Entertaining

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked the character of Karen, she was human and not some kind of heroine we are often fed

Have you listened to any of Gabrielle Glaister’s other performances? How does this one compare?

First audiobook read by Gabrielle and it was fine, but I was distracted on occasion by 'young Bob' if she was getting a bit excited in the reading (this would probably only distract other Bkackadder viewers though!

Any additional comments?

Good modern family saga, believable and well read

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5 people found this helpful

Confusing

I found this very confusing to listen to. It seemed to go on and on without anything substantial happening. I struggled to keep up with the many different characters and their relationship to each other. I usually get totally absorbed in a book but I felt like I was floating on the periphery of this one unfortunately. I think it was just too long. I didn't finish it. I gave up. Gabriella Glaister was wonderful as usual. Great narration.

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The.....

storyline was a bit slow to start with but it got a lot better as it went on. The characters were lovely as well as the antics they got up to. The narrator was very good at using different voices for the characters.

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Deep but entertaining

Review: in terms of length and depth, this read was epic. It was also enjoyable, although it did take a while to get through. I originally read this book as part one and part two but then i decided to sit down and read it from start to finish when it was released as a whole book. I found that I couldn't remember exactly what had happened with each individual part so I'm glad I did this and glad I started back at the beginning again! Just a bit of advice if you are planning on picking this one up!

I loved the fact that this was told through various different characters, i love reading books that are structured that way! It was interesting, as well, to have these characters be different ages and different genders. I really liked hearing from Joe's point of view because he was outside of the Winter family and so it was good to have his perspective on everything that was going on inside of The Winter family.

In terms of plot, this book really does give you everything, there's romance, deceit, a LOT of family secrets, break downs, break ups, death, mystery but overall, the general theme of this book is family and what that means, how it can affect us and how it can be such a positive thing when all is said and done. The fact that this book covers so much meant that, although it was long, there was always something new coming up. The multi-perspective chapter structure also helped this but literally not knowing what was going to be around the next corner in the story really was the best thing about this book.

In terms of setting, we have the family home in rural setting, we have a little bit of Florence, a little bit of Paris and just a touch of London. I really liked this as well and it helped separate out the main characters more (until they all came together in the family home of course!) I would recommend this book if you have got the time to give to it because it is definitely worth sitting down and reading cover to cover on a weekend or a holiday. I also listened to this on audiobook and that was a really good listening experience too!

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7 people found this helpful

Captivating

I bought this book on a whim but very quickly got caught up into the lives of all the characters - it is well read and the story itself has you entranced from beginning to end. There are all sorts of different strands in this book - Love hate violence anger romance cheerfulness sorrow. A cornucopia which has you wanting to find out the next bit in the story all the time. I listened on my way to work and was late twice because I wanted to know what happened! Definitely not light and fluffy this is a well written book that will make you smile and keep you interested in the lives of the characters all the way through.

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1 person found this helpful

Somewhat bleak

I was wary of this because of the volume of reviews saying it was incredibly slow going to start. I didn’t find this but, whilst certainly not a misery fest of unending suffering with a gloomy ending, neither were the human struggles necessary for any decent story, tempered with much light, at least for a heft mid-chunk.

I listened all night during a migraine where the pain is so bad sleep is impossible - if I’d not needed to have something to listen to and could have physically held my iPhone and looked at the screen to tap out a return request, I would have done so. The meatiest mid-section of the the novel was just pretty heavy in terms of an aura of bleakness.
There were redemptions and comings good for central characters but overall this wasn’t a patch on some earlier Harriet Evans’ which have been overall happier and more absorbing listens.

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Excellent to fall asleep to.

The narrator has a very calm and soporific voice. This was a great book for helping me get to
sleep, I was often asleep before my 30 min timer had run out, as such I haven't really heard much of the story.

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a bit long winded

This book does ramble on for a long time, but enjoyable overall. It is quite enjoyable

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10 people found this helpful

Wonderful!

A story that weaves in and out of people's lives and joins them all together. Could really relate and the best was left till last!

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1 person found this helpful

Engrossing

Felt it was a bit long but it was worth it to tie up all the loose ends.

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1 person found this helpful