Helpful Score: 9
This book is ok, but certainly not on my list of recommendations. Never found anything that was really worth the time it took to read. I read the entire book hoping only because I was too far in before I decided nothing substantial or even entertaining was going to happen.
Helpful Score: 7
Tatiana de Rosnay is a great writer, and I loved Sarah's Key. But this book just didn't do it for me. I just couldn't relate to the main character. And like one other reviewer mentioned, I found it a bit corny at times. The book moves at a good pace and will keep you interested, but if you're looking for another Sarah's Key, this isn't it.
Helpful Score: 7
SPOILER ALERT
Antione Rey is an unlikeable whiner who is upset that his kids don't talk to him...but does he talk to them about it? Of course not, he just whines and feels sorry for himself. He tends to feel sorry for himself for quite a lot. This insufferable personality made it really hard to get to the end of the story where the "big mystery" was finally revealed. Sadly, the "big mystery" is just a great big "so what" instead. What could have been a story about a beautifully tragic love affair was instead made to be a dark story laced with morose characters that were very difficult to sympathize with.
This story was such a disappointment after reading Sarah's Key. The idea was good, though -- a mother who dies too young, and 30 years later her secret love affair is revealed. What an interesting premise. Could have been a good story, but the characters were fraught with unnecessary drama, self pity, and downright unlikeableness.
Antione Rey is an unlikeable whiner who is upset that his kids don't talk to him...but does he talk to them about it? Of course not, he just whines and feels sorry for himself. He tends to feel sorry for himself for quite a lot. This insufferable personality made it really hard to get to the end of the story where the "big mystery" was finally revealed. Sadly, the "big mystery" is just a great big "so what" instead. What could have been a story about a beautifully tragic love affair was instead made to be a dark story laced with morose characters that were very difficult to sympathize with.
This story was such a disappointment after reading Sarah's Key. The idea was good, though -- a mother who dies too young, and 30 years later her secret love affair is revealed. What an interesting premise. Could have been a good story, but the characters were fraught with unnecessary drama, self pity, and downright unlikeableness.
Helpful Score: 4
This is essentially a book about death - a death that happened a long time ago that is never resolved for the family, death of the young, a near death experience, and impending death. One of the characters is even a mortician. The title and book jacket imply a family story with its relationships and connections over the years. That is not what the book delivers unfortunately.
Helpful Score: 3
I had a hard time with the beginning of this story as I found it a little corny for some reason but once I was able to get into it, it grabbed me and I ended up really liking it. As the title suggests, this story is about a secret that is kept for many years until, with a little bit of detective work, the main character in the story, Antoine, finds out about a dark family truth. This story takes place in France again, like Sarah's Key did, and I was pleasantly surprised when I learned about the Gois Passage, a submersible road which you can use to get to the island of Noirmoutier only at low tide. Good story about love, its secrets and its power...
