Rating: 
Summary: very naughty
Review: I loved reading this book. The main character is very naughty. She is nothing like the boring weak women in most romance novels. The sequels are good too!
Rating:
Summary: This book is thrilling by the first page up to the last page
Review: England, 18th century. To get the property of their parents the beautiful Beatrice Lacey tries all - a really fascinating book! To recommend this book 5 stars are not enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book was very disappointing. I forced myself to around page 120 hoping it would get better but it did not. There is no depth to the characters. If not for the one date given early on I couldn't tell what time period the book was in because details were not there. In the first 100 pages or so the main character conspires with her lover to kill her father; once that deed is done she then blames the lover for her father's death and then tries to kill the lover. With the lover out of the picture she then starts to have sexual feelings for her brother. And then there are the passages that seem to have nothing to do with anything... I was wondering why did you put that in there (tending sheep and visiting sick people)? What I've just written above may sound exciting but it isn't. In between those items there is just a lot of filler with the author CONSTANTLY telling us how much Beatrice (main character) loves Wideacre. She overdoes the telling of this. When I would get to another passage about it I would actually start saying to myself "yeah, she loves Wideacre lots and lots". I guess the author is trying to say that is the reason Beatrice is doing all these other things. Any who, I do not recommend the book. I have not read any other books by Philippa Gregory. I do have "The other Boleyn Girl" in my personal library. Hopefully it will be better.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazingly long and drawn out - difficult to finish
Review: I gave this book 2 stars because it wasn't absolutely terrible and I didn't hate it so much that I want my money back. I found this book to be filled with a lot of useless words. The melodrama of 648 pages could have been drastically reduced without reducing the horrific ideas instilled by the author, Phillipa Gregory. She may as well have gone to the extreme macabre. Beatrice Lacy is indeed an evil lady however I felt she could have been a little harder and crueler. The supporting subjects, brother Harry, husband John & sister-in-law Celia didn't really support the evil in Beatrice. Most people subject to such evil would have been far more damaged than written. Not as strong and healthy as indicated. Phillipa does weave a tale of deceit, destruction, selfishness, obsession, possession, horror, sadism, masochism, incestuous behavior and the bleakness of the time. I felt the pace of the book too slow and sometimes difficult to finish to the next chapter break. If you are in the mood for a book of an abnormal woman in a normal society than this is a good book for you to read. If you are looking for some light reading, put the book back and choose something else. I'm sorry to say, the book did not intrigue me enough to continue reading the trilogy. I was really hoping to enjoy an epic.
Rating:
Summary: Beatrice Lacey: the character I most love to hate
Review: If you thought Scarlett O'Hara was an immoral, nasty woman who would do anything to hold on to her family's land, you ain't seen nothing yet. Beatrice Lacey, the (anti)heroine of "Wideacre," is a thousand times worse...but she makes delightful reading.It's a shame the editorial review spoiled the important plot points, because I think they're even more deliciously awful when you come upon them by surprise. Every time you think you've finally got a handle on just how low Beatrice will stoop, she turns around and does something else even worse, brimming over with schemes that wouldn't ever occur to "normal" people. I had trouble putting the book down, and raced through the last few chapters, completely captivated and dying to find out what would happen next. A truly satisfying read. On a final note, I agree with previous reviewers who stated that this book shouldn't be filed in the romance category. While it does occasionally stray slightly into "bodice ripper" territory, you're not going to find hearts and flowers in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Can only be called disturbing!
Review: I started this book after reading 'The other Boylan girl', which i LOVED, and was seriously disturbed. I kept reading despite the murdering and evilness of Beatrice, because I had hope that the book would get better, but I was so revolted by the incest that I stoped reading. I found it extremly disturbing, and completly unatural. I think this Author has a thing for incest, because it is also in The other Boylan girl (Of course more subtle there.) Its a if she's trying to make incest okay, and it NOT okay! It really a shame because she is a fantastic writer... if only she could leave the incest out of it!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: This is a 600+ page book - in paperback! It's worth it though, the main character is so evil and diabolically determined to get what she thinks she wants, she will stop at nothing. It's interesting to read about such an evil woman and you will be shocked at what she will do to accomplish her goals. I loved this, I have also read The Other Bolynn Girl by this author and liked it, as well.
Rating:
Summary: Thinly-veiled-trash
Review: I was sorely disappointed in this book and threatened to put it down several times. In fact at the time I am writing this I still have not even finished the book, but by now am more than halfway through it so it should all be over soon. The main character is so despicable one just hopes she dies a painful death without ever achieving her goal of changing the entail of the estate she was born into. She is selfish, self-centered, obsessed and I find it extremely difficult to find any redeeming qualities in her at all. The other characters that allow her to get away with murder (literally) her entire life are so weak and flacid they are pathetic. I wonder how and why no one ever catches on how truly evil and manipulative this Beatrice really is! The one character that shows any spark of intelligence is neatly taken care of and put out the way much too soon. And then there is the steamy, hot sex scenes that are too disturbing to realistically dwell upon. In other words this book is really just a trashy novel masquerading as historical fiction/literature. Obviously Gregory has major issues with incest, and evil women (Wildacre and The Other Boleyn Girl). I have already told my sisters who I usually share all my books with that I will not pass this one to them. I have wasted my time reading it and I wouldn't want them to repeat my mistake!
Rating: 
Summary: Wideacre - Hardly Wide, and Certainly Not Deep
Review: I, like many other fans of Phillipa Gregory, chose to read this book after a very enjoyable experience with "The Other Boleyn Girl." The book starts out strong, but lags and slows in the middle, delaying the inevitable, predictable ending for about 200 pages or so. The main characters are hardly likeable, and the characters that are likeable aren't main characters. Some folks have compared Beatrice to Scarlett of "Gone With the Wind," but even Scarlett had a line she wouldn't cross. Beatrice stops at absolutely nothing to gain control of what she wants, and honestly, it isn't very realistic at all. It wasn't the worst, but I wouldn't urge others to waste their time on it.
Rating:
Summary: unpleasantly addicting
Review: The beginning of the novel is absolutely amazing, with an intense and intricate plot. However, towards the end of the novel the story becomes monotonous. For some reason or another, however, you feel you must continue reading, possibly in hopes of maybe another plot twist or turn. I was glad when i finally read the last page. I must give Gregory props, however, for she certainly knows how to develop chararcters and use fascinating imagery.
|
