OK book. Fabulous narration..

I loved this book and I hated it. I loved the story of Julia and he father Anthony. And I loved Thomas, her first love. And Stanley, her best friend. I even liked Adam, her fiancé. What I didn’t like was after all she went through trying to find Thomas (she thought he was dead) after 18 years apart, then finding him in Berlin, then going to bed with him, then leaving him and going back to New York to try to straighten out her life with Adam, I thought was totally ridiculous.

I think if you eliminated all the italics in the book it would have been a 5 star. BUT there was just too much time spent on Julia and her two friends driving from Paris to Berlin and all the checkpoints they went through and a long drawn out story of what happened at each point, just pages and pages of unnecessary crap. It made the story longer but it kept me skimming a lot, just to get back to something that had to do with the real story.

So, Anthony’s funeral was held the same day Julia was supposed to marry Adam so the wedding was cancelled. The next day Julia got a crate and a robotic form of her father was inside the crate and a remote to turn him on. That’s where the story really started, not with an 18 year old Julia gallivanting across Europe to see the Berlin Wall come down. However, by the end of the book you never really knew if Anthony was a robot or her real father playing a trick on her. While she was gone his crate was opened and he stepped out and went to his car and took off, never to be seen or heard from again. Total bummer.

I must say, there were some long narratives by Anthony that were well done and very poignant. They were very believable when it came to him talking to Julia, saying all the things he’d never said and giving her some excellent advice. It was sad that Julia was pretty nasty to her robot-dad through almost the whole book though.

There was a slight sex scene but nothing too descriptive, and a few swear words.

As to the narration: Amy McFadden was simply awesome. Her voices, her laughter, her crying, everything was as it should be when narrating a book. Lately she's been a hit or miss with me but this time she was a real hit.

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The Love Of A Parent

I truly loved this book, it says everything that all parents feel about their children.

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What a story!

A fun 'what If' story. I scoffed at the writer's imagination at the beginning but decided to keep listening, as the reader was really good. Good decision! Beautiful love story and exciting history pertaining to the fall of the Berlin Wall. I could hardly put the book down. The author made you feel as if you was one of the two main characters. Read it. You'll like it!

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3 people found this helpful

Strange book

I’ve really liked Marc Levy’s books in the past, however I couldn’t get through this one. Strange story, the daughters attitude towards her father got tired very quickly. I also found her talking to her old boyfriend annoying. Not sure the timelines worked either. I would recommend skipping this one.

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***

I have read several of Marc Levy's books and loved them all. I found this recording added to the story with an excellent performance.

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Julia and Her Dad—What A Story

Wow! This is my 2nd novel by Marc Levy and it is just as good as the first one I read, P.S. Paris. He has a knack for romance. Julia is engaged to marry Adam, but there is no zip in their relationship although she doesn’t admit this even to her best friend, Stanley. She comes home to her apartment to find a surprise. Her father, Anthony, whom she has not had any contact with for 20 years awaits her. He wants to make up for his absence from her life by showing her what she is missing. He takes her on a whirlwind trip to Montreal where she discovers a photo sketch of her lost love, Thomas, who she thinks died in Afghanistan. Her father watches her space as she sees the sketch and stands transfixed for 15 minutes. He asks her if she is sure she loves Adam. Of course, she is testy and says how would he know how she feels. He shrugs his shoulders and says okay. He tells her that Thomas didn’t die. He gives her a letter written by Thomas as he recovered from the almost deadly wounds he received in Afghanistan. Her father didn’t think a boy from East German was an appropriate man for his daughter so he had shown up, punched Thomas in the jaw, and grabbed his daughter and made her go back to New York. She never forgave him. So, now he takes her back to Berlin to see if Thomas is there and to see if the connection still exists. This is a terrific story of al father’s love and the difficult relationships that can exist between children and their parents. It is a love story, a story of acceptance, and a story of love. It is a very different approach to a romance and not a typical one. I loved every minute of it. I listened mostly on audible and the narrator, Amy McFadden, is a good selection for the characters. Marc Levy is a wonderful author but the translator, Chris Murray, is to be commended. He does a wonderful job of capturing the nuances.

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Love, love, love it

Great writing with imagination. So many twists just like in real life. So glad I chose this as one of my books on Audible

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Interesting read

So this was proposed the 4th book I picked out in the last 2 weeks that have a clear connection to my life. Quite eerie. I truly enjoyed reading this book and would have given it 5 starts if it would not have been for the 1 piece of incorrect information that East Germans lived in constant fear. The passage where Julie talks about her finally understanding the horrors of him growing up in the Eastern block were disappointing. The author portrayed East Germans and Eastern Germany in a light that’s simply not true. I grew up in East Germany and life was not as he described it (in regards to the fears, Stasi, etc.) Otherwise interesting, fun but also thought provoking read. ... I’ll take it her father never died? Strange open-ended ending the way he left.

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Excellent!

I loved this book. It took a crazy turn and asked the reader to believe it, then it took another turn, this time historical, and had us experience a revolutionary moment. All the while, we cheered Julia on her quest while trying not to feel too guilty about Adam. Funny, a bit sad, hopeful - very enjoyable novel.

BTW - Stanley is the best friend ever. Just keep him away from the good wine.

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wonderful story

I loved this story! Will definitely read more books by this author very soon. Excellent!

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