girlgotnoidentity's review against another edition
2.0
This novel is the second installment of Kate Kerrigan’s Ellis Island. In here, Ellie, in her early thirties, becomes a widow when her husband, John dies of a sudden heart attack. Left with only the pain of her husband’s passing, she decided to leave the small town of Kilmoy, Ireland to go back to New York City- the state she once belongs to.
To be honest, I have no idea that this novel is a part of a series when I bought it. I am the kind of reader who buys books on impulse. It has been my tradition that once in a while I will buy novels and titles that did not and will never make it to the New York Times bestselling list because when perceive in totality, they are actually the best and holds the greatest things within the readers’ hearts. Although they do not have the recognition of great book reviewers around the world, I have in me the faith that great works of literature are hard to find. And I think it is great taking some risks at a certain moment in our lives. Enough with my tradition and stuff, I would start my review with the City of Hope by saying that this novel gives me hope. I don’t want to sound cliché in here, but it is really true. I’m glad that I have found this gem of literature in one of my book quests.
City of Hope’s storyline is good. Not the best, but it is good. What I admire and love most about this novel is its setting. I am very verbal about how much I love a certain story when it is set in the earlier time or era, and the City of Hope is no exception. I love how it showcases the early New York City and at the same time some part and time in Ireland. Recently, I just read Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is Also a Star, and as for the people who haven’t read it just yet, it is also set in New York City however in the present time. I like how my imagination kind of wonder from the two novels with the same settings, and although I love Nicola Yoon’s setting, I like the earlier picture of New York in the City of Hope. Even though, given that New York City is already developed as a city compares to other cities and states in the world, I can still picture out the simplicity of things back then. That is why I always consider myself as a fan of novels set in an earlier time because it brings me to a different perspective and at the same time let me live in a different time.
I totally enjoy my reading process of this novel. It has been a light read and in some way kind of inspires me to continue living the way Ellie handles her life in the story. I’m truly grateful to Kate Kerrigan and to all the authors in the world who write and offer literature that inspires their readers during and after they read their work. With all this being said, I‘d like to recommend this book to my Goodreads friends and to everyone who will/currently reading this book review to give this book/series a try. It is a journey filled with both pain and joy, of depression and moving forward, of ups and downs, and everything in between the beauty of life itself.
To be honest, I have no idea that this novel is a part of a series when I bought it. I am the kind of reader who buys books on impulse. It has been my tradition that once in a while I will buy novels and titles that did not and will never make it to the New York Times bestselling list because when perceive in totality, they are actually the best and holds the greatest things within the readers’ hearts. Although they do not have the recognition of great book reviewers around the world, I have in me the faith that great works of literature are hard to find. And I think it is great taking some risks at a certain moment in our lives. Enough with my tradition and stuff, I would start my review with the City of Hope by saying that this novel gives me hope. I don’t want to sound cliché in here, but it is really true. I’m glad that I have found this gem of literature in one of my book quests.
City of Hope’s storyline is good. Not the best, but it is good. What I admire and love most about this novel is its setting. I am very verbal about how much I love a certain story when it is set in the earlier time or era, and the City of Hope is no exception. I love how it showcases the early New York City and at the same time some part and time in Ireland. Recently, I just read Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is Also a Star, and as for the people who haven’t read it just yet, it is also set in New York City however in the present time. I like how my imagination kind of wonder from the two novels with the same settings, and although I love Nicola Yoon’s setting, I like the earlier picture of New York in the City of Hope. Even though, given that New York City is already developed as a city compares to other cities and states in the world, I can still picture out the simplicity of things back then. That is why I always consider myself as a fan of novels set in an earlier time because it brings me to a different perspective and at the same time let me live in a different time.
I totally enjoy my reading process of this novel. It has been a light read and in some way kind of inspires me to continue living the way Ellie handles her life in the story. I’m truly grateful to Kate Kerrigan and to all the authors in the world who write and offer literature that inspires their readers during and after they read their work. With all this being said, I‘d like to recommend this book to my Goodreads friends and to everyone who will/currently reading this book review to give this book/series a try. It is a journey filled with both pain and joy, of depression and moving forward, of ups and downs, and everything in between the beauty of life itself.
saycheeze37's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed Ellie's first story more, but this had its own merits. I felt it dragged in a few places, but I enjoyed that Ellie didn't settle.
serenaac's review against another edition
4.0
City of Hope by Kate Kerrigan is the second novel in the life of Ellie Hogan (if you haven’t read Ellis Island, this review could contain spoilers), a young Irish woman who has traveled to New York City to help save her first love’s mobility and returned home to find her family torn by tragedy. Beginning in the 1930s, Ellie has settled back into her Irish life without electricity and indoor plumbing, embarking on unconventional business ventures for a woman. While her family may stand back and allow her to continue with her ambitions, the resentment and angst these businesses bring into their lives simmers beneath the surface. Ellie is far from the conventional house wife and mother of Ireland, and she knows that she’s the star of her own small town’s gossip, but as long as her life is calm at home, that is all that matters to her.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2013/08/city-of-hope-by-kate-kerrigan.html
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2013/08/city-of-hope-by-kate-kerrigan.html
beckylej's review against another edition
5.0
The story picks up in 1934, Ellie has expanded beyond her country store and now owns a typing school and salon. Because the couple has never been able to have kids Ellie has thrown herself into work, and while John isn't necessarily happy about it, he is supportive and understanding of her needs. But when John suddenly dies, Ellie finds herself fleeing back to New York. Things have changed since she left and the Depression has left the city a shadow of what it once was. Here, Ellie finds a new purpose in helping those who have suffered the most.
John freaking dies?! Agh!
Now that I've got that out, I'm all good. You'll notice that I elected to read both ELLIS ISLAND and CITY OF HOPE for review today; it actually isn't really necessary to read Ellis Island in order to jump into City at all, though I do recommend it, simply because I love Ellie and her story.
So Ellie returns to New York City, in a rush, and finds that her salvation isn't quite as she remembered it. And while she's doing well thanks to her business savvy in Ireland, many of those around her are not. She immediately looks up some old friends and finds that Mrs. Flannery has lost her husband as well and is living in not so great conditions while working full time at a laundry. The many homeless throughout the city gives Ellie an idea, however, one that she quickly recruits Mrs. Flannery for as well.
CITY OF HOPE has an all new cast of characters, which once again illustrates Kerrigan's strength in building real and believable people to fill out her story. Again, Ellie comes across as admirable and adaptable, but again throwing herself into another project to avoid facing her husband's death.
I also thought that Kerrigan did a great job capturing the spirit of the time and place: New York just after Roosevelt has come into office. The desperation and strength that those who suffered most must have felt - something that's represented best through the male characters in the book. And Ireland in the 1930s, too. The place that Ellie longed to escape so badly offered her the success she needed to be able to tackle her projects in New York City.
The end by no means wraps up Ellie's story, there's a whole new book for that! If you're in the UK, you get an earlier stab at it than we will since LAND OF DREAMS is out now in hardcover (due out in paperback this fall - I'm jealous! I really would have jumped immediately into book three after turning the final page of CITY OF HOPE had that been an option for me!
John freaking dies?! Agh!
Now that I've got that out, I'm all good. You'll notice that I elected to read both ELLIS ISLAND and CITY OF HOPE for review today; it actually isn't really necessary to read Ellis Island in order to jump into City at all, though I do recommend it, simply because I love Ellie and her story.
So Ellie returns to New York City, in a rush, and finds that her salvation isn't quite as she remembered it. And while she's doing well thanks to her business savvy in Ireland, many of those around her are not. She immediately looks up some old friends and finds that Mrs. Flannery has lost her husband as well and is living in not so great conditions while working full time at a laundry. The many homeless throughout the city gives Ellie an idea, however, one that she quickly recruits Mrs. Flannery for as well.
CITY OF HOPE has an all new cast of characters, which once again illustrates Kerrigan's strength in building real and believable people to fill out her story. Again, Ellie comes across as admirable and adaptable, but again throwing herself into another project to avoid facing her husband's death.
I also thought that Kerrigan did a great job capturing the spirit of the time and place: New York just after Roosevelt has come into office. The desperation and strength that those who suffered most must have felt - something that's represented best through the male characters in the book. And Ireland in the 1930s, too. The place that Ellie longed to escape so badly offered her the success she needed to be able to tackle her projects in New York City.
The end by no means wraps up Ellie's story, there's a whole new book for that! If you're in the UK, you get an earlier stab at it than we will since LAND OF DREAMS is out now in hardcover (due out in paperback this fall - I'm jealous! I really would have jumped immediately into book three after turning the final page of CITY OF HOPE had that been an option for me!
micrummey's review
3.0
This starts off well as Ellie escapes the pressure of the drama of her husband's death to return to New York in the 1930s. I found the plot was full of amazing coincidences, but I couldn't stop reading I had to find out what happened.
The one thing I couldn't get my head around was Ellie's charitable enterprises were being funded by her businesses in Ireland and nothing went wrong in that time. The money kept flowing in.
An old flame turns up and Kerrigan tries to introduce some conflicts that don't really work. Characters come and go, none are developed enough and I don't care much about them. Indeed Bridie in New York and Maidy in Ireland seemed to be identical characters.
The interaction between Ellie and some New York gangsters seemed totally unreal and the introduction of a severed hand was black comedy straight out of something like Monty Python.
The ending seemed to meander and it came to a sudden jolting stop. This was completely different to the prologue which was gripping and showed the sadness of losing a child in pregnancy setting up some of Ellie's motives in New York.
The one thing I couldn't get my head around was Ellie's charitable enterprises were being funded by her businesses in Ireland and nothing went wrong in that time. The money kept flowing in.
An old flame turns up and Kerrigan tries to introduce some conflicts that don't really work. Characters come and go, none are developed enough and I don't care much about them. Indeed Bridie in New York and Maidy in Ireland seemed to be identical characters.
The interaction between Ellie and some New York gangsters seemed totally unreal and the introduction of a severed hand was black comedy straight out of something like Monty Python.
The ending seemed to meander and it came to a sudden jolting stop. This was completely different to the prologue which was gripping and showed the sadness of losing a child in pregnancy setting up some of Ellie's motives in New York.
bookchickjlm's review
3.0
This is the follow-up novel to Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan, and now we find Ellie back in Ireland with her husband, running her own businesses and struggling with her inability to have children. But when her husband dies suddenly, Ellie runs from all she loves, unable to deal with the grief, back to New York City. She finds the city changed from her previous time there, and her plans of shopping and dining with old friends are overshadowed by the realities of the Great Depression. Trying to distract herself from dealing with her grief, Ellie throws herself into opening homes, in a commune-like setting, for the homeless. It seems to be working until one day someone from her past shows up at the door, opening up new emotions and possibilities, while eventually forcing her to confront her grief, and eventually to return to Ireland and face her past.
I didn’t like this installment of the series as much as the first, but it may just be that it suffers from the 2nd-in-a-trilogy syndrome, and the third book will pull me back in. In spite of Ellie’s generosity and charity to others, I found her to be annoyingly self-centered and overly proud of herself and her independence in this book. Having said that, I was still anxious to see what would become of her, and was pulled in by the descriptions of that time in NYC and by the people that surrounded her.
See more on my blog at www.watchingthewords.com
I didn’t like this installment of the series as much as the first, but it may just be that it suffers from the 2nd-in-a-trilogy syndrome, and the third book will pull me back in. In spite of Ellie’s generosity and charity to others, I found her to be annoyingly self-centered and overly proud of herself and her independence in this book. Having said that, I was still anxious to see what would become of her, and was pulled in by the descriptions of that time in NYC and by the people that surrounded her.
See more on my blog at www.watchingthewords.com
bringmybooks's review
5.0
After reading the first installment, I was completely satisfied with the ending that Kerrigan had given Ellie & John. After finding out that she had written another, I found myself very pleased that Kerrigan is in charge of this story and not me! (And even more pleased that she's writing a third novel about Ellie!)
I particularly enjoyed the way that she didn't shy away from Ellie's weaknesses. I might not like every choice that Ellie makes, but I recognize her as a fallible character and respect Kerrigan's writing much more because of her honest way of writing Ellie. It was a beautiful story, and while I was heartbroken to see Ellie's husband pass, I was glad to see her story continue.
She returns to New York, finding it vastly different from her memory of 10 years prior. Soon everything changes for Ellie. Her initial plan was to run away from Ireland and her grief, but as she turns to helping those in need around her, she instead finds this the perfect solution to delay her grief (albeit not forever...).
This book was brilliant. I loved how many characters she brought back from the first novel, and how, once again, their side stories were fleshed out quite well without detracting from Ellie's main story-line.
Cannot wait to read more by this lovely author!
I particularly enjoyed the way that she didn't shy away from Ellie's weaknesses. I might not like every choice that Ellie makes, but I recognize her as a fallible character and respect Kerrigan's writing much more because of her honest way of writing Ellie. It was a beautiful story, and while I was heartbroken to see Ellie's husband pass, I was glad to see her story continue.
She returns to New York, finding it vastly different from her memory of 10 years prior. Soon everything changes for Ellie. Her initial plan was to run away from Ireland and her grief, but as she turns to helping those in need around her, she instead finds this the perfect solution to delay her grief (albeit not forever...).
This book was brilliant. I loved how many characters she brought back from the first novel, and how, once again, their side stories were fleshed out quite well without detracting from Ellie's main story-line.
Cannot wait to read more by this lovely author!
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