Customer Reviews

All We Hold Dear

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Are you a mother and a wife? Have you ever asked yourself Why Me? Read this book and you will find your answer. K.L. Davis is awe inspiring she is an unbeleivable story teller. I cried,laughed,danced, and sang with the remarkable women in this story. A must read for every woman. And every young girl becoming a woman.

I read this book 1st not realizing that is was part of a series. I strongly suggest reading Too Deep for Tears first. This is an amazing book that takes you to the green hills of Scotland. I felt as if I was a part of the Rose family. It made me feel the joy and sorrow of the characters. If you want to take yourself to another time and world this book is a good read.

After reading "Too Deap For Tears" two years ago i seached everywhere for this book. When i finaly got my hands on it i couldn't put it down. Anyone planing to read this book, do yourself a favor and make sure "Too Deep For Tears" is read and understood first. It was a bit hard to understand at first but after that the characters form their own world, it's not like you are reading the book, it is more like you are watching from above while feeling the emotions flow deep from each and every person. They were almost real. After reading this i found myself wishing i was Ailsa. She was so real to me. The events unfold not how you would think or hope they would. It raises the questions on who is to blame, what would have happened if..... You find yourself wishing you were there and changing things and making them better. Constant thoughts of "if only...." keeping coming up, but such is life. get out the hankicheifs.... this is amazing.

Once I managed to get past the first few chapters, I found this book to be as wonderful as the first one, Too Deep for Tears. The first few chapters just seem to be dragging on ~~ with Eva running off into the ocean because of her "darkness" that is growing inside her. Everything seemed to have been handed to her on a silver platter ~~ adoring parents, wonderful fiance, best friends and she couldn't seem to appreciate any of it. I had to put the book aside for several weeks before I could get back to it.

Once I got back into it, it picked up quickly. My favorite characters will always be Alanna and Aisla and their family and friends. I still adore Ian, from the first book. This book wraps up a mystery between Ian and Aisla ~~ and Alanna finds great love too. She falls in love with David, Ian's nephew. After their wedding, comes a great tragedy for the glenn. And a great victory at a great price.

Eva set off on a search for her birth mother, following all the clues she had left behind. Along the way, she finds a glimmer of her true self and rediscovered her dreams. It is a magical time in her life.

This book is a wonderful addition for Too Deep For Tears. The only regret I have is that it didn't mention much on Aisla's sisters ~~ their stories were told so vividly in Too Deep for Tears that I would love to hear more on them.

So if you can get past the first few chapters ~~ this book will be worth your while. It takes you back into a magical past and dreams. It's a great escape from this world sometimes!

9-16-05

I also didn't know there was a first book when I read this. I liked it, and I'd like to read the first one now, but the flashbacks to the past were definitely more interesting than 1988. Also, it goes on and on about the land, the glen, the mist, until you want to yell "Enough already!"I wish I had read the first one first! I think that I would have liked it better.

I did not realize this book was part of a series or I would have read Too Deep for Tears first. However, this book does well as a stand alone, also. Normally I don't like stories that switch back and forth from past to present, but this book was superbly written in such a way that it was still easy to follow. I thought it was a touching story about family and the traits that are passed down from generation to generation. I especially enjoyed the sections that were written about Eva's ancestors and their lives, joys, and pains.

The real strength of this story is in the flash backs. The modern characters could be inviting but they have trouble competing with the past. I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to read this without having read Too Deep for Tears. Fortunately I didn't have to worry about that. Such is the fate of the sequel. Good enough, but a bit of a let down after the earlier block buster. Still, a must read for those who were captivated by the mysteries of the glen

What a lame book! So hokey! Part fairy tale, and part melodrama. What I hated most about the book is that nearly all the characters had the same personality. Our heroine, Eva, is kind, thoughtful, wise, perceptive, and understanding. So are her parents. So is her fiancé. So is her best friend. So is her mother's best friend. So is the man she meets while traveling. Even the gypsies are like that! When we travel to the past, nearly everyone there is also kind, thoughtful, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum. Nearly everyone in the book is so "noble" it was sickening. I nearly found myself rooting for the bad guys because they were the only "human" people in the book! And what's with the strange rapport among Ailsa, Alanna, and Mairi, and then again among Alanna and her two half-sisters, and then again between Mairi and Ian? I mean, come on, all these people can feel each other's pain, know each other's thoughts, etc. There was way too much psychic stuff in this book. I believe that every novel needs one noble character at least, but this book had much too much of a good thing. The other thing I didn't like about this book was the inner turmoil and anguish that everybody goes through constantly. People were always on the brink of despair, or breaking down. I should have stopped reading when, in the very first chapter, Eva finds out that she is adopted, is in agony over it, thinks of jumping off a cliff, but instead ends up going swimming with the dolphins! I mean, really! Then she spends the rest of the book searching for her roots, and is alternately despondent or hopeful, back and forth, from one extreme to the other. I wanted to shake her and say, "Get a grip!" What was the big mystery anyway? She was always searching for answers (what were the questions?) and led on by one little clue after another. It was just so contrived and meaningless.

poignant flashback story that stumbles frequently during scenes in present times. The past is relayed through family journals and is more enthralling