Petals on the River (Bookcassette(r) Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Pictures in my head
Review: A student of mine recommended that I read Petals on a River. I didn't like the first 10 pages. It's what my female friends would call a "chick" novel. At any rate, after about the 10th page I became mesmerized by it. Woodiwiss' writing is so vivid, I forgot I was reading a book and felt more like I was watching a movie. For example, I found the description of the cuts, pain, and healing of the leg irons so vivid, pictures emerged in my head. I found much of the novel like that. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss creates pictures in my head.

Rating:
Summary: The First Woodwiss Book I read
Review: When my mom was young, she used to read Kathleen's novels. When I ran out of my favorite author's (Johanna Lindsey's) novels, my mom got me Petals On The River to read. Although the novel took me a couple weeks to read, which is longer than usual, I found the book refreshing. It wasn't packed with sex scenes, the characters were believeable, and the plot line interesting. It didn't conform to the normal romance novel plot line. All in all, it was an interesting novel that made me wish to read more.

Rating:
Summary: OK but nothing to swoon over
Review: Ms. Woodiwiss seems to write books that are either exceedingly brilliant or exceedingly mediocre. I would have to put Petals on the River in the second catagory. It is fine for something to read because you have nothing better to do, but for good entertainment it would be best to try another of Ms. Woodiwiss's books (The Flame and Flower being a prime example.)

Rating:
Summary: boring read
Review: It is very rare that I can't finish a book, but I couldn't finish this one - it put me to sleep! The heroine was so dull that I wanted to shake some personality into her. I kept thinking that if I read a little further, I might start enjoying the book, but alas, no luck.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: I thought this was a good book. I couldn't put it down once I started reading this book. I really liked the plot and characters. Woodiwiss kept me guessing until the end. The love the characters developed for each other was very romantic. They were able to overcome the rumors and make a wonderful life for each other. I would highly recommend this book to a friend. This was the first book I have read from her and I would definitely read more.

Rating:
Summary: a very dull read
Review: I love romance. This was not it. I thought that the story line was slow, and predictable. It was all I could do to finish it. This is the first book I've read by her, and doubt I will read another.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable plot, bad prose
Review: Kathleen Woodiweiss seems to believe that, despite the fact that this book has no plot development, if she simply puts in enough attempts on the life of her heroine the story will be exciting. Unfortunately, this isn't true. Instead, the story simply becomes preposterous. If that weren't enough, Woodiwiss' prose soon becomes painful. Not only is her sentence structure embarassingly incorrect, her language never rises above buzzwords and cliches. Nobody loves a child when they can "nurture" him, nobody talks when they can "communicate" and her attempts to give a colonial flavor to the language never rise above substituting 'tis for it's. All in all, a wonderful example of how not to write fiction.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: This is the first Kathleene Woodwiss book I've read and if any of her earlier books are half as good as "Petals on the River" I will certainly be reading them. From the first chapter I found it impossible to put this book down, you can relate to Gage & Sheramine and understand the passion and love they feel for each other. Woodwiss makes you feel like you're inside the book from start to end and captivates you with her brilliant style of writing and story line. An excellent read and I would recommened it to anyone!

Rating:
Summary: Dissappointed...
Review: I have been a fan for many years. I have read all her previous books many times over and each time enjoyed them immensly!"Shanna" has by far been my favourite-but there have been many, many others that were on the same level-ALL in fact-except " Petals" . After having waited so long for it to be published-I felt really let down. I kept waiting for something to happen-the spark, intensity of the characters, a good story line -simply wasn't there. -What happened? -It seems to have been writen by someone else? ....

Rating:
Summary: en(GAGE)ing!!!
Review: I liked the book. The love scenes were a little brash, but the courting was fabulous. Where else than in a romantic novel could you find such beautiful people with such Energy and Love. I love K.W.'s style. Makes me long for yester-year when men actually courted women. I also liked meeting the pre-SHANNA characters. It's like visiting old friends.