Leap of Faith by Danielle Steel Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Leap of Faith
Book Review: Dumb as a rock heroine...but the story itself has merit
Summary: 3 Stars
The story begins with young Marie-Ange, pampered but unspoiled, living with her adoring family in France. Of course, tradegy strikes and her whole family is wiped out. She has one relative in Iowa, Aunt Carole. She is an embittered, wheel chair bound witch who uses the French orphan for slave labor. For ten years Marie-Ange lives under her icy rule, her only friend a farm boy named Billy. Billy is smitten with her, but they are just friends, and Marie-Ange intends to keep it that way.
When she is 21 she learns that her father left a good deal of money, ten million to be exact. Marie-Ange hightails it back to her childhood home, where she meets the current owner, Bernard. To sum it up, her wooes her, beds her, weds her, knocks her up twice. Once they are married, he starts spending money like there's no tomorrow. Marie-Ange lends him money from her inheritance while his investments supposedly 'mature.' This never happens, and it becomes clear Bernard has no means of his own, but is living off his wife. Unfortunately, the money isn't going to last forever, and problems arise when she eventually cannot support Bernard's lavish spending.
This book could have been a great one, but was filled with flaws that prevented this. After meeting Bernard, Marie-Ange, who through the book is praised for her intelligence, is rock stupid when dealing with her husband. She has all these red flags shoved in her face, but blindly trusts him, which almost costs her literally everything. Her treatment of Billy, a great guy is also frusterating. Then there is the many questions that are left unanswered. Aunt Carole as a character is never fully explored, and it's obvious she was a plot device to make us feel bad for Marie-Ange. Also Ms. Steel rushed through the book, where it could have been a lot more developed. It felt like she was in a hurry to churn a book out.
Still, the story is not without it's merits. It was not a perdictable story, not entirely of the Steel recipe. The love interest was not what he seemed, he was actually a snake in the grass. The book did not end perfectly for the heroine, though not as bad as it could have. Not everything is spelled out at the conclusion, and I like that the readers have some freedom in filling in Marie-Ange's future for themselves. The story had a good flow to it, and even when I was cursing the stupidity of Marie-Ange, I was caught up in it. I would recommend getting this from the library, but I wouldn't recommend buying it.
Book Review: Great Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed reading this book! I had a hard time putting the book down. Very neat ending.
Book Review: How did I read the entire book?
Summary: 2 Stars
Leap of Faith is the first DS book that I have read. For her to be such a popular author I thought the book was crap. I didn't get to involved with the characters because of the lack of description. I wouldn't reccomend this book to anyone.
I don't think I will be reading another DS book. Geez, what a waste of time.
Book Review: Interesting
Summary: 2 Stars
This book had a really good story line but I had to push myself to keep reading. If you push yourself it is really good, especially if you like endings where you have to predict what happened. I think I will be extreamly nice to all the people I meet from now on, in hopes that maybe one day someone might give me a Porsche!Book Review: Leap of Faith
Summary: 5 Stars
Eleven year old Marie-Ange Hawkins had a tragic accident that changed her wonderful life that was in a beautiful French chateau. She had to go live her great-aunt on a farm in Iowa. Marie-Ange was treated poorly by her Aunt Carol. She has to work really hard. She goes to school and meets a red headed boy named Billy Parker. They become best friends. She referred to him as her brother because he was the only one who cared for her. Marie-Ange wants to go back to France so bad, and finally one day a gift comes to her and her dream comes true. When she returns to France, she finds out that where she used to live was a widower named Comte Benard de Beauchamp. After she has met him her life begins. She is so happy until a woman tells her a story that will change her life. Marie-Ange has to work very hard to save her children. The main characters in this book were Marie-Ange Hawkins, Billy Parker, Benard de Beauchamp, and Aunt Carol. My favorite character was Marie-Ange because she was a very strong person. She went through a lot and came out very strong. She never gave up even though she wanted to, she never gave up on the people she loved. I loved this book! I would recommend this book to the ladies that like dramas and love stories. I laughed and cried when I read this book. I loved every bit of it. Danielle Steel is a great author. I recommend some other books I read of hers like, The Promise, The House on Hope Street, and this one.