Book Review: H.R.H.

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[amazon template=image&asin=0440242045]I thought I would entertain you today with a book review I wrote in November 2011. The book being reviewed is H.R.H. by Danielle Steel.     

Oh boy. This book was bad.

I picked it up from the top of a trash can in a bus station. I was in a desperate situation. I had almost 24 hours more on the bus and nothing left to read. I didn’t have high hopes for this book, but I really, really, really needed something to help me pass the time. I’m not a big Danielle Steel fan, but I had to read something, so I was glad to find a free book.

The plot is weak. A sad, noble, unspoiled little rich girl princess (literally) can’t have the life of freedom she wants, but is allowed to volunteer in Africa with the Red Cross for a few months. In Africa, she meets a commoner she is not allowed to marry. In the last twenty (or less) pages of the book, tragedy strikes, allowing her to live happily ever after.

The writing is weak too. Ms. Steel must have been getting paid by the word, because there is a lot of repetition, many examples of the reader getting the same information in an only slightly different way.

May I give examples of two of the worst sentences I have ever read?

“The drinks were made by an African company, and tasted sickly sweet, but they drank them anyway, as it was hot and they were thirsty, although it was winter in East Africa, but the weather was warm.” I figure that sentence really consists of three sentences strung together with commas. Has this Steel woman never heard of a run-on sentence? Any of my high school English teachers would have failed a student for writing a sentence like that! The last clause, “although it was winter in East Africa, but the weather was warm” is so awkward that I cringe whenever I read it.

Here’s my second example: “Or how hard they worked, they all did, and he had, too.” All I can say to that sentence (?) is WOW.

I am amazed that someone actually paid money for this mindless piece of poorly written fluff. I’m grateful I found this book when I needed it, but I feel sorry for the person wasted her/his money on it

About Blaize Sun

My name is Blaize Sun. Maybe that's the name my family gave me; maybe it's not. In any case, that's the name I'm using here and now. I've been a rubber tramp for nearly a decade.I like to see places I've never seen before, and I like to visit the places I love again and again. For most of my years on the road, my primary residence was my van. For almost half of the time I was a van dweller, I was going it alone. Now I have a little travel trailer parked in a small RV park in a small desert town. I also have a minivan to travel in. When it gets too hot for me in my desert, I get in my minivan and move up in elevation to find cooler temperatures or I house sit in town in a place with air conditioning I was a work camper in a remote National Forest recreation area on a mountain for four seasons. I was a camp host and parking lot attendant for two seasons and wrote a book about my experiences called Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. During the last two seasons as a work camper on that mountain, I was a clerk in a campground store. I'm also a house and pet sitter, and I pick up odd jobs when I can. I'm primarily a writer, but I also create beautiful little collages; hand make hemp jewelry and warm, colorful winter hats; and use my creative and artistic skills to decorate my life and brighten the lives of others. My goal (for my writing and my life) is to be real. I don't like fake, and I don't want to share fake. I want to share my authentic thoughts and feelings. I want to give others space and permission to share their authentic selves. Sometimes I think the best way to support others is to leave them alone and allow them to be. I am more than just a rubber tramp artist. I'm fat. I'm funny. I'm flawed. I try to be kind. I'm often grouchy. I am awed by the stars in the dark desert night. I hope my writing moves people. If my writing makes someone laugh or cry or feel angry or happy or troubled or comforted, I have done my job. If my writing makes someone think and question and try a little harder, I've done my job. If my writing opens a door for someone, changes a life, I have done my job well. I hope you enjoy my blog posts, my word and pictures, the work I've done to express myself in a way others will understand. I hope you appreciate the time and energy I put into each post. I hope you will click the like button each time you like what you have read. I hope you will share posts with the people in your life. I hope you'll leave a comment and share your authentic self with me and this blog's other readers. Thank you for reading.  A writer without readers is very sad indeed.

2 Responses »

  1. Glad y’all enjoyed review. The book was so bad. The writing was so bad. The plot was so bad. Is “Danielle Steel” just a sub par computer program now? Could a real, published person write that badly? Where was the editor?

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