The Wright Brother (Wright Brothers, #1)

by Marie Hall

• ISBN10: 1502991357
• ISBN13: 9781502991355
• Publish Date: 25 October 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 316
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I was quite excited for The Wright Brother, because New Adult, deaf hero, years of longing! It totally sounded like my thing. Sadly, I couldn't stand Elisa, and the story felt so long and drawn out because it covers over 20 years! Elisa grew up next door to the Wright family, and the boys were like her brothers. She did get closest to Julian because he tended to stay back, so she stayed with him. Of course, that brotherly love had to evolve into something else over the years.

The Wright Brother and I got off to a rough start because of the structure of the story. I went in expecting a reunion and then the romance. Instead it starts when Elisa is a toddler and the Wright triplets were just born. Then there's a chapter when she's 7 and they're 5. Then it jumps to when she's 10, then when she's 18 and tells Julian that they can't happen. Finally, she's 19 and going off to college. I really could have done without all of this extensive back history. Sure, it shows us what things were like for them in the past, but simple flashbacks could have sufficed. Instead I was bored and waiting for the meat of the story to start. I did enjoy the college bits, but then it goes beyond college and I got bored again.

About Elisa being a year older than is typical when she goes to college: her parents held her back a grade! Not because she was failing or some other academic reason, but so her father "could concentrate on his training, without forcing her mother to stay home because of Elisa being in school (pg 16)." What does that even mean? How is keeping her back a grade changing the fact that she's already in school? I really do not understand this, but I think it was to close the gap between Eliza and Julian a bit. She may be three years older, but only two grades ahead, which makes it more acceptable? The age thing was brought up a lot, like it's the biggest deal in the universe. She's even called a pedophile at one point when she's 20 and he's 18.

It was also really hard for me to like Elisa. She's just so...I can't think of a word for her. But she was always so surprised by things Julian does because he's deaf and color blind, and not because she hadn't seen him for 9 years at one point. She doesn't understand why he wears band t-shirts because he can't hear the music. She's surprised (and embarrassed) when she learns that he can read lips. She's surprised that he's legally allowed to drive! And he wants to be an artist?! Gasp! Girl, get a clue! Being deaf and color blind doesn't make him some alien. He's still a person and is capable of things. All it means is that he can't hear or see certain colors. I got super annoyed with Elisa fast because of this. Of course, there's also her obsession with their ages, which she admits wouldn't be a problem if she were the younger one. Uh huh.

The Wright Brother was just kind of frustrating for me. It's never a good sign when you hate the main character. Although I did appreciate her going after her dream and not being held back by Julian. I absolutely hate when that happens in romances! Sure, that part of the story almost bored me to tears, but I'm still glad that Elisa went after what she wanted even if it didn't work out. I just wish this one had worked out for me.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[limabean74]

My Review:

So this book was picked for me by Berls at Fantasy is more fun. She had told me how amazing it was and was pretty much holding a shotgun for me to read it, seriously hope she still loves me after my review.

Of course I still love you. Bummed you didn't love it -
maybe I set it up too much?

I don’t know what I was expecting but from the synopsis I was looking forward to reading this book through both Julian and Elisa eyes. That is not what I got, this story was only the POV of Elisa and I just wasn’t a very big fan of her. I wanted to like her but her obsession with age was making me mental. Julian was 2 years (YES ONLY 2 YEARS) younger than her and she was so hung up on it that she mentions it more often than I would have liked, she also had a thing about repeating the same stuff OVER AND OVER again though out the book. Like his tattoos, his physical appearance the fact that he was unable to see in color or hear.

I think this didn't bother me like it did you because I remember being equally hung up about a 2 year age difference at this age. So to me, it felt very age appropriate.

I honestly loved Julian’s brothers, Julian seemed like such a weak person he handled things like a toddler and would throw fits or just be mature about certain issues. I thought with all that has happened to him he would be a lot stronger to prove himself that his difference didn’t make him any different then anyone else.

Julian's brothers are great :) I have to disagree with you about Julian though ;) I thought he was very strong and did things - like his art - that were daring for someone with his obstacles. I just thought he showed Elisa his vulnerability in a way he didn't others.

The story was slow, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting there either, Elisa made one of the worst decisions EVER. I understand sort of why she thought she needed to go but there was NOTHING there for her, it totally made no sense. Not good money, no family and no friends, it was just odd.

Again, I got this because I made a similar mistake following career and what I thought was a passion - young and ambitious thinking its worth everything. :/

I was really hoping I would like this book but it just had so many issues that didn’t work for me. The age thing was my biggest problem and even after he turned 18 she was still harping on what would happen when she graduated and he was still in school, it was frustrating, if you love someone as much as they did each other you would make it work and not choose the stupidest life changing experience and then totally regret it because it made things harder. I understand that don’t make sense but I don’t want to give it away.

Like I said I wanted to like this book and be all emotional like everyone else was when reading this but the Wright Brothers and I just didn’t hit it off like I was hoping.

I believe that you totally should give it a shot, just because I wasn’t happy with it doesn’t mean you wont be so read and enjoy and let me know what you thing when you do. :)

Yes, read it! Sorry you didn't love it like I did Michelle :)

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This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life

[Berls]

This review appeared first on Fantasy is More Fun.

I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My Initial Reaction...

OMG the FEELS!!! Marie's done it again - maybe even outdone herself! I have a feeling I'll be gushing over The Wright Brother for weeks to come. I can't get it out of my head!

The Characters...

If you're a character driven reader, you'll adore The Wright Brother. The whole story is told from the POV of Elise and through her we see both Elise and Julian grow from childhood to adults.

What I loved most about being in Elise's head over the course of her life is seeing the way she grew as a character. Marie did such an amazing job letting us feel the same mind growing up - we start with the Elise as a child (3 years old maybe?) and with a series of time jumps we get to see her as a young child and a tween, a teenager, and then finally - where the bulk of the story is told - as a college aged girl growing into her early 20s. She struggles with growing up - like we all do. She has to make decisions and sometimes she chooses terribly wrong. Sometimes it's just her age and sometimes it's being human. Elise is so beautifully complex and I loved every minute of her.

And then there's Julian. *sigh* When we first meet Julian, he's a newborn in his crib along with his two other brothers. He's a triplet, but from birth he will be different because what we recognize (though little Elise can't quite understand what's going on at this point) is that Julian is deaf. And, as it turns out, colorblind. I think what I loved most about the way Marie wrote Julian is that he never felt like someone to pity. I think this could have been an easy trap to fall into - making his disabilities define him. But Julian is a person, as beautifully complex and flawed as anyone. And yet, she also didn't miss the ways that Julian's disabilities would change his life. They're perfectly intertwined and just feel natural - not over emphasized, but not ignored either.

There are other characters and they play their roles really well - Elise's parents, Julian's brothers and mom, and friends. They are well-written and I'd honestly love to see books for so many of these characters because even though I didn't see tons of them, I saw enough to care about them and their lives too. But this was definitely Julian and Elise's story.

The Story...

As much as The Wright Brother is a romance, it's not JUST a romance. In fact, while the romance is great, it's just a part. Because this is a story of life. And just like romance is just part of life, it's only a part of Elise's story. I feel like this is more about what it's like to grow up and deal with all life's hurdles and the difficult decisions we have to make. And how love impacts everything.

I was so sucked in to The Wright Brother. I couldn't put it down - literally. I sat down to read it and didn't stop until I was done. I even made my boyfriend wait to go somewhere so I could finish. Because you can't stop!

I loved the way The Wright Brother is told too. It's a series of scenes that connect well, but it's not a continuous flow. I didn't expect to like that so much, because I thought I would feel like I was missing too much. But it always felt right and like I wasn't missing anything. And the scenes were so detailed, without ever feeling info-dumped. One of the things I ADORED was the way Elise and Julian communicated. Obviously they use sign-language, mixed in with some reading of lips. And though Marie didn't spell it out over and over, that's exactly what I saw every time they spoke. Except when they were using their private communication. It's something that evolves from their childhood, when Elise would put her hand in Julian's hand and spell out words. The result is that, as adults, they LITERALLY communicate through touch. They have these private conversations by touching each other and signing on each other's skin. This little detail made such a huge impact on the story. Their connection was that much deeper and that much more intimate.

And that's just one example. There's so many scenes I could gush about. I could SEE them so clearly and I'm convinced this would be a stunning film.

Concluding Sentiments...

I've categorized The Wright Brother as a Contemporary Romance because I didn't know what else to call it. But it defies categorization, I think. It's brilliant and I can't think of anyone who wouldn't love it. Read it!