The Italian Girl
Registered by Apechild of York, North Yorkshire United Kingdom on 8/18/2020
This book is in a Controlled Release!
This book is in a Controlled Release!
1 journaler for this copy...
Bought as a bundle from books2door.
What utter brain-fluff drivel, with a predictable plot, moments as if they'd been written by a teenager, and some intensely wooden conversations. I skimmed bits, but in some ways this was what I needed at this moment. Sometimes your brain just needs fluff. Although to be honest I don't think this is her best book by far, and I would say best avoided unless you're wanting to be a completist, or desperately searching for fluff.
I've seen it classed as romance, which... yeah. I'd say more life story. Not my idea of romance, certainly not a healthy romance. There's a lot of glamour and rich folks in this tale, and obsessive, posessive "love". The Italian Girl whom we follow in this book is Rosanna Menici of Naples, who grows up in her parents' cafe. Whilst she is a young girl, she sings infront of their parents' friends' son, Roberto Rossini, up and coming opera star. He sees that she has potential and recommends she gets singing lessons. From there her path goes to the school at Milan and then mega opera contracts. She then works abroad, had an intense relationship with Roberto, almost 20 years her senior, gets married, has a kid, puts her life on hold, realises her husband is a cheating, narcissitic, no-good controlling type and leaves him (twice, she takes him back, but she gets there in the end.). It is a very controlling relationship, for once she graduates from the school, she takes a short contract in London, where she falls for Roberto, and essentially never goes back to Italy to see her family again. She's immature and self-absorbed on many occasion, but ok, she's in her very early twenties for a lot of the story so you've got to forgive her some of her muppetry. Although leaving your two year old with a sixteen year old niece for a weekend whilst you fly abroad to see your husband is beyond neglient. And she didn't get her son vaccinated? It's only the 1980s in the UK, I'm very sure the health visitors would have been reminding her (although the realties of real life and society functioning don't always feel right in this story which is why I say it sometimes feels like it was written by a teenager). Or the fact that when the niece rings the doctor and the doctor's wife answers, and she says the child has a very temperature and a rash, the wife says wipe him down and the doctor will come soon.... er, meningitis anyone? No glass test? No ambulance? Turned out it was measles so a lucky escape there, but it feels like a child's version of the health service. A lot of the characters and conversations are intensely wooden, the whole Carlotta not telling anyone who Ella's father is, including the father, and making out this is a terrible secret and is somehow the father's fault is just... oh, words fail me.
Take it for what it is. Drivel. Fluff. My copy is a re-edited version by Riley. The story was originally Aria, and when her current publishers wanted to reprint her back list, she updated and re-edited the story. Which makes me wonder how bad it was before.
I've seen it classed as romance, which... yeah. I'd say more life story. Not my idea of romance, certainly not a healthy romance. There's a lot of glamour and rich folks in this tale, and obsessive, posessive "love". The Italian Girl whom we follow in this book is Rosanna Menici of Naples, who grows up in her parents' cafe. Whilst she is a young girl, she sings infront of their parents' friends' son, Roberto Rossini, up and coming opera star. He sees that she has potential and recommends she gets singing lessons. From there her path goes to the school at Milan and then mega opera contracts. She then works abroad, had an intense relationship with Roberto, almost 20 years her senior, gets married, has a kid, puts her life on hold, realises her husband is a cheating, narcissitic, no-good controlling type and leaves him (twice, she takes him back, but she gets there in the end.). It is a very controlling relationship, for once she graduates from the school, she takes a short contract in London, where she falls for Roberto, and essentially never goes back to Italy to see her family again. She's immature and self-absorbed on many occasion, but ok, she's in her very early twenties for a lot of the story so you've got to forgive her some of her muppetry. Although leaving your two year old with a sixteen year old niece for a weekend whilst you fly abroad to see your husband is beyond neglient. And she didn't get her son vaccinated? It's only the 1980s in the UK, I'm very sure the health visitors would have been reminding her (although the realties of real life and society functioning don't always feel right in this story which is why I say it sometimes feels like it was written by a teenager). Or the fact that when the niece rings the doctor and the doctor's wife answers, and she says the child has a very temperature and a rash, the wife says wipe him down and the doctor will come soon.... er, meningitis anyone? No glass test? No ambulance? Turned out it was measles so a lucky escape there, but it feels like a child's version of the health service. A lot of the characters and conversations are intensely wooden, the whole Carlotta not telling anyone who Ella's father is, including the father, and making out this is a terrible secret and is somehow the father's fault is just... oh, words fail me.
Take it for what it is. Drivel. Fluff. My copy is a re-edited version by Riley. The story was originally Aria, and when her current publishers wanted to reprint her back list, she updated and re-edited the story. Which makes me wonder how bad it was before.
Offered as a bundle for free on facebook marketplace. Someone coming to pick up the lot on Sunday!
