If you believe in soul mates and lovers who are reincarnated and fated to search for the partner with whom they have had disastrous relationships in the past, Windwalker will please you. Photographer Justine Calloway's guilt over the death of her brother results in a withdrawal from her career. She takes a job as a caretaker of an old mansion with a bleak past and feels sorry for herself, not just because of her guilt, but because she is missing something in her life...a soul mate, a predestined partner to complete her.
Adam Buchanan left Paradine Park after killing his brother and has spent the past nine years in a secluded South African town writing letters to his soul mate. He knows she exists and is determined to find her. How this is supposed to happen is unclear since Adam doesn't really plan to leave.
Wonder of wonders, however, Justine and Adam are searching for each other. She ends up at Paradine Park with a strange attraction to the missing man; Adam sees her photographs and "recognizes" Justine as his soul mate.
Both Justine and Adam are responsible for the deaths of their brothers. Maybe they were meant for each other.
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I feel a little bad about the snarky review, but this one isn't as bad as the review for The Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose which I've scheduled for March. Guess I'm just not a soul mate kind of gal.
NetGalley/Portable Magic, LTD
Romance? Paranormal? 2013. Print version: 366 pages.
I am glad they found each other. It sounds like this story was a bit too much to believe.
ReplyDeleteWendy, yes, they find each other, but forget a happy ending--not in the cards.
ReplyDeleteSoul-mate stories can be tricky. Most of the time they are over the top. At that point I sort just go straight for a romance novel.
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't really believe in soul mates, but I sometimes enjoy reading about them. Still, this doesn't sound like a book I'm anxious to read. But I don't really think your review sounded snarky - just honest, and you should never feel bad about being honest.
ReplyDeleteIliana - I agree, this kind of story provides some difficulties to make things work out well.
ReplyDeleteJLS Hall - Thanks! It wasn't my kind of book, but it may well appeal to others.
I work in publishing. (Actually at one of the companies that published Natasha) and I was directed to this review.
ReplyDeleteI thought you might find it interesting to read about Natasha herself feels about reviews like this.
http://natasha-mostert.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/authors-and-reviewers-bullets-and.html
Susanna - The anonymous comment did make me reconsider the sarcastic attitude in this review, and I followed up with a post about the topic.
ReplyDeleteThe article you linked to is interesting. I noticed that Mostert's response was in 2010 and followed the uproar Alice Hoffman created when displeased with a review. I did not realize that Windwalker was originally published in 2010, but Mostert gave a reasonable and thoughtful response to negative reviews.
I'm amazed that my short review has garnered so much attention. It is a difficult balance to give an honest opinion and yet not hurt an author's feelings. And, yes, it discomfits me to think about that aspect of a review--which is why I wrote the next post.
However, publishers who offer free books do state that the reader is free to give a candid opinion. I think bloggers (at least it is true in my case) often feel that a discussion of a book is really for those who regularly read our blog--sort of a virtual book club where opinions are freely expressed.
It isn't true, of course, most blog posts can be read by anyone; but I'm still a bit stunned that anyone cares about my opinion of a book.
The uproar is because you said you don't like soul mate books "you're not a soul mate kind of gal." and then you reviewed one badly. So when you take a free book on a topic/genre you admittedly usually like and then give it a bad review which hurts the authors rank at websites and influences other readers - its jut unfair.
ReplyDeleteThere was a typo in there that makes it make now sense - sorry - here's the right post.
ReplyDeleteThe uproar is because you said you don't like soul mate books "you're not a soul mate kind of gal." and then you reviewed one badly. So when you take a free book on a topic/genre you admittedly usually do not like and then give it a bad review which hurts the authors rank at websites and influences other readers - its jut unfair.
The uproar is actually because the author mentioned at the bottom of the review posted a screenshot of your review on her FB page and some friends and fans commented. I don't think the review was snarky at all. Just honest!
ReplyDeleteThe uproar is because the author (mentioned at the end of the review) posted a screenshot of your review (just the past relevant to her) on her FB page and some friends and fans commented.
ReplyDeleteIt was not a snarky review at all.
Thanks, Megan.
ReplyDelete