Sunday, July 5, 2015

Review: Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

This book was discussed over at my online book club, Bibliophile Reading Group. Come on over to check it out. :)

http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781476789255/eight-hundred-grapes-9781476789255_lg.jpgOn the eve of her wedding, Georgia Ford discovers that her beloved fiancĂ© has been keeping an explosive secret. So she escapes to her family’s vineyard, where she discovers that he isn’t the only one with something to hide.

Set against the lush backdrop of Sonoma’s wine country, Eight Hundred Grapes is a heartbreaking, funny, and deeply evocative novel about love, family, wine, and the treacherous terrain in which they all intersect. Pour yourself a glass and allow bestselling author, Laura Dave, to transport you this summer.



Amazon  *  B&N

My Thoughts: I usually don't read or buy books that are recently released since I'm still trying to read books that have been in my TBR longer than a year. However, the idea of this book centering in wine country and the synopsis hinting about family secrets caught my attention. I was looking forward to this book and I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan. 

The book started off strong but began to weaken after a few chapters. I wanted to know why Georgia ran back home disheveled in her wedding dress. I thought something tragic had happened that caused her to run off on her wedding day. It was soon revealed that she ran out of her fitting after seeing her fiance with his daughter. Yes, I too would have been stunned to find out that my fiance had a daughter a few days before the wedding but it felt very dramatic for the way Georgia reacted. When she was back home, more secrets were revealed about her parents and her brothers. It became into a very bad soap opera. I began to question what the sanctity of marriage really meant to this family. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.

However, I did read the whole thing, though I skimmed through some parts. I wanted to know how everything was going to end, especially about the ownership of the vineyard. I also enjoyed reading about the fiance's daughter and how she began to have a relationship with Georgia. I thought this was touching. I would have loved that these scenes were extended, but it would have been pointless with the type of ending it had. 

I wanted to love this book, but I didn't. Instead I found myself not caring too much about it. I rate it:

 

4 comments:

  1. Interesting, you're second reviewer I've seen online not give Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave a glowing review... I had placed this book on my reading wishlist because I thought it sounded like a good summer read... But after reading two bad reviews about Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave, I'll definitely pass on reading it.

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    1. I thought it would have been a good summer read too especially after I read a few positive reviews. I thought it was just me who didn't like it so I'm glad to hear that you've encountered another negative review.

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  2. Two stars!!! Ugh! I was thinking that this sounded so good. And I love books that take place in wine country! Too bad :-(

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    1. Yeah, and it's harder that it's a BOTM too. I really wanted to like this one.

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