opinion.  Read it anyway, esp. if you are a fan of hers.  Who knows you might enjoy it more than I have.
65748
********Spoiler Alert********

The first time I read through this, it took absolutely forever. I reread it the other day and just skipped through most of her conversations with her friends and it was a much better read. I feel bad for her and everything she has gone through, especially with an idiot for a mom, but I really hate the way this story is told, it is extremely boring and almost fake. The way she and her friends reply to each other irritates me because they make every little thing into a big deal...especially about Grace. I can honestly say the whole conversation about something being "wrong" with her was ridiculous. Obviously she just can't take things in stride the way her sister can, so how is that bad? Some people just can't deal with things the way other people can, it's just who she is. I feel like the was taken way out of proportion.

A lot of the story is just her telling 2 friends about her horrible childhood and then they make some sort of comment before she gets to the next part of the story, and then she stops to let them comment again. So irritating. I just want to be able to understand the story, not what her friends opinions are after every few pages. I can guess what they thought, no need to draw it out so much.

I also found it odd that she went into Catherine's story, instead of continuing her own...in that story, I could not understand WHY if Catherine hated home so much, she would ever go back. I mean, really? You have the chance to leave because a judge orders it, but you are somehow afraid your mom is going to kill you? I'm pretty sure she could have asked for police escorts to help get her things if she was that afraid. Ugh, this story just really irritated me. Also, I find it extremely hard to believe that this rape survivor didn't realize her "father" probably got her pregnant...really? She never thought about how easy it would have been for him, since he did it plenty of times before.

Sorry for my rant, I just cannot believe this story. It was so boring to get through, just not interesting at all. I would not recommend this book at all.
389235
I will not read another MacDonald book.  This was a very hard slog to get through.  I do not like the long winding sentences interrupted by dashes with other toughts thrown  into the middle.  By the time you get to the end of the sentence you must go back and read what it was about at the beginning.  I am not a military person but 50% through the book, the author was still not past the 5th day  of the battle which lasted 40 days. He kept jumping between Dec 17 then Dec 19th and then 4 chapters later he was back on Dec. 17th.  That, combined with the exhaustive list of equipment & names of Commanders and lst Lt. and others, left me confused and lost most of the time.  NOT one MAP nor list of Military Acronyms.  CCR, CCA, etc etc. HOW CAN THAT BE?  How could anyone have an idea where these towns were. yet he wrote as if the reader should just KNOW.  At first, I thought MacDonald must be a Brit with their tendency to describe every bush, where it was in relation to each house or tree etc.  The list goes on.  The reader is left to just KNOW that some of these names were American even tho they could have been German.  And frankly I wish he would have put ( G for German or A for Allies) after each military unit & sometimes leader's name.  (there were probably 1000 in the book)  Many a time I had to try to go back and figure it out because the NAMES were NOT enough for me to identify as German or American.  Having said all of the above,  it was a very informative book from an author who experienced it first hand.  Just too much unnecessary detail (probably 1/2 the book) for me and long lists of armor, divisions, leaders, etc.  over and over and over again.  Like reading through a phone book.  I know the author had a daunting task.  Maybe he intended this more for a technical military reader.  That's what it seemed like to me.
3929651
Ok, this one was.... how do I say this nicely? It was... not too good.
Ok, I admit, it was kinda awful.
And just when I thought it ended, (view spoiler), it didn't! It still had about 70 more pages! How is that possible?! Ok, maybe it wouldn't have been that bad if the author didn't feel the need to write a story that would take max 200 pages in 330 or so. Never mind the cliches, the annoying characters and the (veery very) stupid people, I get that some readers like that. But making it long and boring? What's the reason behind that action?
I'm probably being too mean cuz' I just finished a great series. But still! I have no idea why I wasted 3 hours of my life to skim this book.
4542677
This was a very slow  & difficult read for me - I LOVE books that deal with the past and how it affects the present as well as our current relationships - but this was so slow with so much superfluous information that was so tedious and totally unnecessary - I did not enjoy it very much - forced myself to finish it and still was left hanging, in my opinion!
4597618
I'm a huge history nerd and I couldn't finish this one!  I got through maybe 1/3 of a book of rhapsodic prose about the Great River and it's Place in History and how Water is Significant to All Peoples but Especially the Noble British blah blah..Fine I get it.

I'm sure there were some interesting bits in there but they are pretty far underwater in this tedious tome.
2982099
When this book became available as a no-wait audio book at my library, I got it because I was looking for something to read/listen.  It is so monotonous, and like other reviewers mentioned, I understand that it's the set up for what comes later.  But it took so darn long to get past it that I gave up and found something else to read.  Well, because of the glowing Amazon reviews and the fact they listed it as one of the best books of the month, my book club, much to my horror and dismay, selected as our next read.  So, I dutifully got the book on CD (because I knew I would not have the patience to read it and finished the whole thing.  It builds up half way through, but it takes sooooooo long to get moving, even after that.  And the ending is absolutely blah . No one character seems to learn from the experience - they just repeat the cycle and/or run away. Again. Spoiled little brats get away in situations that some accountability should be expected for a good thought out conclusion.  I'm all for helping a friend in a tight spot, but really, if I'm driving said friend to a place where the friend does not want to use her name but gives them mine instead, I'd put on the breaks and come up with a different name altogether.  How hard is that?  Just very disappointing.
3525405
Usually I wait until I complete a book before writing a review, but I'm 92% through (Kindle reader)and this book is just painful.  It is the most long and drawn out story I have ever read and the action seems to "plod".  I just got to a point where the main character Andras, is called back for labor duty for the 3rd time...the drama, the tears, his love Klara, come on let's just wrap this up once and for all.  I will finish this book, but I can't say I have a glowing review , all the good things I read about this book, I'm not impressed.
4526668
This was a long, tedious read.  The whole point of the plot didn't become clear until the last 5%, and by then it was too little, too late.

The characters were whiny and needy, not really likable and hard to root for in any way.  The way the story was told made it hard to follow, although the reason for that was finally made (sort of) clear in the end it was hard to follow when one narrative was set at one time and the other was months earlier or later.  Sophie was a b***h and not likable.  I reached the point quickly where I wasn't even skimming her "dream monologues" but skipping them completely.  It was just depressing to read over and over how bored/angry/unsatisfied she was all the time.

The politics was overdone.  We get it, the main characters are liberal.  There was no need to beat the readers over the head with pages of political dialogues that were just the characters repeating party lines.  The economy is bad, Bush sucks, rich people don't get it, and everywhere is better than here because of health insurance.

The writing style was simplistic and took away from the story.  I do not want to learn about characters through dialogue told to friends and relatives.  Background was conveyed by characters like they were reciting parts of their bio.  Show me what they are like, don't have them just tell me.  There were pages and pages of nothing but people speaking, "telling" their thoughts and histories, that just did not sound real.  The parts that weren't endless dialogue were written in a very simplistic, choppy style.  There was snow on the car.  She started the car.  She looked for the ice scraper.  She turned on the defroster.  Yawn.

My other major issue was with the lack of editing.  If you are going to write a book that is 90% dialogue, please, please, please learn how to use commas!  It is annoying and confusing.

Overall, there was not a lot to redeem this one.  I got it for free on a "free on kindle" day but would have returned without finishing if I had paid $$ for it.
940128
I knew when the hero/heroine hadn't met by 21% of the book I was in for a long and tedious story telling. Somehow this story telling didn't translate into the interesting build-up. I think it's largely due to the disjointed way the characters turned out. The characters talked too much and too much about mundane unrelated stuffs that made the book annoying.

Even the heroine pet interaction was insincere and annoying, it seemed as if there were no real connection so much so that once the hero steps into the scene the lil weebit was forgotten. And so it seemed with all the other characters - they were all so disconnected that I never got the reason why the heroine was so torn about his mother or about not going back to the sport he loves despite having kicked his habit and was doing better.

I got frustrated waiting for things to happen so it seemed the author over used description of useless information or even dialogue to fill in which made me feel even more disconnected from the characters. Having waited for boy and girl to meet and kick start the story I started to skip through when things still carried on being slow.

I can't put my finger on what was really bad about the book but I just know it was boring and long winded. It got so boring that I skipped through to the end from 65% of the book.

I don't recommend this book! Don't waste your money!
815286
This was a huge chore to finish.  Not recommended.
181892
Previously I have really enjoyed Oprah Book Club selections.  This one, not so much... which makes me wonder who, or what the qualifications are for the list ($?).  This book left me wanting.  It was so long and drab that I had to break it up and read things in between.  I have about 20% left (I have it on my kindle), and I don't want to give up but it's such a chore!  Total disappointment.
3282605
I used to be a big, big, big Elizabeth George fan. But the last few books have been so disappointing.

What I did like about this book was that it was a personal story involving Barbara Havers, a much loved character.

But the book was SO incredibly tedious I wanted to shout out in places. I could never have had the patience to read it. I listened to it on CDs so I could focus on other things during the long, boring bits.

There were way too many lengthy and repetitive arguments between Havers and a tabloid reporter. Too many arguments full stop! Enough already!

I do enjoy a complicated plot, but I couldn't keep track of which character knew which bits of information about the various kidnappings. Hard to follow.

The spattering of Italian sentences was OK for me because I speak Italian. But if it had been a language I didn't know, I would have been upset. Not at all necessary. Sounded like showing off.

This story could have been told in WAY fewer pages. Why do authors think a big book is better than a normal-sized book?

Elizabeth, please tighten up. Why do you think you have to go on and on and on about things that you've said once already or are unnecessary? Bigger does not always mean better!
2060363
I read almost continually and rapidly yet it took me four tries to get through this book. There seems to be some value in the recounting of some Washoe Indians who lose their culture in the struggle with encroaching white society but it is told in a manner that rambles about with poor identification or transition between time periods related. There are far to many steam of consciousness passages. Worst of all, this is an extremely tedious book to read!
21006
I was excited about this book and invested (wasted) quite a bit of time trying to read it.  Unfortunately, it is way too tedious.  The author may be knowledgeable and I am fully supportive of skeptics but I will never again buy any book written by her due to her writing style.  I like to read books by Sam Harris and I enjoy reading Susan Jacoby but I just cannot handle the tedious, never-ending babbling of Jennifer Michael Hecht.