41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review: Knit the Season, November 3, 2009
The third installment of The Friday Night Knitting Club, Knit the Season is a feel-good holiday book that celebrates friendships, family, new milestones, and unlimited possibilities for the future.
Knit the Season offers readers the chance to revisit the characters from The Friday Night Knitting Club and Knit Two, following them as they reconnect during a holiday season in New York and abroad. A novel that continues to explore the dynamic of friendship between a group of diverse women, Knit the Season offers readers hope and joy after the long and sometimes painful road they've traveled with Georgia Walker, her daughter, friends, and family.
I, like many others, had a difficult time with the plot twist at the end of TFKNC, but this newest installment helped me see that it served as an impetus for the other characters. Kate Jacobs used the twist as a motivation for all the changes the characters make--they are dynamic--altering their life courses as a result of plot events.
By using memory flashbacks from various characters' perspectives, we get a closer look at how one character can influence the life path of others. The flashbacks in Knit the Season also serve to enhance the characterization of Georgia Walker in her role as mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, lover, and friend. Like the Christmas tree garland she and her Scottish grandmother knit over the years, the characters are connected to each other by Georgia and form a strong chain that can't be broken by the passage of time, distance, or age.
Fans of TFNKC and Knit Two will really enjoy catching up with the circle of friends, especially when they are each poised to embark on new and wonderful opportunities. Knit the Season, to be fully appreciated, needs to be read after the first two novels. Those books help build the relationships and back story that pave the way for the happiness and closure of Knit the Season.
An enjoyable read, Knit the Season put me in a festive, upbeat mood. Jacobs includes some knitting patterns and delicious recipes at the end of the novel, inspiring me to get in touch with my inner Martha Stewart! If you've yet to read the TFNKC, consider adding it to your holiday wish list.
-Natalie of Book, Line, and Sinker
11.3.09
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Underwhelming ..., November 10, 2009
I actually pre-ordered this book ... that's how much I enjoyed Kate Jacobs' first two installments in the "Friday Night Knitting Club" series, as well as her book "Comfort Food". However, unlike the other readers who have thus far reviewed "Knit the Season" here, I was somewhat disappointed in the end product this time.
Knit the Season is not a *bad* book, but it's also not a terrific one. Some of the plot elements were contrived and overly-predictable, and the author's use of flashback scenes/dialogue (snippets from various points in Georgia's life) was - to me - an irritating, extraneous interruption. For all of the characters' zeal about telling Dakota unvarnished stories about her mother, these flashbacks still paint a picture of Georgia as largely saint-like; the first book did a much better job at fleshing out her character and providing insights into the woman she was. Presumably, since Dakota was not a young child when her mother died, her memories of her mother would have provided her with a much more realistic snapshot of the woman than the vignettes that the flashback segments produce.
If I hadn't read the first two books, I would have pegged the characters here as two-dimensional. Dakota's "passion" for baking and her desire to ultimately pursue a career as a pastry chef - which was quirky, charming, and just one facet of her personality in the previous books - reaches nearly obsessive proportions throughout most of the book. Dakota also tends to stay "in her own head" a great deal. It would have been interesting (and more illuminating) to see her interact with her classmates or her teachers, but her interactions in the book are virtually limited to those that involve her family and the "knitters" although she is purportedly a full-time student. Anita is a spineless simp who allows her son to dictate her life. The spirit and "spark" that characterized her in the previous books is missing here. Catherine waffles back and forth about committing to her long-distance paramour, due to her inability to reconcile retaining her independence with being in a relationship. Professor-and-mom-to-twins Darwin and producer-and-single-mom Lucie - two of the more-interesting characters in the previous books - are, here, reduced to looking on from the periphery as their families share a duplex and each wonders how to let the other know that sometimes there's such a thing as too much togetherness.
You get the idea.
Kudos do go to Jacobs for including a brief but pivotal scene set at a Chanukah party given by Anita and her beau; it was nice to see the holiday included as more than an afterthought. However, I think I'd have preferred a better-conceived plot that wasn't shaped around the holiday season.
In sum, an unremarkable albeit quick read, with predictable outcomes. I wouldn't mind revisiting the Club, but I hope that next time there is a more compelling story to tell. Based upon her other books, Kate Jacobs seems to be a talented author, and this is not a bad book - it's just not a terrific one. I recommend reading the first two books in the series before heading into this one. And I recommend Jacobs' "Comfort Food" as a superior alternative that better showcases her talent.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Warming holiday read, November 3, 2009
This was a great read for the holiday season. I know that a lot of people are like me, and enjoy the break from our normal reads at this time of the year. This book captures the warmth and spirit of the holiday season to share with family and friends. This is the third book in the series and I had to go read the first two books before reading this. It's not necessary, but it gives you more history and background for each of the characters. I love the flashbacks from each of the characters and it helps with the reasons of their choices in life. Every character is different, but they each share a meaning and love of friendship. A truly warm and wonderful read for this time of the year.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
