Friday, July 17, 2015

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

Rating: 2.5

After embarrassing themselves at the social event of the year in high society Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve of 1942, Maddie and Ellis Hyde are cut off financially by Ellis’s father. To Maddie’s horror, Ellis decides that the only way to regain his father’s favor is to succeed in a venture his father attempted and very publicly failed at: he will hunt the famous Loch Ness monster and when he finds it he will restore his father’s name and return to his father’s good graces (and pocketbook).  Off they go to Scotland in the middle of WWII.

I think listening to the audiobook helped with the character development but they still all felt very spoiled.  It was obvious that the author was trying to garner sympathy for Maddie but I didn't feel anything for any of the characters.  The Loch Ness twist was just weird.  I think she was trying to channel "Outlander" and definitely missed the mark.  Very disappointing and definitely not anywhere near as good as Water for Elephants. I kept reading this book hoping it would improve. I have read other books by Gruen and so far, in my opinion, she was a one hit wonder.

4 comments:

  1. What a bummer! I LOVE Water for Elephants, and was hoping for more like this from Gruen ...

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  2. I loved Water for Elephants too. I was hoping this novel would be good. I did not even finish her last book. Sometimes authors just cant find the magic again after an early Huge success. Thanks for the review.
    Jeana

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    1. I agree about her last book. I was really hoping this would be like Water for Elephants. I am almost done with Circling the Sun by Paula McLain and that is REALLY good.

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