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kimreadz's review against another edition
4.0
I like the cover on this book, but I was drawn to it because of the title. When I am not reading, I am usually working on my family history, so when I saw ‘Family Tree’ I was immediately interested. Once I read the synopsis, of course, I knew the story had nothing to do with genealogy, but was even more interested in reading the book!
As the story starts, Annie realizes there are minor issues in her marriage, but still believes she has a wonderful life with a wonderful husband and a great career. But that all ends quickly when there is an accident on the set of Annie’s show and she is seriously injured. One year later, Annie awakens from her coma to find she has been moved back to her hometown in Vermont for recovery. She must relearn even the most basic skills. And as she recovers, she learns everything she knew about her old life is no longer true—she is a new Annie.
The first half of the book tells the story of Annie’s physical recovery; how she learns to speak, to walk, etc. While I found her miraculous survival a little unrealistic, I did enjoy reading about her recovery at the rehab facility. As she regains her memories, we learn about her past; her high school boyfriend, how she met her husband, how her career developed, etc.
The rest of the book is the story about Annie’s life after recovery; how she comes to deal with her past and to move on. We get to know Annie’s family and her childhood friends. And we learn a lot about the production of maple syrup, which I found fascinating. Possibly my favorite character in the book is one we met only in Annie’s memories of the past, her grandmother who taught her to cook.
Overall I enjoyed the story, though the outcome was a little predictable. I also felt that the ending was a little rushed; that things were resolved just a little too easily. It was a quick read that someone with free time could easily finish in a day! With the descriptions of snowy Vermont scenes, the warmth of fires, and the scents of maple syrup, this would be a great choice for a lazy winter afternoon!
This book review is included in a tour by TLC Book Tours. I was provided a copy for review purposes.
As the story starts, Annie realizes there are minor issues in her marriage, but still believes she has a wonderful life with a wonderful husband and a great career. But that all ends quickly when there is an accident on the set of Annie’s show and she is seriously injured. One year later, Annie awakens from her coma to find she has been moved back to her hometown in Vermont for recovery. She must relearn even the most basic skills. And as she recovers, she learns everything she knew about her old life is no longer true—she is a new Annie.
The first half of the book tells the story of Annie’s physical recovery; how she learns to speak, to walk, etc. While I found her miraculous survival a little unrealistic, I did enjoy reading about her recovery at the rehab facility. As she regains her memories, we learn about her past; her high school boyfriend, how she met her husband, how her career developed, etc.
The rest of the book is the story about Annie’s life after recovery; how she comes to deal with her past and to move on. We get to know Annie’s family and her childhood friends. And we learn a lot about the production of maple syrup, which I found fascinating. Possibly my favorite character in the book is one we met only in Annie’s memories of the past, her grandmother who taught her to cook.
Overall I enjoyed the story, though the outcome was a little predictable. I also felt that the ending was a little rushed; that things were resolved just a little too easily. It was a quick read that someone with free time could easily finish in a day! With the descriptions of snowy Vermont scenes, the warmth of fires, and the scents of maple syrup, this would be a great choice for a lazy winter afternoon!
This book review is included in a tour by TLC Book Tours. I was provided a copy for review purposes.
bookhoarder76's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great easy read. Loved the characters and the setting in Vermont was amazing at times I felt like I was rot there with them.
sharonsm_28's review against another edition
4.0
This was an enjoyable read. Also, this is my first Susan Wiggs book that I have read. The story was well-written. Annie is a film producer of a cooking show about her husband who is a chef, Martin. They are expecting their first child, but then things take a turn when Annie wakes up from a yearlong coma. The story takes in a dual perspective of Annie's past in flashback, and the present. I did not like her husband, Martin. I thought that he was a jerk. However, her high school boyfriend who is now a judge, Fletcher Wyndham is my favourite. I love how he is with Annie. I love him so much, and his son is good too. I am glad I read a Susan Wiggs book. I cannot wait to read more. Overall, a great read.
apalu's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
peyton_'s review against another edition
3.0
A slow burn, reflective romance. It was an alright book. The romance really dragged out and I would definitely say it is more reflective than romance, but there is an HEA. I didn’t like the now and then timelines, but I understand why it was done that way. I’m not a huge fan of Fletcher, as he seemed bland to me, but part of that may have been the narrators voice choice. I noticed several holes in this book as well as plot points that took a long while to be addressed. Overall, a very meh book.
aileenmaria's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
hedleyreads's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
qu33nofbookz's review against another edition
3.0
So this story starts with Annie a young woman who seems to have it all. She's a smart woman and great cook who is the producer of a top rated cooking show starring her husband Martin. However even though she is a great cook she isn't in front of the camera because she doesn't have the right look ethnic wise according to the network. (No mention of what ethnicity she actually is can be found in the book but by description maybe Italian?) Other than that her life is perfect....too perfect if you ask me. She is also a bit of a pushover and a vain doormat, but more on that later. She has just discovered that she is pregnant and rushes to work to tell her hubby. (Lots of foreshadowing of events to come that are very in your face and obvious). When she arrives at work she finds hubby cheating with his young, perky, blonde, big boobed cohost (who was a talentless nobody who was hired because she looked right for their image...whatever that was.) She storms off only to get caught up in an accident that puts her in a coma for a year with a traumatic brain injury (which really isn't by the time she wakes up). Back in her hometown her first true love Fletcher is at home with his young son who is watching Annie's cooking show which was filmed right after she was in this accident like it never happened, her hubby couldn't care less (we know he's an a**hole from the cheating bit but I suspect he'll be even worse as the story goes on.)
The rest of the story is presented in parts of now (from when Annie wakes up from her coma) and then (her senior year of high school to when she created her show and married Martin). She goes from a confident teen and take no bullshit young woman into a doormat and there is no reason why at all seen. When Annie wakes up from her coma caused by traumatic brain injury she spends a month learning to walk and do everyday things all over again....a month....get real! By the end of two months she is driving and drinking like nothing happened when she should still be recovering and on to many pills to drink alcohol. Her family isn't rich but they only mention money problems once in passing from all her medical bills. Her brother's reaction to this is to start growing pot because hey soon it will be legal in their state...maybe.
In the flashbacks we see her meet Fletcher, grow to love him, have her mother try to split them up, his dad get into an accident and lose his legs, they break up and she moves on when she meets Martin. In the present she learns Martin divorced her while she was in her coma (not believable) and had her shipped home like luggage and has been using her medical money from the accident for himself. She comes up with a new way to make money off her family's Maple syrup operation and starts cooking again. Her old network wants her back but she doesn't want to work with her ex but he made up paperwork when she was in love with him and when she was out of it that she couldn't do anything without him. She gets out of it because of some loophole in the state he divorced her in and because of her condition she couldn't contest anything, also Fletcher the judge will help her out. In the very end she marries Fletcher and has a new show and a baby on the way and we have to assume that Martin got what he deserved as his show was likely canceled and she had a lawsuit against him for her hospital money and a resettlement of divorce but all that was left out so we'll never know.
The rest of the story is presented in parts of now (from when Annie wakes up from her coma) and then (her senior year of high school to when she created her show and married Martin). She goes from a confident teen and take no bullshit young woman into a doormat and there is no reason why at all seen. When Annie wakes up from her coma caused by traumatic brain injury she spends a month learning to walk and do everyday things all over again....a month....get real! By the end of two months she is driving and drinking like nothing happened when she should still be recovering and on to many pills to drink alcohol. Her family isn't rich but they only mention money problems once in passing from all her medical bills. Her brother's reaction to this is to start growing pot because hey soon it will be legal in their state...maybe.
In the flashbacks we see her meet Fletcher, grow to love him, have her mother try to split them up, his dad get into an accident and lose his legs, they break up and she moves on when she meets Martin. In the present she learns Martin divorced her while she was in her coma (not believable) and had her shipped home like luggage and has been using her medical money from the accident for himself. She comes up with a new way to make money off her family's Maple syrup operation and starts cooking again. Her old network wants her back but she doesn't want to work with her ex but he made up paperwork when she was in love with him and when she was out of it that she couldn't do anything without him. She gets out of it because of some loophole in the state he divorced her in and because of her condition she couldn't contest anything, also Fletcher the judge will help her out. In the very end she marries Fletcher and has a new show and a baby on the way and we have to assume that Martin got what he deserved as his show was likely canceled and she had a lawsuit against him for her hospital money and a resettlement of divorce but all that was left out so we'll never know.
katharines's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars really...
I love some sentimentality, but this book was just dripping with it... often too much of it. Also, why does everyone have to be so perfectly beautiful? The people were all beautiful, the dog was beautiful... it started to feel like a bit too much.
That being said, the imagery and the prose painted a lovely picture. I wish there had been more focus on Gran's cookbook, which was my main draw to picking up the book. The food descriptions made me want to go to the kitchen and cook.
If you're looking for a sentimental love story with picturesque settings and delicious food descriptions, this is a good enough place to start.
I love some sentimentality, but this book was just dripping with it... often too much of it. Also, why does everyone have to be so perfectly beautiful? The people were all beautiful, the dog was beautiful... it started to feel like a bit too much.
That being said, the imagery and the prose painted a lovely picture. I wish there had been more focus on Gran's cookbook, which was my main draw to picking up the book. The food descriptions made me want to go to the kitchen and cook.
If you're looking for a sentimental love story with picturesque settings and delicious food descriptions, this is a good enough place to start.