Review of The Rock in our Story

[John Owen]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Rock in our Story" by J R Giuliano.]

---

3 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Maria was left by her mother at the Sisters of Mercy convent, hoping the convent would give her a better chance to survive than she ever could, after being abandoned by both the father of the child, Alessandro, and her own family. Maria was placed into the custody of Sister Verona, who gave her the name "Maria Della Note" and took care of her like her own child. Like any parent would, Sister Verona sent Maria to a well-to-do couple that desperately wanted a child to adopt in America—Orthopedic Doctor, Dr. Patricio Marinelli, and Professor of Physics, Dr. Rose Marinelli. Maria was to sail across the sea from Naples. There was another family that was also traveling to America, the Romanos, and Mr. Lucci, who had arranged the adoption, thought it good to put Maria in their custody.

Meanwhile, Luca Romano had grown up in a family of generations of sharecroppers. His father had gone to America earlier to look for greener pastures and promised to send for Luca, Luca's mother, and the remaining siblings later. That day had come, and they would be hosting Maria on the trip. It was here that Maria's and Luca's destinies met. After docking, both Luca and Maria went to different places and seemingly followed different paths. But would their paths cross ever again? Would they find a place inside each other's hearts despite the challenges they would face? Read the book to follow the story.

The Rock in our Story by J.R. Giuliano is a story of love and determination. From Maria's mother's act of leaving her at the convent to Sister Verona's selfless decision to send Maria to a better family and Luca's undying determination to fight for Maria's love, it is clear this book paints what it means to want the best for those we love. The book shows that we sometimes have to do what we can, whenever we can, for those we love and give them what's best for them even if it comes with consequences. Luca's family sent him to school despite the fact that he wanted to work like them because they believed it was what was best for him. Sister Verona, too, sent Maria away to the Marinellis, despite deeply hurting both Maria and herself. Maria's adoptive parents were overprotective of her even if it was in ways she didn't like. I liked how all this was depicted in the book.

This is probably where I talk about the technical aspects. The character development was quite well done. Most characters were well-rounded. However, I wished I read more about Maria's mother. It seems the book ended without even revealing her name. I also wanted to know what became of Sister Verona in the end. I appreciated the background that was provided about Sister Verona, Maria, and Luca. Just enough has been told about Maria's adoptive father. He was from a poor background but worked his way up to prosperity, which explains why he wanted Maria to succeed in school and get a high-paying job. However, a little more depth could have helped because I knew that there was something deeper than finances that made the Marinellis quarrel, and it was sad that the context provided didn't help with that. The suspense was also well-sustained, but the book follows the "happy ending" trope.

Here comes the paragraph I hate including. Despite the wonderful writing, the book does, regrettably, have some flaws. Using multiple perspectives to drive the story was a genius path to follow. However, some chapters had these perspectives interlaced within each other so that I realized it was another character speaking so late into the chapters. I think each character perspective could be given a new page or a separate chapter to solve this. Also, the book could use another round of editing as I found several errors and typos. If these issues are attended to, I won't mind upgrading to a perfect rating. For now, I give it 3 out of 5 stars, with two stars deducted for the reasons already discussed. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes romance novels about entwined destinies, determination that comes with love, and triumph over challenges.

******
The Rock in our Story
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Kebun Bunga]

The feedback on the review of "The Rock in our Story" is well-structured and provides insightful observations. The reviewer highlights the themes of love and determination portrayed in the book, emphasizing the sacrifices made by the characters for the ones they love. They appreciate the character development, finding most characters well-rounded. However, they express a desire for more depth regarding certain characters and relationships, such as Maria's mother and Sister Verona. The reviewer commends the suspense and the depiction of background information. They mention the use of multiple perspectives as a positive aspect, although they suggest separating them more clearly for better readability. The reviewer also notes the presence of errors and typos that would benefit from further editing. They give the book a rating of 3 out of 5 stars, deducting two stars for the aforementioned reasons.