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A review by karaklos
Eternal by Lisa Scottoline
2.0
I looked forward to reading Eternal after seeing so many glowing reviews and while I’m glad I read it, it wasn’t a great read for me. The history was interesting...from the Race Laws to the roundup of Jews in the Ghetto, Scottoline did a nice job of showing the progression of atrocities against the Italian Jews. I enjoyed learning about the Jewish community in Rome and hearing some of the individual stories such as the genius mathematician forced to quit the university he taught at, the theft of precious Jewish texts, and the creation of Syndrome K at the hospital.
The descriptions of the characters (a list of each character’s eyes, nose, and mouth type) and the dialogue were amateurish.
The main characters are three teenage friends who are in a friendly love triangle. This is where it got irksome for me. I had no interest in their silly love story. The first half had a strong YA feel to it. I wish more time had been spent on other topics. Elizabetta has two traumatic events occur with her parents and both were glossed over.
Elizabetta’s friendship with Nonna who owned the restaurant she worked at was lovely and I wished more time was spent on their relationship. I also would have enjoyed learning more about Gemma’s job as a nurse or Sandro’s mathematical abilities.
I was very confused when a couple of women and their kids moved in with Elizabetta and it was never mentioned again. Also, she was able to run the restaurant all by herself when she was just a server before.
There are a number of crazy, tragic events in the book that were too contrived. It seemed that the author was trying to grab a hold of as many heart strings as she could for maximum effect. The ending action scene was completely ridiculous.
I enjoyed the numerous descriptions of Italian food.
The descriptions of the characters (a list of each character’s eyes, nose, and mouth type) and the dialogue were amateurish.
The main characters are three teenage friends who are in a friendly love triangle. This is where it got irksome for me. I had no interest in their silly love story. The first half had a strong YA feel to it. I wish more time had been spent on other topics. Elizabetta has two traumatic events occur with her parents and both were glossed over.
Elizabetta’s friendship with Nonna who owned the restaurant she worked at was lovely and I wished more time was spent on their relationship. I also would have enjoyed learning more about Gemma’s job as a nurse or Sandro’s mathematical abilities.
I was very confused when a couple of women and their kids moved in with Elizabetta and it was never mentioned again. Also, she was able to run the restaurant all by herself when she was just a server before.
There are a number of crazy, tragic events in the book that were too contrived. It seemed that the author was trying to grab a hold of as many heart strings as she could for maximum effect. The ending action scene was completely ridiculous.
I enjoyed the numerous descriptions of Italian food.