This book was so bad and made me so angry that I wasn't going to write a review but my OCD is stronger than me, also, I need to vent somewhere.First, let's make one thing clear. I don't hate cheesy popular literature. Oh no, no. I embrace trash. I suspend my disbelief when needed, I swallow cliches like they were milk and honey, I even put up with bad writing. All that, so I can be entertained.When I have gone so far in sacrificing my delicate literary sensibilities and you, in turn, have failed to entertain me, then we have fury like there has never been fury before. In the beginning of 2011 I had this brilliant idea that I would download an easy, exciting audiobook and listen to that while I sweat on the treadmill. This idea, while great in theory, didn't quite work out (ha, ha, work out! get it?), because the book I chose for my experiment was this wretched pile of muck.Well, it has mystery, murder, rape, romance, a character with paranormal abilities... Surely, if anything, it'll be entertaining...Let me put this way: The bits about organic farming were the most exciting out of the whole book. Roberts' attempt at a crime/mystery story was just laughable. I mean, NOTHING happened. There were no clues here and there, no trying to solve the mystery, no progress. Basically, they didn't know who did it for the whole book. And then on the last 5 pages they found out who did it.So you would think, ok, the focus is on romance.Sadly, the hero was an idiot who decided to win the heroine by showing up at her house and nagging her constantly until she said yes. And of course she did say yes, as she was an idiot herself.There was no conflict, no build up, no tension, no release. It went pretty much like this:He: Be with meShe: NoHe: Why not?She: Uh, I don't knowHe: So be with meShe: OkHe: I love youShe: I love you too, let's get marriedHe: Cool.There was as much chemistry between them as there is between pieces of furniture. On top of that, the book was just one big cliche. Everything was cliche, every character (including all the bland secondary characters), every scene, every description, every 'plot twist' (the expression 'plot twist' is a bit of an overstatement when it comes to this book). And I know I said I don't mind cliches and that they are like milk and honey. But come on! That was as if someone asked me to eat a barrel of honey straight from the hive. It probably didn't help that I had all those cliches spoken softly in a monotonous voice straight into my ear. I cared so little for anyone or anything this book that if the insane murderer that they were looking for, had killed just about everyone, it would've been alright with me.And I had to suffer through it each time I went to the gym. Because I am simply crazy and I can't not finish a book. This review is a total mess. I am sorry. I am so very angry. I want this book to die.
Where do authors come up with the ideas for their books? If you are best-selling author Nora Roberts, you just watch movies and rewrite the plots. “Carolina Moon” (Berkeley Publishing; 2001) is a reworking of the smash hit "The Sixth Sense" (1999), only it stars sex-hungry adults instead of a misunderstood child and his perplexed therapist. For those familiar with the two hit series "Medium" and "Ghost Whisperer", this will seem like familiar ground. However, "Carolina Moon" was published four years before those series began.What Is It About?With a title like "Carolina Moon", you can guess where the action takes place. And if it's set in the Deep South, you are automatically ready for long passages of landscape descriptions, flashbacks to the time before Civil Rights, lectures on tradition and the slow unveiling of family secrets. Roberts does not disappoint in this regard.Beautiful eight-year-old Hope Lavelle, the favorite daughter of the wealthiest family in town, is brutally raped and murdered out in the Carolina swamp. Her best friend, the abused, dirt-poor psychic Tory Bodeen is suspected.Eventually, she leaves town, escapes her abusing parents and goes off to make a life for herself in New York City. When a tragedy befalls, she decides to return to her childhood town and to the very house she was abused in. Can she solve the cold case murder of little Hope Lavelle? Or is she to be the next victim?The Good"Carolina Moon" is a page turner. There's romance, a lot of sex and a compelling mystery. There's also a gang of small-town characters with just enough quirks to make them mildly entertaining. There are also dogs, which makes any book better, in this writer's humble opinion. These dogs were welcome to read about because they were the only creatures in town that was not interested in humping anything that moved.There is also an interesting sub-plot about organic farming verses traditional farming. This gets touched on every now and then, but not enough to hammer the reader over the head with it. It was encouraging to read the subtle argument for organic farming. Big agriculture is directly responsible for a lot of pollution, usually in the form of pesticides and fertilizers getting into ground water.The Laughably BadThe murder victim's name is Hope. There are actually lines in the book where characters say "Hope is dead" or "Hope was killed". No subtle symbolism there, eh, Nora?Also, why would anyone with half a brain go back to the town where she was ostracized in order to start up a gift shop? Just being haunted by nightmares of the murder did not seem plausible enough. As if a whole town taking for granted Tory's incredible psychic abilities wasn't unbelievable enough already.
What do You think about Carolina Moon (2001)?
I always said I'd never pick up a romance novel- well, we all know how that cliche works, right? I'm always seeing the name Nora Roberts everywhere and wanted to see what the fuss is about. The fuss is well-deserved. And I'm finally in agreement with what Joyce Carol Oates once said- "There's no bad genre, only bad writing." Being a romance, this book has your typical 'bodice-ripper' scenes, but the author's prose reads more like passionate poetry at these parts. Her writing moves as silkily as this story, which is just as much suspense as romance. The main character, Tory Bodeen, has come back to her South Carolina hometown after various tragedies, particularly the murder of her best friend Hope Lavelle, forced her out years ago. She opens a home design shop and strikes up a 'friendship' with Hope's older brother, Cade. Problem is, Hope's killer has never been found, and he's back, close to Tory this time. The ending was a bit rushed, but it was still well-done and left me reeling. Character development was wonderful (particularly the men- but what else would you expect from a bestselling romance novelist? lol). Definitely a recommend.
—Salma
I absolutely hated this book.. it was so very predictable and I knew exactly what was going to happen - I knew who the killer was, and knew what was going on until the very end. This was certainly a Nora Roberts book that was slow going, hard to get into and I seriously could not wait to get it over with - until I got to the last chapter.I was so freaking blind sided by the ending that it changed my entire view of the whole book. Not too often do I come across a Nora Robert's story that slaps me in the face like this one did... so much so that my normal 1 star rating was changed into a 5 star rating.
—Jessica LeMere
Claro de Luna y yo no empezamos con buen pie y de hecho, el principio apenas lo recuerdo porque no me gustó (o por el tema este de las obras de mis vecinos, todavía no he esclarecido si no me gustó/no me enteraba de nada porque no me atrapaba o porque simplemente... no). Así que ese día apagué el ebook y lo dejé. Al día siguiente, sin golpes, lo volví a retomar y la verdad es que me empezó a gustar. Y me lo acabé esa misma mañana. Tory al principio me parecía... no sé, no la veía como una protagonista real y era demasiado fría. Y Cade... sinceramente no sé qué me pareció él en un principio, su introducción en el libro y en la vida de Tory fue tan... por la cara. Lo digo en serio. Aparece de buenas a primeras de la nada y ¡PUM! RELACIÓN, con haberse visto solo un par de veces, afirmando Cade que "a ver a donde llega esto". Si dijera que hubo algo durante ella vivió en el pueblo... Pero no, Cade apenas miraba a Tory cuando esta jugaba con Hope. Así que sí, su relación es un poco por la cara. ¡Y Faith! Dios, al principio la odiaba porque pensaba que era la típica niña rica insoportable que nadie aguanta pero que tiene que hacerlo y que juega con los hombres como si fueran Kenes. ¡Pero no! Al comienzo sí que era así, y verdaderamente tenía lástima de Wade (porque hacía con él lo que le salía del alma). Y al final Faith me ha sorprendido muchísimo. Creía que nunca admitiría que amaba a Wade, pero vaya, lo admite tan normal y eso me gustó. También la amistad que surge entre ella y Tory, es rara pero bonita <3Tenía pensado darle dos estrellas, pero como a partir de la mitad me empezó a gustar, lo ascendí a 2'5 estrellas. Lo que me ha hecho darle 3 estrellas ha sido ESE FINAL. Es tan... DIOS ES QUE AÚN NO ME LO CREO. Y eso que lo terminé ayer... Mi cara era literalmente esta:Desde el minuto 1 tenía en mente que el padre de Tory podía ser el posible asesino de todas las muchachas, pero cuando Tory lo apunta a él en la policía, me chocó un poco y me dije que al final sería otro. Y efectivamente. Cuando arrestan a este hombre y aún quedaban 15 páginas por delante, ya era claro que el asesino iba a ser otra persona, ¿pero quién? Y... y...Dios. (view spoiler)[Cuando se descubre que es Dwight... ES QUE NO ME LO IMAGINABA PARA NADA. De hecho, era un personaje que no sale mucho, como amigo de Cade, las veces que sale es con su mujer o siendo agradable pero joder. No me lo esperaba, aún sigo en shock. Ayyyyyyy (hide spoiler)]
—Sandra
