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Book Review of Where or When

Where or When
Where or When
Author: Anita Shreve
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
TheBookaholic avatar reviewed on + 45 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7


Anita Shreve, I have a question for you. Are you any kin to Nicolas Sparks? You have to be the female version of him as this book, Where Or When, shows the same draw them in, make them fall in love with the characters, get them to pulling for them, only to do the EXACT opposite at the end! OH, COME ON! This is the second book of her's I have read and while I have enjoyed both, I have also hated both. The characters are so believable, so full of life. And in this instance, the subject hit so close to home. Not sure where she gets her inspirations from but I hope her true-to-life experiences are not being mirrored in her books.

Basically, the book is about two people, and two families. Charles and Sian met when they were 14 years old and at camp for a week. In this brief period of time, they developed a love that would last for a lifetime. And yes, I believe in love for a lifetime. Fast forward 31 years to the present. Charles is married with children and so is Siam....just not to each other. In a freak chance, Charles sees a photo and review of Sian's book in the newspaper and remembers the past and the emotions he still has even after all the years that have passed. Making a decision that will possibly change the lives of two families, he contacts her, only to find that she still feels the same emotions. From there, I leave it for you to imagine.......until you read the book. A great book in the same spirit of many of Nicolas Spark's books, this one will leave you emotionally drained at the end with all the ups, and downs. I read this one in a day!

The lyrics of the song from whence the title of the book came......

Where Or When

Music by Richard Rodgers
Words by Lorenz Hart



When you're awake
The things you think come from the dreams you dream.
Thought has wings,
And lots of things are seldom what they seem.
Sometimes you think you've lived before
All that you live today.
Things you do come back to you,
As though they knew the way.
Oh, the tricks your mind can play

It seems we stood and
Talked like this before
We looked at each other
In the same way then but
I can't remember where or when

The clothes you're wearing
Are the clothes you wore
The smile you are smiling
You were smiling then but
I can't remember where or when

Some things that
Happen for the first time
Seems to be happening again

And so it seems that
We have met before
And laughed before
And loved before but
Who knows where or when