Rating: 
Summary: What a stupid book
Review: This book was very easy to put down. I only read to the end of it just because once I start something, I don't quit. I kept reading other books in between, it was that tedious. There were parts that were extremely boring that you really wanted to skip over them. The ending, well, you felt like you had just wasted your entire reading time because none of it really happened. What a poor jokester this author is. No one imagines all of their future that will never be as their life flashes before their eyes in the moments before death.
What did someone say about it being reminscent of the shower scene after the entire season of Dallas after Bobby was shot? Well, they described it well. You get involved with the details to find out later none of it ever happened.
Rating:
Summary: Oh -- NOW I get it . . .
Review: Thank goodness for Amazon.com book reviews!!! At the end of this book, all I could say was "I don't get it." After reading about 40 reviews and piecing together bits of information, the light dawns -- I've got it! I'm an avid reader -- 3-4 books/week -- this one took me almost a month to finish. The first section was lackluster; the second confusing; the third (finally) interesting. And the italicized speech -- found myself flipping back and forth, trying to figure out who said what. Although now that I "get it," that makes more sense (and is actually quite clever). I read The Pilot's Wife and found the story intriguing, but was never "hooked and drawn in" by the characters. I had some misgivings about reading Shreve again -- once more, an interesting story line, but I just didn't have that tug-at-my-heart feeling.
Rating:
Summary: B O R I N G
Review: Unless you have committed adultery it's really difficult to identify with this novel---my opinion. Nothing about it is exciting-honestly. I resent the reviews that state it is a book you cant put down once you have started reading it and you can't wait to turn each page. The truth is I kept hanging in there reading every page, every word...hoping it got better. It didn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: After reading this book, I felt sadness. This is my firts Shreve book, and I expected more. While the writing style was good, I think what truly attracted the book to me was the cover. The novel itself, is in many ways very predictable. Both characters do very predictable things and seem to care more for themselves than eachother. And for more than one reason, I could feel no sympathy for the characters. Overall i enjoyed the book and plan to read more of Shreve, but I hope this was not her best work.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, PUH..LEASE....
Review: Someone had recommended this book. The beginning was so boring that I almost didn't finish it. About halfway through, I got interested. Then, it was all a dream. I hate when everything is a dream stories. Remember when the show "Dallas" got mildly interesting in the middle, but at the end it was all a dream? Same thing!!! How silly!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Last Time They Met
Review: The Last Time They Met is probably the last book I will read by Anita Shreve. She does have a talent for description, but the plot moves along as fast as an elephant in search of a rare steak. As in The Pilots Wife, which I did enjoy, it takes a long time for Shreve to set her characters and the premise of her novel. The book could also have been improved if she wrote about the older couple as real people with real feelings. This part was most stale and uneventful, boring even. The couple in Africa showed the quirks of people in their 30's or 40's and the teens showed no teenisms. I did find the headlines of the African newspaper, included in the letters, amusing. I would not recommend this book. Why did I read this book? I read it because it was the book assigned by our book club. The general opinion of the club was that it was a snooze. The assigner read reviews acclaiming this book, and after reading the book was very apologetic. It is a book that makes one put it down to get up and do something else.
Rating:
Summary: The Last Time They Met:
Review: This was the first time I've read Anita Shreve, and I found it to be a wonderful experience. I enjoy reading books that seem to take me away on a virtual vacation. Anita does this by bringing you into the moment without droning on about the details. Although I've never been to Africa I felt as though I had after finishing The Last Time They Met. The ending was superb, loved it! Very enjoyable and easy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Quelle Déception
Review: What a disappointment! I expected Anita Shreve to "weave a web of suspense" and that this would be a novel that I could not put down. Instead I found the book a chore to read -- and I was only reading it to get to the end and be finished with it for good. The "twist" does not redeem a few hundred pages of overly flowery writing, and characters that are outrageously far-flung in their idealistic romance. What a waste of time!
Rating: 
Summary: Worth Your Time
Review: This book was hard to get into initially. I thought the whole opening hotel scene with Linda, and the subsequent writer's conference far too drawn out. But I kept with the book (it was my chosen vacation read) and am so glad I did. Anita Shreve writes in ways that is if not lean, then elegant. She weaves a story that works it's way into you. I found myself inexplicably drawn back into it. The book really picked up speed in the middle section, when Thomas and Linda were in Africa. It was beautifully written. It is still vividly in my mind. I hated to see that part end. Yes, the book was written in an unfamiliar style to me and there were times I had to backtrack to understand who said what and to figure exactly what was going on. But it was a bit of a mystery that unwound itself for me layer by intriguing layer. Other reviewers have written that the end is a disappointing gimmick. I do not agree. Yes, I was completely, totally shocked by it, never before have I been so taken aback, never before have I sat breathless and unbelieving at the close of a book. But I immediately began formulating who and how I would impress upon to read this book. I was stunned, yes, but at the same time, I wholly understood and accepted it. What is hard for me to understand is how someone who has ever truly been in love, not identify with what Thomas did? Who of us has ever not lay in bed and entertained thoughts of what if? After such a tragic occurrence, entertaining a lifetime of What Ifs doesn't seem so implausible. I thought this novel poignant and recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best of Shreve YET
Review: I just read the final page of 'The Last Time They Met'.......and was sitting on my dock at the time with the sound of the water lapping at the pilings. I BURST INTO TEARS at the final words of this compelling page turner. For those that had trouble with the dialogue (all the italics) and who could actually put the book down without reading it from cover to cover.....I marvel at your inability to get caught up in the passion....the obsessive nature of this book. There were times when I thought Mz. Shreve had crawled into my brain or somehow been able to be privy to my own experiences in love and in life. Anita...thank you for a superb novel......you had me going till the very end. Now, of course, I have to read the book OVER again for clues.
Respectfully submitted:
Maureen Valley
Leesburg, Fla.
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