Customer Reviews

Bittersweet

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

This was an entertaining story, but I am surprised at all of the 5 star reviews. In general I like Danielle Steele, but this book was one of her weaker ones. The author repeats information over and over, as if the reader can't remember. Or as if by emphasizing the character's certainty about specific ideas or feelings, we are supposed to be surprised when it all changes. For example, the beginning of the book repeats how much India knows Doug loves and appreciates her several times. Then we find out he doesn't. When I read it, I correctly guessed the outcome just because of the seemingly unneccesary attention the author gave to India's sentiments. It was the same with her feelings for Paul. How many times can the author tell us that India is sure she feels only friendship for this man before we are to guess that it is more? It was all very superficial. I did not find the plot changes surprising, since the author gave multiple obvious leading hints just prior to almost every twist of the plot. Also, I did not get as emotionally involved in the characters as I normally would.

This book was really bad. I only finished it because I hate the feeling of leaving something unfinished. The writing was sophomoric, written as if the reader had absolutely no memory of what transpired on the previous page. The author kept repeating and repeating - obviously just to fill up some pages. I found the plot very predictable.

A story of a woman named India Taylor, who after a number of years of marriage, discovered that she missed her career as a photographer. She was very talented and well respected in her field before she married. She missed the recognition that a career could give, although she still loved her husband and 4 children. Her husband, was narrow and difficult and could not see her personal struggle. In fact, he was totally against her starting up the career again. As the book progressed, India began to stand up to him because she did not want to lose who she was a person. In the end, she chose to pursue her dreams despite the obstacles. This was a moving and inspirational story with a romantic and happy ending!

i found this book incredibly wonderful, i never had an interest in romance before this and now i love Danielle Steele's books. i hope that everyone else loves this book as much as i do. This is definately a 5 star book, it kept me wanting more.

I am astonished that readers have actually given this book five stars. Bittersweet is extremely weak in storyline, and very redundant. If asked, I could certainly summarize it in a maximum of five pages, without missing out on anything important, or relevant. The author repeats herself to an unbelievable extent; so often that one has to stop and wonder what she is actually trying to prove. The beginning chapter for instance, is totally haphazard, as though the author could not keep her train of thoughts straight. It fails to grip the reader in any way possible. Throughout the book in fact, there is no sequence in writing. In practically every chapter, we are told what India is like, what her husband is like, and what everyone else is like. i believe that where Ms.Steel didn't know how to continue with the story, she thought she should refresh our memory by telling us things we already knew. The calls between Paul Ward and India Taylor are infinite, and whats more is that they are all the same. Pages and pages go by before there is actually progress in the storyline. It seems we are reading a day-to-day account of the life of India Taylor, rather than a novel, which by rule ought to be atleast somewhat fast moving. The husband ALWAYS says all the wrong things, whereas Paul Ward ALWAYS says all the right things, no matter how distraught or upset he is.

The storyline itself is not interesting; perhaps meant for a minority of readers who themselves have problems with their marriage or have given up their careers, and hope for a knight in shining armour to enter their lives. I think there is absolutely no big deal about what happens in the book. So what if India calls Paul everyday or vice versa. What they talk about is hardly earth-shattering. Ms.Steel prides herself on writing books that are very close to reality. Perhaps she doesn't realize that sometimes reality can be dull and uninteresting. Everyone has as exciting a life as the characters in Bittersweet. But they dont tell the whole world about it.

I finished the book, to my utter astonishment, but only to see where it would seem as though written by a mature author rather than a confused teenager. I would NOT recommend it, except maybe to people with insomnia, who might find it a good sleeping aid.

When I read the synopsis to this book I was thinking THIS CAN'T BE THAT INTERESTING, but when I started reading it, I had come to find out it WAS. The characters were so real I felt as if I knew them. There were some plot twists in this book. It kept me interested and turning pages. The only problem I had with this book, was that the main character India was sort of a wimp. I kept wanting to yell at her. She got me a little frutrated at times. She was the reason why I bumped one star off my review. If you like a good romance tale by Danielle Steel and one with some plot twists and can put up with a frustrating main character, this a good book for you. This book had a moral and that is: Go for your dreams!

Probably her worst book yet, but then again all of her recent works have been extremely bad. India's husband Doug is not a very believable character. His total opposition to her work seems unrealistic. Paul is too good to be true and then again too wishy-washy... This book tested my patience..I was tempted to sail it through the window quite a few times. Longwinded, boring, lack of substance, no plot...horrible horrible book!!!

Bittersweet was really quite a story. Hard to imagine men like that. To put it simply,Doug=jerk. I enjoyed this story very much and it was an easy read. I would highly recommend this book.

"Bittersweet" is about a woman named India Taylor, who was a wonderful mother, who juggled Little League, car pools, piano lessons, and Cape Code summer vacations. Getting bored with her life, India decides that she would like to go back to work as a photojournalist. One summer day, India meets a man named Paul Ward, who changes her life forever. Paul, whose wife recently passed away in a plane crash, begins chatting with India everyday. Both talk about their hopes and dreams and he tells her not to give up her dreams of going back to her work. Finally convinced, India decides to tell her husband of her plan, hoping he would understand. Doug tells her that he thinks of her only as a person to take car of the house, children and someone to cook him dinner when he comes home from work. Furious, India and Doug finally get a divorce because she is in love with Paul. A romance begins to bloom, but too soon for Paul. In the end, the two finally decide they need to be together.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the ending was by far the best part because it was so happy and sad all at once. I was happy to see them both finally find romance and happiness for once in their life. The book shows that in life bad things will happen but fate won't let anything else bad happen to you. I liked how throughout the entire novel Paul gave her advice and made her feel worthy and important. She really needed someone to understand her. I can see exactly where she is coming from. Driving car pools and cooking dinner does not look like the life any woman would want everyday. People need more to their life than that. People need to feel that they are good at something and everyone needs a hobby. Nobody needs anyone to tell him or her that they cannot do anything. I think India was strong when she told her husband that she was going back to work. It took a lot of guts. I thought this book was well written, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I enjoyed this book because of the storyline (which was,however, very predictable)despite the fact that every other word was and. My creative writing teacher would have given her no more than a c- for this endeavor. Has she always written like this or am I just becoming more aware of the mechanics of really creative writing?