Dramatic Idyls - Robert Browning

Advantages: A lush setting, vivid characters and an intriguing, keep-you-up story
Disadvantages: It finished!

...I LOVED this book! It was the first Nora Roberts book I read having been recommended it by a book website and I enjoyed it immensely - even to the point where I stayed up until 4am (only put it down because the sun was coming up!) to read it. You can empathise with the characters and they are so, so vivid. Reading them made me laugh and cry, which is very rare, and I fell in love with the 'hero'. The setting is lush and descriptive and provides a veritable feast of a background to an intriguing and dramatic story. I've already bought two more of Ms Roberts' books and will be working on them once I've finished my library books!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Interesting plot
Disadvantages: A little predictable

...First of all, do not listen to the hype surrounding the book. This has obviously been generated by the film, but the book and film are very different. However, this is still a good read and is easily in the very good category. I read the book and was very absorbed from start to finish. It is well written, and flows easily due to the layout of the book, which is frequently interrupted by chapters. The story is about a backpacker who visits a secluded island in the Far East after over hearing the story of the legend of the Beach. He finds an idyllic community of young people who work for each other and smoke lots of joints! However, as in Lord of the Flies, there is a division between the camp which lead to a rather sudden and dramatic ending - violence and escape from the island. This is a good book and certainly worth a try... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic

Advantages: Action and excellent plot - the pages fly by
Disadvantages: Some bits are a little hard to believe

...This is the second book I read from Dan Brown. I started with the incredible Da Vinci Code, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and did not find that much of an inconvenience reading Angel and Demons afterwards. Angel and Demons was my holiday book... and I read it in four days. I literally lived on it, forgetting about food and water ! This first book featuring Robert Langdon sets the target really high, with action, suspense, an extremely carefully studied and detailed plot, altogether with Brown mixing fiction and reality so cleverly. Dan Brown's writing is very light, making the story even more enjoyable... there are hardly any long or boring bits, and the action is very fast-paced. I found myself liking Robert Langdon more and more, to the point where I would blackmail Dan Brown into doing another Robert Langdon book if I could !! I... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful