Nights of Rain and Stars
by Maeve Binchy
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Book Reviews of Nights of Rain and Stars
Book Review: good story... poor research
Summary: 3 Stars
As usual Maeve Binchey wrote a rather interesting story - however, she has a lot of mistakes in it. Two of the charactures, (a German and an American) say things they would NEVER say in real life. At one point they are learning the "German" toast... SKOL! (This toast is NORWIEGEN!) Also SEVERAL times she has the American speaking in totaly BRITISH speech patterns which are completely wrong for him and which he would never use. She also beats to death the idea of the "quiet sea taking so many lives". You get really tired of hearing it. Over all it is a good story but Ms. Binchey REALLY needs to bone up on her research next time!Book Review: I'm Astonished!
Summary: 1 Stars
Any respect I had for Binchy has been obliterated. I've read a number of her previous books and usually found them rather mindless but enjoyable, excluding Quentins and The Scarlet Feather.
I am still in shock, however, to have read in "Nights of Rain and Stars" her characterization of Vonni's being an alcoholic as having been a weak person. Hello? Maeve? Maybe you haven't heard, but it's been determined that alcoholism is a disease. This just blows me away!
Ms. Binchy's writing has always been a bit on the prudish side and a bit stilted, but this is just plain out of touch with reality.
Book Review: Missing that classic Binchey twist
Summary: 3 Stars
Nights of Rain and Stars was an ok read. I am a huge Binchey fan and found this book missing the twist that is in most of her really good books. The end of her best books tend to have something, like the hotel burning in "Firefly Summer", the injury and miscarriage in "Circle of Friends", the tragic car accident in "Glass Lake". That twist that an Irish friend described as "typically Gaellic" is missing from this book and from some of her not quite best efforts, like "Quentins".
I had a hard time really caring about these characters and never got as invested in them as I did in her best novels.
Book Review: I am disappointed
Summary: 2 Stars
I enjoy Maeve Binchy's books, especially Scarlet Feather. This was not up to her standards. While I did like the change of scenery (this novel is set in idyliic Greece) I felt that the characters were not fleshed out. I could not belive some of the romances (especially towards the end of the novcel) or the one-dimensional character of Shane, who is cast as a moronic villain.
I think what was the most disappointing aspect was that certain characters (especially David) were left w/o any closure at all.
This novel didn't ring true and wasn't especially well-written either.
Book Review: Saw It All Coming!
Summary: 1 Stars
I laughed when, near the end of this book, a character says, "I didn't see that coming!" A reader paying even half attention would see everything coming in this simplistic, predictable, formulaic tale. My views echo those of previous reviewer Barbara, in that I could see Binchy with her character scenario spread out, lazily matching happy and improbable endings to her flatly-rendered and unbelievable characters. Much of the book is dialogue, and it, too, is unreal. I am hugely disappopinted, having been charmed by Tara Road, an excellent read. The best part of this book is its lovely dust jacket!