Cardinals - Bird Ringtones, Sounds Alerts, Alarms and More
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The Cardinals or Cardinalidae are a family of passerine birds found in North and South America....
How Deep is the Darkness (The Charlie McClung Mysteries #6)
Book
Charlie McClung has always known about darkness, it’s part of being a police chief. But now...
Traditional Mystery
Public Enemy
7.5
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Freed after 20 years in prison, the child killer Guy Beranger found refuge with the monks in...
The Discovery (Animorphs, #20)
8.0
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The blue box Elfangor used to create the Animorphs has been found by a kid named David. David has no...
Coup: Rebellion
Tabletop Game
Coup Rebellion G54 is the exciting sequel to Rikki Tahta's award-winning game Coup. G54 uses the...
Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5)
7.4
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When three dead teenagers are slaughtered in a way no one had ever seen before, and a girl is found...
David McK (3600 KP) rated Creed (2015) in Movies
Jan 30, 2022
I've definitely seen the first and second; think I gave up part way through the third.
Which is what I wish I had done with this - I found it slow, plodding, heavy handed, and just generally not really all that interesting at all.
Guess you could say I'm not the target audience!
David McK (3600 KP) rated Echoes of the Great Song in Books
Aug 10, 2025
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Oh Dear Silvia in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I love Dawn French! I think she is such a funny woman!! I was so happy to have won a copy of her fiction book entitled Oh Dear Silvia from Goodreads. However, once I started reading the book, it became apparent that I wasn't going to enjoy it.
Silvia is in a coma after falling from a balcony and hitting her head. Throughout her time in hospital, she is visited by family, her best friend, her ex-husband, her nurse, and her cleaner. Each has their own story to tell however odd it may be. Throughout this book, we will find out about who Silvia is.
The title of this book really works. After reading the book, I would say it definitely fits well with the story.
The cover of this book is quite bland. The tree on the cover of the book does have significance, but it's just rather boring. It wouldn't entice me to pick up this book to see what it's about. Surely, the cover could've been a bit more decorative.
The setting takes place mostly in suite 5 which is Silvia's room in hospital. The world building is alright. The memories of each visitor help set the story.
I found the pacing of Oh Dear Silvia to be extremely and painfully slow. At some points, I found myself skim reading the especially boring parts. I couldn't wait for this book to be over. There's not even one bit in this book where the pacing picks up. There's no real plot in this book, so there's definitely no plot twists. The pacing definitely lets this book down.
The dialogue is comedic at times which I found to be a small reprieve from the slowness of this book. Ed's dialogue really bored me.
The characters are well-developed which I found to be a relief. Each chapter of the book is told by someone who knows Silvia. The main characters that have their own chapters being Ed, Cat, Jo, Cassie, Winnie, and Tia. Ed is by far the most boring character that could ever be in a book. All he mostly talks about is his boring trees. Whilst I did find him to be a well-developed character, I found him extremely dull and found myself wishing that he'd just stop talking. Winnie and Tia were my favourite characters. Winnie has a big heart, and it really comes across in this book. Tia is from Indonesia so has a hard time pronouncing Silvia's surname which always made me laugh!! I found Tia and Jo to be the characters that brought the humour, and they delivered! Cat is the high strung character, and Cassie is the angry daughter. Each character has a unique personality. Well done to Dawn French for making each character unique! Through each of the characters' stories, we learn more and more about Silvia.
Even with the strong character personalities and comedic timing, this book still fell flat. I felt that this book was missing a plot. Oh Dear Silvia comes across more as a memoir about Silvia then anything else.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except those who need help falling asleep. Dawn French is great, but this book just didn't do it for me.