Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Beautiful Wreck

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The Best Time Travel Ever

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2017

I rarely give any book 5 stars but I have never read a time travel book so great. The author has done her homework and it shows. The book is historically accurate and well written. The story unfolds slowly, like a flower blossoming; despite this I did not find the pace too slow. The timing made the story seem all that more realistic and possible. This story is no heroine meets hero and immediately falls in bed with him. The slow approach makes the love seem all the more realistic, There are no disturbing 20th or 21st century anachronisms. I read a lot of history and historical fiction, but have gotten more selective over time because I can't stand 20th century cultural thinking in another time period. Even the time travel device was so well thought out that it seems scientifically possible. Usually I prefer third person narrators but first person here made was perfect because we see through the yes of a modern person. Larissa Brown has become one of my favorite authors. I agree with the other 5 star reviews. I disagree with the reviewer who favorably compared the book to Diana Gabaldon's Highlander series; I couldn't finish her first book. There was too much gratuitous sex that seemed like a poor plot device.

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LM_80

Beautiful writing but a few things felt off...

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2018

I am so torn about how to feel about this book. Its probably more of a 3.5 stars. First, it made me FEEL intensely. The writing was just gorgeous, at times it was so beautiful I was breathless. The historical accuracy was WONDERFUL and I feel like I've finally read a book set in Viking times but not about raiders. I love this time period but am less interested in pillaging and more interested in home life. If you also want a peek into this world, this is the book for you. It's also why I'll probably read book 2 even though this book rubbed me wrong a bit.

Okay, my biggest gripe is that the angst to payoff was really off balance for me. *Spoilers ahead* I feel like I spent a half day after finishing just reminding myself that everything turned out okay. I still don't really believe it bc they resolution, their marriage, etc was so rushed and fraught right up to end scene. I would have loved more actual LOVE scenes and less pining. The heroine was a bit over the top obsessed with him imho. A few loose threads also nagged me - What were those two men going to do with her? What was up with landing in early 1900s at first? The whole beginning was very confusing trying to even understand what the future world was like, was the environment totally uninhabitable?

Just a few thoughts. Overall, I enjoyed the experience of reading it but felt bugged by the fact it kind of left me in an irritated mood for several hours after reading.

5 people found this helpful

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From the United States

LM_80

Beautiful writing but a few things felt off...

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2018

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5 people found this helpful

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Elizabeth Wish

Good first book with some caveats

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020

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I liked this book but didn't love it. I'd give 3.5 stars for originality and the beautiful descriptions of nature in 10th century Iceland. I felt completely transported to the time and thought the author was so talented for created such a vivid landscape in my mind.

That said, like other reviewers, I was annoyed by how obsessed the heroine was for the hero. There was a stretch in the middle of the book that was a slog and I got annoyed by her. I was also totally confused about the scene in the beginning that took her briefly to Atlantic City. Umm, what did that add to the story?

Bottom line: points for originality, amazing world-building of the past, and lust/sexual tension between the main characters. But some confusing bits and a LOT of angst and drama.

2 people found this helpful

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Animal Lover

The Best Time Travel Ever

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2017

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Lynne B. Tagawa

glad to find this author

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2016

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I almost passed this up. I couldn't imagine medieval Iceland as interesting. Smoky close houses of sod, sheep, and interminable winters? But I'm glad the reviews caught my attention. It's true. The writing is sweet and clear as a summer morning.

Jen/Ginn is the main character, and we get to know her slowly. Her own time, the 22nd century, is a bit sketchy, because it isn't really the focus of the book. The author gives us just enough to know when Jen is coming from and how the past will be different. And this is where the glory of this writer's prose will shine: because in coming from a clean, controlled, flat-screen world into the rough-hewn, smelly past, we experience, through Ginn, the wonder of it all. Sunsets and flowery slopes. And the awakening of her heart.

The love interest is like all good heroes should be: flawed and complex, but strong. At one point in the story I truly did not know how they could end up together. That is refreshing for a "romance"--a genre dulled by its predictability. This is a very human story, full of sweat and grubby fingernails, earthy and sensual. It is for mature readers, yet the love scenes are not graphic. It's not a bodice-ripper.

It've seen it compared to Outlander by others. It has the same strength of prose, and the same kind of research effort behind it. But I find it gentler. Outlander is raw and graphic at times, with psychopathic villains. I think I prefer Ms. Brown.

5 people found this helpful

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sandree

If you are missing some Jamie and Claire

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2020

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A slow, sensuous start to this story builds and builds to a satisfying climax. Hmm. That sentence sounded very suggestive which is not surprising. This time travel story is at heart a romance, but a romance built on solid, beautiful prose. The heroine of the story travels from a future so bored with itself that people live in permanent re-enactments of the past. She washes up on the shores of her favorite re-enactment only to find that this world is solid and real. The author paints this ancient Icelandic, Viking world with loving and accurate detail. She captures a world that is gentle and drenched in love and homely detail while at the same time violent and harsh. At times, I felt the story was too slow but I found it hard to put it down and it gathers speed as it goes on. If you are missing some Jamie and Claire from Outlander, you have found your next read!

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Anna (Bobs Her Hair)

3.5 stars...Ja! I liked it. You might like it too!

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2014

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"Now in the 22nd century, everyone lived--to some degree--in a world that had happened before. We studied and debated and reanimated the words and fashions of a hundred yesterdays and adopted them as though we'd run out of original things to be. In the aughts and teens, being part of an anachronistic culture had been unusual. Now it was the norm. Everyone had a place and time they loved, and they lived in it every moment they could."
- quote from first chapter of Larissa Brown's "Beautiful Wreck"

Jen, a linguistic artist, lives in a stark future. People pay to submerse themselves in bygone eras, and Jen's part of a programming team that creates authentic virtual realities or `sims.' Her area of expertise is 10th century Viking times. Touching ancient artifacts and reading an early diary about the Viking people lives fills her with wonder and longing. It's bliss escaping into a place where there's real green grass, a blue sky, an abundance of life, and real purposeful living. When Jen wakes up freezing cold on black sand beach after entering a Viking sim she can't `tap out' of the program. She wakes on the black sand of Iceland's freezing coast. Then, she is saved by Heirik, a Viking chief and becomes truly immersed into the people, land, and the `cursed' man. To find a way back to the 22nd century or find a way to reach the lonely, disfigured chief becomes Jen's dilemma.

I read this book based on a reliable Goodreads friend's review. She loved it. She didn't love it. Five star potential and yadda yadda yadda...I was very curious. The price was right. I decided to try it. What the heck, right? I would put it down and move on if it was not my cup of tea...I read this book until 2 o'clock in the morning ON MY iPHONE!!! Waking up the next morning with a raging headache, I popped some tylenol and finished the last 6% of the novel. This is why I'm rounding up the stars to 4.

"Beautiful Wreck" is compared to Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander." There are similarities (time travel, heroine's first-person narrative, and love of panoramic setting or `exposition') and notable differences, which I was hoping for and was relieved to find. Let's start with the differences. First, this story has a clear conflict and resolution - no plot-oriented tangents and no cliffhanger! Second, the focus stays on the hero and heroine (perhaps, a bit too much attention to the heroine). Jen/Ginn's friend Betta has page time, but she's part of the plot (and she's interesting too). Next, life is mostly peaceful in comparison to "Outlander," which means no rapes, beatings or torture. Finally, "Wreck" is simply a love story - a love of Heirik, with an appreciation of nature and Iceland. There's isn't an over-achieving goal to alter history.

What was so addictive about the book was that I couldn't get enough of Heirik. Born with a disfiguring birthmark over half his body doomed him as `cursed.' Forbidden from taking a wife or feeling the touch from one his clan members from birth he has learned to adapt and survive. He protects his people and has earned their fearful respect. His life is what it is. Overall, Heirik's loneliness was a tangible thing for me.

Jen, who became known as `Ginn,' was lonely too, but it was never explained to my satisfaction. She's a linguistics artist from the barren future (not sure why...it's not explained). She can't make connections to the people in her time...no backstory. Ginn travels through time...hazy.) And she reaches a time where she finds someone as lonely as her (and falls in love really fast). She finds a beautiful, lonely man who needs her as much as she's compelled to need and connect with him. There was so much longing in "Beautiful Wreck" that I felt almost afraid for a sad ending. Be at ease; there's a happy and clear ending.

There is beauty in the exposition. (There's also a bit too much repetition.) What this book is lacking is a focus on meaningful interactions with dialogue, as other reviewers have commented upon. The way `untouchable' Heirik and Ginn tip-toe around each other is nearly frustrating - too much angst with Heirik that didn't seem quite in keeping to his character. There is so much build-up, but I couldn't stop reading!

I can live without graphic sex in my romances, but I do wish there would have been more detail in their lovemaking. Intimacy! I needed it because here is a man who hasn't been touched by a woman since his mother cared for him and...I was hoping for a variety of poignant scenes involving touch - the face, the body ...everything!

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were compelling, the setting rich. The ending was satisfying. Although, I would have liked more happiness between the characters on the pages, I look forward to more of this author's work, and also considering that this is a debut novel I am impressed. She does leave this world open for future books, and I've been told there will be an upcoming novella.

7 people found this helpful

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Julie B.

Good plot—but incessant horny heroine gets tiresome

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018

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I really thought I was going to love this book. The overview of the story seemed interesting enough and the voice of the narrator/heroine was good and believable. The explanation of the "present time" is admittedly confusing, but I was able to get through that as our heroine was soon headed back in time (although I'm still not sure how that happened). There are big holes in the story about how the time jump happens and what was happening to the body of Jen/Ginn while she was back in time. But honestly that wasn't my biggest issue with the book since there is so little time spent on that portion of the story. My problem is with the heroine herself. Ginn is so mad (horny) for the leader of the family farm, that's all she talks about. From the time she meets him (near the beginning of the book) until the very end, she's mooning over this brooding man. It just got old. If you're looking for a romance novel with a time shifting twist, you'll love it. But if you're looking for a book with substance with touch of romance, look elsewhere.

2 people found this helpful

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Monica

Lyrical, Beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2016

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This is one of the best books I've read in awhile and hands down the best romance plot line.

Usually romance novels have trite obstacles keeping a couple apart: some family feud ala Romeo and Juliet, some easily remedied misunderstanding that for some reason doesn't get resolved. Not this book. Ginn and Heirik have multiple obstacles to overcome, not the least of which being the cultural attitudes of 10th century Iceland. As a history nerd, it is 100% believable that a curse would play so intricately into the life of Icelandic Vikings.

I deeply enjoyed the prose and rich description of setting. It was lyrical, poetic and incredibly beautiful. I thoroughly enjoy an author who can transform prose to not only paint an image in the mind of the reader, but also to portray the culture of the people. It is the epitome of the adage: show, don't tell.

The only thing I found somewhat unsatisfying about the plot was the resolution with the antagonist. About half way through the book I had already pieced together most of what would happen in the last half of the book, but I felt that the antagonist could have been punished a bit more.

2 people found this helpful

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jcmulligan

SIMPLY PERFECTION

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2015

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I'm a big Time Travel Romance fan and can't remember the last time I have read a book so captivating that I felt I was part of the story. The type of book you can see, feel, taste, touch what the characters are going through. That is how thoroughly perfect the writing is in Beautiful Wreck. It is a Time Travel Romance book but not like any I have read previously. Most TTR books have a formula, but not this one. I didn't know what was going to happen from one page to the next which made me NEVER want to put it down. The time travel aspect was quite interesting also. Typically, I just want to get through when the character travels through time. However, the setting of a 22nd century woman who works for a type of gaming company that gives their users a virtual reality type of experience was fascinating and I'll even say believable. Jen or Ginn (her name in the past), is thrown back into Iceland in the 10th century and is unable to get out of the game back into her real world. She lands on a small island where Heinrik is the Chief. The relationship between Ginn and Heinrik blossoms slowly and is beautiful and heart wrenching. Even though the romance is prominent, the other characters are interesting and captivating too. The story has many parts and can get complicated at times, but is so well worth it. I think it is the type of book you can savor reading a second or third time. I can't recommend this book enough and can't wait for another book from this author.

2 people found this helpful

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Emily W.

Dreamy and Beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2014

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Larissa Brown's debut novel is a strange, beautiful dream of Iceland's past. The prose is dense and lovely, sometimes difficult to read because Brown cares more about conveying experience, image, and emotion than in following all the grammatical rules. But never fear, this is not the overwrought, wannabe ramblings of a 21-year old creative-writing student. This novel is a dreamy, lyrical tale, but you will have to think while you read it.
The story isn't rushed. Some reviewers say it's too slow. However, the pace allows Ginn and Heirik's relationship to develop realistically, so the reader understands the depth of their longing and love. And when they think their love can never be, the reader feels their grief and helpless frustration, especially Ginn's. Also, the pace allows us to accept Ginn's assimilation into 10th century Iceland. Her actions are not hasty, romance land leaps-of-faith, but considered, calculated risks. The way she changes as the story progresses is also very well done, believable and satisfying. (Oh that kick at end!)
As a lover of medieval history, I also appreciated Brown's attention to detail. She captures the grim reality of the past as well as its beauty. And she conveyed the juxtaposition of beauty and danger in such a way that that difficult life somehow seems more--more connected to other people, to the earth, to the seasons, to faith. Like Ginn, I'm reminded of how shallow and flat our safe, sanitary, modern world can be, even as I also remember how much I love toothpaste, handsoap, and Publix. And of course, my Kindle.

I highly recommend this book, but I have two criticisms, more for the publisher than for the author. First, that cover. Oh good lord, could it be uglier or more inappropriate for this dark dream of story? I mean, really!!!
Second, very often scenes change from one line to the next with no indication in format. One scene runs into the next. Just a few spaces between the relevant paragraphs would clue the reader in to the shift.

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