Reviews

Der Mondscheingarten by Corina Bomann

dharma130's review against another edition

3.0

Listened to this on Audible. At times it dragged, and the narrator's voice was nasally and annoying. But it was a pretty good story.

veliciajerus's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

holmstead's review against another edition

4.0

Show of hands for those that don’t mind when one of the many mysteries of a book doesn’t have closure...Anybody? No one? That’s right! Nobody! I was so prepared to give this book all the stars right until the last page read. I adored this book and will treasure it always. It shares so many beautiful visuals of areas in Indonesia. I enjoyed learning so much. I adored all the characters, even the less than desired ones (there’s only 1 or 2).

If you love a beautiful, sad, mysterious story that also involves a violin and its music, please give this one a try. Just don’t expect the answer to a MAIN mystery in the book. ;)

manaledi's review against another edition

2.0

This was entertaining and plot-heavy but overall not very good. Kindle first book.

jennchandler's review against another edition

3.0

3.5. Interesting storyline, if a bit predictable. The depiction of the romance (particularly the modern day one) was rather heavy-handed, which I disliked.

lennyx's review against another edition

Decided lately to only read 100 pages and not continue if I wasn't loving the book - too many great books on my TBR. Not bad but didn't like the language, might continue some day.

acethirtynine's review against another edition

3.0

Really a 3.5 star review - I enjoyed this story, especially the aspects of historical fiction/fact that I hadn't known about. In truth I knew very little about Sumatra in general, but getting to know the island, even a little bit was nice. Could have been stronger, and more balanced between the characters, but overall worth the read.

enlenar's review against another edition

I decided to give this book a 4 star rating based solely on the plot. I'm a musician and the prospect of a mystery violin was very intriguing.

My problem with the book lies in the present-day relationships between Lilly, Gabriel, and Ellen. I felt the dialogue sometimes felt forced and corny. I have a problem with unrealistic love stories. The writing was at some points, cheesy and cliche.

The best part of he novel was set in 1902 with Rose Gallaway. The author did a great job with portraying the exotic place she lived and the life style of a musician.

The book is worth a read for a free book, but I would have been slightly disappointed had I payed for it.

hkihm's review against another edition

1.0

Gave up halfway. boring, predictable story. I didn't like any of the characters and stopped reading when I realized I didn't care about the mystery of the violin at all.

Also the audiobook narrator's vocal fry at the end of every sentence was intolerable. It would be one thing if it distinguished one of the character's voices in the dialogue (such as the 2011 young adult character) but as the basic text reading voice it was so tiring to listen to. I know it's not the author's fault, but it dimmed my enjoyment of the book.

gswain's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. There was history, friendship, romance, and mystery. It had a great pace to it as well.