General Chat

Please review No time for Goodbye and Tell it to the Skies.

Ann
Glos

Couldn't get into No time for goodbye - I found it a depressing book.

As I couldn't get Tell it to the skies from the Library I read another book called 'The Burry Man' written by
Catriona McPherson.

It was a murder Mystery set around a Scottish village in 1923, all to do with the yearly village Fair and the the visit from the Burry man who unfortunately dies in mysterious circumstances.

It was a little slow going but I had not read much in the way of scottish mystery novels, I did enjoy it and thought it was quite well written.

Gill

Tell It to the Skies - Erica James.

I found this a little slow going at the beginning. Overall I enjoyed this one, the characters were very believable, Lydia to me came across as a very independent and determined girl/woman (I went travelling on my at 18 - nothing to do with my book review just thought I would state this). Sister Lottie and all her hats made me smile when she was mentioned in the book.

I'm not a fan of the "happy ever after" endings but it was nice to see Noah and Lydia finally get together at the end.

No Time for Goodbye wasn't available here.

n

nudged for Ann

n

No Time for goodbye Linwood Barclay

This one 'pulled me in' from the first paragraph. A 14 year old whose parents and brother have disappeared without trace from the house. 25 years later Cynthia still doesn't know what ha happened to them. I thought it was extremely well written, a very fast thriller and hard to put down. I did find the short conversations in italics a little confusing. There were twists and turns, murders and disappearances. really gripping I thought. Luckily as I was on holiday I was able to read it in large chunks, it might have been harder to read if I had read it in short bursts as I often do. I didn't want to put it down.

Tell it to the Skies by Erica James

A great story, basically a love story between Lydia and Noah but with many twists and turns. Erica James is very good at setting a scene, describing both Swallowdale and Venice - and great at characterisation. her characters 'come alive' on the page.
'Tell it to the skies' Lydia's father said to her, when you have a problem.
'It is the past that makes you what you are' I liked that quote, so true! Lydia felt that if she had not pushed her Mother for the ventriloquist doll, her Mother would not have committed suicide. If her Mother had not killed herself then Val and Lydia would not have gone to live with their over strict, religious grandparents, their great Uncle would not have raped val with all the consequences of that and Lydia would not have met Noah. The whole story is a series of consequences, Ishmall being in Venice and meeting Chiara is another. a beautifully told story, I do like Erica James very much.

Ann
Glos

n

n

I guess everyone is out enjoying the sun

I am still reading "Tell it to the Skies" but should finished it in a day or 2 and will get back here then.

Wont have a chance to read the other one though.

Will be back with reviews tomorrow!

Tess

Hi all

Sorry I'm late, but I've been ill for the last week. I only got 'round to reading No Time For Goodbye and I loved it. Guessed quite early on that father had a double life - travelling salesman, not there at Christmas etc, but I really thought the book was well written and did expect her brother and mother to be alive still.

The way the first wife and half brother was making her seem as if she was going mad was well done and had an inkling Rolly was involved in some way, but didn't guess how. How could he kill Tess and the private detective??? Tess sounded such a lovely lady - I did cry at that bit!

All in all, I really enjoyed it!

AL

Any more reviews please. AL sorry you have been poorly, hope you are feeling better now.

ann
glos

My reviews a little late (blame ie on my unfocused mind).

No Time for goodbye

The opening pages grabbed my attention and the following ones kept it.

The only quibble I had with the story was the lack of progress in the initial investigation about the disappearance of the Bigge family.
It became pretty obvious from the start that Clayton
was a man with secret. eg. no family, away a lot (even at Christmas) no photos of him, no friends from before he walked into a drugstore one day, looking for a mars bar and met Patricia.
While trying to put this niggle aside, I eargerly read the book through all its twists and turns.
At first very puzzled by the conversations in itallics, finally coming to the realization that this was "Clayton's" other family!
The story gave hope in the description of the relationship between Janet Scavullo (terry's student) and her Vince Fleming.
The sadness and anger at the death of Tess and the Private Investigator showed just how involved I became in the the story and the people in it.
The overwhelming shocking truth was in the end (just about) a surprise. I had begun to realise that trusty old good friend Rolly was anything, but the whole truth was still a shock.

The lovely final touch was that in the end Cynthia did get the note from her mother. A gift almost second to none.
A really good read that I would recommend to a friend.

I can't remember ever reading a book by Linwood Barclay before, will now look out for other books by him



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Tell it to the Skies by Erica James

The only thing that I didn't like about this book was that the only copy I could find was in hard back and therefore heavy to hold.

A gripping story about relationships, beliefs, hope and despair.
Believable charectors, from the amusing and loveable Uncle Brad and Sister Lottie, to the scary Pastor Digby, the dispicable Uncle Leonard and the bewildered and sad sisters Lydia and Valerie.
My sympathies went out to Lydia and Valerie in their plight.
They adopted different coping stratergies, which loosened the bond that they had had previously.
Which all added to the cause of murder of Uncle Leonard and its aftermath.

I really enjoyed (if that is the right word), this story. An extreamly good read.

Tess

Thank you Theresa, two good comprehensive reviews, worth waiting for.

Sadly I always have a terrible trouble retaining the stories in these books. Reading your review I now want to read the books again. i enjoyed them both the first time round but, sadly, left them in Tenerife so i didn't have to carry them home. hopefully they will still be in the apartment when we next visit so i can have another read.

Ann
Glos

Have read both of these books and thought they were brilliant.

Tell it to the Skies

Despite initial reservations, I really enjoyed this book. I loved reading how the friendship between Lydia and Noah started and developed over the years into a loving relationship in their teens. I was reading with some dread and impatience to find out what happened to seperate them.

As someone said previously, Lydia and Val both found ways to cope with the loss of their parents and the nightmare of living with the grandparents and it was interesting to see, towards the end, how each perceived the other's feelings, guilts and lives.

Did anyone else think the book was written in two kinds of ways? The beginning and end, with the modern day Lydia was kind of pure fiction - whereas I felt the main part of the book about Lydia's childhood could have been written from personal experience and was more "real".

If this book was a film, Lydia's life in Venice would be shot in colour - and her childhood years in black and white.

I thought it would make a good film.

I would go to watch it if it was made into a film.

T