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Daughter of Fortune: A Novel
by Isabel Allende

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24799.Daughter_of_Fortune_A_Novel?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Daughter of Fortune: A Novel" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544185m/24799.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24799.Daughter_of_Fortune_A_Novel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Daughter of Fortune: A Novel</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2238.Isabel_Allende">Isabel Allende</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7998376?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 2 of 5 stars<br/>I love historical fiction.  I enjoyed several parts in this story, but I must say that it was not a page turner for me.  I made myself finish.  This book is about the power of first love.  How your ideal love and your want of love can prevent you from seeing what you really had.  Eliza loved her first lover Joaquin to obsession and it takes her years to realize that their love was possibly not true love after all and was sugar coated in her naive, sixteen year old mind.  She is so obsessed with Joaquin that she about kills herself trying to get to California to find him.  She travels for months on a ship originating from her home in Chile and when she gets there she spends years searching for him still!  I was upset with the ending.  One of my pet peeves is when I have to visualize my own happy ending.  I don't always like the authors of books to leave it up to the reader to assume what happened.  It depends on my mood, I suppose.    
<br/>
<br/>Ms. Allende does a great job of setting the scene of the time period.  It is an epic journey for Eliza and for Tao.  There was plenty of foreshadowing on how the story would end, but none of it was realized and there were plenty of plot points unresolved.  I couldn't wait for Tao and Eliza to be together.  I read so many pages about characters and plot sequences that did not interest me as much as their relationship.  Relationships are the most interesting for me in any story- that is just my preference.  I read the last page and I was looking for another page!  I was waiting for them to run into each other's arms.  A wedding?  A hug?  But no, they hold hands, she says, "I am free" and it's done.  I was surprised at the abruptness of the ending seeing that the book is over 400 pages and she takes plenty of time describing other things that didn't really add to the story for me.  In terms of the book's content, I would have to say it is practically "R" rated, at least for me.  There are well described love scenes and quite a few "f-bombs."  I am giving this story only two stars because it was just okay.  I would have to say that I think Steinbeck is much more enjoyable and satisfying in reading about California and his fictional characters.  I wonder if something was lost in the translation of this novel from Spanish to English.  I have heard that magic can be lost and that it is often better to read a book in its original state.  Yet, I read only English and so I'm grateful for translated books!  I am glad that I got to be reminded about how crazy San Francisco was during the gold rush.  How America came to be is always amazingly interesting to me.  I love how the journalist in this story points out how the West would've taken centuries longer to develop if the gold rush had never happened at all.   
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/548519?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Rebecca's review
rating:
bookshelves: historical-fiction
recommended for: fans of Isabel Allende and historical fiction

** spoiler alert ** I love historical fiction. I enjoyed several parts in this story, but I must say that it was not a page turner for me. I made myself finish. This book is about the power of first love. How your ideal love and your want of love can prevent you from seeing what you really had. Eliza loved her first lover Joaquin to obsession and it takes her years to realize that their love was possibly not true love after all and was sugar coated in her naive, sixteen year old mind. She is so obsessed with Joaquin that she about kills herself trying to get to California to find him. She travels for months on a ship originating from her home in Chile and when she gets there she spends years searching for him still! I was upset with the ending. One of my pet peeves is when I have to visualize my own happy ending. I don't always like the authors of books to leave it up to the reader to assume what happened. It depends on my mood, I suppose.

Ms. Allende does a great job of setting the scen...more I love historical fiction. I enjoyed several parts in this story, but I must say that it was not a page turner for me. I made myself finish. This book is about the power of first love. How your ideal love and your want of love can prevent you from seeing what you really had. Eliza loved her first lover Joaquin to obsession and it takes her years to realize that their love was possibly not true love after all and was sugar coated in her naive, sixteen year old mind. She is so obsessed with Joaquin that she about kills herself trying to get to California to find him. She travels for months on a ship originating from her home in Chile and when she gets there she spends years searching for him still! I was upset with the ending. One of my pet peeves is when I have to visualize my own happy ending. I don't always like the authors of books to leave it up to the reader to assume what happened. It depends on my mood, I suppose.

Ms. Allende does a great job of setting the scene of the time period. It is an epic journey for Eliza and for Tao. There was plenty of foreshadowing on how the story would end, but none of it was realized and there were plenty of plot points unresolved. I couldn't wait for Tao and Eliza to be together. I read so many pages about characters and plot sequences that did not interest me as much as their relationship. Relationships are the most interesting for me in any story- that is just my preference. I read the last page and I was looking for another page! I was waiting for them to run into each other's arms. A wedding? A hug? But no, they hold hands, she says, "I am free" and it's done. I was surprised at the abruptness of the ending seeing that the book is over 400 pages and she takes plenty of time describing other things that didn't really add to the story for me. In terms of the book's content, I would have to say it is practically "R" rated, at least for me. There are well described love scenes and quite a few "f-bombs." I am giving this story only two stars because it was just okay. I would have to say that I think Steinbeck is much more enjoyable and satisfying in reading about California and his fictional characters. I wonder if something was lost in the translation of this novel from Spanish to English. I have heard that magic can be lost and that it is often better to read a book in its original state. Yet, I read only English and so I'm grateful for translated books! I am glad that I got to be reminded about how crazy San Francisco was during the gold rush. How America came to be is always amazingly interesting to me. I love how the journalist in this story points out how the West would've taken centuries longer to develop if the gold rush had never happened at all. ...less

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message 1: by Katie

08/20/2008 04:41PM

I don't know you - but just read your review. You and I have the same thoughts about this book. I was SO mad when I got to the ending. What a waste to read that far into it and be done after seeing her past lover's head in a box.

It also bothered me that there was foreshadowing of Tao and Eliza together throughout the book, but that we never saw them fully together. And what happened when she found out about her true identity??? Argh! So many unanswered questions.

Anyway, liked your review and wanted to let you know!