sweetpeppah's review against another edition
2.0
contrived but interesting exploration of the spectrum of reactions and ripples of adoption from two adopted siblings who look for their birthmothers as adults. the POV switches around so you get intimate with each birthmother and their families, the adopting parents, and the spouses, children and coworkers of the adopted brother and sister. she explains and analyzes the emotion explicitly, which might be tedious for some people but is right up my alley :) none of it particularly matches my experience(birthmother) or those of adopted adults i know. the two birthmothers have very extreme experiences(i don't want to spoil it), and there were a lot of painfully stupid decisions made among the rest of the characters. the emotions were real, but i had trouble believing the resulting actions. the one point that did resonate is that maybe somehow a baby knows whether it is *wanted*, it might absorb that from its mother in the 9 months they spend together and that feeling stays with them and affects how they feel about being adopted and family in general.
vhop's review against another edition
4.0
This was the 2nd Trollope book I've read and this time it wasn't a disappointment. (the first one was A Girl From the South and I just couldn't relate at all with the characters.) Brother and Sister is a well written description of two adopted children looking for their birth moms. After this I might take up more books by Trollope. It's always nice to find a good author whose books are "a safe bet".
kellyhitchcock's review against another edition
3.0
It was well-written (despite the couple typos I found) but I just didn't find the plot engaging enough or the characters compelling enough to really get into. I didn't really get much of a visceral pull into what should have been a very emotional subject matter. That said, I think Trollope accurately captured the feeling of someone finding a birth parent after many many years.
The ending was big downer for me. Everything just kind of falls apart and falls flat. I'll give Trollope another try, but this one didn't do it for me.
The ending was big downer for me. Everything just kind of falls apart and falls flat. I'll give Trollope another try, but this one didn't do it for me.
monsterenergies's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
sarah1984's review against another edition
3/1 - I found this a bit dull and eventless. It took me about half the book to really get into it. In the end I just skimmed the last few chapters, I couldn’t be bothered reading it completely, I just wanted to know the final outcome, which wasn’t all that interesting in the end anyway. I wouldn’t recommend it to any of my friends, it wasn’t a bad book just not my kind of story or writing style.
nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2723374.html
A novel about grownup siblings who have always known that they were adopted, and decide to find out about their birth parents, upending existing relationships with their adopted family and their spouses. I don't have personal experience of adoption myself, and I wonder whether Trollope really does either; the plot had no surprises and I didn't feel that the characters' reactions to their new self-knowledge rose much above cliche. It's a long time since I read any Joanna Trollope, and my memory is that her books were mostly better than this.
A novel about grownup siblings who have always known that they were adopted, and decide to find out about their birth parents, upending existing relationships with their adopted family and their spouses. I don't have personal experience of adoption myself, and I wonder whether Trollope really does either; the plot had no surprises and I didn't feel that the characters' reactions to their new self-knowledge rose much above cliche. It's a long time since I read any Joanna Trollope, and my memory is that her books were mostly better than this.
em_beddedinbooks's review against another edition
4.0
A slightly slow paced novel which deals with adoption and its aftermath. Two adopted children, a girl and a boy (brother and sister of the title) go in search of their natural parents, though they had a comfortable life at home with their loving adoptive parents. Their identity search upsets the apple cart and causes distress, depression, feeling of inadequacy and similar negative emotions in their near and dear. Their birth mothers are also affected. It was an interesting read with deep psychological issues, which are difficult to decipher at first glance. I was totally in an alter world while reading this book.
janefrance's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this book, it was a different sort of topic and quite easy to read. It was an interesting how the different relationships worked with adopted children/parents/partners etc. It was a good read.
drsarahgrace's review against another edition
3.0
Joanna Trollope reminds me of Anne Tyler, whom I also like... Mom handed me a pile of Trollope novels, and I'm alternating reading them with the rest of my stack. The topic of this one - adult adopted children seeking their birth parents and answers about their past - was compelling, but I kept wanting her to do more, to go deeper. This book just seemed to end abruptly.
katypicken's review against another edition
3.0
Dithered between two and three stars for this, maybe more of a two and a half. The fact that this is a re-read and I could remember nothing about it probably says it all. Superficially enjoyable, but felt unresolved from the points of view of all the characters. I know real life is messy like that, but for no one to come out happier or better or glad it had happened was a bit of a downer. I like Joanna Trollope, but this is far from being my favourite of her books.