Riversong

Great Read

could not stop reading this book.

7 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

A promising debut

While this isn't a genre I typically read, I enjoyed many elements of Riversong, a promising debut novel by Tess Hardwick. It has a cast of quirky small-town characters, a swift-moving plot, and an even mix of romance and angst that chick lit fans will enjoy. At the same time, the book features occasional snippets of prose that are achingly beautiful and powerfully written, on par with the best in women's fiction. The book does contain some typographical errors and, if you're a stickler for that, you will find it distracting. Still, Riversong is a solid debut overall, and I look forward to reading future books by Hardwick and seeing how she grows into her literary voice.

7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Mediocre at best...

Although the plot was ok, the writer clearly lacked in a lot of places. There were several transitional problems (moving from one scene to the next), the grammatical and typographical errors were numerous, the introduction of new characters was awkward (Maria comes to mind), the sex scenes were blaise (ok, to be fair, I only read the first sex scene...those who can't write it, shouldn't), at one point she's describing 4 feet in shoes, but we don't get to know who the other person is until 4 paragraphs in, some things were totally beyond the realm of believability (I mean, seriously, who's going to pile flammable materials as high as a house [if they could even reach that far...seriously??] and then light it on fire? Stupid, stupid, stupid), and there's wayyyyy too much backflow of information. We don't really need to know that Tommy was married twice, do we? Overall, a very slow-moving book with emphasis on too many things at one time. Not worth more than the $2.99 for the nook book, and whoever priced a hand-held copy at $16.95 is quite delusional.

5 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Meh.

Somethinh is very strange to me in the way rhis author writes. Perhaps it has a rushed feel, however, she had to cover a great amount of time in only so many pages... it was just mediocre to me.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Eh...

Not sure where all the glowing reviews are coming from or what you people normally read but this is just an ok story, very amatuerish and almost as though she has never written anything in her life. I am still attempting to fight the boredom and get through it though.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good story, easy read.

I loved the story. The story is easy to follow, and is great for light reading. Although, there is quite a few grammatical errors, it doesn't take away from the story. I would not recommend for someone under 18 due to some slightly detailed sexual scenes. I would read Tess' next book.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

thought it would never end

book was slow, boring, and predictable ....YAWN

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Needs a good editor!

Overall, I enjoyed the story. However, I am one of those people who is distracted by missing words, grammatical errors, typos, and bad transitions. Anyone know how I can sign on as an editor?

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great Read!

I am drawn to stories of a resilient heroine who can face an awful situation and work her way through it. Tess Hardwick has created beautiful characters who do just that in this wonderful debut novel. It goes to show that men can be pulled into these stories just as much as female readers as I had a tough time putting it down while reading it on my vacation last week. I came across Ms. Hardwick on twitter and I'm glad I did. Looking forward to more from this author.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Avoid at all cost!

This is my first review and I felt that strongly about the book that I had to comment. I found the misspellings and syntax errors so annoying as to distract from the plot. Speaking of which, at times it was so formulaic it was painful to read. The writing was unimpressive and lackadaisical.

It is rare I do not finish a book once I start it. It was challenging to reach that last page!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

book sucked--do not bother

one star is too gracious for this book. the story did not flow well and was not clear at times. was very boring. wish i never got the book.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Beautifully worded, great storyline!

This is the best book I have read in quite a while. Ms. Hardwick creates her characters in a way that makes them feel real, as if you might run into them when you turn the next corner. Her descriptions of the story's location are so attractive you want to pack your things and move there, and the plot is so engaging that I didn't want to put the book down. At the end of the story I had happy tears and was left feeling inspired, that we can conquer all the problems in this world if we just work together. I am wholeheartedly looking forward to her next book!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Good romantic story

About a strong-willed woman who changes her own life for the better after her husband commits suicide.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Better than expected

This book left me with a good feeling. I enjoyed the characters. The way this group of people become friends and help out was warming. She makes you want to move to a small town.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Could have been worse

It was passable. I found some of the characters very lacking and the leading lady a bit dull. The leading male character made so little of an impact I can't even remember his name. Won't be on my "re-read" list.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fire the editor!

There was a good story behind it, however all the errors located throughout the book took away from the enjoyment. I would definately hire a different editor the next time I had a book published!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book has some beautiful imagery, sounds like an ideal place. However, the characters and storyline were so predictable, the ending all tied up in a neat lttle bow. Editing was terrible, rife with typos, grammar errors, gaps in continuity and plausibility. Author has a gift, but needs direction, more depth, and a real editor!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Contrived

So pedictable you could write the ending after reading the first few chapters, it started good then turns into a pity party. I kept reading hoping i was wrong.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended

I loved this story!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Good read

I really enjoyed this book...was disappointed in not being able to find more books by Tess Hardwick.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.