The Gift (Danielle Steel)

Rating:
Summary: A good read....... yet a tad bit predictable
Review: I really liked this book. I found it quite enjoyable, except I already knew what was going to happen a little while after starting it. Also, it left me wondering what happened to Tommy and Maribeth at the end. Did she come back to visit? Did they get married? I would reccomend it though, because it was a great story.

Rating:
Summary: Simple Gifts
Review: I'm taking one star off only because this novel wasn't really a page turner. It wasn't the kind of book you just have to finish in one sitting, the way I'd expect to with one of the shorter Danielle Steel novels such as this one. It was very easy to put down, and took me quite a bit of time to finish because the story was so predictable that you already knew what was going to happen and were not necessarily compelled to turn pages.

Nevertheless, what I did read, when I decided to pick it up, was somewhat poignant and tender in a very simple and childish way.

This novel would be good for teens as it deals with high schoolers who are in love and one teenager in particular, who gets herself into unfortunate circumstances, and then meets up with a sympathetic family that is going through it's own trauma. I can't really go further in describing the plot without giving away the whole story.

I think four stars is actually a bit generous. Still, the heartbreaking nature of the emotions the characters experience, even though Steel has a simplistic way of writing about them, provide enough warm and fuzzies which allow the reader to experience heartfelt emotion right along with the characters.

Think Nicholas Sparks "A Walk To Remember", even though in that novel, the teens experienced totally different issues. Steel's writing doesn't come close to the thought provoking and efficient nature of Sparks. But, the emotions and the fact that both novels deal with teens make both "A Walk..." and "The Gift" slightly similar.

Rating:
Summary: ROMANTIC YET TEARJERKER!
Review: The book, The Gift by Danielle steel is a heart warming book. It has some adventures, comedies, and tear jerking parts. I got hooked on this book and couldn't stop reading it until I was finished. As the book opens, little Annie Whittaker is a happy little girl that her parents could not want more from. Whittaker's are a family of four: John, Liz, Tommy, and Annie. Tommy is Annie's older brother. He was an only child until he was ten. The parents, John and Liz, really wanted another child, but finally after three miscarriages they had Annie. Annie and Tommy got along so well and always loved to be around each other, unlike most siblings. It was near Christmas and the children were excited! At this time they were 5 and 15. One morning, two days before Christmas, they woke up to a town filled with snow. They went outside and made a snowman. That night, Tommy went to tell Annie good night and noticed her head was hot. Thinking nothing about it, he didn't tell his parents. In the morning, Christmas Eve, Annie woke up with a really high fever. They sent her to bed. It was Christmas, and Annie was still asleep. It was always a thing for Annie to wake up bright and early on Christmas. She woke up and barely moved. She fell back to sleep, and they took her to the doctor. There she was put into a hospital with Meningitis, a very futile disease. She died on Christmas and the Whittaker's lost they're only Christmas Gift. After this scene had ended it takes you to the home of Maribeth. She is going to a dance and her father won't let her wear the dress she wants to. At the dance, she gets pregnant. When she realizes that the father won't take care of the baby with her, her parents send her to a nun adoption home to have her baby. When Maribeth arrives there, she is horrified. She leaves there and goes to Omaha to get job. She is a waitress at a restaurant. One night, a guy who is always eating supper there, walks in and stats talking to Maribeth. His name is Tommy Whittaker. They get to know each other better and they become great friends and fall in love. While all of this happening, John and Liz are still very upset about Annie. They barely even talk to each other or Tommy. They never have meals together, and that's why Tommy is always at the restaurant. When Tommy founds out she is pregnant, he tells his parents, and with the parents wanting a child, they are willing to adopt the baby. Seven months later, John and Liz Whittaker are the parents of a baby girl, Kate. After the birth is over, Maribeth, not wanting to go back, goes to her home. She has to go back for school and her worrying family. She leaves Tommy behind but she will always love him and he her.