A review and a book give-away!!!
Back cover summary:
Thirty-five-year-old Samantha acts without thinking. Her heart is huge while her sense of purpose is small; she's willing to fight for those she loves, but she's never learned to fight for herself. Eighteen-year-old Melody is cold and calculating, and she's driven by the desire to better herself. As these compelling yet deeply flawed women battle for the affections of 25-year-old Nathan, he becomes increasingly confused and torn between them.
Nathan is Melody's English teacher, and after he saves her from being raped, she becomes attached. Melody longs for the affection she's never felt, so she involves people in her self-invented drama, making sure she is at once the star and the director. Meanwhile, Samantha is newly married to Nathan. But Samantha has hang-ups about motherhood and lingering feelings for her ex. To make sense of the world, Sam relates her life to the themes of her favorite movies, while she independently makes a documentary to jump-start her non-existent film career.
What I think about it:
The story is almost multi-plotted, with an interesting sub-stories pertaining to each character. It has an efficacious plot in keeping one engaged. The story revolves around characters with secrets that are slowly revealed from chapter to chapter.
The creation of a selfish brat Melody is quite impressive that as I was beginning to despise her and her callous, heartless actions, I was so surprised near the end at how much I warmed up to her. All of a sudden, I discovered that after all, she had a good heart.
In the story, Sam and Melody needed redemption. In the end, however, I think it was Nathan who needed to be redeemed. I felt sorry for him. He seemed to be the victim of it all and did not deserve any of it. He was a good man and was manipulated by not just Melody, but also Sam in my view. Whilst I loved Sam at first, in the end I couldn't understand what she was doing - making the story even more riveting and interesting.
There were typo errors which distracted my reading but over all, with intriguing, multi-faceted characters, combined with well-woven, dark, murky, and sometimes even perplexing secrets within the storyline, I can say this is a good book and an excellent read.
*****
All you have to do is follow and leave me a comment below to enter. Don't forget your email address!
I will pick the winner next week!
Very pleased to also let you know that this book is A 2011 Award-winning finalist for the
National Indie Excellence Book Awards
(Chick-Lit) and
International Book Awards
(Women's Fiction & Young Adult Fiction)
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the author for an honest review and I was not compensated for this review.
8 comments:
Thanks for the review, Len. The characters sound intriguing. I like when a book surprises me.
Interesting! Doesn't sound like my usual genres at all, but I'm always willing to try a new read :-)
Interesting review, Len. I'm wondering who the target audience is?
So interesting! I love stories with characters whose secrets draw you in and are what move the story forward. When I can't wait to see what is up with them. :o)
Thanks for sharing, Len! You are my favorite book reviewer--I mean that! :o)
Hello everybody! Thank you for the comments.
@Theresa - the book is definitely a good-read.
@Deniz - thank you!
@Sharon - I would think it's both women and young adult because of the two characters.
@Jackee - You're so kind, thank you for your sweet words. :)
Sounds interesting, Len! It's now in my must-read list! :)
This book is pretty interesting Len, thanks for sharing! - Mommy
This sounds interesting and I am just in time to join in. Will add it to my wishlist in case I do not win. :)
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