Helpful Score: 1
An excellent read. Set in 1915 and contemporary times it's an amazing story. A wonderful tie-in at the end that makes you smile after all the horror within the story.
Not a paranormal horror, a grisly, war torn horror.
Not a paranormal horror, a grisly, war torn horror.
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed The Sandcastle Girls (Vintage Contemporaries) on + 1474 more book reviews
Didn't finish.
I just couldn't get past the narrative form, jumping from 1915 Syria to contemporary American with multiple stops in between, and the only signpost for the reader was the change from third-person to first-person narrative. Frankly, I kept wishing the first-person narrator would just get the hell out of the way and let the 1915 characters tell the story.
I usually like Bohjalian's books, so I waived my "one day" rule -- usually, if I have doubts about a book, I'll read on it for a day (usually 2-3 hours total) and if it doesn't grab me, it's gone. (Hey -- I'm old. I'm not going to live long enough to read every book ever written, so I've become choosy.) In consideration of his past performances, Bohjalian got an extra day's read.
I just couldn't get past the narrative form, jumping from 1915 Syria to contemporary American with multiple stops in between, and the only signpost for the reader was the change from third-person to first-person narrative. Frankly, I kept wishing the first-person narrator would just get the hell out of the way and let the 1915 characters tell the story.
I usually like Bohjalian's books, so I waived my "one day" rule -- usually, if I have doubts about a book, I'll read on it for a day (usually 2-3 hours total) and if it doesn't grab me, it's gone. (Hey -- I'm old. I'm not going to live long enough to read every book ever written, so I've become choosy.) In consideration of his past performances, Bohjalian got an extra day's read.
Paula T. (Mothercup) reviewed The Sandcastle Girls (Vintage Contemporaries) on + 78 more book reviews
This was an excellent read. It kept my interest from the first page to the last.
Karen S. (MKSbooklady) reviewed The Sandcastle Girls (Vintage Contemporaries) on + 989 more book reviews
This is only the second one of Chris Bohjalian's books I have read, the other, Midwives , I read several years ago. This book takes ahold of you and will not let go-set in 1915, and the present day, I was swept up in it from the start. Fascinating.
Nadine (23dollars) -
The Sandcastle Girls was the January 2018 pick in my online group, The Reading Cove. I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but the writing style just wasn't for me.
Sorry to say it took me over two weeks to slog through this disjointed and uneven narrative. And I only persevered without skimming through because I wanted to learn more about the history, but POV shifts between characters (not to mention between the past and present!) happened within the same chapters! For me, that undermined the subject matter and made the narrative very disjointed. I never connected with any of the characters and wished for a more engaging narrative.
I had the same issue with his book Midwives, so I think I'm just not a fan of the author's style of storytelling. For me, his writing overall is dull, and akin to a sleeping pill.
Sorry to say it took me over two weeks to slog through this disjointed and uneven narrative. And I only persevered without skimming through because I wanted to learn more about the history, but POV shifts between characters (not to mention between the past and present!) happened within the same chapters! For me, that undermined the subject matter and made the narrative very disjointed. I never connected with any of the characters and wished for a more engaging narrative.
I had the same issue with his book Midwives, so I think I'm just not a fan of the author's style of storytelling. For me, his writing overall is dull, and akin to a sleeping pill.
