Our August meeting was kindly hosted by Sue (and husband Neil) at their home. 11 people attended; 10 having read the book. Sue served excellent food and Emma provided a delicious dessert. We reviewed the book I Found You by Lisa Jewell.
We found this book easy to read. Jeanette gave a detailed review as she wasn't sure she would make the meeting. Some of her views are as follows: "I quite enjoyed the book, and did find it the 'page turner' it promised to be on the cover of my copy. I don't think I would say it was a 'must read' which was also stated.
"I felt a bit sad that the character of Derry Dynes didn't play a bigger role in the story. I was also a bit disappointed that the seaside village of Ridinghouse Bay didn't play a bigger role. I quite liked the local references to Robin Hood's Bay. I bounced between being intrigued by (and a little envious of) Alice and her bohemian lifestyle and really very annoyed by her.
"I wasn't so keen on the fact that the children had been involved with social services more than once - and that seemed OK - and when 'Frank' said 'I think I've killed someone' she didn't change her view of him."
Jeanette goes on to comment about the female characters in the book and comes to the conclusion that they all need a good shake! "I did enjoy reading it. I like that it drew me in and I wanted to know what happened - but the number of rather silly women wafting through life really annoyed me"
Many agreed with these views and thought that Alice was a good character but seemed to take too many risks with social services and then allowed a strange man into her home. Gray's mum also took risks allowing her children to go off with a stranger. The book got sillier and a bit far fetched. People were desperate for love.
Sue said she felt no character had depth and thought the author couldn't follow through. We all thought it was a book you can read quickly; a good holiday read. Near the end of the book it was a bit boring. We thought the map would reveal more. Jeanette was pleased it turned out not to be about a mental health issue.
Overall we rated it 3/5 although Sue hated it and gave it a 1!
A thoroughly enjoyable evening with fantastic hosting and yummy food! Sue put together a list of classics for us to choose and we found that many of us had read quite a few from the list. Emma suggested Swallows and Amazons as it is her dad's favourite book. This will be our September read.
Our next book is Defending Jacob by William Landay. Happy reading!
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