Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “Sta drugo reci nego - fenomenalna! Slobodno mogu da kazem da Gijom Muso staje rame uz rame sa mojim omiljenim piscima Paulom Kueljom i Nokolasom Sparksom.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Not great really bad, stilted translation. It didn't tick any boxes for me.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“Sta drugo reci nego - fenomenalna! Slobodno mogu da kazem da Gijom Muso staje rame uz rame sa mojim omiljenim piscima Paulom Kueljom i Nokolasom Sparksom. ”
Ljiljana M wrote this review Wednesday, December 14, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I really wanted to enjoy this book, it had all the ingredients of a fascinating story, the enigmatic cover of a woman alone on a beach, an unrequited love, a cop looking for a world famous art thief, set in France and the USA, obsessive characters ........... but in the end I just felt quite disappointed.
cazbah wrote this review Sunday, May 15, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I thought the main storyline was too coincidental, it just didn't feel plausible to me. If I said what it was it would be a huge spoiler.
I didn't really empathise with the main characters either, Gabrielle, Martin and Archibald. I didn't feel that I really knew them any more by the end than I did at the beginning. They didn't seem to know what they thought and kept changing their minds so I didn't know their inner mind workings, and therefore I found myself not caring too much about what happened to them.
I also wondered whether there was such a thing as product placement in a book? I lost count of the number of times a particular brand of fizzy drink was drunk, or a certain mp3 player was used, I actually found that quite annoying by the end.
I did think it was well translated though, if i didn't know it was originally written in French, I wouldn't have known, the writing flowed very easily and the dialogue seemed natural.
So, even though it was not my type of book I'm sure that some people would enjoy it, after all the cover reads that `over 1 million copies sold worldwide'!”“Not great really bad, stilted translation. It didn't tick any boxes for me.”
fourcats wrote this review Saturday, April 30, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I was sent a uncorrected bound proof of this book from Bookhugger to read and review. So here goes...
Samantha O'Kee wrote this review Tuesday, April 5, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This is the story of Martin Beaumont, a French policeman, Gabrielle an American student and Archibald McLean a legendary thief.
It begins when Martin was in his early 20's, and spent a summer in San Francisco where he met and feel deeply in love with Gabrielle. However, their love could not manage to overcome the 7,000 miles between them when Martin returned to France.
About 20 years later we return to Martin having become a policeman with the French police. Martin is chasing the thief, Archibald McLean and this chase leads from the streets of Paris and back to San Francisco.
I have not read a book that had been translated before, but could see a little french having been left in the text as Martin alternated between being a 'flic' and a 'policeman'. Martin at this stage was also referred to as being 'a young flic', which in my perception didn't think he was being nearly 40 years old (or maybe as I'm nearly that age too I wouldn't refer to myself as young!) Maybe because I didn't know either of the cities referred to in the book, I found it hard to visualise the places, but that's just a personal preference to lose myself in the places as well as characters.
Towards the end of the book the story got a bit weird, however it was quite moving and had me in tears (I'm a soppy gal at times).
I'd say the book is a mix of love story and crime novel, though more leaning towards the love side and it is an easy read. I would recommend it if you enjoy a nice story for reading on holiday.”“I received this novel courtesy of Real readers to read and review. A story taking place in France and the USA where the central characters lives twist and turn around each other.Martin and Gabrielle meet whilst Martin is on holiday in America their brief love affair is intense and although they continue to be in contact on Martins return to France circumstances combine to keep them from reconnecting.
Sue G wrote this review Monday, February 28, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Martin joins the Police and builds a career but like the rest of his life he teeters on the edge.He becomes obsessed with a thief and works towards his capture leaving his job to follow the criminal to the US here the plot pulls together all of its strands and we learn who has been manipulating who and enjoy the final conclusion of all the novels elements.Altogether a well written and engrossing book”“I'm in two minds about this book. On the one hand, I kept wanting to read it, and looked forward to carrying on the story. On the other hand, I found it very predictable and written in a quite a simplistic manner. I couldn't decide if the style of writing was an accurate translation from the French original or whether it was from the translator. Either way, it didn't read well for me and that was my biggest stumbling block.
Carolyn S wrote this review Sunday, January 30, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
If you like romantic stories and novels, then this book is definitely for you. I'm not a massively romantic person and so I did struggle with the aspects of the story which other people may well enjoy more. What I did like was a certain symmetry within the story telling. And the ending was a little more unusual than I had been expecting.
Overall it is an enjoyable light read and probably would sit well for a good beach read. I would definitely read other books by this author. ”
Displaying 1-6 of 6
