Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsSetting details enhance the story; needs more proofreading
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 14, 2022
After living in Greece, it was enjoyable to visit it again through this novel. However, I wish there were more details about the geography; i.e. how tall are the mountains?
The female protagonist (and main POV narrative voice) is pleasant and honest. She has gone through a lot and has much to grieve about. There are some sections that become redundant pertaining to her angst, her past abuse, and her self-limitations on future options (career or love?), but she does a good job of growing a backbone and standing up for her future happiness.
The male protagonist is also likable in spite of his past history with being the local heartbreaker.
The secondary characters are sufficiently developed as to be believable and somewhat memorable. The author does a great job with dialog by incorporating syntax errors for non-native English speakers, and by giving each character personality and voice.
What’s not so great is the preponderance of errors in the writing. The author needs to learn to use commas consistently between independent clauses joined by conjunctions as well as to eliminate awkward fragments. There are paragraphs that lack cohesion with interrupting random thoughts or POV/topic shifts. The author also needs to do a word search on the overuse of “towards”, as well as eliminate starting, began, got, and other boring verbs. There are also some emotional reactions that seem odd or inconsistent.
For sensitive readers, this book deals with the death of a parent to cancer, recovery from a toxic relationship (with an alcoholic), stalking, miscarriages, sex before marriage, single parenting, family secrets, but thankfully no incest!
The author includes descriptions of Greek food dishes, recipes, and conversational phrases that add to the story. There is a satisfying HEA and lots of wisdom tucked into the personal growth of the heroine. The solution to the mystery is somewhat predictable, but it is a good story overall.
