"Brava, Valentine"


"Brava, Valentine"
by Adriana Trigiani

Source: won in Goodreads First Reads contest from HarperCollins

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review:

I was lucky enough to win this book in a Goodreads First Reads contest. I had heard great things about the first book in this series, and jumped at the chance to read the sequel. The book is a funny but heartfelt story of a young Italian American woman trying to find herself against the backdrop of her large overbearing family and the family custom shoe business.

Valentine and her grandmother had been partners in running the Angellini Shoe Company as well as roommates in the apartment above the business. So Valentine feels a major blow when Gram gets remarried and moves to Italy with her husband. Now Valentine can't hide behind her cozy life with Gram and also take a backseat as Gram runs the company. She has to step up and figure out what she wants from life and the business. Valentine is used to letting her family define who she is and what she does, and she doesn't make her own life for herself. When Gianluca, her grandmother's new stepson, makes his feelings known to her, she has the opportunity to step up and build her own life, not do what she's expected by her family. But will she try to make the change or will she keep to her steady, predictable pattern?

I loved all the vivid characters in Valentine's family and her friends June and Gabriel. These characters and Valentine's relationships with them were really what made me enjoy this book.

However, there were aspects of the novel that I didn't like. I really had trouble with the age difference between Valentine and her love interest, Gianluca-18 years!! She is 34 and he is 53. I'm not really a fan of this type of romance, but if that interests you, you will love this story! Another reason why the age difference didn't work for me is because Valentine is already admittedly immature. Then when she becomes infatuated with a 53 year old, it reinforces the idea that she wanted a father figure- someone else to take care of her and make her decisions for her.

There was a tone of melancholy throughout the book, especially in the last third, because the theme of cheating was prevalent. Three married couples deal with cheating in this book, and it started to get sad, especially because her father's affair was mentioned over and over as a hurdle for their family.


Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 5/5

Setting: 4/5

Romance: 2/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 4/5

Writing: 4/5




Bottom Line:
The book is written very well, with great plotting and pacing, the characters are deep and developed. If you like books with a full cast of character, with real life struggles, then this is the book for you!!

10 comments

  1. Great review! I am looking forward to reading this one!

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  2. Enjoyed your review but not sure if this is a book for me!

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  3. This definitely sounds interesting! I love stories that feature Italian familes...they're always really interesting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this one!

    XOXO~ Renee

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  4. Great review, the book sounds interesting. But I think the age different may irritate me, it had with the movie the proposal. :(

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  5. I've been wondering about this one. I was worried it would be slow. Thanks for the great review.

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  6. Thanks for reading my review, everyone!!

    Christina, I hope you like it!!

    Teddyree, Thanks for reading!!

    Renee, you'll probably like this one if you like big Italian families :)

    Nina, I haven't seen the Proposal yet, but the age difference here just seemed too large.

    Juju, it's not slow!! Just a bit sad in tone at times.

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  7. What a great review! This sounds really fun and intriguing...definitely adding it to my never-ending pile of books haha ;)

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  8. Hey Carrie! I have an award for you here! BTW thank you for adding me to your blog roll! :-)

    http://steelergirl83.blogspot.com/2010/02/bliss-happy-101-award.html

    XOXO~ Renee

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  9. Thanks, Melissa! Definitely add it to the pile :)

    Thanks so much for the award, Renee!! And thank you for adding me to your blog roll, too :)

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  10. 18 years difference? Jeez,

    It still sounds pretty awesome, though. Great review!

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Thanks so much for your lovely comments!