Firebird

Rating:
Summary: Mislead
Review: Having been a LaVyrle Spencer fan for years I bought this book because of her comments on the cover. How misleading. Although I know a lot of work went into this book there were some things that just weren't there. After reading it, I went back over the first 50 or so pages looking for a physical description of the hero - a part of Romance Fiction that I see as a great necessity. I found that he was tall, had large hands, a dark brow, was well-educated - but there were none of the stereo-typical "brown eyes, broad shoulders, pouting lips" that most women read Romance for. I also found the dialog to be lacking in believability. Dialog is difficult for some writers to do convincingly and perhaps Ms. Graham could use some practice in this area.

I do congratulate Ms. Graham on having accomplished writing and publishing a novel. I will look for other titles from her in the future in the hopes that with more practice she will be able to hone her craft.

Rating:
Summary: Not great literature, but a good read
Review: I finished the book this afternoon and it seems to me that the writing, the atmosphere and the storyline reminded me very much of Richard Paul Evans' TIMEPIECE trilogy. Not that Ms. Graham copied him in any way, but that her book reminded me of those books. It was a good read and kept me turning the pages long after I should have been asleep on a couple of nights. I only wish it had been longer! A very satisfactory ending and not at all predictable. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a change from the usual run-of-the mill romance.

Rating:
Summary: Ugh!
Review: It's painful to slog through this insipid story

Rating:
Summary: Very moving
Review: Graham writes well and this is a very sad but intensely moving novel. I thought Ethan Brown was a rather cold, emotionally barren character, who wasn't really worthy of the love of two good women. The thing that annoyed me about the novel, though, is that although Ethan does eventually fall in love with Katie Anne...it's not really her, he loves but her as Annette. The rather selfish, fickle Katie Anne returns from her near death experience a changed woman - she basically acquires all Annette's characteristics; cultured, a loving mother and selfless: I found this transformation to be totally implausible.

Rating:
Summary: This book deserves 6 Stars!!!!
Review: I read everything and anything, from Dean Koontz to Kathleen Woodiwiss, and this has to be one of the most memorable I've ever read! Graham's characters are strong and real. This book made me "feel" for weeks!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time on this one!
Review: A fragmented story line involving unbelieveable characters with minimal (if any) chemistry---it just doesn't work as a romance novel!

Rating:
Summary: Uplifting!
Review: To all those who reviewed this book and gave it a (1) star, I just want to say--you people take life too seriously! I don't usually read "romance" novels because they are generally all alike, but this was more than "dribble", as one reader put it. It was an inspiration for the soul that love can survive and grow. Even death cannot snuff it out. Who's to say what transcends after we are gone. All I know is, this book made me feel a LOT of different emotions and it made me look at my life and my love for the people in my life and not to take it all for granted or waste it. Maybe those (1) star readers need to re-read it with a more open mind--and heart.

Rating:
Summary: Badly written, hysterical nonsense.
Review: This book is one of the worst examples of formulaic romanticdrivel I have ever read. Ms Graham cannot write beyond the level ofadolescent romance. She fails to convince with her characters, they are all two-dimensional, flat and banal. They behave in truly unbelievable ways, unquestioning of some of life's fundamentals, such as whether to leave your young child alone in order to go out into the hills and make love with someone you hardly know. Having already lost one child to a dubious nanny and some off-stage villains engaging in some hideous barbarity only hinted at, this behaviour hardly rings true.

The "noble sacrifice" so essential to this kind of sloppy plotting, is evidenced in the continual suffering of the female characters for the greater good of the men. By the way, is it considered normal these days in America to make a video of yourself dancing naked as a wedding present for your bridegroom? Ms. Graham attempted to make this bizarre behaviour sound cute. All of them, from Annette's dead mother onwards have to give their all in order for Ms. Graham to attempt to progress the plot. To call it "gothic" is an insult to writers of real talent of that genre. I skipped the last third of this book in order to arrive swiftly at the end. It was a complete waste of my time. To compare it to "The Horse Whisperer" on the front cover is quite inaccurate. Whilst "The Horse Whisperer" was not great literature, it was a good read, with convincing characters and a story-line you could at least half believe in. None of which applies to "The Firebird"

Rating:
Summary: sophomoric drivel--just another soap opera, disappointing
Review: Disappointing drivel, unbelievable characters, overwrought emotional descriptions. I really felt that I have wasted my precious reading time. I don't know who told Ms. Graham she was a writer; I certainly do not agree.

Rating:
Summary: emotional
Review: I was very impressed with the mind-pictures created by the author. I don't care about weak small details as some have written about. I only care that the book swept me away in another time/place. I would find myself crying as I read and that is what amazed me the most. I will recomend this to my friends. Good job for the first novel, and I eagerly await the next one.