return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
   First Impressions: Book Reviews

Member Reviews of forthcoming books.

Book Jacket

The Lieutenant
by Kate Grenville

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication date: 09/08/2009.
Historical Fiction, 320 pp.

Number of reader reviews: 17
Readers' Consensus: 4.0
More information
Buy This Book
First Impressions: Page 3 of 3
Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Katherine Y. (Albuquerque, NM)

Interesting subject, lovely writing, but too short
Ms. Grenville book has some lovely imagery and great writing and the historical theme is very interesting, but overall it seems that not enough time is spent on any of the elements of the story. I was left wishing for a deeper examination of the characters and events. Recommend reading English Passengers by Matthew Kneale, a book with a similar subject but deeper exploration of story and characters.

Rated 1 of 5 of 5 by Margo A. (Rehoboth, MA)

Not For Me
The Lieutenant was a difficult read.  I found the vocabulary not to be user-friendly, often using terms that are uncommon.  The sentences were often convoluted and hard to understand.  The story is lacking in purpose, there seems to be no theme nor any successful conclusion.  While Lt. Rooke found some thread of humanity in his interactions with Tagaran and some of the natives, the book never really gave the reader any sense of how this had made a difference in his life.  He ended pretty much as he began - alone -  Would not recommend this book to anyone.

Rated 1 of 5 of 5 by Cheri W. (Grand Rapids, MN)

Um, yeah if I was in Leavenworth... maybe
So, yeah. This book started off reallllly slow. Then just when you thought, hey something is going to happen... nothing happens. But if you suffer from insomnia this is the book to take to bed. Or if you are locked up for a really long time and have read everything else in the library..give this book a gander. I did not much care for the lead in this story or for that matter his friends. I found the depiction of the "savages" to be average and basically the same old text I have read a million times. Oh how the savages wait for the young soldiers to show them the right way. Oh how relationships are made then thrown away with distrust. Oh how I have read this book and seen the "Very Special Brady" version of it. Even after reading the book, I am not quite sure what the plot was for certain. However, as a fan of WWII books and fast paced fction, I was disappointed. May I recommend Dark Places, Shanghai Girls, or Sarah's Key instead... much better reads as the winter days start on us!

« prev   1 2 3

Become a Member
Click Here
Editor's Choice
  •  May 20 
  •  May 18 
  •  May 16 
Fever
Mary Beth Keane

Fever Jacket

A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
The Woman Upstairs
Claire Messud

The Woman Upstairs Jacket

The riveting confession of a woman awakened, transformed, and betrayed by passion and desire for a world beyond her own.
How to Create the Perfect Wife
Wendy Moore

How to Create the Perfect Wife Jacket

Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Movies Based on Books: Summer 2013 (May - August)
Jewish Young Adult Books That Are Not About The Holocaust
Books to Give This Mother's Day
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight... read more
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on... read more
The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. The Help
Kathryn Stockett
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
3. A Child Called It
Dave Pelzer
4. Half the Sky
Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
5. The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
More...
Book Club Recommendations
The Gods of Gotham
by Lyndsay Faye
Paperback (Mar/13)
Forgotten Country
by Catherine Chung
Paperback (Mar/13)
Philida
by André Brink
Paperback (Feb/13)
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn
Hardback (Jun/12)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
The Last Girl
by Jane Casey
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Caretaker
by A .X. Ahmad
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Sisterhood
by Helen Bryan
Four Stars            (Apr/13)
Golden Boy
by Abigail Tarttelin
4.5 Stars            (May/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales. (May 20 2013)
Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: Which of these Summer movies based on books would you like to see? (Info on each movie here)
The Great Gatsby
Epic
Man of Steel
World War Z
The Lone Ranger
The Wolverine
R.I.P.D.
Percy Jackson
Paranoia
The Mortal Instruments
Select Any That Apply
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters
The Light Between Oceans

Online Book Club
More about
Five Days
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
The Pigeon Pie Mystery


Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"I I M B T Give T T R"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Menna van Praag
Erica Brown
Helga Weiss
Kate Morton
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us