Loved the words - the story? Meh.
339928
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. At first, I thought the author was being pretentious, but as I continued to read, I began to enjoy his use of the words and language.
The story was not gripping: somewhat entertaining at best. I almost put it down out of boredom several times, but I kept wanting to see the author's next fine use of English.
4456347
Honestly, this rating comes from the writing itself. It's gorgeous on a sentence level, and the book as a whole was an enjoyable read because of it.

That being said, the plot fell a bit short for me--especially near the end--feeling too rushed yet full of odd interludes. I really wanted to spend more time with some of these characters, which made the narrative voice both wonderful and, at times, frustrating in its distance from them, including the titular character.

Like some of my other recent reads, I felt that I wanted more from the book, wanting it to be so much more than it is--even if I still enjoyed what it is.

If you're like me and a sucker for language and finely spun-sentences, this one is for you--especially if you don't mind distant narration, meandering plots, and a hero that is beat down over and over again.
3464656
This memoir tells the story of the building of the Hagerty family through marriage, infertility, adoption, and conception.  I found their story touching and beautiful, but the way in which it was told didn't resonate with me.

The opening few chapters seemed disjointed to me, but after a few chapters, the overall story starts to piece together.  The chapters are all similar in nature: a story, a struggle, a nudge or Bible passage that pointed back to trusting in God. Each chapter also ends with Scripture references for the reader to look up if they wish to do so.

While the memories are poignant, somehow the writing felt disjointed to me.  The cover claims that readers will gain personal insight from the story, as it will "bring them closer to a God who longs for them to know him more."  I found that the themes of brokenness and waiting weren't resolved in ways that I could apply it to my life, but rather in a way that I felt I was simply a distant witness to the story told by someone else.

Disclosure; I received a free advance reading copy of this book in exchange for posting my honest review here via The Amazon Vine program.
1711209
While I rather liked the idea of the story, and I felt like it could have been a great one, I think it just didn't get there for me.  The writing was beautiful and I was interested in the characters and what would happen next, but it felt like it kind of dragged at the beginning and was very rushed at the end.

I'm usually a very big fan of fairy tale retellings, so I really wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. I hadn't ever heard this particular fairy tale before, but I still feel like it's one I could have really enjoyed.  The idea of a couple desperately wanting a child and finally able to (sort of) have one is beautiful.  The descriptions in the book were in depth.  It had almost everything it needed to be a fantastic book, and I'm sure for some it truly was.  For me, it was just too slow up until the ending.  I really wish we had gotten more information of what happened in the immediate days after what I will call "the tragedy."  It was like it happened and then we fast forwarded several years to see how everyone was doing, but we didn't get the sort of closure we needed from the actual event.  It was rushed and glossed over.

Another warning, this is not a typical HEA book.  You will see some happiness but not in the way you would expect.
3704798
I bought this book based on the reviews and the subject matter, but it didn't quite live up to the hype. The concept was very interesting and the portions of the story about the Russian mafia were often quite intriguing, but the love affair portion of the story didn't quite gel for me. I understand how Royal wouldn't necessarily see that Dmitry was a mobster right off, but by the time his evil brother shows up and there's a standoff, complete with guns drawn right in front of her, she should get a clue! Especially after her friends voice their suspicions. So that part didn't work for me. If she was willfully persisting in not believing it, that would be one thing, but she seems utterly surprised when the truth is finally shoved in her face.

However, I did like Dmitry, and his brother Ivan made a good villain. There were also several surprises in the story that I didn't see coming, so the author has good storytelling instincts. At times the dialogue was good or unexpected, which helped drive the story along.

But... the author desperately needs an editor. The huge amount of typos, incorrect word choices ("oozy" for "Uzi," "coo" for "coup," or my favorite, "pre Madonna" for "primadonna"--you get the idea), wildly changing verb tenses, and many, many missing words (and I'm not talking about Dmitry's dialogue, where I expected to see words missing) made this a tough read at times, and the mistakes kept throwing me out of the story. I knocked off an entire star for this. There's just no excuse for not hiring an editor to look at the text before publishing it. If you're going to charge for your work, you owe the reader a decent reading experience, not an exasperating one.

I would consider reading more about the Medlovs IF the editing issue was addressed in future stories. Otherwise, no.
3254781
These must be the author's favorite words. At one stretch in part 3, the author used these words 5 times or more in a span of 10 pages. That stretch, in my opinion, contains some of the worst written passages in the book. I got the impression that the author tried to dump her experience into Ric's biography, rather hastily and un-selectively. The story just rambles on without much purpose. Even the author at one point wrote "To cut the story short..."

Beside that stretch of indiscriminate, and rather sloppy writing, the rest of the book is quite interesting. Two things I thought can be done better though: While the author tries to depict Roya's daughter as a troubled child, every time you turned around, she is behaving like a sweet child: making ballet moves, concerning over things in a way that is beyond her age. The other troubled child in the story: Sammy - it was never explained to my satisfaction how he would have turned out this way. His father Ric seems to be a caring father and knows how to deal with troubled kids professionally. While the irony of this came through, it was not too convincing for me. Also unexplained is the fact that Madison had the chance of shooting Roya and Ric at close range, why would he choose to wait and shoot from the opposite apartment after they got home?

I don't want to be overly picky. Overall, it was a satisfying read.
4278212
I read translations, classics, history and love them - I love Dickens, Collins.....literary fiction and non fiction etc.....but I could not pull from the text  a involving sense of the politics, history nor culture for this region, which is the center of this novel.

It was a terrific grabber in the beginning, what appeared to be a great story, told well and then turned to be a redundant X10 romance. The beautiful thoughts and sentences could not hold it together long enough.  I hope it is in the last half...but seldom to I skim so far ahead looking for a stories redemption.
4836319
I'm sort of middle of the road on this-- absolute admiration for the family--their determination, hard work, love but , for some reason, the writing was annoyingly simple....subject, verb, subject, verb style. Best-selling teen and children's books have a better structure and style. I read this for a Book Club, so it will be interesting, as always, to get the group opinion and see if I'll end up with a better opinion.
2532592
Positives about this book:
The story is original (though it's obviously derivative of Narnia).
The dialogue is clever when there is dialogue.
The writing is decent and reflects the characters.
Pretty cover (though flimsy, it's peeling already and I've only had the book a couple weeks.)
Pulls no punches.

Negatives:
It doesn't drag me through it. I kept stopping and had to force myself to finish.
The characters read a bit flat and monotone. I'd have liked more depth to them than "constantly depressed" and "too smart for their own good."
The story could have been fleshed out better in spots and run smoother, less jumping around. It felt a bit pieced together. I could have used better flow.

That said, I'm watching the show now and will read the other two books in the trilogy since I found it likeable enough to read even though I wasn't blown away by it and subtracted a couple stars for that.
342603
I like the concept of the book.  I LOVE the diversity in the book.  I enjoyed the art.  However, I found the words to not really flow.  I feel awkward reading it -- especially when long phrases are repeated three or four times in a row.
1289441
I wanted to love this story. As it is, I liked it enough that I'll probably share it with my kids. Maybe the problem is me. I used to have no problem getting a childlike enjoyment out of kid lit, when it's well done. But despite the illustrations, which were delightful, the book felt predictable and a little disappointing.
4072487
The idea for the story is great... a floating bookstore in Paris.  It alternated with excellent writing, humor and bizarre characters and situations, which is all fine, but the melodrama?  Way too much of it.  The people were so pathetic in trying to get over relationships that occurred so far in the past and really did not reflect great love stories but neurotic obsessions.  In all fairness, I did listen to this on audio and the French accents and female voices took away from the story.  I found myself fidgeting with discomfort at times.  Why the four stars?  It was unique.  The author is obviously learned and insightful and her descriptions reflect a perceptive attunement to her environment.  I have a feeling reading it in print would have been more enjoyable.
364576
didn't love - interesting story but writing could have been better.  know others who loved it.
341793
I like the cover, it looks sexy, but I think the cover is better than the story.
Don't get me wrong, the writing is good, it's not awfully written. But there's just not enough to sink your literary teeth into.
The story is cute and sweet and almost completely without conflict. There's some basic conflict there, couples have arguments, but even their arguments are almost adorable in their predictability. Except it's so predictable that it's not so adorable.
Um so, I feel I should mention that there's a mention of rape in the story. Just a mention of a past event but it might not be what someone wants to read.
And that's it. It's a pretty bland, non-adventurous story. Basically everything in their lives is super perfect. They both have loads of money, great friends, great loving family, and they both find that they love each other in a few days. Again, there might be a small argument here or there but even the antagonists are cleared up in a paragraph.
601205
A little bit waffly (some bits seemed irrelevant to the story- to me anyway). The story was good though.
1587831
I was somewhat familiar w/the author and had high hopes for this book.  Her demographic being very similar to my own, I thought it would be like reading a transcript from a convo w/a friend.  It definitely had its likable, funny and relatable moments but its randomness made it difficult for me to stay interested.  I am a fan of stream of consciousness writing but I'm not even sure if that is what this is.  The best way I can describe it is "patchy".

Overall, I think Andrews is a very interesting person w/a great story to tell but I think the way this book was written left a little to be desired (and I believe she is capable of better given her professional accomplishments as a journalist).  As a reader, I do not need a book to have a pretty, definitive ending wrapped in a bow but I do like to feel that I have some sense of who the main character is and what the future may hold for her/him.

I would still recommend this to someone who is interested in the genre but would not recommend it for a book club.
2549219
I decided to read the book before watching the film. I was impressed and I wasn't...While Grimsley sets a wonderful narrative and tells a great love story without packing any implausible or Hollywood plot devices, I have to wonder if writers in this genre always feel there's a need for tragedy in these types of stories...I loved the pacing and the quiet narrative, but really, does flowery prose really equate to great writing? I recommend the book, but the text is overly descriptive bordering on clichd. I preferred the story and how well nuanced the characters were, much more than the actual writing. (I would like to give it 3 1/2 stars but that doesn't seem an option here.)