Rain Song

I hate to be a downer for someone's first book, but here goes it... I thought the book to lack depth and thought it to be too cliche. I did like the character of Nicole, but like others, I wanted more. I wanted to hear more about her time in Japan and more about her relationship with Harrison (was

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that his name?). The story had a lot of potential, but the interesting parts of the story were never developed. I feel bad I didn't like the book, but I wish the author luck, and it's only the first one, there has got to be some kind of learning curve, right?!?

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A short, but sweet story of a girl coming to terms with a dark and sad past. I liked the idea in this book that you can't hide from and lie about your past, it will catch up with you eventually.
As much as I liked the idea of this novel I wished that the charaters had been more fully developed. By

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the end of the book Nicole seemed like someone I had just met and might really like if I could just get to know her better.

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Rain Song is an enjoyable read. There are dysfunctional family members with quirky habits, and plenty of unusual situations that keep you reading. I enjoyed the story but can't say that it moved me emotionally. I liked the subplot with Monet and Nicole's cousin Grady. I wish this could've been

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expanded a bit. The aunt with the cough I though surely would get cancer or something the way she was hacking all the time. And the grandmother was charming.

I wish I could've spent more time with Harrison (beyond the e-mails). I would've loved to have gotten to know him better, but when she finally visited him it all happened at the end of the story and a lot was implied. So while I found the storyline fascinating and the search for memories of her mother poignant, it never moved me to tears. Not even the break up with the prior boyfriend. I think it's because Nicole never really grieved. She seemed distant from her own pain. Not very healthy.

I also like more romance in a story, and this one barely touched on the subject. Again, she seemed pretty unemotional about everything. Maybe that was because it was written in the first person POV. I'm not sure. It was a charming story, though, and a perfect beach read type of book. If you want a story that will pull you through an emotional rollercoaster of feelings, this isn't it. But if you like a story with interesting characters and situations that won't bore you to pieces, this is a good read for that.

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For the amount of time that this book spends leading up to the final events of the story (which play out very quickly), it ends very abruptly. It is not a satisfying ending in that it just kind of stops rather than having some semblance of a true conclusion. I'm left feeling like there should be

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more to the story.

Nicole, as a character, is fairly bland. She has quirks as any main character is expected to have, but overall, I'm left unexcited by her, and I found it difficult to continue on reading through the story because there was no connection with the main character to make me want to see her story out to the finish.

It isn't a very long story, which is probably a good thing - I can't imagine the build-up drawn out any farther than it was. The book is not a great one by any means. Something amusing for a little while with perhaps a bit too many sayings that sound like they ought to be in a cliche quotes book.

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Alice Wisler's debut novel draws you into the life of Nicole Michelin and her eccentric, but likable, family in Mount Olive, NC. Nicole, a teacher at the local high school, is a fish lover and writes an internet column called "Pretty Fishy". This website introduces her to Harrison, a man half way

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around the world who holds the key to her past.

The book is easy to read and inspirational. Nicole must be willing to step out on faith and face her fears in order to move forward with her life. I only wish the story were a bit longer so that we could find out how facing those fears impacts her life and relationships with her family and her new friend Harrison.

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I've just read this book in 2 days; somehow I kept getting called back and sucked in. I loved the characters, and found them to be believable. They'll remain with me for some time. Knowing little of North Carolina (or Japan), I also enjoyed the sense of place that Alice created. Recommended.

This North Carolina girl loved it! Alice Wisler does a fabulous job in portraying authentic characters!! It was very believable as well as entertaining. She takes a the heavy subject of the loss of a mother during childhood and brings her main characeter full circle! I would recommend this book to

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anyone who loves good ol southern fiction!

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Good story about a woman trying to find her self, but slow to peak your interest.

Set in North Carolina, this first person account of Nichole, a motherless girl, who is raised by Ducee, her maternal grandmother, quickly grabs the reader's attention. Southern traditions abound--some are questionable--like "cucumber sandwiches cannot be eaten during the same meal with egg salad

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sandwiches." That's from Ducee's book of Southern Traditions, a never-seen, but often quoted text. A fish theme floats throughout the novel adding depth.

Though well-loved by her extended family, Nicole longs for answers about her roots, which happen to be in Japan. However, she does not travel. Her solution to this problem is one reason why the book is fun to read.

Included are a recipe for Pineapple Chutney along with discussion questions.

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The first thing I thought when I skimmed the description of the book, I thought... "America.. fear of Japan... maybe a World War II book?" But it goes to show that skimming a book's description is not good. But it shows how quickly my train of thought took me to the world war like that. It's weird.

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But no, this book is not related to the world war. It's about a girl who doesn't know much about her past because she's been taught to fear her past. Her mother had died in Japan, and her father and her left for the States soon after.
This is a beautiful story about facing your fears and that learning the truth is better than playing it safe but never knowing the truth. It's about family and being loyal to the ones who stick by us. It's about being set free from our fears and gaining so much from that freedom.

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I always find it refreshing when I read a book where the author doesn't feel the need to use profanity or sexual innuendo to tell a story. This new author is truly a breath of fresh air.

After realizing that this ARC book that I had been sent, for review, was an unedited galley proof I decided to

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look for mistakes, as I read. I found only one, it was on page 188, 2nd sentence from the bottom. As it is written it says "I fell OF the swing" and I think it should have read "I fell OFF the swing".
I don't know if editors or publishers actually read our reviews, but I feel the need to point this out for them to fix. Now, on to the review:

Nicole Michelin has mostly grown up in Mount Olive, NC. She has little, if no, remembrance of her mother. When Nicole was 2 years old her Mother passed away in a fire. Nicole's parents were medical missionaries in Japan at the time and after the fire her Father moved them back to the States. Nicole is raised by both her Grandmother, Ducee, and her Father. Life in Mount Olive has always seemed normal to Nicole, but she has always felt that not having her Mother left her missing something. She becomes a teacher and in her spare time writes a column for an internet fish site named "Pretty Fishy". One day she receives an e-mail from a man, Harrison Michaels, asking for help with his Koi pond. At first Nicole just sees the man as another avid fish lover, but there is a problem, he lives in Japan. All of Nicole's life she has wondered about her life in Japan, but also been afraid of Japan and has no idea why. During the following months they exchange e-mails and it comes to light that they knew each other, as children, in Japan. Harrison holds information that Nicole has wanted to know all of her life and was never told. Slowly Nicole takes the journey into her past to find the Mother she never knew and the life she has forgotten completely.

I feel that this book could actually have a sequel. There seems to be room to expand on new relationships and old. I really enjoyed Nicole's voyage into her past and the feelings of identification with her when she felt her faith was failing and the knowledge that you are never alone.

I will read more of Ms. Wisler as soon as she writes another book! I give this debut author 4 1/2 stars.

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Blended cultures and a lesson about facing your fears are what made this book memorable to me. Nicole has grown used to ignoring the Japanese part of her upbringing--her only nod to it being the cloth Kimino clad doll she sleeps with. But a new internet aquaintance turns out to be from Japan and as

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they e-mail she finds herself facing questions about her childhood she never dared ask herself--like just what exactly happened the night her mother died and why did her Father become so depressed afterwards? Now residing in a southern town with her extended family, Nicole turns to her grandmother Ducee for wisdom and support. Over glasses of sweet tea they ponder Nicole's Japanese past and it is Ducee's faith in Nicole--and in God--that helps Nicole make an important decision.
This was a delightful read, in places it seemed like a romance but that really wasn't the main focus--though I would love to see a follow up book explore that ascpect further! Mostly it was about Nicole's journey of learning to face her past and her fears and I appreciated the encouraging message. Read this one when you are in the mood for a pick-me-up.

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Rain Song is the first book I have read by Alice Wisler, but certainly not the last. Fresh, fun and filled with feeling, it is a great book for those who are fans of women’s fiction.

I really enjoyed the characters that populated Rain Song — wise Ducee, worrier Iva, and wild child Monet and of

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course, main character, Nicole. Nicole’s family is the best of the southern type — warm, loving and fiercely loyal. Nicole’s journey towards self-discover is slow and steady and above all realistic. And the ending was the best! So if you are looking for a contemporary novel with heart and soul, and a southern setting like no other, then pick up Rain Song.

Recommended.

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From now on, I'm going to check with Library Things little "will you like this book?" feature before I put in for an early reviewer. It said I probably wouldn't like this book (after the fact) and it's not that I disliked it, it just wasn't my cup of tea. LT knew me better than I knew myself. :-)

Long, drawn out story about a not so young woman anymore, who is having an identity crisis. She lost her mother at a very early age to a fire in Japan. But no one knows any of the details, or no one is willing to tell her. So Nicole, lonely and reaching out, begins talking to a man in Japan who

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happens to share her love for tropical fish. His name is Harrison and their conversations tend to be rather bland and uninformitive until one day when Harrison tells Nicole that he knew her as a child. Her world is literally turned upside down. All her fears, her dreams begin to rely on this one person who can possibly tell her of her past. Nicole falls back on her grandmother Ducee many times for advice and the comfort of home.
I enjoyed this book greatly. It was a little longer than i would have liked, but the in depth characterization of the people surrounding Nicole made me feel as it I knew them and wanted to know how their lives were turning out outside of Nicole's.

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This is the author's first book and she does a good job of making you fall in love with Nicole Michelin and her family. The dialogue in this story was so sweet between these family members. There was some romance in the story, but that wasn't the emphasis; it was upon the family, the special bond

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between a woman and her grandma that raised her when her missionary Mom died in Japan when she was 2. About coping with growing up with your fears, without a Mom and learning to live in Mount Olive, North Caroline with your quirky but sweet older relatives. Nicole will face her fears and when she goes to get on the plane I had a huge smile on my face as I face those same fears that she had. After reading this story I am ready to try the "Pineapple Chutney" that was a big hit by all and whose recipe the author shares at the back of the book. This author has spent time in Japan and in North Carolina and it comes through in her story. You get a real feel for both. This wasn't a suspense, or drama or a big adventure or romance (although I did like how Harrison and Nicole meet and continue to interact with each other), it was just a sweet interaction with the family, as told by Nicole Michelin and a story I enjoyed. Sit back and just relax and enjoy the southern hospitality.

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This was a gentle tale but reasonably engaging. It's not going to win any literature prizes, but it passes the time. I found the main character's voice confusing, though. She's a teacher, so must be in her twenties at least, and yet for most of the book she sounds like she's 15. Her concerns, her

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attitudes, the way she talks all come across as teenaged. The story was interesting enough for me to read the book to the end, but I was able to skim read large sections of prose that didn't go anywhere or really add anything without feeling I'd missed anything significant. Families are flawed. Some families are flawed in more interesting ways than others. This family were flawed in a cosy way. It reminded me of the gentle romances I used to read in my Great Aunt's copies of People's Friend and Women's Weekly as a child in the 1970s. Diverting but not ground breaking.

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Although Nicole avoids a lot of things in life but she is content with her life. She lives in rural NC with her fish, interesting relatives and her online column When she meet Harrison online she discovers there was more to her childhood than she knew. Quirky characters and an OK storyline.

This was. Free Kindle download, soI wasn't expecting this to be such an enjoyable, quick read.

Nicole Michelin has had a lot of heartache. She was born in Japan. Her parents were medical missionaries. At the age of two, she lost her mother in a fire and she and her father moved back to the United States. Like many children, Nicole has fears related to things she doesn’t fully understand.

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Her father refuses to talk about the past so she is left without answers and too afraid to seek them out. Then she meets Harrison Michaels through a website. He knew her as a child in Japan . He knows there are many in Japan that can answer some of those questions. This means Nicole will have to takes some steps of faith and courage. This is accomplished through the love, encouragement, and wisdom of her grandmother. There are other side stories that add to the warmth and depth of this story. This was a wonderful book. One that lets the reader know that we have to let go of fears and lean on our faith. This is an author to watch out for.

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Quite a sweet story about a woman helped, by her grandmother and a childhood friend she can't remember, to face her her fears, and learn about the early life she has blocked out for almost thirty years.