Well written but too depressing
355137
The writing is wonderful in this book, but I didn't enjoy the story itself.  The story is about a child that dies and the insanity that both the mother and the other twin experience as a result.
1041303
It was an excellent story, and very well written. My only issue with it is that the story was so grim and depressing.
4694374
This book nearly drove me to tears right from the beginning.  The story is written smoothly and goes along without a hitch but the subject matter is just so depressing.  The author actually brings out the characters emotions quite vividly and you can't help but get sucked in.

Mimi is in her sixties and is aging faster than the normal person but given her life history you will see why.  Unfortunately for Mimi she doesn't see that part of her problem isn't just old age but it's actually a bunch of little things that are going on that just push her buttons the right way and cause physical side effects that are going undetected.

Let me tell you if I had a daughter like Cassie I would back hand her across the back of the head for talking to me like this.  Good gosh!  Mimi's sisters are all there for her and the bunch of them minus the two who have passes are rehashing life's memories for a genealogy project that will leave all their children with family background.

This story hit me hard since my dad came from a very large family, him being number seven of eleven.  His father was an Irish immigrant and his mother was English and Scottish.  My dad would tell me stories of the poverty and how life was for him and his siblings as a child and it just is so similar to Mimi's story that my heart aches.  I miss my dad so and yes I have the stories and know my background and normally don't have a problem with it but it's stories like this one that can really retch your soul in pieces.

I gave this a three star only because the selling part that you read to determine if you might enjoy this or not wasn't really enough to give me fair warning that this might be a heart wrencher.  The author did a good job writing but I just wasn't prepared for the emotional beating.
1001109
I've marked this book down because it's depressing.  I think people read Regency romances for escapism, yet here we have a young woman from an earlier book in the series dead, another couple we thought were living happily ever after have been miserable, many animals slaughtered in terrible pain, we aren't even told the fate of some horses who may or may not have escaped from a fire, cruelty to animals condoned  as being masculine, and a primary character horribly burned.

The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one (the lowest rating) was that the characters were well drawn and the writing was good.

I agree with another reviewer that the book seemed to be missing an ending.  It just stops short and we don't learn what happens to the primary villain. I wonder if there was actually an error when it was kindleized and not all of it got transferred.
2142343
For all of the talent displayed in the actual writing of this book it's too bad that it had to be so depressing even to the end.  Never a real price for the people who inflicted all of the pain during the course of the story the only ones who suffer are the children.  Whereas I found the author completely capable and talented, it would have been nice to have read a different story than this one.
4893251
The writing itself is excellent, but the story drags after the middle, and the ending is disappointing because it appears to try to be uplifting, but it is depressing instead. Overall, the book was a downer. I felt disappointed for the main character over and over, and the especially the most at the end. I think it would be especially disturbing for women to read if they have the same fears as Dolores had, because everything Dolores fears comes true and makes her life miserable. I skimmed through the boring, repetitive and painful chapters about her abusive relationship, which were drawn out and dragged out needlessly. Lamb could have cut down those chapters to a few pages. As a woman who was bullied in the past it is hard to read these things in detail. I wish there was more emphasis on her healthy relationships and her accomplishments, or even just her sense of peace at the end, than there was. For as much as invested in the negative; her abusive relationship, her infertility fears, there should have been just as much or more emphasis on the positive. There wasn't. That is why the book is a downer.
105372
I found the book to be very well written and the main character, one brother, was nicely developed. However, I found the story to be largely depressing and even somewhat boring. The characters' cycles of predictable choices were frustrating to me. This is not what I was expecting.
2923420
Maybe it's just me, but while I found parts of this book amusing, overall, I found it profoundly depressing. That a smart, funny, beautiful and multi talented young woman chooses to spend her life in bad jobs, one night stands, and the bottom of various bottles of alcohol does not make me laugh, it makes me sad. I did, however, very much enjoy the parts where she writes about her family. Good writer, bad material.
1859168
I gave this book four stars because it's a fascinating subject and it's really well written. It's also hideously and relentlessly depressing. I stared at  my ceiling all night in despair, for once grateful for my surety that I would not be one who survived the initial apocalypse. If you are triggered at all by violence or uncomfortable with same sex relations this will not be something you'll want to read. I can't say it won't be something you'll enjoy, because frankly I don't think this book even tries to be enjoyable. It's about the worst parts of humanity left ungoverned.
74196
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS was well written, but what a terribly depressing story!  One character viciously cruel, another overly submissive.
3344348
I honestly enjoyed how well Alexandra brought to life the characters and the setting. However; it was deeply depressing and not a book to lift ones spirits up.
4839860
I loved this book, but it is very depressing. It's an extreme tragedy what he had to go through in his abandonment by a mother who wasn't fit to raise him. I think the writing was excellent - allowing me to truly feel his pain, fear and anger at what no child should have to experience. This is a great read - but be prepared for a truly sad story.
3161186
The book was well written but to be honest i found the book very depressing and gave up about 1/2 way through- the book is obviously a labour of love but i guess at my age (ancient)i am looking for escapism,humour(Australian Spelling) and lots of action and i didn't get it in this story. I say again Robert is a skillful writer and i couldn't do anywhere near as well but its too sad for me!
4714327
The writing was very good but the story was just too depressing for me.  I can't imagine a boy being treated like that by his own father and everyone else.  I'm sure the story gets better in the next books.
3680289
The author has a great writing style ,but the story itself is depressing ! Forced myself to finish reading!  I don't think it would sell as a movie!
4853350
I love this author but this book was depressing for me. There seemed to be so much suffering by every character. It reminded me of the rhythm of 'Not quite a husband' which I loved but this wasn't even close. Still it was a three because her writing and dialogue is still evident.
4098717
This book did promise some interesting reading. The book is written in the perspective of a young teenage girl with some intersting issues. The story itself gave a "real life" view on something that could happen possibly to our world. I found the progression of the story interesting and feesible and all the while, kind of scary. I wanted to like this book but I found it just too depressing. I understand that not all things in life have happy endings but I found myself wishing for a resolution that I knew in my heart, wasn't going to happen. A sad book that left me feeling sad.