A Song in the Daylight

I am a huge fan of Paullina Simons and have been since I first read 'Tully'. Having read all of her books, in my opinion, 'Tully' and the 'Tatiana & Alexander' Trilogy cannot be beaten; her other novels so far have failed to live up to these high standards.However, when I saw the size of the book, I couldn't wait to get my teeth stuck into this epic tale of love and the making of an agonising decision- I wasn't disappointed. As usual, Paullina's characterisation was spot on- I really felt for the protagonist, Larissa. I was in as much turmoil as her.......until she made her decision! The further into the book I read, the less sympathy I felt for Larissa and the more I hated her selfish nature. She, in a way, swapped attitudes with that of her 20 year old lover, and became a young, self-obsessed, hedonist, caring only for herself.I agree with other reviews of this book, the final third of the book began to spiral into what I thought was the only way the plot could be resolved- but no! Paullina turned that on its head and left the readers thinking 'Huh?'. Points for thinking outside the box there, but was it realistic? No.I think any reader of this book, could have still carried sympathy for Larissa, had she behaved differently, written the odd letter, made the odd phonecall, tried to make amends...but she chose not to. The book holds its own and is still an enjoyable read, after all, I read in it a week!The beginning is a little too much to take in at first. A lot of different characters come into play before you've even digested what's going on. But once you get into Larissa's disappearance, you're hooked. In fact, it's only the last two chapters of the book that could possibly be classed as 'disappointing'. Of course it had to end somewhere but perhaps not in the way you would expect! Other than Larissa's behavior, the other characters behave realistically and you become lost in their worlds. I thought the pages dedicated to Larissa & Jared's friendship with Ezra and Maggie were wasted, the whole intellectual debates discussed about the rights and wrongs of life and the world were only a tenuous link to the moral dilemma of the novel. They bored me.Would I read it again? No, (unlike Tully that has been read so many times the pages have fallen out) but any self respecting Paullina Simons fan would have to at least given this book a try.

I have long been a fan of Paullina Simons and always eagerly await her next book - this one was not really worth the wait though. It starts off very well - true Paullina style - you get really involved with the characters and can empathise them all. It kept me involved the whole way through as I was so keen to know what happens. The ending was such a disappointment though. Larissa seemed to have totally changed character - you wonder how she can suddenly have become not only selfish, but dense. Then for the final few chapters it seemed to be a real quick tying up of all the ends just so that everyone is accounted for rather than that there was much story line involved.

Read only if you enjoy tragedy. If you believe in redemption, run from this book. If you believe that some people are beyond redemption, this book is the perfect illustration of that.This book is for women. (Cannot imagine a man reading this entire book.)Lead character is an insufferable, narcissistic, godless woman-child for whom I felt no empathy. God gave her chances for redemption, and she spit in His face.Mothers should buy this book for their young adult daughters to read as a cautionary tale about whom they choose to date.

Not nearly the book the houseman series is