Customer Reviews: Read 58 more reviews...
 a real let down September 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I normally like the Richard and Judy choices, and I thought the title was beautiful and it sounded amazing from the blurb on the back. Normally I would check the inside and read a few pages to check I can get into the authors style. In this case I didn't andI regret it. It is an awfully written book with no cliche left unturned. I gave it 50 pages and then stopped. Maybe I will go back one day and give it another go, but I would avoid it to be honest there are many better books out there.
 Absorbingly detailed.......... August 31, 2008
Although this sort of book isn't what I would immediately go for, I can say that I am honestly still split regards how I feel about it. Reading it was a real labour at times, not that it is by any means a difficult read, and at other times I found myself unable to put it down and read well into the early hours! The narrative is more than detailed and thoroughly absorbing at times, at others I found myself frustrated with the pace and willed it to speed up. Definately worth giving it a go - even if you abandon it, I bet you'll pick it back up again!
Interesting but not compelling August 16, 2008
Overall I enjoyed reading this book, an easy read, nicely written. However some parts was over detailed, slow and predictable.
a bit dull August 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I wouldn't normally have bought this going by the blurb on the back, but I was in France and was too lazy to read in French and this was one of only 4 English books I could find in Fnac to keep me in books, having read all the others that I'd brought with me - (I can't sit still without having a pile of books to occupy me and so it was a sanity purchase).
It was fine for passing the time whilst sitting on the beach, but that's all. One of my friends has a rule that she avoids anything with a Richard & Judy sticker on it - this book had such a sticker - but then so do a lot of very well written interesting newer books...
Overall recommendation - Nope. A probable future donation to a charity shop as will definitely not re-read.
 Soul-searching, achingly beautiful story. August 2, 2008
Well, I'd seen this on the bookshelves, read the publicity blurb, and thought it sounded just too sickly for me. However, I was interested, and decided to give it a go. I am so glad that I did, Random Acts of Heroic Love is exactly that. It is beautiful, achingly sad, and yet hopeful too. It tells the tale of Leo and Eleni, 2 young lovers who are overcome by tragedy. In the aftermath of this, one of them is left to exist alone. The struggle that is faced to come to terms with what has happened, and to somehow find the strength to carry on is so real, so immense, that my heart broke for the two of them. It's about the unfairness of life, the reality and finality of death, and how the grieving process is so shatteringly intense. It's about having to let go, when you just want to hang on, and about starting again, when all you want to do is be with your loved one. Intertwined with this story is the story of Moritz and Lotte, during the first world war, which comes to have a massive relevance to Leo and Eleni's lives. It's about the utter futility of war, and the havoc that it wreaks on the lives of everyone it touches. It's about talking to loved ones, telling them what they mean to us, and how much we love them. Don't keep secrets, they do no good. It is about so many things, but mostly, it is about LOVE, and that can't be bad, can it? If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so, it is well worth it.
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