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הנערה מכיכר טיימס
הכירו את לילי קווין. היא בת 24, אין לה פרוטה והיא נאבקת לסיים את לימודיה בקולג´ ולעמוד בתשלומי שכר הדירה שלה – וגם למצוא אהבה.
אמנם הדברים המעניינים ביותר בניו־יורק השוקקת קורים דווקא לאנשים הסובבים אותה, אבל לילי אוהבת את חייה חסרי המטרה, והיתה מוכנה להמשיך כך אלמלא איימי, חברתה הטובה ושותפתה לדירה - היתה נעלמת.
כאן נכנס לחייה בלש ספנסר אומלי ממשטרת ניו־יורק, שגם לו יש לא מעט שלדים בארון. ואילו סכום כסף גדול שנופל לידיה של לילי, והיה צריך להקל על מצבה, מביא בעקבותיו כוחות אפלים ההולכים ומכתרים אותה. ככל שהחיפושים אחרי איימי נעשים אינטנסיביים יותר, מוצאת לילי את עצמה נלחמת על חייה ונאלצת לבחון מחדש את כל מה שידעה על חברתה ועל משפחתה.
הגילויים המזעזעים על האנשים שהיא אוהבת מכריחים אותה לעמוד מול אמיתות שישנו אותה לתמיד.
הנערה מכיכר טיימס הוא ספר שצוללים למעמקיו ולא מרפים ממנו עד הדף האחרון. פאולינה סיימונס היא מחברת רבי־המכר פרש הברונזה, טטיאנה ואלכסנדר, גן הקיץ והדרך לגן עדן.
אמנם הדברים המעניינים ביותר בניו־יורק השוקקת קורים דווקא לאנשים הסובבים אותה, אבל לילי אוהבת את חייה חסרי המטרה, והיתה מוכנה להמשיך כך אלמלא איימי, חברתה הטובה ושותפתה לדירה - היתה נעלמת.
כאן נכנס לחייה בלש ספנסר אומלי ממשטרת ניו־יורק, שגם לו יש לא מעט שלדים בארון. ואילו סכום כסף גדול שנופל לידיה של לילי, והיה צריך להקל על מצבה, מביא בעקבותיו כוחות אפלים ההולכים ומכתרים אותה. ככל שהחיפושים אחרי איימי נעשים אינטנסיביים יותר, מוצאת לילי את עצמה נלחמת על חייה ונאלצת לבחון מחדש את כל מה שידעה על חברתה ועל משפחתה.
הגילויים המזעזעים על האנשים שהיא אוהבת מכריחים אותה לעמוד מול אמיתות שישנו אותה לתמיד.
הנערה מכיכר טיימס הוא ספר שצוללים למעמקיו ולא מרפים ממנו עד הדף האחרון. פאולינה סיימונס היא מחברת רבי־המכר פרש הברונזה, טטיאנה ואלכסנדר, גן הקיץ והדרך לגן עדן.
548 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
288 people are currently reading
4951 people want to read
About the author
Paullina Simons
47 books5,369 followersPaullina Simons was born in Leningrad, USSR, in 1963. At the age of ten her family immigrated to the United States. Growing up in Russia Paullina dreamt of someday becoming a writer. Her dream was put on hold as she learned English and overcame the shock of a new culture.
After graduating from university and after various jobs including working as a financial journalist and as a translator Paullina wrote her first novel Tully. Through word of mouth that book was welcomed by readers all over the world.
She continued with more novels, including Red Leaves, Eleven Hours, The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross (also known as Tatiana and Alexander), The Summer Garden and The Girl in Times Square (also known as Lily). Many of Paullina's novels have reached international bestseller lists.
Apart from her novels, Paullina has also written a cookbook, Tatiana's Table, which is a collection of recipes, short stories and recollections from her best selling trilogy of novels, The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross, (also known as Tatiana and Alexander) and The Summer Garden.
After graduating from university and after various jobs including working as a financial journalist and as a translator Paullina wrote her first novel Tully. Through word of mouth that book was welcomed by readers all over the world.
She continued with more novels, including Red Leaves, Eleven Hours, The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross (also known as Tatiana and Alexander), The Summer Garden and The Girl in Times Square (also known as Lily). Many of Paullina's novels have reached international bestseller lists.
Apart from her novels, Paullina has also written a cookbook, Tatiana's Table, which is a collection of recipes, short stories and recollections from her best selling trilogy of novels, The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross, (also known as Tatiana and Alexander) and The Summer Garden.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 513 reviews
February 25, 2012
I can honestly say this book changed my life. In fact it was instrumental in saving my son's life.
Above and beyond the excellent story - human interest, mystery, romance, Ms Simon's habitual excellent writing - this has a personal memory for me.
The day after I finished reading it I had a phone call from my son who was run down. Besides being tired he had bleeding gums and was bruising. The doctor said he was stressed and to take it easy. However, this was so close to the symptoms of the heroine in the book that we chatted about it, and joked in that pretending it isn't really happening way. I urged him to ask for a blood test (of course he wouldn't just listen to me but his friends also advised this!). The day after the blood test he was rushed into hospital as an emergency with APL leukaemia and started chemo that night.
4 years on he has been clear for more than 3 years and I am beginning to not worry everytime I don't hear from him.
So thank you Paullina, not just for an excellent book but being instrumental in saving my son.
Above and beyond the excellent story - human interest, mystery, romance, Ms Simon's habitual excellent writing - this has a personal memory for me.
The day after I finished reading it I had a phone call from my son who was run down. Besides being tired he had bleeding gums and was bruising. The doctor said he was stressed and to take it easy. However, this was so close to the symptoms of the heroine in the book that we chatted about it, and joked in that pretending it isn't really happening way. I urged him to ask for a blood test (of course he wouldn't just listen to me but his friends also advised this!). The day after the blood test he was rushed into hospital as an emergency with APL leukaemia and started chemo that night.
4 years on he has been clear for more than 3 years and I am beginning to not worry everytime I don't hear from him.
So thank you Paullina, not just for an excellent book but being instrumental in saving my son.
February 16, 2018
An author new to me, plus I usually avoid books over 500 pages, at least for the most part. Wasn't at all sure what to expect, but I won the book so I thought I may as well open it and see how I felt. Could always quit reading if it didn't appeal. I loved it. A missing person case, that turns into a whole new something else. Enticing and well rounded characters, the mixing of many different fictional elements, a medical story, a survivor story that again turns into something more. Shouldn't have worked. Should have been confusing, but it wasn't and it did. I was captivated, willing to go wherever this author lead. Immersive, surprising because one never knew what turn it would next take.
Disappointed when it was over, and at over 600 pages it was for me a quick read. Love when however much and whatever we read we can still be surprised when a book captures our attention like this did mine.
ARC from Librarything.
Disappointed when it was over, and at over 600 pages it was for me a quick read. Love when however much and whatever we read we can still be surprised when a book captures our attention like this did mine.
ARC from Librarything.
March 8, 2024
Paullina Simons has done it again. What a beautiful, beautiful book.
--
Poor poor Lily Quinn. She leads a hard life. She is in her early twenties and is poor as a church rat, she barly makes rent (to her crappy and smaller then smaller-appartment) and hasn´t even enough money for food. She is in collage, but never seems to get enough points to graduate. And her whole familly treats her as a doormat. Literally. And if that is not enough, she is now finding herself without a bed, since her cheating boyfriend took it, along with his share of rent money. So she is now poorer then poor.
Thank goodness for her roommate and best friend Amy. But then she goes missing and Lily´s life turns upside down. And Lily´s troubles hasn´t even begun yet, as it turns out. And this time it is so serious that it threatens to take her life. (Just writing this gives me the chills. I was so unpreperad for this unexpected motherfucking twist...)
Detective Spencer O`Malley, 45, is the one in charge of Amy´s case. And it turns out to be a hellalula lot complicated then everyone involve could ever have guessed. Since Lily was the person closest to Amy, Spencer and Lily ends up spending a lot of time together. And let me tell you. The sexual tension between them is INTENSE and I mean INTENSE.
I read this book last summer, and if you would ask me what I remember the most, I´d say the sexual tension without a doubt. It was thick and electrical, and scorching hot! And the fact that Spencer is so much older then Lily made it so much HOTTER! And he is so SEXY, with a capital S.
When we first met Spencer in Red Leaves (a prequel to this, sort of) my heart bleed for him and it was so hard to see him so devastated. His wife died in a car accident and now he has fallen in love for the third time and to watch the same thing happen again broke me in two for him...sniff sniff...I loved loved LOVED this book! Lily and Spencer´s love story is one of my favourites EVER! I the CONNECTION between them was ELECTRIFYING!!!
I couldn´t put it down for one second, it was so addictive! And the cruel twist made it even more unputtable. I can´t believe that Paullina Simons did that to Lily. I am shocked! I HIGHLY recommend The Girl In Times Square to everyone who wants to read an AMAZING LOVE STORY mixed with suspense and unexpected twists. ♥
--
Poor poor Lily Quinn. She leads a hard life. She is in her early twenties and is poor as a church rat, she barly makes rent (to her crappy and smaller then smaller-appartment) and hasn´t even enough money for food. She is in collage, but never seems to get enough points to graduate. And her whole familly treats her as a doormat. Literally. And if that is not enough, she is now finding herself without a bed, since her cheating boyfriend took it, along with his share of rent money. So she is now poorer then poor.
Thank goodness for her roommate and best friend Amy. But then she goes missing and Lily´s life turns upside down. And Lily´s troubles hasn´t even begun yet, as it turns out. And this time it is so serious that it threatens to take her life. (Just writing this gives me the chills. I was so unpreperad for this unexpected motherfucking twist...)
Detective Spencer O`Malley, 45, is the one in charge of Amy´s case. And it turns out to be a hellalula lot complicated then everyone involve could ever have guessed. Since Lily was the person closest to Amy, Spencer and Lily ends up spending a lot of time together. And let me tell you. The sexual tension between them is INTENSE and I mean INTENSE.
I read this book last summer, and if you would ask me what I remember the most, I´d say the sexual tension without a doubt. It was thick and electrical, and scorching hot! And the fact that Spencer is so much older then Lily made it so much HOTTER! And he is so SEXY, with a capital S.
When we first met Spencer in Red Leaves (a prequel to this, sort of) my heart bleed for him and it was so hard to see him so devastated. His wife died in a car accident and now he has fallen in love for the third time and to watch the same thing happen again broke me in two for him...sniff sniff...I loved loved LOVED this book! Lily and Spencer´s love story is one of my favourites EVER! I the CONNECTION between them was ELECTRIFYING!!!
I couldn´t put it down for one second, it was so addictive! And the cruel twist made it even more unputtable. I can´t believe that Paullina Simons did that to Lily. I am shocked! I HIGHLY recommend The Girl In Times Square to everyone who wants to read an AMAZING LOVE STORY mixed with suspense and unexpected twists. ♥
October 7, 2023
Have you ever been at a restaurant where the waitress reads off a special, and you think to yourself, "Wow! Most of those ingredients sound really good; but they don't all go together and it's just too much." So you don't want the special, but you have to admire the creativity and ambition of the chef. That's how I felt about this book.
[Warning! Slight spoilers ahead] So let's talk about the ingredients of this book:
- A missing girl
- A girl developing a career as an artist
- A May/December romance
- Cancer
- A multi-million dollar lottery win
- Alcoholism
- A cop being investigated by Internal Affairs
- A toxic mother/daughter relationship
- A family secret involving infidelity
- Another family secret involving another infidelity
- A family secret involving Nazis
- Weird religious cults
- Political fanaticism
- Hallucinogenic drugs
- A weenie roast involving a dude's actual weenie (I think that scene scarred me for life)
...and, if the narrative went on for 5 minutes longer:
- The 9/11 attacks in NYC.
There are probably a bunch of other things I forgot. So there was a lot going on here. And yet, there were large stretches of time when I was kind of bored. I am on record as being anti-trilogy but there was definitely enough material here for at least a trilogy, and it still would have seemed like a ridiculous amount of drama to happen to one person.
I really don't know how to rate this crazy thing. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I don't think it was a great success but kind of a spectacular near miss.
A note on the audio book: The woman who narrated did a really good job, giving all of the characters a unique voice etc. And her voice wasn't overtly annoying. So it feels unfair to say so, but for some reason, I found her performance to be detrimental to my enjoyment of the book - especially towards the end.
[Warning! Slight spoilers ahead] So let's talk about the ingredients of this book:
- A missing girl
- A girl developing a career as an artist
- A May/December romance
- Cancer
- A multi-million dollar lottery win
- Alcoholism
- A cop being investigated by Internal Affairs
- A toxic mother/daughter relationship
- A family secret involving infidelity
- Another family secret involving another infidelity
- A family secret involving Nazis
- Weird religious cults
- Political fanaticism
- Hallucinogenic drugs
- A weenie roast involving a dude's actual weenie (I think that scene scarred me for life)
...and, if the narrative went on for 5 minutes longer:
- The 9/11 attacks in NYC.
There are probably a bunch of other things I forgot. So there was a lot going on here. And yet, there were large stretches of time when I was kind of bored. I am on record as being anti-trilogy but there was definitely enough material here for at least a trilogy, and it still would have seemed like a ridiculous amount of drama to happen to one person.
I really don't know how to rate this crazy thing. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I don't think it was a great success but kind of a spectacular near miss.
A note on the audio book: The woman who narrated did a really good job, giving all of the characters a unique voice etc. And her voice wasn't overtly annoying. So it feels unfair to say so, but for some reason, I found her performance to be detrimental to my enjoyment of the book - especially towards the end.
March 1, 2013
It's probably just me, but I think this woman needs a ruthless editor.
Read
September 25, 2017I’ll start by saying I haven’t read The Bronze Horseman series written by this author, which made me feel like a “Tabula Rasa”, without good or bad prejudice.
This is a (very) long book, packed with details, with a pretty miserable and not very appealing beginning, and only because there are so many pages down the road and you wonder to yourself, “What the hell can she write about in all those pages?” you keep reading, half intrigued and half despaired.
This book entails a wide range of emotions – despair (which I’ve already mentioned) and then a different kind of despair, sadness, frustration, anger, happiness, love, empathy and hope. So many things are happening in this story, a strange combination of mystery, romance, philosophical prose and family drama. As if you were given a peephole to the bizarre life of some New Yorker, without a coherent plot, just a “BAM!” of her entire life in your face, and you have to decide whether you want to keep reading or closing this book at once and shoving it to a far corner in your library.
Well, I wanted to keep reading. And so it happened, that from one page to another and further acquaintance with the characters, the reading became more compelling and less despairing.
What’s the story about? Not that it matters too much, but 24-year-old Lily Quinn best friend and roommate has gone missing, and the dark NYPD detective Spencer O’Malley enters the lives of Lily her family’s like a storm in bad weather. The characters encircling them have secrets of their own, which eventually bound to reveal.
I think the beauty of this book is not necessarily in the main story, which is not to brilliant in my view, rather Lily’s curvy and twisted journey of growing up, from an aimless girl to a woman who knows what she wants out of life. The descriptions of Lily’s joy of painting, as the cure to all her troubles, which helps her to form her identity, makes you want to pick up a paintbrush and just start passing it on the canvas. Other descriptions, elaborated and detailed, regarding the destruction and cruelty of the disease, are so despairing and terrifying you just want to make a doctor’s appointment at the nearest clinic.
Well, I've already said that this book has it all.
That’s why I’m debating whether to recommend it or warn you from it, maybe a little bit of both.
This is a (very) long book, packed with details, with a pretty miserable and not very appealing beginning, and only because there are so many pages down the road and you wonder to yourself, “What the hell can she write about in all those pages?” you keep reading, half intrigued and half despaired.
This book entails a wide range of emotions – despair (which I’ve already mentioned) and then a different kind of despair, sadness, frustration, anger, happiness, love, empathy and hope. So many things are happening in this story, a strange combination of mystery, romance, philosophical prose and family drama. As if you were given a peephole to the bizarre life of some New Yorker, without a coherent plot, just a “BAM!” of her entire life in your face, and you have to decide whether you want to keep reading or closing this book at once and shoving it to a far corner in your library.
Well, I wanted to keep reading. And so it happened, that from one page to another and further acquaintance with the characters, the reading became more compelling and less despairing.
What’s the story about? Not that it matters too much, but 24-year-old Lily Quinn best friend and roommate has gone missing, and the dark NYPD detective Spencer O’Malley enters the lives of Lily her family’s like a storm in bad weather. The characters encircling them have secrets of their own, which eventually bound to reveal.
I think the beauty of this book is not necessarily in the main story, which is not to brilliant in my view, rather Lily’s curvy and twisted journey of growing up, from an aimless girl to a woman who knows what she wants out of life. The descriptions of Lily’s joy of painting, as the cure to all her troubles, which helps her to form her identity, makes you want to pick up a paintbrush and just start passing it on the canvas. Other descriptions, elaborated and detailed, regarding the destruction and cruelty of the disease, are so despairing and terrifying you just want to make a doctor’s appointment at the nearest clinic.
Well, I've already said that this book has it all.
That’s why I’m debating whether to recommend it or warn you from it, maybe a little bit of both.
May 24, 2010
I had read the Bronze Horseman by the same author a few years ago. It was amazing. I'm looking forward to reading another of her novels.
UPDATE:
DONE! Absolutely riveting. I could not put it down. Read it in 3 days despite it being exactly 599 pages long (and I have the bags under my eyes to prove it!). This author is gifted at creating real, authentic characters and is VERY gifted in particular in creating love stories that tug at the heartstrings. In my books, this is one author who could give Diana Gabaldon a run for her money. I'm now going to get my hands on every book she's written
UPDATE:
DONE! Absolutely riveting. I could not put it down. Read it in 3 days despite it being exactly 599 pages long (and I have the bags under my eyes to prove it!). This author is gifted at creating real, authentic characters and is VERY gifted in particular in creating love stories that tug at the heartstrings. In my books, this is one author who could give Diana Gabaldon a run for her money. I'm now going to get my hands on every book she's written
November 21, 2013
Even though Paullina Simon's novels are usually over-wordy she still has the writing ability to pull me into the story until the end because her characters and the situations are involved, multilayered and almost always surprising. "Girl in Times Square" (formally written under the title "Lily") is just one of those novels. Lily, a happy go lucky but lacking in self confidence, is a 25 year old woman that is barely making ends meet when her room-mate, Amy, turns up missing. Shortly after that she wins an 18 million dollar lottery but decides to wait until Amy is found before she cashes it in. In comes Spencer O'Mally who is the lead detective in the missing person's case and he suspects that Lily's brother, a congressman, has something to do with Amy's disappearance. Then, Lily is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Spencer becomes fond and protective of Lily through her ordeal. On top of all of these unbelievable problems that befall this young woman everyone has to deal with Lily's alcoholic, selfish crazy mother and also the off-kilter rest of her family. Through the rest of the novel, Lily learns to love herself and the rest of her relatives that are making such a mess of her already extremely messy life.
The flawed characters are strong and and the mystery of Amy's disappearance was enough to pull me through to the end and when I closed the book for the last time I was satisfied that I had just read a very good novel.
The flawed characters are strong and and the mystery of Amy's disappearance was enough to pull me through to the end and when I closed the book for the last time I was satisfied that I had just read a very good novel.
July 27, 2014
And again Paullina Simons rips out my heart, chews it up and spits it out. Every single time! The Bronze Horseman remains my favourite book of all time, but this has become another Simons favourite.
Our heroine Lily defines bad luck (I mean, how much can one girl go through - as Spencer says in the book "the hits just keep on coming" - so true!). When we meet her she is a struggling student in New York, her boyfriend has just left her, she has no money and no purpose. There's all sorts of stuff going on with her (I'll confess it took me a bit to get inside her head, but the more I read and got to know the other characters and learn more of Lily's story, I understood her better) but her life really starts to unravel when she gets some unexpected and unwanted good luck, and then her roommate Amy goes missing. Enter Detective Spencer O'Malley. And it all sort of snowballs from there.
To start with, her family are just hideous (except for Grandma), I seriously wanted to smack the lot of them by the end of the book. Of course she's missing her best friend Amy, but her other friends, Rachel and Paul were great characters. I especially loved them all during the "I'm having SEX" scene, I laughed out loud reading through that one.
The shining light in this book for me was Spencer. The broody, damaged (of course) Police detective assigned to investigate the case of Lily's missing roommate. I just loved him as a character, and his relationship with Lily was the most gorgeous friendship which of course developed into some serious steam. Simons knows how to take your breath away with swoon-worthy leading men and hot romances!!!
I thought the ending to the 'mystery' aspect of the book was a little random and really came out of nowhere, but it was all wrapped up neatly. By that stage though I was so absorbed in other storylines going on in the book I really couldn't have cared less what happened to poor Amy.
In floods of tears I made it through the last few chapters of the book. I thought I had picked the ending, but was completely wrong. I don't want to give anything away though, you'll just have to read it yourself! But have tissues handy and clear your diary if you are going to start this one.
A great read, and a great example of why Paullina Simons is one of my favourite authors.
Our heroine Lily defines bad luck (I mean, how much can one girl go through - as Spencer says in the book "the hits just keep on coming" - so true!). When we meet her she is a struggling student in New York, her boyfriend has just left her, she has no money and no purpose. There's all sorts of stuff going on with her (I'll confess it took me a bit to get inside her head, but the more I read and got to know the other characters and learn more of Lily's story, I understood her better) but her life really starts to unravel when she gets some unexpected and unwanted good luck, and then her roommate Amy goes missing. Enter Detective Spencer O'Malley. And it all sort of snowballs from there.
To start with, her family are just hideous (except for Grandma), I seriously wanted to smack the lot of them by the end of the book. Of course she's missing her best friend Amy, but her other friends, Rachel and Paul were great characters. I especially loved them all during the "I'm having SEX" scene, I laughed out loud reading through that one.
The shining light in this book for me was Spencer. The broody, damaged (of course) Police detective assigned to investigate the case of Lily's missing roommate. I just loved him as a character, and his relationship with Lily was the most gorgeous friendship which of course developed into some serious steam. Simons knows how to take your breath away with swoon-worthy leading men and hot romances!!!
I thought the ending to the 'mystery' aspect of the book was a little random and really came out of nowhere, but it was all wrapped up neatly. By that stage though I was so absorbed in other storylines going on in the book I really couldn't have cared less what happened to poor Amy.
In floods of tears I made it through the last few chapters of the book. I thought I had picked the ending, but was completely wrong. I don't want to give anything away though, you'll just have to read it yourself! But have tissues handy and clear your diary if you are going to start this one.
A great read, and a great example of why Paullina Simons is one of my favourite authors.
December 9, 2017
This is my first Paullina Simmons book but it certainly won't be my last. This is a roller coaster ride of a book with love, mystery, health problems and family issues and lots of surprises for the reader. Once you got started in this book, you won't want to put it down.
Lily is just drifting through life. She has been in college for over 4 years but doesn't have enough credits to graduate, she has friends and parties but can't seem to find a boyfriend. She lives in a small flat that she shares with her best friend Amy - until one day Amy doesn't come home and no one knows where she has disappeared to. The main detective on the case, Spencer, has problems of his own and is less than nice to Lily. Just when things can't get any worse, Lily wins the lottery which creates a myriad of different problems for her. But no matter what is going on in her life, Amy is still missing and Lily's world continue to be full of problems.
From a master storyteller comes a new heart-wrenching, magnificent and un-putdownable novel. This is the odyssey of two young women, Lily and Amy, roommates and friends on the verge of the rest of their lives.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Lily is just drifting through life. She has been in college for over 4 years but doesn't have enough credits to graduate, she has friends and parties but can't seem to find a boyfriend. She lives in a small flat that she shares with her best friend Amy - until one day Amy doesn't come home and no one knows where she has disappeared to. The main detective on the case, Spencer, has problems of his own and is less than nice to Lily. Just when things can't get any worse, Lily wins the lottery which creates a myriad of different problems for her. But no matter what is going on in her life, Amy is still missing and Lily's world continue to be full of problems.
From a master storyteller comes a new heart-wrenching, magnificent and un-putdownable novel. This is the odyssey of two young women, Lily and Amy, roommates and friends on the verge of the rest of their lives.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
November 16, 2017
Lily Quinn has a lot going on in her life. She has family issues, her boyfriend leaves her, finances are tight and while she is in Maui visiting her parents her roommate Amy seems to have disappeared -- and then there's that lottery ticket that seems to have the right sequence of numbers to be a winner. . .
This book started out in such a promising way, but it just seemed to get stuck in a rut for me. Apparently I just don't appreciate Paullina Simons' prose. Anyway, I think this would have been more my speed if it was about half as long. There were aspects I loved, but they were spaced way too far out and surrounded with events that seemed to be happening in slow motion.
This book started out in such a promising way, but it just seemed to get stuck in a rut for me. Apparently I just don't appreciate Paullina Simons' prose. Anyway, I think this would have been more my speed if it was about half as long. There were aspects I loved, but they were spaced way too far out and surrounded with events that seemed to be happening in slow motion.
August 17, 2009
My copy is actually called "Lily". I have not had the brainpower required to write a decent review over the past 8 weeks (although Cooper is starting to sleep through the night so hopefully it will return soon!) and so I am going to keep this simple. I really enjoyed this book and liked it even more when I realized a large part of the book was a mystery. Just like Simon's other books, I would not recommend to my more conservative friends. She definitely favors the F word in her writing. In The Bronze Horseman trilogy I was able to overlook this factor due to the war setting but it was harder to ignore in this one. Also, although there was no 70 page honeymoon there was some sexual content. I would probably give this 4.5 stars simply for the reason that this is the first book in a long time that I have not been able to put down. I have four or five other books I am working on right now and they all took backseatto this one. What a relief! I was starting to think there was something wrong with me since I have not been enjoying my book as much :)
December 29, 2009
I REALLY loved this book. There are enough plot summaries, so I won't add mine. This book has everything: murder mystery, suspense, family skeletons, great plot/character development, and a tender love story. Lily is just such a lovable character. She remains loyal to her dysfunctional/shady family--all the while battling cancer. As much as I was captivated by all the subplots, it was the love story between Spencer and Lily that had me turning pages until the wee hours of the night. It will capture your heart.
Paullina Simons is my new favorite author. This novel is very different from The Bronze Horseman trilogy, but it is just as moving. One of the many things that Ms. Simons gets right again and again is the character development. She is so detail-oriented and thorough. You leave her stories really caring about these characters.
I highly recommend this book, and I hopefully you will cherish it as much as I have.
Paullina Simons is my new favorite author. This novel is very different from The Bronze Horseman trilogy, but it is just as moving. One of the many things that Ms. Simons gets right again and again is the character development. She is so detail-oriented and thorough. You leave her stories really caring about these characters.
I highly recommend this book, and I hopefully you will cherish it as much as I have.
April 9, 2010
This author has the ability to take me to a place no other can. The character development in her stories is amazing. I felt Lily's pain. I felt Spencer's pain (and addiction). This author is not for the light hearted. It's actually quite depressing. Fortunately, the ending was satisfying to me. She writes a fabulous mystery too. Although I rate this a 5 star, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
February 4, 2018
Este livro enterneceu-me e derrubou-me! Lindo e horrível, amor e ódio, doença e cura, fundamentalismo, ganância, pais e filhos, amigos e inimigos.
Este livro é fantástico!
Este livro é fantástico!
April 5, 2021
3.5- 4 arasına karar veremediğim için 4'e gitti elim ama 3.5 gibi.
Tabi ki bir beklentim vardı kitaptan ama bir Bronz Atlı etkileyiciliği beklemiyordum. Beklentimi karşıladı mı eh karşıladı sayılır. Polisiye, aşk ve dram vardı kitapta.
Karakterler arasındaki yaş farkı beni rahatsız etmedi açıkçası çünkü öyle şartlar altında başladılar ki bu ilişkiye, ben okurken hadi artık olsun diye okuyordum yani.
Kitabın en korkunç noktası Lily'nin aile dediği o kalabalık oluşumdu. Allah böyle ailelerden korusun, okudukça aileme tekrar tekrar şükrettim. Nasıl iğrençler, nasıl benciller... Hele anne denen yaratık! Sabaha kadar sövsem atamam sinirimi bu kadına ve ailenin geri kalanına karşı.
Paullina'nın tarzı kısa kitap yazamamak sanırım. Eh alıştık artık ama bu kitap gerçekten daha kısa olabilirdi bayağı gereksiz uzamış. Ayrıca sonu da çok aceleye gelmiş gibiydi, üstelik bazı karakterler için "Noldu ya böyle melek oldular?" sorusunu sordurdu bana.
Yani okunur mu? Okunur evet, etkileyiciydi diyebilirim.
Elimdekileri bırakıp okunur mu? Yok o kadar da değil :)
Tabi ki bir beklentim vardı kitaptan ama bir Bronz Atlı etkileyiciliği beklemiyordum. Beklentimi karşıladı mı eh karşıladı sayılır. Polisiye, aşk ve dram vardı kitapta.
Karakterler arasındaki yaş farkı beni rahatsız etmedi açıkçası çünkü öyle şartlar altında başladılar ki bu ilişkiye, ben okurken hadi artık olsun diye okuyordum yani.
Kitabın en korkunç noktası Lily'nin aile dediği o kalabalık oluşumdu. Allah böyle ailelerden korusun, okudukça aileme tekrar tekrar şükrettim. Nasıl iğrençler, nasıl benciller... Hele anne denen yaratık! Sabaha kadar sövsem atamam sinirimi bu kadına ve ailenin geri kalanına karşı.
Paullina'nın tarzı kısa kitap yazamamak sanırım. Eh alıştık artık ama bu kitap gerçekten daha kısa olabilirdi bayağı gereksiz uzamış. Ayrıca sonu da çok aceleye gelmiş gibiydi, üstelik bazı karakterler için "Noldu ya böyle melek oldular?" sorusunu sordurdu bana.
Yani okunur mu? Okunur evet, etkileyiciydi diyebilirim.
Elimdekileri bırakıp okunur mu? Yok o kadar da değil :)
May 5, 2013
Why I decided to read this book:
I was looking for a book that no one had recommend to me or I had herd of so I decided to go to the library and chose a random book, the book was on display facing backwards, so I had a quick skim of the synopsis and decided to give it chance.
Which category on the bingo board this book completes:
This book completes the 'A book with a female main character' on my bingo board. I find the category very easy to review about as most books have a female main character, I would of liked this category to possibly be more specific or to have an additional factor to the category such as ' A book with a heroine main character' to give it more personality and make it more appealing to review on.
My favourite quote from this book (and why) :
'Daughters are supposed to be friends to their mothers in their old age.' was my favourite quote from the book. Lily and her mother don't have the typical mother-daughter relation ship that most females share, for her its the complete opposite, although deep down, very deep down she must love her mother but only for the reason of loving your mother, because she is your mother. Lily's mother doesn't seem to care much about Lily or anything but her self at all which to me is beyond frustrating (the arrogance her mother has within herself will make you want to scream in frustration) as all she seems to care about is herself and causing others to feel frustration when she is constantly reminding everyone of her own problems. At that moment I felt so devastated for Lily and furious at her mother. How can she be a friend to her mother when her mother is not even a mother to her? How could she say such a thing with such ease and simplicity without realising what a horrible and self-centred person she is. I could just feel the anger that must be built inside Lily when her mother has said something like that. The impact on the quote and the strong reaction it was able to make me feel was why it was my favourite, it made me feel made what lily felt, the quote made me feel as though I was apart of the story.
Something new I learned from the book is:
In the book 'The Girl in Times Square' Lily who is the lead character discovers that she has been diagnosed with cancer. To Lily it was a foreign subject, she didn't really know much about cancer in general and especially about her diagnosis and so did I. Throughout the chapters the doctors and nurses are having to explain to Lily about her disease, effects she will go through and all the medical reasons as to why she is ill, this also benefited me as a reader as I was learning some new things that I never knew before such as what 'Acute promyelocytic leukemia' (a cancer of the blood and bone marrow) was and the damage that it can do to a body. It was convenient to learn about things like this all in a story.
A character or setting that was interesting to me (and why):
Lily's mother Allison Quinn was the character that was most interesting to me, but for all the wrong reasons. Allison was so frustrating that sometimes I would slap myself or scream, she was so arrogate and inconsiderate toward anyone’s feelings but her own. Allison had a drinking problem and this caused her to be the centre of attention, her husband would do his job in supporting her though this rough experience but Allison would constantly push him away and blame all of her problems on him. Allison's character had the kind of power to make the reader cringe and bite their finger nails, she was like the fly in your room that would not stop buzzing!. This to me is what made her so fascinating and it made the book so exhilarating to read.
I loved this book to pieces, there was romance, mystery, pain, and friendship all embedded in this fantastic book. I would recommend this book to any one who is looking for a bit of everything in a book! 5/5 :)
I was looking for a book that no one had recommend to me or I had herd of so I decided to go to the library and chose a random book, the book was on display facing backwards, so I had a quick skim of the synopsis and decided to give it chance.
Which category on the bingo board this book completes:
This book completes the 'A book with a female main character' on my bingo board. I find the category very easy to review about as most books have a female main character, I would of liked this category to possibly be more specific or to have an additional factor to the category such as ' A book with a heroine main character' to give it more personality and make it more appealing to review on.
My favourite quote from this book (and why) :
'Daughters are supposed to be friends to their mothers in their old age.' was my favourite quote from the book. Lily and her mother don't have the typical mother-daughter relation ship that most females share, for her its the complete opposite, although deep down, very deep down she must love her mother but only for the reason of loving your mother, because she is your mother. Lily's mother doesn't seem to care much about Lily or anything but her self at all which to me is beyond frustrating (the arrogance her mother has within herself will make you want to scream in frustration) as all she seems to care about is herself and causing others to feel frustration when she is constantly reminding everyone of her own problems. At that moment I felt so devastated for Lily and furious at her mother. How can she be a friend to her mother when her mother is not even a mother to her? How could she say such a thing with such ease and simplicity without realising what a horrible and self-centred person she is. I could just feel the anger that must be built inside Lily when her mother has said something like that. The impact on the quote and the strong reaction it was able to make me feel was why it was my favourite, it made me feel made what lily felt, the quote made me feel as though I was apart of the story.
Something new I learned from the book is:
In the book 'The Girl in Times Square' Lily who is the lead character discovers that she has been diagnosed with cancer. To Lily it was a foreign subject, she didn't really know much about cancer in general and especially about her diagnosis and so did I. Throughout the chapters the doctors and nurses are having to explain to Lily about her disease, effects she will go through and all the medical reasons as to why she is ill, this also benefited me as a reader as I was learning some new things that I never knew before such as what 'Acute promyelocytic leukemia' (a cancer of the blood and bone marrow) was and the damage that it can do to a body. It was convenient to learn about things like this all in a story.
A character or setting that was interesting to me (and why):
Lily's mother Allison Quinn was the character that was most interesting to me, but for all the wrong reasons. Allison was so frustrating that sometimes I would slap myself or scream, she was so arrogate and inconsiderate toward anyone’s feelings but her own. Allison had a drinking problem and this caused her to be the centre of attention, her husband would do his job in supporting her though this rough experience but Allison would constantly push him away and blame all of her problems on him. Allison's character had the kind of power to make the reader cringe and bite their finger nails, she was like the fly in your room that would not stop buzzing!. This to me is what made her so fascinating and it made the book so exhilarating to read.
I loved this book to pieces, there was romance, mystery, pain, and friendship all embedded in this fantastic book. I would recommend this book to any one who is looking for a bit of everything in a book! 5/5 :)
December 28, 2017
Favorite Quotes:
He was seeing a social worker now, Mary. He quite liked her— they had been together a year— but couldn’t help feeling that he was really just another one of her more complicated cases. Once she fixed him she would go. Spencer couldn’t wait for that day. He just wasn’t sure: to be fixed or for her to go?
He’s not a politician if he doesn’t have an affair. That’s how you recognize them, their pants are around their ankles. What are you going to do— prosecute each and every one?
And watch out for the cohone buster. She’s got a pair of her own and they’re made of steel. Sergeant Vicario, remember him? The Jesse Ventura of the NYPD? The woman made him cry. Cry, I tell you.
Lily struggled up from the bed. Unbelievable. Her mother ruined death for her even in fantasies. Even in fantasies, Lily’s death couldn’t be about Lily, it was all about Lily’s mother. She couldn’t even die the way she wanted to.
Whoever said that money did not bring happiness obviously had none.
My Review:
Paullina Simons is a deft and skillful scribe who writes superlative tales – they are maddeningly paced, ingeniously crafted, vexingly enthralling, extremely frustrating, endlessly fascinating, irksomely confounding, and they tend to turn me inside out before they gut me, but like a lamb to the slaughter, I have to keep reading. What gall! Her books are unbelievably long, massive tomes of 600+ pages, yet I have to examine and digest each and every savory word as if I’m a deprived dieter attending a long-awaited feast while finding delectable morsels buried in each chapter. Her enthralling tales tend to be multi-layered, convoluted, and cleverly meandering to hide the buried treasures.
The Girl In Times Square really cannot be defined by a single genre. I would say it is primarily women’s fiction as in the midst of a family drama, there is a missing girl that leads to a suspenseful twist, that leads to a mystery, that leads to a passionate love affair, that leads to more family drama, and additional suspense and another mystery. I loved and despised the unusual and despicable characters; they were odious, critically flawed, exasperating, endearing, weak, enticing, clever, childish, duplicitous, melodramatic, narcissistic, and yet, each and every one of them was extremely compelling.
Ms. Simons slyly laces her stories with cunningly crafted story threads that prickle and cause a discomforting sense of apprehension, yet I cannot seem to put my Kindle down. There are other threads that find me holding my breath and several that find me wanting to give the infuriating characters a swift kick to a soft fleshy area. While she made me work for it, she skillfully spun all the frayed and deviously tangled strings into an unforgettable, wily, mercifully kind, and satisfying conclusion. Sigh. I can’t wait to see what she does with her next one.
He was seeing a social worker now, Mary. He quite liked her— they had been together a year— but couldn’t help feeling that he was really just another one of her more complicated cases. Once she fixed him she would go. Spencer couldn’t wait for that day. He just wasn’t sure: to be fixed or for her to go?
He’s not a politician if he doesn’t have an affair. That’s how you recognize them, their pants are around their ankles. What are you going to do— prosecute each and every one?
And watch out for the cohone buster. She’s got a pair of her own and they’re made of steel. Sergeant Vicario, remember him? The Jesse Ventura of the NYPD? The woman made him cry. Cry, I tell you.
Lily struggled up from the bed. Unbelievable. Her mother ruined death for her even in fantasies. Even in fantasies, Lily’s death couldn’t be about Lily, it was all about Lily’s mother. She couldn’t even die the way she wanted to.
Whoever said that money did not bring happiness obviously had none.
My Review:
Paullina Simons is a deft and skillful scribe who writes superlative tales – they are maddeningly paced, ingeniously crafted, vexingly enthralling, extremely frustrating, endlessly fascinating, irksomely confounding, and they tend to turn me inside out before they gut me, but like a lamb to the slaughter, I have to keep reading. What gall! Her books are unbelievably long, massive tomes of 600+ pages, yet I have to examine and digest each and every savory word as if I’m a deprived dieter attending a long-awaited feast while finding delectable morsels buried in each chapter. Her enthralling tales tend to be multi-layered, convoluted, and cleverly meandering to hide the buried treasures.
The Girl In Times Square really cannot be defined by a single genre. I would say it is primarily women’s fiction as in the midst of a family drama, there is a missing girl that leads to a suspenseful twist, that leads to a mystery, that leads to a passionate love affair, that leads to more family drama, and additional suspense and another mystery. I loved and despised the unusual and despicable characters; they were odious, critically flawed, exasperating, endearing, weak, enticing, clever, childish, duplicitous, melodramatic, narcissistic, and yet, each and every one of them was extremely compelling.
Ms. Simons slyly laces her stories with cunningly crafted story threads that prickle and cause a discomforting sense of apprehension, yet I cannot seem to put my Kindle down. There are other threads that find me holding my breath and several that find me wanting to give the infuriating characters a swift kick to a soft fleshy area. While she made me work for it, she skillfully spun all the frayed and deviously tangled strings into an unforgettable, wily, mercifully kind, and satisfying conclusion. Sigh. I can’t wait to see what she does with her next one.
February 19, 2020
2.5 stars This book doesn't seem to really know what it wants to be ...... a missing person mystery ...... several family dramas ...... a romance ....... a life threatening illness ..... a murder ....... and just in case that isn't enough, throw in a bit about WW2, addiction to alcohol and drugs, a cult religion and a political dimension!
Of course to fit all of that in you have to write a lot, 600 pages in fact. The whole thing just feels a bit too much for one book. Even though it is a long book, the ending still feels very rushed ...... and then to tie-up the other major loose ends there is another end chapter tagged on at the back of the book. All in all it is readable, but I won't be putting it onto my "favourites" list.
Of course to fit all of that in you have to write a lot, 600 pages in fact. The whole thing just feels a bit too much for one book. Even though it is a long book, the ending still feels very rushed ...... and then to tie-up the other major loose ends there is another end chapter tagged on at the back of the book. All in all it is readable, but I won't be putting it onto my "favourites" list.
October 24, 2008
Poor. Far too much emotion and bad luck. The murder is kind of incidental to the unfortunate life of the main character, and I just really didn't care.
And I loved the character of Spencer O'Malley in Red Leaves, buin this he was just pathetic.
I was sorely disappointed by this book, and felt I had really wasted my £5.99!
And I loved the character of Spencer O'Malley in Red Leaves, buin this he was just pathetic.
I was sorely disappointed by this book, and felt I had really wasted my £5.99!
January 28, 2015
Para empezar, reconozco que he hecho trampa, el protagonista de este libro aparece ya en otra novela de la autora, pero era tan irresistible la tentación de leer éste que no pude evitar saltarme el anterior. Y no sé si arrepentirme, cuando lea “Red leaves” lo sabré.
A estas alturas ya conoceréis mi obsesión por esta autora, y a los que no lo sabían, lo digo ahora: ME ENCANTA ESTA AUTORA. Así no queda nadie sin aviso. La verdad es que nunca sé por dónde me va a salir, son tan distintos los libros que ha escrito que traté de encontrarle un patrón fijo pero no lo encontré. Porque no lo tiene, escribe lo que le gusta y punto. En este caso me ha vuelto a sorprender, la sinopsis es muy abierta y promete mucho, pero lo que he encontrado en su interior me ha dejado anonadada.
Indescriptible. Inolvidable.
Pero lo intentaré.
¿Qué es lo mejor y lo peor que te podría pasar?
A grandes rasgos, eso es lo que le ocurre a nuestra protagonista. El libro comienza cuando Lily Quinn rompe con su novio y éste deja el piso que comparte con su amiga Amy McFadden. Un oportuno viaje de visita a sus padres le da una coartada perfecta para lo que se encuentra al volver: su amiga Amy ha desaparecido. Es entonces cuando conoce a Spencer O’Malley, el detective que lleva el caso, y con el que establecería un lazo que va haciéndose cada vez más y más profundo. Sin embargo, el hecho de que su hermano Andrew resulte sospechosamente envuelto en el misterio de la chica McFadden enturbia la relación entre el detective y Lily. Aún así, su historia avanza, se consolida y se convierte en algo más fuerte y elemental.
Llegados a este punto podemos decir que parece una novela de intriga o policíaca: una persona desaparece, hay posibles testigos o artífices de la desaparición y un detective investiga el misterio. Pero había algo que no me cuadraba: Paullina no lo podía dejar tan simple, me decía. Y, desde luego, la cosa no es tan simple como parecía a primera vista. Porque eso que tenía pinta de ser la trama principal va quedando más y más relegado, a un segundo plano, más bien. Se centra en nuestra protagonista, Lily, que un buen día recibe la peor noticia de su vida: la muerte le está rondando. Y la muerte está dentro de ella y puede consumirla y acabar con ella. La batalla contra ella misma ha comenzado.
Lo bueno de este libro es que la autora nos da tiempo, y da tiempo, para que conozcamos a los protagonistas y éstos se conozcan. Así que buena parte de la novela son simplemente tanteos, encuentros, conversaciones... Esa afinidad natural que tenían al principio se va afianzando y va a dar lugar a la amistad, y más tarde, al amor. Poco a poco su relación se va haciendo más estrecha y cercana, hasta el punto en que ya son uña y carne y no pueden concebir la vida sin el otro. Y si la conciben, se trata de un valle de lágrimas, dolor y vacío. Pero hasta que eso ocurre su historia estaba latente, bajo la superficie, y oculta bajo apariencias inofensivas, pero realmente nunca se manifestaba. Es una de esas historias en las que pasa mucho tiempo hasta que se dan el primer beso. Todo seguía un orden natural, se establecía un acercamiento gradual entre ambos y un vínculo cada vez más fuerte aunque bastante frágil. Pero hasta que realmente “ocurre” algo entre los dos, los protagonistas viven muchas experiencias. Parecía más bien un drama familiar y un relato sobre la superación personal de Lily para salir adelante con lo que le toca vivir, el descubrimiento de los misterios de su familia que nunca se habían aclarado del todo y que ahora salen a la luz. Y el infierno en el que vive Spencer y del que no tiene esperanza de escapar. Y la verdad os hará libres, sí, pero también es una carga de la cual uno no se puede deshacer. A veces hay secretos que es mejor no saber. Sobre todo de personas que creíamos que conocíamos de verdad.
Lo malo de esta novela es que no podría explicar lo que ocurre porque es bien difícil de definir, pero de una cosa estoy segura: vale la pena presenciar ese acercamiento entre Spencer y Lily, que va ganando terreno, cobrando importancia, porque luego esa afinidad se convierte en amor, en un amor puro y casi mágico. Al principio era una relación totalmente inocente, acuerdos tácitos para estar juntos todas las semanas, una confianza cada vez más profunda en el otro, hasta el punto en el que Lily llega a decir: “No necesito el amor, tengo a Spencer”. La ingenuidad e inocencia ante sus propios sentimientos sorprende al lector, porque la autora define el amor sin mencionar la palabra, expresa los sentimientos sin caer en la obviedad, lo dice todo de forma tan ambigua para los protagonistas pero tan evidente para el tercer ojo que no puedo menos que maravillarme de su estilo narrativo. No sé si me explico bien, pero lo que consigue esta autora es que sintamos ese amor sin ponerle palabras, sin limitarlo a unas pequeñas frases y dejarlo en el olvido. No, estoy hablando ese amor que ella sabe plasmar en las páginas como nadie, en los lugares aparentemente anodinos, en las frases más inocentes y las acciones más nimias. Es algo que no deja de sorprenderme. Esto lo consiguen pocas autoras y ninguna como ella. Para definir eso sólo puedo decir: este libro es de Paullina Simons. Pero esa explicación es un tanto nula para quienes no la conozcan, así que por eso tomo el camino más largo y difícil para darla a conocer. Pero si conocéis a la autora, sabréis de qué estoy hablando. Es una autora que llena completamente al leer sus libros. Sólo quería LEER, pero no leer cualquier libro, no, sino ESE libro. Porque no dejaba de pensar en la historia, rondándome la cabeza, cada incógnita que se planteaba exigía respuesta y nunca leía lo suficientemente rápido para respondérmela, porque siempre aparecían más interrogantes y dudas. No dejaba de pensar en Spencer y Lily, ¿cuándo? ¿Cuándo? ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué?
Cada personaje vive su guerra particular, luchando contra un enemigo que no es físico ni independiente, porque está dentro de ellos mismos y cada cual carga con su propia condena. Y, aunque la amenaza parezca lejana, permanece bajo la superficie, esperando un momento de debilidad para dominarnos. Es entonces cuando sale con todas sus fuerzas y provoca el dolor y el sufrimiento. Lily combate contra su propio cuerpo agarrándose a la vida con todas sus fuerzas, su madre combate con su depresión y vacío, la madre de Amy combate con el peso que la arrastra hasta el fondo, Spencer combate contra sus propios demonios, Andrew combate contra la sospecha. Y el resto de los personajes también luchan. Nadie es realmente libre. Unos se rinden, otros siguen luchando, unos fracasan, otros resurgen de sus cenizas pero todos tienen una batalla que librar. No la eligieron, pero está allí.
En resumen, es un libro duro, muy duro, muestra la realidad desnuda, la crudeza del ser humano y su sufrimiento, pero también un amor transparente y puro. El del bueno. En alguna ocasión dije que Paullina Simons escribe historias muy tristes pero muy bonitas. Historias que llenan por completo. Este es un ejemplo perfecto.
A estas alturas ya conoceréis mi obsesión por esta autora, y a los que no lo sabían, lo digo ahora: ME ENCANTA ESTA AUTORA. Así no queda nadie sin aviso. La verdad es que nunca sé por dónde me va a salir, son tan distintos los libros que ha escrito que traté de encontrarle un patrón fijo pero no lo encontré. Porque no lo tiene, escribe lo que le gusta y punto. En este caso me ha vuelto a sorprender, la sinopsis es muy abierta y promete mucho, pero lo que he encontrado en su interior me ha dejado anonadada.
Indescriptible. Inolvidable.
Pero lo intentaré.
¿Qué es lo mejor y lo peor que te podría pasar?
A grandes rasgos, eso es lo que le ocurre a nuestra protagonista. El libro comienza cuando Lily Quinn rompe con su novio y éste deja el piso que comparte con su amiga Amy McFadden. Un oportuno viaje de visita a sus padres le da una coartada perfecta para lo que se encuentra al volver: su amiga Amy ha desaparecido. Es entonces cuando conoce a Spencer O’Malley, el detective que lleva el caso, y con el que establecería un lazo que va haciéndose cada vez más y más profundo. Sin embargo, el hecho de que su hermano Andrew resulte sospechosamente envuelto en el misterio de la chica McFadden enturbia la relación entre el detective y Lily. Aún así, su historia avanza, se consolida y se convierte en algo más fuerte y elemental.
Llegados a este punto podemos decir que parece una novela de intriga o policíaca: una persona desaparece, hay posibles testigos o artífices de la desaparición y un detective investiga el misterio. Pero había algo que no me cuadraba: Paullina no lo podía dejar tan simple, me decía. Y, desde luego, la cosa no es tan simple como parecía a primera vista. Porque eso que tenía pinta de ser la trama principal va quedando más y más relegado, a un segundo plano, más bien. Se centra en nuestra protagonista, Lily, que un buen día recibe la peor noticia de su vida: la muerte le está rondando. Y la muerte está dentro de ella y puede consumirla y acabar con ella. La batalla contra ella misma ha comenzado.
Lo bueno de este libro es que la autora nos da tiempo, y da tiempo, para que conozcamos a los protagonistas y éstos se conozcan. Así que buena parte de la novela son simplemente tanteos, encuentros, conversaciones... Esa afinidad natural que tenían al principio se va afianzando y va a dar lugar a la amistad, y más tarde, al amor. Poco a poco su relación se va haciendo más estrecha y cercana, hasta el punto en que ya son uña y carne y no pueden concebir la vida sin el otro. Y si la conciben, se trata de un valle de lágrimas, dolor y vacío. Pero hasta que eso ocurre su historia estaba latente, bajo la superficie, y oculta bajo apariencias inofensivas, pero realmente nunca se manifestaba. Es una de esas historias en las que pasa mucho tiempo hasta que se dan el primer beso. Todo seguía un orden natural, se establecía un acercamiento gradual entre ambos y un vínculo cada vez más fuerte aunque bastante frágil. Pero hasta que realmente “ocurre” algo entre los dos, los protagonistas viven muchas experiencias. Parecía más bien un drama familiar y un relato sobre la superación personal de Lily para salir adelante con lo que le toca vivir, el descubrimiento de los misterios de su familia que nunca se habían aclarado del todo y que ahora salen a la luz. Y el infierno en el que vive Spencer y del que no tiene esperanza de escapar. Y la verdad os hará libres, sí, pero también es una carga de la cual uno no se puede deshacer. A veces hay secretos que es mejor no saber. Sobre todo de personas que creíamos que conocíamos de verdad.
Lo malo de esta novela es que no podría explicar lo que ocurre porque es bien difícil de definir, pero de una cosa estoy segura: vale la pena presenciar ese acercamiento entre Spencer y Lily, que va ganando terreno, cobrando importancia, porque luego esa afinidad se convierte en amor, en un amor puro y casi mágico. Al principio era una relación totalmente inocente, acuerdos tácitos para estar juntos todas las semanas, una confianza cada vez más profunda en el otro, hasta el punto en el que Lily llega a decir: “No necesito el amor, tengo a Spencer”. La ingenuidad e inocencia ante sus propios sentimientos sorprende al lector, porque la autora define el amor sin mencionar la palabra, expresa los sentimientos sin caer en la obviedad, lo dice todo de forma tan ambigua para los protagonistas pero tan evidente para el tercer ojo que no puedo menos que maravillarme de su estilo narrativo. No sé si me explico bien, pero lo que consigue esta autora es que sintamos ese amor sin ponerle palabras, sin limitarlo a unas pequeñas frases y dejarlo en el olvido. No, estoy hablando ese amor que ella sabe plasmar en las páginas como nadie, en los lugares aparentemente anodinos, en las frases más inocentes y las acciones más nimias. Es algo que no deja de sorprenderme. Esto lo consiguen pocas autoras y ninguna como ella. Para definir eso sólo puedo decir: este libro es de Paullina Simons. Pero esa explicación es un tanto nula para quienes no la conozcan, así que por eso tomo el camino más largo y difícil para darla a conocer. Pero si conocéis a la autora, sabréis de qué estoy hablando. Es una autora que llena completamente al leer sus libros. Sólo quería LEER, pero no leer cualquier libro, no, sino ESE libro. Porque no dejaba de pensar en la historia, rondándome la cabeza, cada incógnita que se planteaba exigía respuesta y nunca leía lo suficientemente rápido para respondérmela, porque siempre aparecían más interrogantes y dudas. No dejaba de pensar en Spencer y Lily, ¿cuándo? ¿Cuándo? ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué?
Cada personaje vive su guerra particular, luchando contra un enemigo que no es físico ni independiente, porque está dentro de ellos mismos y cada cual carga con su propia condena. Y, aunque la amenaza parezca lejana, permanece bajo la superficie, esperando un momento de debilidad para dominarnos. Es entonces cuando sale con todas sus fuerzas y provoca el dolor y el sufrimiento. Lily combate contra su propio cuerpo agarrándose a la vida con todas sus fuerzas, su madre combate con su depresión y vacío, la madre de Amy combate con el peso que la arrastra hasta el fondo, Spencer combate contra sus propios demonios, Andrew combate contra la sospecha. Y el resto de los personajes también luchan. Nadie es realmente libre. Unos se rinden, otros siguen luchando, unos fracasan, otros resurgen de sus cenizas pero todos tienen una batalla que librar. No la eligieron, pero está allí.
En resumen, es un libro duro, muy duro, muestra la realidad desnuda, la crudeza del ser humano y su sufrimiento, pero también un amor transparente y puro. El del bueno. En alguna ocasión dije que Paullina Simons escribe historias muy tristes pero muy bonitas. Historias que llenan por completo. Este es un ejemplo perfecto.
May 2, 2015
EDIT: Mayo, 2015:
3.5
La novela era perfecta (incluso, me atrevo a decir, la MEJOR de esta autora) hasta que
Reseña original: Agosto, 2012
I loved Lilly!
3.5
La novela era perfecta (incluso, me atrevo a decir, la MEJOR de esta autora) hasta que
Reseña original: Agosto, 2012
I loved Lilly!
January 14, 2010
Although most people's favourite Paullina Simons' novel is The Bronze Horseman, it was The Girl in Times Square that captivated me the most. A completely absorbing tale of Lily, a broke, struggling college student who discovers everything in her life is a lie.
She battles physically and emotionally through the revelations that shock her and those around her and she grabs hold of those precious moments in life that give her hope.
I devoured this novel in 3 days and upon completion wished it would never end.
She battles physically and emotionally through the revelations that shock her and those around her and she grabs hold of those precious moments in life that give her hope.
I devoured this novel in 3 days and upon completion wished it would never end.
November 5, 2018
This is a reread after a long number of years. I had forgotten so much of it, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a young woman, the dysfunctional family. I had remembered the illness but little more. Again like last time I just sat reading to the end, it drew me in all over again.
May 17, 2016
and effing Paullina Simons did it again. She broke my heart too many times.
October 19, 2019
I feel like I’m in a unique position going into The Girl In Times Square because this is my first book by this author! Sometimes I feel like I’m literally the only person left in the world that hasn’t read The Bronze Horseman or any of her other books because I see people talking about them so often. After finishing this book, I can absolutely see what everyone is talking about when they mention Simons’ great character development and engrossing plot lines. I did not want to put this book down for one minute.
The Girl In Times Square has all sorts of fun things in it: a missing girl, a police investigation, a slow-building friends-to-romance, a super dramatic family, and a grandmother that I just adored. When I started reading, I thought Amy’s disappearance would be the prevalent plot that drove the book. But the more that I read, the more I felt like that wasn’t going to be the case. Certainly the investigation into finding Amy was important, but I was far more interested in what happened with Lily, since her life seemed to be on a bit of a roller coaster after her best friend’s disappearance.
This isn’t a super-tense, super-suspenseful, thriller-y book that raises your heart rate and keeps you turning the pages because you’re terrified for character outcomes. This is actually a finely crafted character-driven story that follows Lily and her slowly-progressing relationship with Spencer, who is the lead investigator on Amy’s missing persons case. At first, these two know one another because they are linked by the missing persons case, but then they become friends. The two become closer over a period of months. The story also focuses heavily on Lily and her relationship with her large family.
Lily’s life is a roller coaster of ups and downs, and she is intensely loyal to the people that she loves, even when I didn’t feel like she necessarily had to be. Throughout the story, Lily discovers so much about herself emotionally and physically, and she battles so much on her own that is totally separate from the difficulty of just knowing that her best friend is out there somewhere, missing, waiting to be found.
I was not expecting to become so attached to these characters and the events in their lives – particularly Lily and Spencer. I was rooting for Lily so much. And I loved Spencer from the beginning. Neither are perfect; both have flaws. The characters’ imperfections and flaws and vulnerabilities are one of the best things about this story, I think and ultimately are why I think that I was able to connect so deeply with Spencer and why I loved both he and Lily so much.
A sidenote: I also was not expecting the particular health journey that Lily would be taking throughout this story. I really don’t want to spoil anything in my own review, so I’ll avoid being direct about it here, but if you want more information I’m sure you can find it in other reviews. I’ll just say this: had I known the details in Lily’s personal story, I might have avoided this book for a time, just simply because of some personal things I’m going through at my own life and with my own family at the present time. Since I did not know — BOOM! — I was surprised in a very big way, and I found myself very emotional in several scenes that I don’t want to spoil here. But I think this connected me with both Lily and Spencer even more than I already was. I love that I was able to very personally invest with these characters and some of the decisions and conversations that they were forced to make/have, but my gosh, the road re: the health stuff just was not really easy for me. It was a very large part of this story. But I made it through! Whew.
The Girl In Times Square was a great first experience with Paullina Simons’ stories. I read in this review that Spencer’s character is in another book from Simons, which makes me wildly curious to go back and do some reading for more of his story since I enjoyed his character so much in this book. I already wanted to read some of her other books, but I’m absolutely down for more fully engrossing reads like this one with such fully-formed characters. I genuinely feel like I miss them since I’ve closed this book.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you, William Morrow Books!
Find this review and more like it on my blog, Into the Hall of Books!
The Girl In Times Square has all sorts of fun things in it: a missing girl, a police investigation, a slow-building friends-to-romance, a super dramatic family, and a grandmother that I just adored. When I started reading, I thought Amy’s disappearance would be the prevalent plot that drove the book. But the more that I read, the more I felt like that wasn’t going to be the case. Certainly the investigation into finding Amy was important, but I was far more interested in what happened with Lily, since her life seemed to be on a bit of a roller coaster after her best friend’s disappearance.
This isn’t a super-tense, super-suspenseful, thriller-y book that raises your heart rate and keeps you turning the pages because you’re terrified for character outcomes. This is actually a finely crafted character-driven story that follows Lily and her slowly-progressing relationship with Spencer, who is the lead investigator on Amy’s missing persons case. At first, these two know one another because they are linked by the missing persons case, but then they become friends. The two become closer over a period of months. The story also focuses heavily on Lily and her relationship with her large family.
Lily’s life is a roller coaster of ups and downs, and she is intensely loyal to the people that she loves, even when I didn’t feel like she necessarily had to be. Throughout the story, Lily discovers so much about herself emotionally and physically, and she battles so much on her own that is totally separate from the difficulty of just knowing that her best friend is out there somewhere, missing, waiting to be found.
I was not expecting to become so attached to these characters and the events in their lives – particularly Lily and Spencer. I was rooting for Lily so much. And I loved Spencer from the beginning. Neither are perfect; both have flaws. The characters’ imperfections and flaws and vulnerabilities are one of the best things about this story, I think and ultimately are why I think that I was able to connect so deeply with Spencer and why I loved both he and Lily so much.
A sidenote: I also was not expecting the particular health journey that Lily would be taking throughout this story. I really don’t want to spoil anything in my own review, so I’ll avoid being direct about it here, but if you want more information I’m sure you can find it in other reviews. I’ll just say this: had I known the details in Lily’s personal story, I might have avoided this book for a time, just simply because of some personal things I’m going through at my own life and with my own family at the present time. Since I did not know — BOOM! — I was surprised in a very big way, and I found myself very emotional in several scenes that I don’t want to spoil here. But I think this connected me with both Lily and Spencer even more than I already was. I love that I was able to very personally invest with these characters and some of the decisions and conversations that they were forced to make/have, but my gosh, the road re: the health stuff just was not really easy for me. It was a very large part of this story. But I made it through! Whew.
The Girl In Times Square was a great first experience with Paullina Simons’ stories. I read in this review that Spencer’s character is in another book from Simons, which makes me wildly curious to go back and do some reading for more of his story since I enjoyed his character so much in this book. I already wanted to read some of her other books, but I’m absolutely down for more fully engrossing reads like this one with such fully-formed characters. I genuinely feel like I miss them since I’ve closed this book.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you, William Morrow Books!
Find this review and more like it on my blog, Into the Hall of Books!
September 2, 2017
Confesso que há algum tempo que andava para comprar um livro desta autora e como gosto de livros grandes - demora mais a ficar de ressaca literária - escolhi este. São 556 páginas de uma história que vale a pena ler. Ao inicio achei um pouco monótono, mas como raramente desisto de um livro, persisti. Valeu a pena. Lily e Spencer formam um par amoroso, inusitado e que demonstra bem como o amor é curioso nas suas escolhas. O livro aborda duas problemáticas sensíveis ( cancro e alcoolismo) e a junção das duas é trabalhada de uma forma magistral. O livro tem alguns erros de português, lamentável para livros que supostamente passam por um crivo apertado, mas mesmo assim, a leitura é absorvente e deliciosa.
Na minha opinião a autora podia ter reduzido o número de páginas para não cansar tanto o leitor, mas no geral o livro está bem conseguido. A autora tem uma escrita rica de emoções e deduções; a voz interior dos personagens é fantástica e o final é surpreendente. Vou ler outros da autora de certeza.
Na minha opinião a autora podia ter reduzido o número de páginas para não cansar tanto o leitor, mas no geral o livro está bem conseguido. A autora tem uma escrita rica de emoções e deduções; a voz interior dos personagens é fantástica e o final é surpreendente. Vou ler outros da autora de certeza.
June 21, 2018
4.5 stars, I quite liked this book. If you liked the Bronze Horseman, I would recommend this one. It's a decent length to build the characters and the story, it's emotional, it's got a love story, what can I say except that it's my type of book! Certainly not as good as BH but definitely worth the read.
April 28, 2018
Literally one of the worst books I've ever wasted 19 hours listening to. No interesting story line, horribly annoying characters who I could completely care less about and the audio version was unbearable. Why oh why can't I just get myself to abandon books that aren't worthy of my time?
September 21, 2017
3.5-4 stars
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