Into the Wilderness

Rating:
Summary: Odd Hybrid of a Book - Very Original
Review: After a slow start (the first 200 pages almost lost me) the story launches into a real adventure. By the time I was finished I had the Rand-McNally out and was tracking the travels and imaging the glorious landscape which is painted with awe by the author. The research was stunning though I found the characters are a bit much - attitudes and actions were simply a little too politically correct for the time period. As the book sweeps you into this adventure, the characters become familiar and sometimes dear. Actually, I was ready to load Bella Mia, Super Dog, into the car, and head for the wilds. This book is an odd hybrid - very original. It touches on Indian folklore, post-revolutionary war, Quakers, the French revolution, slavery, women's rights (or lack thereof), romance (almost a bodice ripper), cross-cultural issues, family, and has characters from other author's books thrown in for good measure. Somehow it (mostly) works, and is quite an interesting read. Nathaniel Bonner's constant use of the word AIN'T puzzled (and irritated) me. It seemed very gratuitous and frankly odd.

Rating:
Summary: Another great book to read !
Review: I read this book over a year ago and couldn't wait for the next one to come out. Having read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series I was excited to find the reference to some of Diana's characters in Sara's book. Sara has done a fantastic job of blending fiction with non-fiction seasoned with family devotion, romance and adventure to give us a very well balanced and flowing story. A notable sequel to James Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohican's"...and there is more when you read "Dawn on a Distant Shore" the ongoing story of Elizabeth and Nathaniel.

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: Besides Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Series there are very few books that you actually live instead of just read. "Into the Wilderness" is one of those books. The places and people described in the pioneer setting is excellent. And Elizabeth is a heroine that I wanted to cheer for. The love that she comes to share with Nathaniel is so great that I found myself crying and laughing at their adversities and triumphs. Elizabeth and Nathaniel are two characters that you come to hold close to your heart. This book is all in all a must read.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't expect it to be this good...
Review: When I first saw this book at my in-law's house I wasn't the least interested. Then one day I was bored and started reading it - I couldn't put it down. I read the whole book in four days and can't wait to read it again.

Rating:
Summary: A page turner
Review: This book was a wonderful trip into the pioneer days. At first daunted by the number of pages in this book, I was soon mesmerised by the characters. Sara Donati draws you into Elizabeth and Nathaniel's lives. There is no wasted sentence. The story moves quickly and all of the colorful characters come alive. I cannot wait to read the next in the series and hope that Ms. Donati continues to write about these characters.

Rating:
Summary: Gabaldon wannabe
Review: If you're a fan of Gabaldon, you will probably like this book. It feels like a cross between the Outlander series and a Harlequin romance. (Some people refer to this type of book as a 'bodice-buster' due to the picture that is normally on the front cover.) The actual crossover with Drums of Autumn, where the characters interact with Jamie and Claire is kind of neat, and yet a little too cheesy for me. It was a name-dropping thing, and didn't add to the plot. Overall, though, it was a decent, fast read, and great for the beach or a rainy day on the couch.

Rating:
Summary: You won't be disappointed!
Review: It really is a great read, though it could had been 200 pages shorter it still a fantastic story. But what I liked especially was the the special care Donati took to write the surroundings in the book with such realism and being from New York it was even more fun to read a book based in New York! I also loved the way she wrote Nathaniel and Elizabeth as a couple, as real as you can get in what happens between couples sometimes even loving ones! They argue, they fight and they do say things to each other that every couple goes through in the real world, but overcome it. I'm tired of reading books that have couples so "hoochie-koochie" with each other that it becomes unrealistic. Their relationship was a breath of fresh air and real! I'm looking forward to the sequel very soon! Bravo, Sara Donati!

Rating:
Summary: INTO THE WILDERNESS
Review: I recommend this book to readers who enjoy a good story which has depth and character development. History buffs and the novice will gather much information about our country's early settlers from their opinions on politics to their efforts to earn their livings. I found this interesting and adult. A darn good read.

Rating:
Summary: A sensational, gripping read
Review: I am two thirds of the way into Sara Donati's first book and am utterly hooked. This book only came out in my country last year. It is set in New York State in the era around 200 years ago. I read a selection of authors and am certainly not one who reads formulaic romance stories, but rather the well written stories by top authors. This book by Donati is NOT formulaic. It is a breath of fresh air in its wonderfully gripping style. I am not American, although have lived there for a year, but unfortunately not in the East. I am enjoying the different types of descriptions - birds, animals, trees, etc that exist in that part of the world. But the wonderful characterisation of the people in the story and the real presentation of the developing relationship between Lizzie and Nathaniel is some of the most excellent writing I have read in a while. I will be very quickly moving on to the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: great stuff
Review: I read the sequel first and ran out to get this one. Hope she writes ten mmore!

I hope nobody comes looking for me with a rifle when I say this, but I liked these books better than the Gabaldon stories. Time travel just isn't for me, I guess. But it was a good joke to run into the characters.