I quite liked the main character narrating the story. The author gave her a unique and pleasing sense of humor. Unfortunately, I was quite dissatisfied with the book. I try to not be overly critical in my book reviews, but there were some issues that bothered me. The synopsis of this book made it sound like a romance. There was little to none. There was potential in the concept, but the author chose not to execute it. Also, I noticed at that author slipped from present tense to past tense writing at points where it should not have been done. I can understand the change if the the narrator were to begin recounting an event from her past. However, this particular slip was not made at such a point. This made for uncomfortable reading. But my biggest complaint about the book is that it stopped right in the middle of her visit to Japan. There was no epilogue, no sequel. Just a bunch of openness and things that were unresolved. (Her relationship with Harrison, her relationship with her father, etc.)
Hi, Jolene,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to comment on your post here with a few of my own thoughts.
Nicole is a middle school teacher and there are many references to her job as a teacher. Sorry that you didn't pick up on that, but you might want to read these pages that deal with her lessons and students: 21-22, 24, 30, 51, 59-61, 90, 94, 115, 135, etc. She is not just paying bills from her online articles.
My editor likes the fact, that like real life, Rain Song leaves much up to the mind of the reader. Not everything gets resolved in life, nor should it in fiction.
As for the grammatical errors, my publisher has great editors and no one else has noted there were errors in the story. Having said that, I agree with you that the back cover leads one to believe it is a romance. I wrote the story with the focus being on a young woman's victory over fear, her dealing with the past in order to live her future.
I normally do not comment at such length on book reviews because I believe that everyone is entitled to an opinion and it does not have to agree with mine. However, since you missed out on much of the story, I wanted to clear things up a bit.
~ Alice J. Wisler
All from Bethany House: RAIN SONG (Christy Finalist 2009), HOW SWEET IT IS (Christy Finalist 2010) & coming in October, HATTERAS GIRL
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm thinking about it, yes, Nicole was also a middle school teacher and I remember her fellow teacher's boyfriend was the one that took Nicole to the airport. I do apologize for that error and I will correct it in my review.
I know that it's just my opinion, but I would have loved an epilogue or sequel just to find out if Harrison and Nicole did eventually get together or if they just remained friends. I know that not everything gets resolved in life, but somehow the ending left me feeling cheated that there was no resolution.
On pages 89 & 90 are where were I found difficulty in reading because it seemed as if one moment Nicole was speaking in present tense, but then began speaking in past tense even though she wasn't referring to something in the past.
Jolene
Jolene,
ReplyDeleteAt one book club, a woman said she did not see a future for Harrison and Nicole because neither would be able to leave their countries to live in the same one. Another woman at the same group said she could see them together. A sequel would solve that issue, but what would be the best conclusion? Even I don't know.
I just read pages 89 and 90 and think you need to see that this is all in past tense. The people I read it to said they had no problems in understanding this at all. Nicole is referring to when she first opened the attachment and saw Harrison's photo. So this is what has happened and she is remembering it as she narrates the chapter.
Thanks for the reply here.
~ Alice J. Wisler
All from Bethany House: RAIN SONG (Christy Finalist 2009), HOW SWEET IT IS (Christy Finalist 2010) & coming in October, HATTERAS GIRL
Alice,
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of Nicole and Harrison together. I think that the combination of their childhood friendship and Harrison being instrumental in helping Nicole face her past makes for a great premise for a romantic relationship. I suppose the biggest issue is that one of them would have to move. Maybe, you could somehow have Nicole really embrace her history/life in Japan and live over there for the summer or like 6 months or something while romance blossoms. Then maybe Harrison would be willing to move to the states? I don't know. I have a hard time seeing Nicole leaving Ducee and her hometown permanently, but who knows? Maybe she could gather strength from her mother's memory and choose to bring the Gospel and pineapple chutney to Japan like her mom did.
In regards to the portion of text I mentioned, I reread those few pages again and it still seems off to me. Basically, Iva, Ducee and Nicole are discussing the upcoming family reunion (in present tense) and Nicole begins thinking of how much she wants to respond to Harrison's latest email. (which I am assuming that she received that morning or the day before, it was obviously prior to the time on Sunday when she is talking to Ducee & Iva.) She thinks about the text of the email where he resends the photo (pg. 88), the moment she opened the attachment to see his picture, and concludes that he is not a movie star, but neither is she. It then says that in the quiet of her house that night she works on Monday's lesson plans, but gets no where so she replies to Harrison saying thank you for the pic and the fish pond looks great. The next paragraph then switches back to the present tense in which she says she gets home Sunday afternoon (presumably after meeting with Ducee & Iva) and answers all his questions about teaching.
I think the confusion for me is coming in b/c she replies to him saying thanks for the pic and the pond is great, but if that was in the past and she already said that, then why does she want to go home and respond to his email? Am I to assume that there is another one that is not mentioned in which he asks about teaching? The way that she is sitting with Ducee and thinking about the email makes me think that she is referring the the email in which he send the pic, but then it sounds as if she is replying to a different email in the last paragraph of that chapter.
Jolene