March 10, 2009

Review: Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel



Product Description

On a warm May night in San Francisco, the Ritz-Carlton ballroom shimmers with crystal and silver as a glittering, celebrity-studded crowd gathers for a charity dinner dance. The evening is perfect–until, just minutes before midnight, the room begins to sway. Glass shatters. And as the lights go out, people begin to scream….

In the earthquake’s aftermath, the lives of four strangers will converge.… Sarah Sloane, the beautiful wife of a financial whiz, watches her perfect world fall to pieces…. Grammy-winning singer Melanie Free, the event’s headliner, comes to a turning point in her life and career…. Photographer Everett Carson, a former war correspondent whose personal demons have demoted him to covering society parties, finds new purpose amid the carnage…and Sister Maggie Kent, a nun who normally works in jeans and high-tops with the homeless, searches through the rubble–and knows instantly that there is much work to be done….

As the city staggers back to life, a chain reaction of extraordinary events will touch each of the survivors.… For Sarah, it begins with the discovery of a crime and a betrayal, then a strength she never knew she had. For Melanie, volunteering at a refugee camp will open new worlds of possibility. And Everett will be shaken by the unlikely relationship he forges with Maggie, who helps him rebuild his shattered life–and upends her own in the process. But as a year passes, and the anniversary of the earthquake approaches, more surprises are in store–as each discovers the unexpected gifts in a tragedy’s wake…and the amazing grace of new beginnings.

Throughout these enthralling pages, Danielle Steel creates a stunning array of contrasts–from the dazzle of a society benefit to the chaos of a makeshift hospital, from the pampered lives of rock stars to the quiet heroism of emergency volunteers. It is her most powerful and life-affirming novel to date.

My Review

Why, oh why did I do this to myself?!? In my early twenties I read all the Danielle Steel books I could get my hands on. After a while I started noticing that almost every story was the same premise. Girl meets boy, girl loses boy then girl gets boy back and it's happily ever after.

Once I figured that out I stopped reading her books and I haven't read one in more than 10 years but I read the above description of Amazing Grace and found that the usual premise didn't apply so I thought I might give it a try. Plus, it was a free download from the library so what could it hurt? It hurt my precious reading time! LOL 9+ hours of time lost to an awful book.

The story was so repetitive that I kept having to check if I was playing a CD that I already had listened to. The only thing that kept me from scraping it completely was that I kept hoping for an "amazing" end that never came. The only reason I'm not giving it a one-star rating is the story based on Melanie Free. It was the only realistic part of the whole book and I at least enjoyed that part of it. Overall not recommended (not even as a free library download).


3 comments :

Unknown said...

Thanks for the scorching ;) review. I like it a lot. I have never read Danielle Steel precisely because I had a feeling that all the books are going to be the same.

Vikke said...

Thank you for this review. I never read her books and you have convinced me that I made a good choice. Yet again I will not imbibe! Thank you.

Ladytink_534 said...

I've never read a Danielle Steel book before... of course it was only after I graduated high school that I read my first Nora Roberts! I quit reading her for the same reason (except her series books which still manage to be unique and amazing). Sorry you didn't enjoy this one :(