Customer Reviews

The Gazebo: A Novel

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Gazebo continues the trend of the past few years of the short emotionally overwhelming books. If you liked "Bridges of Madison County," "The Notebook," "Message in a Bottle," you will like "Gazebo." It is basically the same sort of book you can read in a evening. Afterwards, you will either feel deeply moved, or emotionally manipulated.

The main premise of "Gazebo" is that the main characters are soulmates destined to be together, but held apart by the cruel fates & their families. They run off to Europe to start their lives together. Things go well even after the money runs out. He finds the job of his dreams & they are blissfully happy. What turns the tide is her family's need of her.

My main gripe with the book is the point that she had no choice but to stay in their hometown due to family obligations. We are supposed to feel she was the ultimate martyr to give up all for her family. I so totally disagree, that I had trouble finishing the book. People who feel they must give up their whole lives in order to slave over others are not doing themselves or their families any favors. Who knows but that her leaving could have been the best thing in the world for her father and her sister. It seemed like she was so busy doing all the washing and cooking, nobody else had the chance to pitch in. Therapists call this sort of behavior codependent. It could be argued that perhaps way deep down, she didn't want to leave the security of the hometown & used this as an excuse to stay behind.

I felt emotionally manipulated in that I did not buy the fact that the heroine had to give up her life & stay behind. And that the hero had to stay in Europe. That whole thing was just not believable. If they two wanted to stay together, there would have been obstacles, but nothing totally impossible.

It was a fun read, but nothing as dramatically deep as the book seems to want to be for us.

I can not tell you how great this book was! A wonderful story line about a rare love, that doesn't seem to exist now-a-days. Only two books have ever made me a cry, Gazebo and The Notebook. It takes a truly great book to reach that type of emotion. It's hard to find books on realistic love that lasts forever. This book definitely touches the heart and soul. I absolutely loved it!

What a wonderful book. It is very revealing. I can totally relate to this book. It explores the love and devotion to family and to the person who shares the soul. Anyone who has had that one true love will adore this book. The characters are very real and the author did a wonderful job of bringing everything to life. I had so much empathy for Claire and Martin as they faced many difficult choices. This book lingers on long after the last page has been read. It is so true to life and the words still haunt me. I would recomend this book to anyone. It has many great messages and is very thought provoking. It will go on my list of favorites, as I can see myself as Claire and my true love as Martin in many places in the book.

I found this quick read to be enjoyable and haunting. This is definitely not great literature, either in content or style, but the story-line is compelling. The character of Abby, the narrator, is underdeveloped, and basically has very little relation to the story; I found her a distraction, and feel the story could have been told without her. Although billed as a book about love that lasts a lifetime, it is really a book about choices that people make, and whom or what they choose to love. The two lovers find a way to be together over time, but they do not find a way to commit and overcome their difficulties. In my opinion, THAT is what true love is about, and those who substitute something else are likely to end up like the characters, disappointed.

I loved the story and thought it is an excellent choice for a fast, enjoyable read. I did however, not enjoy the character of Abby. The author did not seem to make the reader attached to her therefore causing her to become a dreaded part of the book. I thought this idea was very creative but she needed to make the reader more emotionally attached to her character. I felt that this was a fabulous story of romance and devotion through two lives and highly recommend it to all!

If you love tearjerkers, then you should definitely read this book. It was short but sweet, and it was powerful in showing the love between two people. Although I was mad at Claire for leaving Martin, their love was so special that they never stopped loving each other through out the years. I absolutely loved this book and recommend it to hopeless romantics!

This book was recommended by one of the women's magazines...either Cosmo or Mademoiselle and I was looking forward to reading it. However, from the very beginning I was extremely turned off by Ms. Grayson's writing style. I felt as if Abby was not a character at all, and she did not even need to be there. I also feel that if they were that much in love that they would have been together, but then the book would not have been The Gazebo. I felt that it was written in a much too narrative form, and that it lacked a maturity, in a way, as if it were written for a four year old. Once upon a time, boy met girl. Then they did this, then they did that, etc. Ms. Grayson did not dig deep enough into the minds of her characters, and it seems as if she added Abby as an afterthought, because she needed something, no matter what it was, to put the story together. Good story, had wonderful potential, unfortunately Ms. Grayson lacked the experience or knowledge to put it together the way it should have been.

I was really looking forward to reading this book and was surprised by the outcome. I expected more than the book had to offer. The story line was pretty good but the overall content lacked SOO much. The story of the two lovers was underdeveloped and their moments together failed to tug on any of my heartstrings. The narrator, Abby, was likewise narrowly developed. Ms. Grayson had a good idea but went the wrong way with it. If you want a good read then try anything by Jodi Picoult.

I picked up this book at the book store, at the cash register. I did not know the author, but I liked the picture of the gazebo.

I know this does not sound very serious, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the content of the book. It is a very sad and moving love story and the author does very well in expressing the character's emotions and feelings. The sweetness that I felt after I read the book was very moving.

Good book and sweet reading.

The Gazebo is a beautiful book that tells the story of true love. You can almost feel the thoughts, feelings, and heartbeats of the lovers, Claire and Martin. In the essence of Romeo and Juliet, the families of this couple do not approve of the young lovers plans to marry. The story weaves through their lives and their yearnings for each other. The Gazebo is a beautiful name for a book that whispers a secret of a romantic place where lovers can meet!