Grand Avenue

Rating:
Summary: A great book!! Couldn't put it down!
Review: GRAND AVENUE by Joy Fielding

Grand Avenue is yet another story about women friendships. However, what makes this one different is the tone of the book, and the fast pace at which the plot proceeds. Four women become friends years ago after meeting each other at a playground, each of them having babies somewhat close in age. As the children grow, so do their relationships. They become very close friends, although each of the women is very different. Barbara was an ex-beauty queen who always appeared in front of her friends well dressed and perfectly coifed. Her insecurities were always showing up on the surface, although her demeanor said otherwise. Susan is going to college and by mid book, she is working for a magazine. Chris had a husband that seemed to be a little bit too uptight and controlling, and Vicki was the power-house of an attorney, the one that was in the spotlight all the time, at work and at home.

It all sounds like a very generic book, but it isn't. As the reader finds out from the very first pages, something terrible happens to two of the women. It is said flat out that two of them die. And one is brutally murdered.

And then the book begins.

I dont think I need to say much else about GRAND AVENUE. It's one of the best books in this genre that I've read all year. Fast paced and all the makings of a great motion picture, I highly recommend this book to others who enjoy reading a "chick book" with the added variety of a murder.

Rating:
Summary: Grand Avenue
Review: Grand Avenue is one of the best books I've read this year. Joy Fielding created three dimensional characters that were easy to get accquainted with and care about. I had a very difficult time putting this book down right from the start.

Rating:
Summary: Great Vacation Book
Review: I picked this book up so that I would have something to read during my vacation. Little did I know that this book would become a vacation in itself. I couldn't put it down once I started and was sorry to come to the end. That, for me, is the mark of a real good book.

I tend to get real involved in the storyline and with the characters when I read. I enjoy a book that spans time and especially appreciate a story about older women. Fielding addresses some issues that are all too familiar to today's woman - spousal abuse, obsession with aging, sexual identity and career vs. marriage. But mostly she is looking at friendships and setting boundaries. I envy these women their history together.

The only reason this book did not get top rating from me was because I felt that the murder and ensuing trial was just a little bit contrived. I think the book could have been just as strong without this particular plotline and would have been a bit more credible. I suppose this was a convenient way to address other issues but still. It didn't really seem to fit with the flow of the rest of the novel.

I look forward to Ms. Fielding's next book.

Rating:
Summary: Great Vacation Book
Review: I picked this book up so that I would have something to read during my vacation. Little did I know that this book would become a vacation in itself. I couldn't put it down once I started and was sorry to come to the end. That, for me, is the mark of a real good book.

I tend to get real involved in the storyline and with the characters when I read. I enjoy a book that spans time and especially appreciate a story about older women. Fielding addresses some issues that are all too familiar to today's woman - spousal abuse, obsession with aging, sexual identity and career vs. marriage. But mostly she is looking at friendships and setting boundaries. I envy these women their history together.

The only reason this book did not get top rating from me was because I felt that the murder and ensuing trial was just a little bit contrived. I think the book could have been just as strong without this particular plotline and would have been a bit more credible. I suppose this was a convenient way to address other issues but still. It didn't really seem to fit with the flow of the rest of the novel.

I look forward to Ms. Fielding's next book.

Rating:
Summary: Great Way To Escape From Our Own Lives------------
Review: I picked up, by chance, an earlier novel of Fielding's: "The First Time". Really enjoyed it! So glad I read this, too. I really like her suspenseful twist she stirs into her plots.
Saw others review it as a great beach or vacation read, and I must agree. You become swept up in the characters' lives & find yourself thinking about them while you're not reading.
There's a mix of things in this novel: compassion, enduring friendships, betrayal, suspense, and ohhh.... mystery!
I also would recommend "Whispers & Lies", as it has similar twists like this one. (Also by Fielding.)

Rating:
Summary: Great Way To Escape From Our Own Lives------------
Review: I picked up, by chance, an earlier novel of Fielding's: "The First Time". Really enjoyed it! So glad I read this, too. I really like her suspenseful twist she stirs into her plots.
Saw others review it as a great beach or vacation read, and I must agree. You become swept up in the characters' lives & find yourself thinking about them while you're not reading.
There's a mix of things in this novel: compassion, enduring friendships, betrayal, suspense, and ohhh.... mystery!
I also would recommend "Whispers & Lies", as it has similar twists like this one. (Also by Fielding.)

Rating:
Summary: maybe 3.5 stars
Review: I read this book after rave recommendations from an online book group and was very disappointed. Although the four "grand dames" were somewhat interesting, somewhat well developed characters, I found their stories and the book as a whole depressing.

This is the story of four women who develop a close friendship. From there, it becomes very cliche and formulary. One of them is abused, another goes through a divorce, another cheats on her husband and the other gets a degree, becomes a career woman, and is sexually harassed. Talk about drama.

On top of that, we learn from the start that two of the women die, one of them tragically. Although there is a murder mystery tied into the story, it seems unrealistic and highly contrived. In the end, the relationship between these women seems a bit overdrawn and fake too.

I can see how this book would appeal to some people, but for me, it was a waste of time. I prefer stories that have better developed characters with deeper friendships and less forced drama. Not to mention less purposely disturbing.

Rating:
Summary: Page turning and moving
Review: I wanted a good summer read -- little did I know I'd pick this book up and finish it in just a few days -- it was impossible to put down. I'm a first-time Fielding reader and will be back for more after this one. The four female characters are richly developed, their lives spanning more than two decades where we are taken on an emotional rollercoaster filled with family drama, career angst, personal turmoil and ultimately a horrifying twist and subsequent resolution. There is no way you will put this one down. Chris, Barbara, Vicki and Susan will jump off the pages and if you are like me and enjoy unexpected story twists, you'll find yourself shocked and even crying before it's over. A must read!

Rating:
Summary: Grand Avenue
Review: I would give Grand Avenue a 4 for being a page turner, but by the time I read the last page and had closure on the story, I can only give it a 3.5

Fielding does a great job of painting the profiles of each of the "Grand Dames" Chris, Barbara, Susan & Vicki. We get to know each friend, her strengths and weaknesses, her role in the dynamics of this circle of friends. The first chapter of the novel sets the reader up for suspense, not letting us know who the narrator is, and blantantly telling us, that amongst this close-knit group of women, 2 will die-one horribly, and one will betray, is not really a friend at all.

As the pages progress, Fielding takes the reader around many twists and turns, helping us to learn the characters even more and getting the mind reeling as to what will happen to fulfill the destiny we are told from the beginning. The character development is excellent, and the twists and turns highly entertaining, but I felt the ending was a let down and somewhat out of tune with most of the novel. The conclusions wrapped up a bit too quickly and were not quite convincing enough. It was a page turner, and a fun read-would make a great beach read.

Rating:
Summary: Grand Avenue is Awesome!!
Review: This book had me up till 5AM! I had no idea what I was getting into that afternoon when I sat down to read this. This is a great story of friendship, love, and and grief. A bit dark and depressing at times, it's still a very entertaining read.

The basis of the book is four 'Grand Dames' as they call themselves. Each have problems of their own...one's abused, one's a cheater, one's the cheated, and two end up dead (you learn that in the first 5 pages, I'm not giving anything away!). The characters become people you feel you've known forever.

There were only a couple things I didn't really like. One being that you CANNOT read one page without someones 'eyes welling up', crying, sobbing, or feeling 'tears at the corners of their eyes'. Everything was so dramatic (some things really were, and crying was called for, but every little thing? C'mon). Also I don't think the whole court room scene was very plausible. I honestly don't think the verdict would have been what it was. But hey, that's just me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The pages fly right by, and you continue to think about these women long after you've read the last page. A great book for women that I would recommend to my friends.