Wave Me Goodbye by Jura Maclean SherwoodMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Hmm.
I have mixed feelings about this book.
What I loved:
1. This story told a great bit of history I'd never heard of before: children evacuated from Britain during WWII - - sent across the ocean and attacked by the Germans. I just can't imagine sending my children across the ocean during wartime.
2. The writing was clean (structurally and content-wise).
What I did not like:
1. The majority of the characters were not well developed. Many secondary characters were contrived and stereotypical.
2. Writing dialect in dialogue is a challenge, and it was a burden to read in this story.
3. I wanted the story to be more about the journey of the children, but it focused on the love story between a woman assigned to care for the children and the soldier she loved.
4. Certain plot elements were frustrating. For example, the main character is nearly raped in a brutal manner, but her soldier stops the attack "just in time" ... BUT THEN he turns around and asks the attacker to take good care of her if he dies. WHAT? It's just brushed off like it's no big deal and didn't even happen.
5. A copy of the book was too hard to find to read. If you don't mind reading it on your computer, you can purchase a copy from Whiskey Creek Press for $5.99. Or you can purchase a bound copy directly from the author's website for $18. Luckily, I was able to borrow a copy from a friend to read.
View all my reviews
**Do you struggle to write a review when you didn't really care for a book?
**Or do you always just find something nice to say about it?
**Do you sugar coat your book reviews??
I'll be honest, I'm not inclined to pick this one, based on this review.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you didn't "sugar coat" your comment on my blog! Thanks so much for your insights, and I like that you wrote the pros and cons for Wave Me Goodbye." Julie
ReplyDeleteI was particularly interested in reading this review miss Margo because my spouse, the Education Tipster, has a WIP similar to "Wave Me Goodbye" in that it is about her British mom looking for her siblings, going so far as traveling to Australia from the north of England. Many of the brothers and sisters were split up. The Tipster, Kathy Stemke's mom was in the Brit Land Army. Kathy's goal is to finish it this year. I have read the first 8 chapters and found them compelling reading. She's published 3 picture books, this is her first novel.
ReplyDeleteI am happy that you reviewed "Wave..."
Thank You.
Can't wait to give her book a try!! :)
DeleteHmmm... interesting. I usually don't finish a book that annoys me that way. It's funny all the things like you mention I didn't use to notice til I delved into writing so deeply.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd like to read this story. After all 2 out of 5 stars is low...
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I DO sugar coat ... well, to be more specific, I don't really write a lot of reviews unless I love the book. They're more like recommendations than reviews. Lately, though, I've been asked by acquaintances to review their books, so... I'll have to see how I handle that. I know I'll have to be honest, but I think I'll also try to stay as positive as possible.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, I really appreciated your honest review of this book. I need to remember that when I write reviews - or really, what's the point of writing one? If I just give glowing reports about everything, no one will pay attention to me anymore because they'll doubt my sincerity. *sigh*
Good review and good question! As you can probably tell by my answer, this is one I go back and forth on quite a lot. I think my main problem is that I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings!
I don't review books on my blog very often and the ones that I have reviewed were not fellow bloggers. The last one I reviewed was Anne Rice's book about her conversion to Christianity. I thought it was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIf there's a book I don't like, I just don't review it. Do I sugar-coat a book? Maybe. I review books I enjoy. :)
ReplyDeleteHaven't heard of this book.
ReplyDeleteI'm just beginning to review, and I post on Amazon and Goodreads only. I'm not sure how to handle something I've been asked to review if I don't enjoy it. So far I've truly liked all the books I've reviewed. I try to keep my reviews short because I'm a writer only, not a trained reviewer. Someone above said their reviews were more like recommendations. Mine are also that way.
ReplyDeleteYou did a fine job. I'm not brave enough to write a "negative" review. If I were ASKED by a fellow blogger to review his/her book, and I didn't care for it, I'm not sure what I'd do. Besides, like Carol, I don't consider myself a reviewer, but rather a reader who wants to recommend a good book.
ReplyDeleteGreat feedback! Thanks people!! :)
ReplyDelete