Customer Reviews

Sandcastles

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I've read nearly every one of Luanne Rice's novels since CLOUD NINE. Nearly every one of these has similar themes with stories and characters that either grab you & keep you turning the pages wanting more, or they fall flat with little enthusiasm for the ending. SANDCASTLES fell into the latter category. I just don't think it was one of Luanne Rice's better stories.

I still think when it comes to Woman's Fiction and Love Stories, Rice is one of the best, but something seems to be getting old here. Many of her recent novels feel like recycled material with similar characters and plot lines

SANDCASTLES seemed promising before its release, but once I started reading it, I found it very predictable with characters that I didn't really care that much about. I never really connected with Honor or felt the love she once she had for John. Nothing really happened that made me want to see them work things out and/or "live happily ever after." There were times in fact, when I thought Honor was just being plain selfish or even a "B**CH. Her reasons for falling out of love with John weren't really explored and/or explained. It's almost as if she just woke up one day and realized that John wasn't really the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

As for Regis, I kinda knew from the very first chapter which direction her story was going to go. The ending didn't surprise me and I wondered why it took so long to get to that point. As for her engagement, it seemed like a ploy to keep readers guessing with an extremely weak conclusion.

The supporting characters weren't as strong in SANDCASTLES either. Many times, Luanne Rice uses characters from previous novels to fill in the "neighborhood." There was only the briefest mention of previous characters and I don't even remember what relevance (if any) they had to the story. The characters of Bernie and Tom were far more interesting than Honor and John and I cared more about their love story than I did Honor and John's. Although it too was fairly predictable. I would rather have read & learned more about their love story and journey rather than the one readers were given.

Don't get me wrong here, SANDCASTLES isn't exactly the worse novel I've read lately, but it's definitely not one of the better ones. It's certainly one of Luanne Rice's weaker releases. Perhaps she needs to explore fresh material with new pllotlines and a variety of characters. Some writers stick to what they do and know best, and for a while, Luanne Rice was on a winning streak. But her last couple of novels just fell a little flat for me. Had any of these been the first Luanne Rice novel I had read, I don't think they would have been strong enough to keep me coming back each year. With previous works such as CLOUD NINE, FOLLOW THE STARS HOME and BEACH GIRLS, readers know that Luanne Rice is capable of writing beautiful stories about the many loves in a woman's life (husband, boyfriend, children, parents & friends). We just need to read some new material with stronger characters and storylines that capture and holds readers' attention. I'm looking forward to future releases with high hopes of improvement.

After six years in an Irish prison for killing the man who assaulted his fourteen years old daughter Regis, renowned earthworks artist John Sullivan is freed. He returns to Connecticut, but is hesitant to go home to the nearby Star of the Sea Academy and convent where his family works and lives because he fears his beloved spouse Honor will reject him for the harm he caused her and their three daughters.

He turns to his sibling Sister Bernadette Ignatius and his best friend Tom Kelly to serve as communicators between him and his wife as John worries that Regis is heading down the aisle into a bad marriage while his offspring wants him at her wedding. His other two daughters do not openly greet him either as one feels he abandoned her and her siblings and the other does not know him as she was too young when he left. However all that is topped by his trepidation that his beloved Honor will not take him back; if he can find the courage and get her alone amongst the Connecticut Moonstones perhaps the magic will surface for he believes it remains alive just dormant.

This is an interesting family drama due to the differing reactions of the three siblings as one desperately wants her dad back in her life; another wants him totally out of her life; and the third is unsure what she wants when it comes to him. John knows he has made mistakes that he can never atone for, but prays for a second chance with his beloved fearsome female foursome. Though the solution seems too simplistic, contemporary fans will enjoy this second chance at love.

Harriet Klausner

It's been six years since patriarch John Sullivan had the freedom to spend time with his family. Jailed in Ireland after pleading guilty for killing the man who attacked his art and his daughter, the family returned to Connecticut and his wife Honor broke off communication with him. Her plans to seek a divorce are cut short when he suddenly reappears just in time for daughter Regis' upcoming wedding.

John is a scarred and tormented man. Always a risk taker, Honor knew it was only a matter of time that one of his many jaunts would fracture the family. Now he is trying desperately to reconnect with the daughter who missed him terribly, the one who prayed for a spiritual sign, the one that barely remembers him, and the wife he loves with all his heart, while she holds him at arm's length. His sister, who happens to be a mother superior at the local convent, is his greatest ally. Growing up, Bernie, John, Honor, and Tom Kelly were the four musketeers. Until separate events in Ireland altered all of their lives.

I had a hard time getting into this story - mostly because it was completely predictable and had few surprises. Within a handful of pages, it is clear where the story is headed, and it takes soooo long to get there. Honor was a hard heroine to sympathize with; she just came off as cold and selfish, which made it difficult to understand how she and John could be soul mates. About the only redeeming quality of this novel was the vivid and lyrical manner with which Rice describes the sunsets, meadows, and craggy beaches of both Ireland and Connecticut. And the obvious ambiguous ending leaves the door open for a sequel - a shameless device that many authors, particularly Rice continues to practice in her novels. If the story cannot be summed up in one novel, perhaps the story is not worth telling...

What a boring book! I have read several Luanne Rice books, and I fear she is going downhill lately, like some other authors I like. The story was so boring, and the twist at the end was like "Oh yea, oh well." Then you think something good will happen for Sister Bernie and Tom and, nope, don't get too interested in that storyline. That will leave you hanging too!

I still think she's a good author - this was just a boring book. I'm not ready to give up on Luanne Rice yet!

The basic plot's not bad, but this work is generally overwritten -- as if variations on an overflow of words, images, and emotions repeated in different scenes will deliver a message or set a scene, an atmosphere, that the author isn't sure we'll 'get.' Or maybe Ms. Rice is enamored of the writing itself, loath to edit the overflow. Honor's ambivalence is evident -- we don't need scene piled upon scene re-emphasizing her inability to resolve a complex situation and set of emotions. John's 'fire,' wildness, and all-consuming love are similarly repeatedly embroidered and embellished. There is an almost obsessional quality to the repetitive descriptions of the characters' emotions, thoughts, and encounters -- which don't necessarily advance or develop plot or theme in the re-telling.
Finally, some of it just doesn't ring true. Despite her overtly sympathetic portrayal, is the author deliberately suggesting that Honor's emotional struggle has resulted in a loss of basic adult perception and judgment, and self-involvement carried to an irrational degree? Otherwise, why have this woman stalk away from her husband when he's insulted and attacked -- as if blaming him, and 'protecting' the daughter who burst into the middle of a public confrontation, a confrontation that Honor herself had set up and the insufferable pre-inlaw stepped into? What is the point? To tell us once again that Honor can only repeat the same reactive behaviors in every tense situation, no matter the source of the tension?
Initially interesting, ultimately a disappointment that required slogging and skimming to finish. Where was the editor for this one?

I just didn't love this book. I was so bored. The story seemed drawn out and so predictable. I pretty much knew what was going to happen before the end of the first few chapters.

I have read hundreds of books and a few of them have been authored by Luanne Rice. Sandcastles has a good plot but it didn't grab my interest like many of the books I have read. At one point in the beginning of the book, I almost put it down not to finish. This is very unlike me. Even if I don't particularly like a book, I will finish it. This book did not have me wondering what will happen next until 3/4 of the way through the book. When a book grabs me, I can't wait to carve out time in my day to find out what is happening next in the story. Sandcastles didn't do that for me. The story didn't flow nicely and got too caught up in the mundane. When I finish a book, I have a sense of loss because the characters exist no longer in that story. I did not get that from Sancastles. Although it had a good plot, it really could have been so much more. It seemed like the book was thrown together. It will be a while before I read one of Luanne's books again. I will definitely pay more attention to individual's reviews for the next Luanne Rice book I choose to read.

I am a huge fan of this author, but this story is way too confusing. There is too much jumping back and forth between the past and the present; half the time the reader doesn't know where they are. I tried to get thru this book, but gave up halfway through. Life is just too short.

Said it before and I'll say it again - audio book readers simply don't get any better than Blair Brown. Then give her an emotionally charged story by bestselling author Luanne Rice, and listeners are treated to both a touching story and a most pleasurable voice performance.

It's hard to make a life for yourself when your husband is in prison but Honor Sullivan has managed to do it. She teaches painting at a convent, Star of the Sea Academy, in Connecticut. She lives with her three daughters, Regis, Agnes and Cecilia.

It has been 11 years since their family was broken when husband and father, John, was sent to prison. A man was dead, yes, but John claimed he was defending his daughter from rape. Nonetheless, his absence has left indelible scars on those he loves the most. Honor doesn't know whether or not she can forgive him for what he has done, one daughter really doesn't remember him, another daughter harbors ill feelings for what she considers to have been her father's abandonment, and the third, Regis, well, she suddenly announces that she plans to be married.

John has been released from prison but has been reluctant to approach his family, not knowing what his reception might be or whether or not they are better off without him. He turns to his sister, Mother Superior Bernadette Ignatius, for solace and advice.

Once again, author Rice explores the labyrinth of human emotions and raises the question of whether or not love can really conquer all.

- Gail Cooke

As artists, Honor and her husband John were as passionate as they were about each other. Married, with three children, Honor began to fear the physical chances John would take for his art. Six years ago, their life came apart. Now John is returning to the family he has always loved. This is a book about decisions made, protecting your family, and loving each other.