Volver a vivir

by Danielle Steel

La incomparable Danielle Steel nos brinda una historia inspiradora sobre una mujer que pierde a su amor, su casa y su libertad y tiene que aprender a vivir de nuevo.

Sydney disfruta de una vida idílica con su marido Andrew en una casa maravillosa, rodeados de familia y buenos amigos. Sin embargo, su felicidad se esfuma de repente cuando él muere en un accidente y ella,con cuarenta y nueve años y tras una década sin trabajar, se ve de pronto viuda, sin casa y sin dinero.

Aunque debe empezar de cero otra vez, un golpe de suerte permite a Sydney retomar su antigua profesión de diseñadora. Pero, ingenua y demasiado bien intencionada, caerá en una peligrosa trampa y verá la cara más oscura del mundo de la moda. A pesar de las adversidades, está decidida a reconstruir su vida con valentía y dignidad, incluso si eso supone arriesgarlo todo.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Drama, Adult Fiction, Chick Lit

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's bestselling authors, with almost a billion copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include All That Glitters, Royal, Daddy's Girls, The Wedding Dress, The Numbers Game, Moral Compass, Spy, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Expect a Miracle, a book of her favorite quotations for inspiration and comfort; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children's books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.

Facebook.com/DanielleSteelOfficial
Instagram: @officialdaniellesteel

Reviews

[Amanda - Mrs B's Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
International bestselling author Danielle Steel needs no introduction. Steel has over 100 plus published titles under her belt. She has sold billions of copies of her books across the globe. Steel’s first release of 2018 is contemporary fiction novel titled, Fall From Grace. This new novel from Danielle Steel charters the rise, fall and resurrection of her lead protagonist, Sydney Wells.

Andrew and Sydney live an idyllic life together. They are surrounded by family, fortune, good friends and a wonderful home to match. All that changes in an instant when Andrew, a motorcycle enthusiast, crashes and is tragically killed in a traffic accident. Soon after Andrew has been laid to rest, Sydney learns she is being evicted from the home she shared with Andrew. Due to Andrew’s failure to include Sydney in his will, all his assets immediately go to his two grown up daughters. Andrew’s two daughters and Sydney have never seen eye to eye, so they quickly issue Sydney with an order to vacate their father’s home in just thirty days. With nothing in Andrew’s estate left to Sydney, she must now earn her own income. This leads Sydney to reconnect with her past career as a fashion designer, a job she has put on hold for the last sixteen years while she has shared her life with Andrew. It is daunting at first, returning to a career that has witnessed many changes, but Sydney takes it in her stride and life begins to look up. However, tragedy strikes again for Sydney when she becomes the innocent pawn in her employer’s dodgy business dealings. Sydney is hit with criminal charges, along with a loss of income, a hefty lawyer’s bill and damage to her personal reputation. Life couldn’t get much worse for Sydney but she is determined to not let it get the better of her.

I grew up with Danielle Steel books in my childhood home. My mother was and still is a fan of Danielle Steel. It is a nice experience to continue the memories from my reading past and enjoy the new releases Danielle Steel has to offer. Fall From Grace is classic Danielle Steel. It is a story that involves one brave female protagonist and pits her against the odds, to see if she will sink or swim. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the lead of this novel, Sydney Wells rise above her difficult circumstances.

Danielle Steel’s latest novel revolves around the life of primary protagonist Sydney Wells. Sydney is a well observed character. I felt like I knew her inside and out by the time I reached the close of this book. Sydney is a completely agreeable character and I found myself hoping that she would summon the personal strength to rise above the tragic set of circumstances that stood in her away. Sydney is supported by a cast of secondary characters who contribute well to the main narrative. I particularly liked Sydney’s colleague and business partner Ed. I also grew fond of Sydney’s two daughters and her love interest. Steel makes sure we get to know some unlikable or rogue characters in this book. Sydney’s boss Paul earned my ire, along with Sydney’s friend Veronica. I just wanted to slap this smug woman, who did nothing but tattletale!

True to form, the main complication of this narrative is Sydney’s fall from grace, due to the loss of her husband, Andrew. The predicament Sydney finds herself in, the financial blow and the loss of her home, reminds us that we shouldn’t take life for granted. It also gave me a gentle nudge in the right direction in regards to wills and making arrangements to ensure your property, as well as assets, go to the right people. Steel serves up plenty of hardships and difficult binds for her chief protagonist to muddle through.

Steel chooses to zone her latest novel in on the fashion world, through her main protagonist’s career in fashion design. I found these elements of the narrative enlightening. Steel also debunks a few myths I had about the glitz and glamour of the fashion world. Instead, she strips it right back and reveals the uglier side to this world. It also provides her with the opportunity to set her characters off on a spot of international travel, as our lead chases fashion business opportunities in China and Hong Kong. Paris even gets a small mention, as our lead has an apartment there. However, the bulk of the action is set in the US.

Readers will find that Fall From Grace flows well. The dialogue has an authentic feel and the plot is agreeable. Any of Danielle Steel’s books, including this one, will provide you with the perfect form of daytime, night time, weekend or holiday escape time. They also come with a nice resolution and this one is no exception to the norm. Fall From Grace is a light and entertaining read that I can safely say I enjoyed.

*I wish to thank Pan Macmillan for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.

[Suz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another cheating, easy read from DS. I choose these at Christmas, so the season must be officially upon me!

As always, there is repetition, but this book was ok. It was fast enough given I can speed up my audio (thank you Hoopla and my public library).

Sydney was always well taken care of, after a rough trot with her first husband, divorced from him with two young girls, she meets Andrew, an ultra wealthy man with two daughters of his own. These daughters, twins, heavily spoilt with a vindictive nature learned from their mother, hate Sydney with a passion. This hate forms the basis of the novel but does lack gumption, wiht the reasoning being this is learned from their mother. Andrew dies without a will (Likely? I don't think so) which has not been updated since his first marriage.

The twins inherit everything, an extremely wealthy estate and all its belongings. This was sad, but made worse by Sydney refusing to question anything with her legal team. It got to the point where this rolling over by Sydney was repetetive and annoying, and where eyes began to roll.

Sydney was a successful fashion designer in her past life, but gave this up on meeting Andrew, to raise her family, somehitng that in hindsight, she would never do again.

This was standard fare, some lessons were learned, where Sydney put her all into blossoming and finding herself again. Another book ticked off the tbr, and an audio wrapt up in two days. Easy summer reading, and there's nothing wrong with that!

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually read Danielle Steel books because they are quick, they don’t require a lot of thought, and it’s a nice palate cleanse before the next book, because it’s so mindless. I mean, it’s the same formula over and over again.

There are a few of her books that I have enjoyed immensely. This was not one of them.

It got real old, real quick. The writing is poor and simple. And repetitive. So repetitive. And there was clearly no research done. House arrest does not mean that you are locked in your house 24/7! You are allowed to leave for work and you are given so many hours a week for personal errands, eg. grocery shopping. That is just unrealistic and unbelievable and a quick google search would have given the facts to correct this.

And the oldest daughter, who has lost not only her real father but her stepfather, wants her mother to walk her down the aisle when she gets married, but the gay business partner doesn’t think it’ll look good to have 2 woman walk down the aisle together. So a guy who’s been “dating” the mom for like 4 months offers to walk her down the aisle and everyone is ok with this? What the fuck. There is nothing wrong with your mother walking you down the aisle, but there’s definitely something wrong with letting a stranger walk you down.

Ugh. This will be my last Danielle Steel book. They just keep getting worse.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whoa is me. Incredibly depressing with a weak ending. 1 of 10 stars

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is scarcely any passion without struggle.”

----Albert Camus

Danielle Steel, the #1 bestselling author, is back with her new adult fiction book called, Fall from Grace that revolves around a mid-aged woman whose perfect life shatters when her husband dies but the worst part is that, after his death, she finds herself homeless and jobless. With little luck, she gets in the fashion industry, only to be falsely incriminated in a legal case by a trustworthy friend, despite her daughters' several warnings about her friend, but can she pick up the pieces of her life and rebuild it? Steele's new book will leave the readers heartbroken, as the protagonist's life is struck by one bad luck after another.


Synopsis:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel comes the gripping story of a woman who loses everything—her husband, her home, her sense of self and safety, and her freedom.

Sydney Wells’s perfect life with her wealthy, devoted husband vanishes when he dies suddenly in an accident. Widowed at forty-nine, she discovers he has failed to include her in his will. With Andrew’s vicious daughters in control of his estate, and no home or money, Sydney finds a job in fashion, despite her own designer daughters’ warnings. Naïve, out of her element, and alone in a world of shady international deals and dishonest people, she is set up by her boss and finds herself faced with criminal prosecution.

What happens when you lose everything? Husband, safety, protection, money, and reputation gone, faced with prison, she must rebuild her own life from the bottom to the top again, with honor, resourcefulness, and dignity. Sydney finds herself, as well as courage and resilience. Taking life by the horns, she revives her own career as a talented designer, from New York to Hong Kong, risking all in an exotic, unfamiliar world. She is determined to forge a new life she can be proud of.


Sydney Well has a perfect life with an amazing husband, with two beautiful daughters of her own as well as two equally mean step daughters. Sadly, her perfect life comes crashing to the ground when her husband dies in an accident, leaving her penniless and homeless as his husband forgot to include her in his will. So Sydney finds herself looking for apartments as well as job in the fashion industry. But who is going to hire her, as Sydney has lost touch from this world a long time ago? And with little luck, she finds a job in the fashion industry through her new friend whom she met on a plane, who happens to be one of the notorious fashion mogul. Despite of her daughters' warnings, Sydney joins his fashion firm and within few months of working there, Sydney finds herself in more trouble, as she gets arrested for her boss's dirty work in the fashion line. So will Sydney be able to repair her fractured life or will she face more trouble? Grab a copy of the book now to find out more.

We often take our life for granted, especially, if we have money, car, house and security. But little did we think about the fact that life is unpredictable and it is actually short. As a result, we often forget to make sure our loved ones are secured for life long after we are gone. This message is strongly depicted by the author in this book, which will provoke the readers to take the right step not only for themselves but also for their loved ones. The protagonist here becomes the outcome of her husband's mistake to take life for granted and to delay the changes he needed to make in his will. And it is no doubt, heartbreaking, to see such a darling and courageous protagonist to be constantly thrown back against the hard wall, but it is also extremely empowering enough to see how her courage never once shakes.

The author's writing style is brilliant and is laced with deep, heartfelt emotions that will move its readers to their very core. The prose is eloquent and the plot line will only provoke the thoughts of its readers. Not only that, the story is very inspiring, as the author genuinely and sensitively portrays the odds in the life of the protagonist. The dialogues are free flowing and quite articulate and are easily comprehensible by the readers. The pacing is smooth and fast, as there are quite a few unpredictable turns that will keep the readers glued to the pages of this book till the very end. There are a handful of cliched moments while unfolding the love story in the background, that could have been easily avoided.

The characters in this book are extremely well developed with enough realism and flaws in their demeanor to make them look relatable in the eyes of the readers. The main character, Sydney, is painted with honesty and she can be an epitome for all the women facing similar odds in their lives. Even the supporting characters are so tastefully and convincingly penned with layers, flaws and all, that they will leave an impression in the minds of the readers.

In a nutshell, this is a very captivating, inspiring and heart touching contemporary tale depicting every day lives and how we should not take life for granted, only for the sake of our loved ones.

Verdict: Family drama at its best!

[Suzzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Danielle Steel can weave a story of any kind. They might not be the most in depth stories but they are a great way to spend an evening/afternoon. In this one, she steps away from the whole evil stepmother takes everything after a death, and instead paints a picture of two unsavory step-daughters inheriting everything after the untimely death of their father (who never thought to get around to updating his will). The stepdaughters do play a large part in the plot but luckily we don’t have to read their interactions much. Sydney is a great character and though one of her daughters does test readers’ likability, overall both daughters will be loved by readers. This is an inspiring book that follows a woman gain her dignity, career, and life back after tragedy; with some aim at the injustice of the justice system.

My quick and simple overall: strong female character whose story and trials are uplifting.

[Amie · Rating 1 out of 5]

That was only a week? Good grief it felt like longer. I started this because it was given to me by a grandma I love, but I only finished so that the terrible review would be totally valid.

I have nothing against fluff. I love good fluff. This was bad fluff. Her editor needs to be fired. How many times can you repeat the same idea in the same way? It may be one of the most passive protagonists I have ever read. I really think the only proactive things she did the entire book were get an apartment at the beginning and near the end she chose to go surprise her boyfriend at the airport. EVERYTHING ELSE happened *to* her, was someone else’s idea or “just worked out.”

And let’s talk about the apartment shall we? I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone whose definition of “flat broke” is income from an apartment in Paris (bad sales market, better to rent it out) and enough in her “grocery” account to pay for a two bedroom furnished apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan for a few months when she has no other income. For grins I looked them up. Cheapest one was $3200/mo. If you’re really broke, stay with your kid for a few weeks until you have a JOB, woman. Don’t sign a lease and hope things work out *eyeroll*

Grandma said once you’ve read one Danielle Steel book, you’ve read them all. So now I NEVER have to read another one again. Thank. Heavens.

[Sherri Thacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I predicted a lot of what was going to happen in this book before it happened. But that’s ok. It was a quick read and I always love DS books!! Been reading her since the 80’s.

[Angela DeSilva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love a Danielle Steel story, she is one of my favs for emotional family drama type books.

[Laura Wonderchick · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with every DS book, it’s like comfort food to me. Always showing women with strength & courage. And maybe sometimes almost too perfect endings but I gobble them up like candy!

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danielle Steel, without fail, always writes a cracking story. I never fail to be amazed or gasp out loud at the trials and tribulations she puts her characters through. While there is almost always a happy ending, the road to get there is full of hairpin bends and danger. Say what you want about her books, but I know I can continually rely on Danielle Steel to entertain me and take me to places I’ve never been.

Poor Sydney Wells, the heroine of Fall From Grace, is not exempted from the torment of Steel’s characters. Things start off badly for her when her husband dies unexpectedly. The problem is, he never changed his will to include Sydney and her stepdaughters want her out – now. She’s cast from a life of luxury to having very little in an instant. (If you’re thinking, oh this is like The Duchess – it isn’t. Completely different). Sydney is practical – she needs to liquidate what assets she has and re-join the workforce at 49. Fortunately, she happens to be sitting next to the owner of a cheap, ‘knock-off’ fashion house on a plane when it runs into trouble. Sydney spills the beans on her troubles and Paul Zeller offers her a job as a fashion designer. Her daughters are aghast at this and warn her not to, but it’s the only job Sydney can get. She’s not comfortable with copying designers’ work so closely, but she makes a good friend working at Lady Louise. Sydney’s life seems to be on the up, but everything comes crashing down again for her. This time she’s portrayed as a criminal. Can she fight her way out again?

I thought the writing style was really strong in this book. Sometimes I’ve found Danielle Steel’s books to be a bit halting in their sentences with occasionally big jumps in the narrative, but this was the best yet for me. It flowed really well and captured all the highs and lows of Sydney’s life. The emotion was very well done as Sydney negotiates unfamiliar territory. I liked how even when she hit rock bottom, there was always an element of resolve in her character – how could she work through it? Sydney also wasn’t your typical heroine – she’s older, divorced and widowed. At a time when society sees women in their fifties as being past their use by date, Sydney bucks that trend in a combination of necessity and determination. You could argue that she should have ensured her husband changed his will after their marriage but if she did, we wouldn’t have a story. (But in real life, make sure your affairs are up to date!)

Another great thing about Danielle Steel is the variety of topics and settings in her books. In Fall From Grace, we get a look inside the fashion world. It’s good and bad with the glimpses into Fashion Week but also makes you consider the ethics around ‘inspired by’ fashion at cheap prices. Is it right to nearly copy designer pieces and sell them for lower prices? What about intellectual copyright? What about those who can’t afford haute couture?

As always, this was a comfort read that doesn’t disappoint.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

[Jean Cable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read with a couple of good twists.

[Kathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. My first Danielle Steel, thanks to my parents who gave it to me for Christmas. Apparently she's this super famous romance author who you're supposed to know in the literary scene, but the first time I heard of her was in the tv show Jane the Virgin one or two years ago and I can't say that I was intrigued to know more about her books. While I do enjoy the occasional YA romance story (one of my all-time-favourite books is one!), romance itself isn't exactly my favourite genre, so combined with the fact that this is about fashion too, I was instantly suspicious about this one. Luckily, Fall from Grace is not the embarrassingly cheesy and cheap paperback romance I expected; in fact, its central theme is about survival and rising like a phoenix from the ashes after having been dealt a hard blow due to unpleasant circumstances resulting from the main character's husband's death. Fashion plays a big role in this book, which is not a plot I was exactly enthusiastic about (in fact, I couldn't care less about and even despise the world of fashion), but even if you have zero interest in it like me, it's still not as central as to not being able to tolerate it. The book was alright, but sort of shallow and unrealistic at times. You can see that Danielle Steel's been churning out books to the dozen for ages now, I didn't feel like there was much heart put into it. Surprisingly, because the general topic of survival is actually quite an emotional one. The main character Sydney just doesn't get a break at the first half of the book; unfortunately, my compassion for her was very limited. She's about the most naive and self-centered character you will ever meet, and I'm sorry to say that she kind of deserved the..."difficulties" arising from her extremely dumb choices. I mean, seriously, does this woman have no brain or morals whatsoever. In what world is it an okay thing to copy someone else's hard-worked-for design, just so other people can buy it for less than nothing at stores like H&M? Sydney defends the market strategy because apparently there's a demand for it. OH REALLY. Obviously there's demand for cheap clothes, but that doesn't mean you can just sell knockoffs! The fuck. I thought you were a designer! How can a designer approve of stealing other mind's work even in the sligthest? Unfathomable. In the end, the woman had a lot of luck falling into her hands (thank god her best buddy is rich, huh), so due to that and her impressive work ethics (at least she has that going for her...otherwise she'd have been completely unbearable at times) she manages to turn around her life for the better. This isn't really a spoiler because it says as much on the blurb plus you just know where this book is going right from the beginning. And let's face it, no one is reading Danielle Steel for the plot twists. Still, even though it all turns around for the better, I can't get over the main character or her late husband's stupidity. If he was so very responsible, why did he forget to edit his will for freaking sixteen years? How does that even happen? The procrastinating's been strong with this guy. I really hate this dude and am so very glad he died on the first page already (three sentences in, YES): not only has he asked his wife to give up her job for him (what are these, the 50s), no he can't even find the time to like, take a look at his will or talk to his children about their not-so-nice attitude. Because obviously his evil daughters are nothing but evil who, along with the other baddies in the book, get their oh-so-very-deserved punishment in the end. That really felt superbly innovative. There is no grey area in this book, just the whitest white and the blackest black. But I don't think being innovative was the goal of this novel; rather, I suppose that Steel intended for us to make us feel better during hard times because in the end, everything does get better - which is a mentality I truly agree with. I've made it through hard times too by basically killing myself (not literally) and never giving up, and I profited from all of it. I don't believe in laziness, quitting, feeling sorry for yourself and neither does the main character. So thank god for that, because every other personality trait of Sydney's was either non-existing or nothing but infuriating. Danielle Steel's writing style is quite alright, I don't quite get the hype though. Her characters all seem rather bland, full of clichés and often give the impression they're basically the same person hiding behind different names, and she has a very strong tendency of repeating herself in so many words. The first chapter was basically about Sydney losing her husband and after a while the same things kept being said over and over...and over. Like yes, you told me that already, get on with it. I noticed that during the entirety of the novel and it annoys me greatly, because either Steel thinks I'm too stupid to get the gist or she just wants to lengthen her novel and doesn't know any other way to do so. Perhaps she's suffering from Altzheimer's and so is her editor...Altogether, the whole novel just screamed laziness to me. I'm pretty sure that Steel doesn't write chronologically, because otherwise it doesn't make sense for her to tell us thing A, and later thing A again, but in a way that sounds like she hasn't told us thing A before, which she has!! The novel could've been about 50% shorter if it weren't for the endless repititions. I felt so annoyed with that and I still can't get over it. I just think it shows when an author pours their heart and soul into a novel and when it's just another project to get through. Her introduction was basically, oh, I've never written about evil stepchildren before and neither about finding yourself on the wrong side of the law, so I thought I'd do that for a change. It just feels cold and impersonal. There were also some (other) logical inconsistencies that really bothered me and I just have to pull out a quick example here because as usual I abuse my reviews for therapeutic reasons. There's this guy who's interested in Sydney, knows she's famous and yet apparently doesn't have the bright idea or even slightest curiosity that would result in looking her up online - where Sydney's life and recent...problems have been plastered all over the news. But of course, had he done that, Sydney couldn't have made her big confession to him, so that was a very convenient sacrifice he did for the plot. It's actually laughable because on the next page Sydney even says that what's happened has been all over the media! It'd have been so easy to edit this whole thing (make the guy know it all along but just don't let him say anything. She gets her confession and he just says something along the lines of "I already knew, but thanks for being honest with me"), but apparently nobody felt the need to. Am I the only one who‘d google someone if I had just met them and been told they were famous? Especially if I'm romantically interested in them??
Still, it was a pleasant enough novel. Perfect beach material and after reading you can leave the novel in the hotel library for another tourist to read. Not exactly mindblowing (very far from it), but sweet in its own way and a sure method to cheer everyone up who's dealing with difficult situations in their life. This is not me right now, but I still found that it really improved my mood reading about Sydney's strength and never-giving-up attitude. While the writing style and pacing aren't impressive (often the time jumps were a bit too much, the scenes kept getting shorter and shorter towards the end and I couldn't shake the feeling that the author was in a hurry to wrap this up), it's flowing very nicely and leads to an extremely quick read. I just felt that towards the end everything turned out too good to be true and there's not much plot after about 70% of the novel. The last 30% are just the cherry on the cake for Sydney's life. It's the perfect happy ending and makes you feel good, but at the same time it's also some kind of a joke in how simply everything just fell into place (even though there were sacrifices). Still, I may be complaining a lot, but I did enjoy reading it! I expected nothing much and got a surprisingly deep, mature and very positive novel thanks to the messages and themes featured in this book. And it really was very inspiring! But before Í'm doing a Danielle Steel and repeat everything I've already said in different words, I'm gonna wrap this up by mentioning that thanks to this book I'm in a really good mood today!

PS: This is an actual piece from the novel and shows why I was so discontented with the writing and characters sometimes. It's about Sydney (finally!!) talking to her daughters about her new job. This all is presented as if it were the most normal way of talking and reasoning.

"I know you won't approve, either of you. [her new job] But beggars can't be choosers. (...) I wouldn't have told you, but I'm leaving for Beijing to see their factories in three days. And I didn't want to just disappear."

I mean, look at that, isn't that just the most amazing piece of conversation. If I were her daughters I'd be like "Oh thanks Mum! Thanks for only telling us about your new job because it'd seem suspicious if we couldn't reach you for three weeks! Thanks for the vote of confidence and for your trust, oh and for hiding your job from us for months just because we don't exactly approve of it and you'd rather be an dishonest coward than standing up for your decisions! Thanks for this great relationship! FUCK YOU TOO, MOM"

PS2: My review and opinion of the book might've been influenced by the fact that I'm probably not the intended audience for this novel. At this stage in life I'm not really interested in reading about typical middle-aged next-door women rising again after having lost themselves in their marriages and the raising of children; while it is a common theme in many women's life, it isn't for me and I seem to have troubles identifying with the characters in the respective novels. I just can't imagine giving up so much of myself for a man to be ending up in that situation in the first place and hope that it will never come to that.

PS3: The paperback cover of my edition doesn't fit the plot at. all., but looks extremely cool.

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review on www.bookread2day.wordpress.con
Danielle Steel is one my top favourite authors, she never fails a good story. I couldn’t put this book down. I loved reading about Sydney in the fashion industry, and how she copes when she loses everything. All the characters are so well developed and described there all convincing. I’ve missed not having Danielle Steel books in my life, I have decided to buy and read more of Danielle Steel books.

Andrew didn’t leave the house to Sydney in his will. How could he have missed that opportunity to update his will?

Sydney had no house . What will happen to Sydney as the house hasn’t been left to her. So who has Andrew left the house to?

No money of her own. Andrew put money in her account to buy food or what ever she needed. Soon her bank account won’t have much in. How will Sydney live from day to day?

No job, she gave her job up for her Andrew and their children. Without no job, Sydney won’t have any money coming in. She may be to old without updated technology to return to the world of fashion.

And things are going to get a whole lot worse for Sydney.
Five huge stars for me. I would have been more than happy to give this book more than five stars.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about a woman who had a happy marriage when her husband suddenly dies and never updated his will. We share her trial and tribulations as she joins the workforce and has a real scum as a boss. Her strength and character pull her through!

[Ashtottara Ashtottara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having everything and losing it when one least expects it is a catastrophe. As someone who had fallen from grace and eventually fought back, Sydney was a courageous woman. She has set an example for all. Overall, it was a pleasant read.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not going to lie, this book had a good ending, but it could've been better. I was expecting more than what it had.

The whole book in general was good. I enjoyef how it took up a chance to talk about exploitation within the work force.

I feel as though this gave a very powerful message. That whatever happens, you can and will get through it. You have the strength and willpower no matter how tough. You can get through anything, even if you start out from the bottom and are forced to rebuild your life.

To be honest, I don't quite understand how the title fits in with the story in general. It doesnt talk about grace rather than luck, survival and strength. What has the got to do with grace?
I don't know exactly but I enjoyed the message.

This book was a good read but I feel like the author likes to try to have the same sort of stories but in a different way if that makes sense. I have been and still am, a big fan of her writing style. However, there is just something about her books that remain to be familiar.
My mum read the blurb of this book and she told me that it sounded very similar to a previous book she read of the author.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it! was it a life changing book? Nope but it was nice and enjoyable!

[Carol Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story just didn't grab me like a lot of Danielle Steel's books. BLUE was a book I loved because the premise just grabbed me right away. A glamorous TV anchor woman loses everything in a tragic accident -- then adopts a homeless black street kid. I mean, everything jumps right out at you -- glamor, heartbreak, tragedy, second chances, and even "America's long overdo reckoning with race."

So this book was a letdown by comparison. I liked Sydney a lot, but it was all close calls and near misses. Like, her doting husband dies, and she doesn't get the money she was expecting. And then her new job turns out to be crooked. And she almost loses everything all over again. But she doesn't. And she's almost too scared to love again. But she does. There just wasn't the same excitement.

As often happens with DS, the minor characters were actually a lot more interesting than the hero and heroine. I loved Sophie and Sabrina, Sydney's two daughters. And Ed Chin. How many authors can take a gay Chinese millionaire from Hong Kong and make him seem like the guy next door? Danielle Steel may not have Shakespeare's ear for language but she does have his almost universal understanding of human nature. People are just people to her, whatever color or sexuality. She's a national treasure!

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

An easy read to pass the time. However the characters all felt extremely 1 dimensional and the main character just seemed to be a hurt puppy that everyone felt sorry for and just adored. It felt really stale after the first few chapters of everyone fawning over her. It was either that or they were truly evil (e.g. the twin step daughters) no backstory, no reason, no redeeming qualities to make them rounded human beings. They are just evil Disney villain caricatures.

Finally the ending felt a bit too glossy and fairy tail. Everything worked out, no loose ends, all the bad people “got what they deserved”.

Not a fan.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 3 out of 5]

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Actual Rating: 2.5*

This started out okay but as it progressed made me kinda angry. I don't like reading about Perfect People who have "Bad" Things happen to them but there are zero consequences. And they also only ever have things happen TO them, they never do anything wrong. As I said in one of my status updates, this isn't a fall from grace, this was knowingly jumping out of a plane with a parachute.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really not sure about this book. I found it totally unbelievable, surely in this day and age any intelligent woman makes sure of her financial position?? Not sure what the legal position is in the USA but in the UK she would have inherited everything if no new will was made after the marriage. I think if a man asked me to give up my career I would make sure my name was on the deeds of the house! Could she not contest the will?? Also, when Sydney finds 'love' again, how convenient that he is a very wealthy man.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Danielle Steel has crafted an entertaining read with real characters. There are a few surprise twists and a conclusion that shouts sequel. 4 stars for this summer, beach, travel read.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm here by accident. Listened to the audiobook thinking it was Barnard's "Fall from grace", but they did a mistake when I rented the book and I ended up listening to this. I realized it was not quite the story I was expecting very quickly but nevertheless listened to the first and last chapters few minutes here and there : truly utterly boring and extremely unreal.
Spoiler here (Sitting on a piece of real estate in HK and giving it away for a flagship, giving it away??? That's knowing nothing about real estate in HK AT ALL) ...
And that's just one detail, as noted by other readers here, there are legions of impossible facts in this .
Well at last I've read a bit of the author albeit completely not by choice.

[Minty McBunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than many of her recent books, it at least had a plot and didn’t read like it was written by an AI program trying to replicate her style. But still not very good, flat characters, predictable story arcs, dull subplots.

Also, can someone more familiar with house arrest tell me if it’s realistic that Sydney would be confined to a tiny studio apartment for 6 months with 0 outside time allowed? Not even allowed in the hall of her apartment building, or to get her mail from the lobby? For customs fraud? I mean even violent offenders in jail get an hour of fresh air and exercise a day, do they not? That bothered me.

Then again, in the last book of hers I read, a character undergoes a year of radiation treatment for breast cancer, which is ridiculous, 6 weeks is standard. Whatever intern she’s paying to churn out these books for her needs to learn about research.

And yes, I know I keep complaining about her new books, yet keep reading them. I read them for the same reason I eat my kids’ left over Kraft Easy Mac or grilled cheese crusts. They’re right there in front of me & require no effort on my part, not because they’re good.

[Max "Mr Divabetic" Szadek]

‘Fall from Grace’ is the literary equivalent to ‘cool whip’. Light, fluffy and not very nutritionally healthy for your brain. The main reason I picked it up was to find out why Danielle Steele’s legion of loyal fans are so enthusiastic about her novels. No one can deny that Danielle Steel has sold 650 million copies of her books internationally, and every one of her books is a bestseller. She is published in 69 countries and 43 languages but why? After reading this book I concluded people want quick, easy reads with happy endings. Like an episode of 'Housewives' without the fighting, cursing, backstabbing, etc but with still filled with pages of plenty of eyeliner. I did enjoy details about how Hong Kong has emerged as a fashion capital and just how much work it takes to work in fashion. But when the heroine wears head to toe off-white cashmere while preparing Thanksgiving dinner in two room apartment in NYC you can pretty much guarantee that she’ll always land on her feet. No surprise.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an easy book to read about Sydney who finds out after her husband of 15 years dies that he never updated his will and she is left with nothing. Being a fashion designer many years before, she takes a job with a company known for sleazy practices and knock off items. Both of her daughters are fashion designers too. Even though Sydney has to give up most of her possessions and move into a two room apartment, she comes out on the winning side. She travels to Hong Kong, meets another man, gets arrested, and becomes very successful again!

[Sandy Affer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve read from Danielle Steele, and boy was I disappointed. There is nothing to this story, no depth, just immature, self interested characters. I got halfway through and could not take it anymore. The author repeatedly would tell the reader the same things about the characters again and again. I get it already her husband died and left her nothing in his will, it doesn’t need to be said 20 different times and 20 different ways. Please Danielle Steele give your readers some credit.

[Fabiola Ferrer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia muy entretenida, contada de una forma muy real y cercana. Y es que en la vida esta claro que el destino es impredecible pero también he aprendido que las buenas acciones son compensadas a la larga y las malas reciben sus consecuencias , tarde o temprano. Por otro lado, refresca la idea de la importancia del dinero y todo lo que conlleva y nos da una lección a medida que la protagonista va viviendo su historia.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Danielle Steel book. It was a quick read, yet same format as most of her books. Something horrible happens to heroine, she fights for herself, and all ends well. If you want an easy, quick read that does hold your interest a bit, this is for you.