celandine's review against another edition
5.0
A true story stitched together with love and life's tribulations. always a stunningly good book by Chiavrini.
nell1120's review against another edition
2.0
This is the 8th Elm Creek Quilts novel I've read (I'm reading them in chronological order). I discovered the first one back in 2019. While I haven't done reviews on the others, I felt compelled to write on this one. Clearly, I enjoy the series enough to continue reading them, but this has been my least favorite to date.
At the beginning of the second chapter, it took me a minute to realize we were going to cover the same timeline from a different character's point of view. In the 3rd chapter, I realized we were going to see this for all the main characters. While somewhat interesting for the first few chapters, it got tiresome after a while.
Additionally, I felt that many of the characters were acting, well, out of character as we've come to know them through the previous novels. They are a group of close women who usually confide in each other, celebrating successes, commiserating when things aren't so great. So to see them all harboring secrets and not confiding in each other just seemed off. And worse, making assumptions as to how they felt the others would react to their situations.
Lastly, Craig was despicable. Admittedly, it's been some time since I read one of the books where he was more prominently featured (and he wasn't so great back then either), but compared to what I recall of that book, the character presented this time around was like a completely different person, with no real explanation as to how he devolved into this horrible person, so mean and conniving. (Definitely not looking to defend him in any way, more just confused as to how he was written this time around....or maybe I'm just misremembering how he was before and it's not so far of a stretch?)
Having said all that, I don't intend to stop reading the books (and in fact, have the next 2 from the library right here next to me), but I do hope they get better.
At the beginning of the second chapter, it took me a minute to realize we were going to cover the same timeline from a different character's point of view. In the 3rd chapter, I realized we were going to see this for all the main characters. While somewhat interesting for the first few chapters, it got tiresome after a while.
Additionally, I felt that many of the characters were acting, well, out of character as we've come to know them through the previous novels. They are a group of close women who usually confide in each other, celebrating successes, commiserating when things aren't so great. So to see them all harboring secrets and not confiding in each other just seemed off. And worse, making assumptions as to how they felt the others would react to their situations.
Lastly, Craig was despicable. Admittedly, it's been some time since I read one of the books where he was more prominently featured (and he wasn't so great back then either), but compared to what I recall of that book, the character presented this time around was like a completely different person, with no real explanation as to how he devolved into this horrible person, so mean and conniving. (Definitely not looking to defend him in any way, more just confused as to how he was written this time around....or maybe I'm just misremembering how he was before and it's not so far of a stretch?)
Having said all that, I don't intend to stop reading the books (and in fact, have the next 2 from the library right here next to me), but I do hope they get better.
rachelb36's review
4.0
Just what I needed: A cozy, clean read about a community of quilters!
Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective. Instead of each character picking up the story where the previous one left off, though, most of the chapters cover the same time period, so various plot points and dialogue exchanges are repeated, which I didn't love. A couple of minor characters also acted in ways that seemed unrealistic.
On the moral front, premarital sex is portrayed as being relatively acceptable (though there is no description of it).
All the same, it was a nice break from the nonfiction I tend to read. I'll definitely keep turning to this series in the future for all my fluffy-but-not-too-fluffy reading needs.
Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective. Instead of each character picking up the story where the previous one left off, though, most of the chapters cover the same time period, so various plot points and dialogue exchanges are repeated, which I didn't love. A couple of minor characters also acted in ways that seemed unrealistic.
On the moral front, premarital sex is portrayed as being relatively acceptable (though there is no description of it).
All the same, it was a nice break from the nonfiction I tend to read. I'll definitely keep turning to this series in the future for all my fluffy-but-not-too-fluffy reading needs.
saraplovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Getting to know the characters over the last few books made this book even more special. Loved the different points of view.
marilynmalloy's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed it. Took me a while to read though, as so many events were gone over so many times by so many people....
:)
One to the next one shortly...
:)
One to the next one shortly...
inspired's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't like this book as much as I have the rest of the series. That's not to say it isn't any good; it just isn't up to the standard I've come to expect from Chiaverini. It can be read as a standalone or as a part of the series; and for that fact I'm not going to recap the other 5 books as they are varied and irrelevant to this novel.
This book starts out with the Elm Creek Quilter's deciding to make a surprise wedding quilt for Sylvia, who wed her sweetheart Andrew on Christmas Eve. They send out a bunch of letters to all her friends and past students at the Elm Creek Quilter's retreat to ask for quilt blocks that makes the creators think of Sylvia.
While this is going on, each of the quilter's has some big person issues going on as well. Bonnie has to deal with her failing business and good for nothing husband, as well as consider a divorce. Summer has moved in with her boyfriend but is afraid to tell everyone and debates whether she has made the right decision. Diane thinks that her boys are up to no good and getting in trouble again. She also feuds with her neighbor who is the president of a rival quilting guild. (Geez does that make these ladies sound vicious, really, they're not.) Judy must decide whether to accept a job in a far away city and leave her fellow quilters. Agnes and Summer just find themselves helping their friends the best that they can. With everything going on, plus a robbery, it's a struggle to see if they can finish Sylvia's quilt in time.
The characters in this as always are wonderful and I like hearing more about them, but I noticed in this book Chiaverini separates them as good or evil, with no shades of grey. In particular, Bonnie's husband and Diane's neighbor are just despicable horrible people. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever and just serve as evil villains in this book. There doesn't seem to be any real motive to their horribleness.
The writing is easy to understand. She doesn't seem to be as descriptive in this book as normal except when it comes to block patterns. The rest of the book just has a minimal amount of detail. The writing is unoffensive though and an easy read. Chiaverini also chose to write this book in a different style than the others. Basically she recaps the events of a couple months through six different people's eyes. While this can be a neat way to write, I just got tired of hearing essentially the same thing over and over again.
I might just be a bit biased because I've come to expect a heartwarming story from Chiaverini. This book just makes me angry at some parts and didn't relax me like I was hoping. I'll still continue to read the series, but I hope they go back to being like her other books instead of this one.
The Master Quilter
Copyright 2004
327 pages
This book starts out with the Elm Creek Quilter's deciding to make a surprise wedding quilt for Sylvia, who wed her sweetheart Andrew on Christmas Eve. They send out a bunch of letters to all her friends and past students at the Elm Creek Quilter's retreat to ask for quilt blocks that makes the creators think of Sylvia.
While this is going on, each of the quilter's has some big person issues going on as well. Bonnie has to deal with her failing business and good for nothing husband, as well as consider a divorce. Summer has moved in with her boyfriend but is afraid to tell everyone and debates whether she has made the right decision. Diane thinks that her boys are up to no good and getting in trouble again. She also feuds with her neighbor who is the president of a rival quilting guild. (Geez does that make these ladies sound vicious, really, they're not.) Judy must decide whether to accept a job in a far away city and leave her fellow quilters. Agnes and Summer just find themselves helping their friends the best that they can. With everything going on, plus a robbery, it's a struggle to see if they can finish Sylvia's quilt in time.
The characters in this as always are wonderful and I like hearing more about them, but I noticed in this book Chiaverini separates them as good or evil, with no shades of grey. In particular, Bonnie's husband and Diane's neighbor are just despicable horrible people. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever and just serve as evil villains in this book. There doesn't seem to be any real motive to their horribleness.
The writing is easy to understand. She doesn't seem to be as descriptive in this book as normal except when it comes to block patterns. The rest of the book just has a minimal amount of detail. The writing is unoffensive though and an easy read. Chiaverini also chose to write this book in a different style than the others. Basically she recaps the events of a couple months through six different people's eyes. While this can be a neat way to write, I just got tired of hearing essentially the same thing over and over again.
I might just be a bit biased because I've come to expect a heartwarming story from Chiaverini. This book just makes me angry at some parts and didn't relax me like I was hoping. I'll still continue to read the series, but I hope they go back to being like her other books instead of this one.
The Master Quilter
Copyright 2004
327 pages
hkeeney7398's review
3.0
I love learning the story lines around the quilters, however this one did seem a tad drawn out with the multiple storylines, but I still enjoyed it.
vdoprincess's review
3.0
For some reason I love this series. There's nothing earthshattering about them, I don't learn anything new or about myself, but I finish each book wanting to learn more about our handicraft heritage. I suppose that's the point, really.
ncrabb's review
These Elm Creek novels are all wonderfully written, clean, somewhat suspenseful, occasionally romantic, and filled with that small-town flavor you'll want to sample repeatedly. In this particular novel, the Elm Creek manner is gearing up to take in its summer quilting campers. But it'sa busy year indeed. All of the quilters have been secretly asked to create blocks for a bridle quilt for the master quilter among them, Sylvia. The goal is to keep the creation secret from her until it can be unveiled during the summer quilting classes at the manner. But lots of things get in the way. Bonnie, who owns Grandma's Attic quilt shop, is losing a marriage of more than 30 years, and a property management company has purchased her building and wants to up her rent. Worse yet, her shop is vandalized and her insurance won't pay, suspecting that the vandalism is an inside job.
Quilt instructor Judy is considering a new job with Penn State, which means she would leave the close-knit quilting community of Elm Creek behind. Fellow quilt instructor Gwen faces difficulty at the local college where she's slated to become a department chair, and her daughter Summer, who works at Bonnie's shop, is about to move in with her boyfriend--a secret she's kept from Gwen for too long. Diane, who also works at bonnie's shop, desperately needs mony to pay the tuition for her son's ivy league school ambitions, and she may know something about who broke into the shop.
In short, these characters are charming, creative people brought to life by a creative writer who is highly skilled in her use of the language. My only real exposure to quilting included crawling around under my mother's quilting frames as a small child. When she had fabric stretched over those, it was like being in a tiny house within the house. So I know nothing about blocks and patterns and such. But this author is skilled enough iat creating great characters who stay with you that you don't need to know a thing about quilting or even want to quilt. I've not read all of the books in this series, but I expect I will. These are better than LDS fiction, and they're pretty much as clean and far more compelling than most of it. This is just small-town heartland America at its best written by someone who is at the top of her game.
Quilt instructor Judy is considering a new job with Penn State, which means she would leave the close-knit quilting community of Elm Creek behind. Fellow quilt instructor Gwen faces difficulty at the local college where she's slated to become a department chair, and her daughter Summer, who works at Bonnie's shop, is about to move in with her boyfriend--a secret she's kept from Gwen for too long. Diane, who also works at bonnie's shop, desperately needs mony to pay the tuition for her son's ivy league school ambitions, and she may know something about who broke into the shop.
In short, these characters are charming, creative people brought to life by a creative writer who is highly skilled in her use of the language. My only real exposure to quilting included crawling around under my mother's quilting frames as a small child. When she had fabric stretched over those, it was like being in a tiny house within the house. So I know nothing about blocks and patterns and such. But this author is skilled enough iat creating great characters who stay with you that you don't need to know a thing about quilting or even want to quilt. I've not read all of the books in this series, but I expect I will. These are better than LDS fiction, and they're pretty much as clean and far more compelling than most of it. This is just small-town heartland America at its best written by someone who is at the top of her game.