Review of Looking Glass Friends
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Angela LaPuzza
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Review of Looking Glass Friends
[Following is a volunteer review of "Looking Glass Friends" by E L Neve.]
Looking Glass Friends is a romance written by E.L. Neve. Neil and Ellie make an unexplainable connection when she visits the bakery where Neil works. As thanks for selling her the remaining cream puffs that he had set aside for his wife, Ellie buys him a copy of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Their connection expands as they begin exchanging emails, discussing and challenging each other's beliefs about love and life. They find in each other their soul mate. But both Neil and Ellie are married to other people, and Ellie has a 5-year-old son. They are committed to holding onto their marriages, while struggling with what their souls desire.
From the first sentence you can tell this is going to be an emotionally intense story. You're automatically drawn in by Neil's pain. Unfortunately, I could never really understand the cause of that pain, though the author tries to explain. My impression is that Neil's despair comes from a mediocre life; that he feels things so intensely that the thought of continuing with it is unbearable. And this conclusion is after much contemplation on my part. Maybe I cannot grasp it because I, myself, do not feel things intensely. Ellie is very wise and acts as Neil's guide, uplifting him with elevated conversation, philosophy and ideals. The characters develop before your eyes, becoming stronger and more focused on what they want from life. You see how they struggle with their new feelings and how they justify staying with their partners. The pace of this story was at a steady clip and kept me reading, wanting to know where it was headed. This book was said to be 228 pages. I read it on Amazon's Kindle app and it said it was 442 pages. This is because the pages were numbered incorrectly.
I really enjoyed this story. It was very unique in both content and tone. The fact that it was inspired by real love letters makes my heart warm. This is a book that I read quickly because I didn't want to put it down. Even though I didn't quite understand the characters completely, I liked them and wanted them to have their happily ever after.
I give this book 4 stars out of 5 for two reasons. The first is a technicality, the misnumbered pages. The send reason is because I felt that I didn't really get a feel for where the characters came from. Why would an intellectual like Ellie be content with staying at home doing the cooking and cleaning, being the pampered wife and mother, with no outlet for her mind? Her husband isn't on her level at all. The characters didn't quite ring true to me. Although I still think this was a really good book.
I recommend this book to any romance reader who wants something with a little substance. This is not your typical light romance story. This book won 15 awards. The sexual content is about a 3 out of 5 on the scale. There are sexual situations but nothing very graphic.
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Looking Glass Friends
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Looking Glass Friends is a romance written by E.L. Neve. Neil and Ellie make an unexplainable connection when she visits the bakery where Neil works. As thanks for selling her the remaining cream puffs that he had set aside for his wife, Ellie buys him a copy of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Their connection expands as they begin exchanging emails, discussing and challenging each other's beliefs about love and life. They find in each other their soul mate. But both Neil and Ellie are married to other people, and Ellie has a 5-year-old son. They are committed to holding onto their marriages, while struggling with what their souls desire.
From the first sentence you can tell this is going to be an emotionally intense story. You're automatically drawn in by Neil's pain. Unfortunately, I could never really understand the cause of that pain, though the author tries to explain. My impression is that Neil's despair comes from a mediocre life; that he feels things so intensely that the thought of continuing with it is unbearable. And this conclusion is after much contemplation on my part. Maybe I cannot grasp it because I, myself, do not feel things intensely. Ellie is very wise and acts as Neil's guide, uplifting him with elevated conversation, philosophy and ideals. The characters develop before your eyes, becoming stronger and more focused on what they want from life. You see how they struggle with their new feelings and how they justify staying with their partners. The pace of this story was at a steady clip and kept me reading, wanting to know where it was headed. This book was said to be 228 pages. I read it on Amazon's Kindle app and it said it was 442 pages. This is because the pages were numbered incorrectly.
I really enjoyed this story. It was very unique in both content and tone. The fact that it was inspired by real love letters makes my heart warm. This is a book that I read quickly because I didn't want to put it down. Even though I didn't quite understand the characters completely, I liked them and wanted them to have their happily ever after.
I give this book 4 stars out of 5 for two reasons. The first is a technicality, the misnumbered pages. The send reason is because I felt that I didn't really get a feel for where the characters came from. Why would an intellectual like Ellie be content with staying at home doing the cooking and cleaning, being the pampered wife and mother, with no outlet for her mind? Her husband isn't on her level at all. The characters didn't quite ring true to me. Although I still think this was a really good book.
I recommend this book to any romance reader who wants something with a little substance. This is not your typical light romance story. This book won 15 awards. The sexual content is about a 3 out of 5 on the scale. There are sexual situations but nothing very graphic.
******
Looking Glass Friends
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
