What is the one thing that you missed in this book?

Discuss the October 2017 Book of the Month, Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon.

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Amagine
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Re: What is the one thing that you missed in this book?

Post by Amagine »

I would like to learn more about Sarah's father too.
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Post by jonaya »

one thing that I missed in this book ,is the background image of Sarah and her family.
The author did not mention what they were doing for a living and how come that Tom was not aware of this family.
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Amagine
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Post by Amagine »

jonaya wrote:one thing that I missed in this book ,is the background image of Sarah and her family.
The author did not mention what they were doing for a living and how come that Tom was not aware of this family.
Yes, that was definitely missing from the first book.
"Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude." -A.A Milne

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Post by BoyLazy »

jonaya wrote:one thing that I missed in this book ,is the background image of Sarah and her family.
The author did not mention what they were doing for a living and how come that Tom was not aware of this family.
I don't notice it missing
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Amagine
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Post by Amagine »

I did.
"Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude." -A.A Milne

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Post by jonaya »

Amagine wrote:I did.
we are sailing in the same boat .many thanks to the author
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Post by Amagine »

Yes, many indeed.
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Post by Vitaro Maxton »

I am observing the lack of character build up, and background info on the characters
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Post by Sally_Heart »

Character development was not adequate. I could barely relate to the characters.
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Post by Amagine »

Salsabila wrote:Character development was not adequate. I could barely relate to the characters.
I agree and I wasn't really able to relate to them either.
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Post by meteku4 »

Christina Rose wrote:I wouldn't have minded a little more background on the characters. I may have been able to relate more if I had a bit more information. While there were some details and stories shared, I personally wasn't able to piece together the lives and backgrounds on a level that I found satisfying.
I think the background development of the characters has been an issue. I did struggle to get the relationship among some of the characters.
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Post by Ayayama Joe »

Accomodation
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Post by Phikim »

At the start of the book you meet Tom and Rurh already separated. Would have wanted to know from the start how they lived, what caused them separate and how did they call it quit.
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

It's always a huge issue regarding how much prequel, or backstory, or background information to include, especially because every reader has a totally different desire or need. Stories I write appear to me as movies, I now see, ie I see and describe a scene, as it appears to me. I try to include enough details to enable a reader to flesh out each character as they see themselves, and only enough details to move the story along, as more will slow the flow and rhythm. So, as regards Tom and Ruth, I think I placed early on the fact that he was gone fishing all the time after Becky was born and so Ruth left. I know readers, many of them perhaps, maybe more than many, feel dropped in to a story, and have to catch up, and either this desire to know more leads one to read on or alternatively loses the reader. It's great to have readers so invested in the character they want to know more while and after the book is read, but I totally understand why some of you feel frustrated because I did not flesh out more. As I said to start with, it's a delicate dance, this amount-of-detail element, and I appear to choose less in more because I think (and hope) as the reader fills in the blanks him or herself he or she becomes that much more tied to the tale....
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Post by Kat Berg »

Christina Rose wrote:
mratdegraff91 wrote:I agree with several of you regarding the tension in the story. If I hadn't been interested in reading the rest of Sarah's vision I probably would have put the book down. I also feel that character depth would have been a plus too. I couldn't figure out for a short period if Tom or William was Sarah's grandpa and had to look back to see. It didn't click until later in the story though and then I was confused about Myra's relation for a bit. More depth on these characters would have made it less confusing initially.
I thought I was the only one who initially became confused over who was who in regards to Tom and William. I kept having to reread an earlier section until it finally clicked!
Like you all, I found myself saying, "Wait, who is this?" There were times even beyond the first couple of chapters when you would normally expect to have had some character development and the characters are beginning to develop their own identity when I found myself confused about who was whom.

I think one of the things that make it hard to keep people straight is that there are times when people leave the scene, and you only know it because they are now being announced as being back in the scene. But also, it seems like the author gets confused about what one character would do and the other wouldn't. The grandfather and his buddy shouldn't be interchangeable. Granted, I am not finished yet, so I am hoping that as the book progresses this becomes less of a problem.
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