Book Review: More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay

More Than Words Can Say 
By Robert Barclay 
Release Date: January 17, 2012

Summary: From the author of If Wishes Were Horses comes a novel of long-buried secrets and self-discovery, showing us that sometimes what goes unsaid is more powerful than words. . . . 

Chelsea Enright never expected to inherit her grandmother's lakeside cottage deep in the Adirondacks—a serene getaway that had been mysteriously closed up decades ago. This is no simple bequest, however, because when Chelsea finds her grandmother's WWII diaries, she's stunned to discover that they hold secrets she never suspected . . . and they have the power to turn her own life upside down. 

Even more surprising is the compelling presence of local doctor Brandon "Yale, and Chelsea soon finds her "short stay" has stretched into the entire summer. She cannot put this cottage and her family's past behind her easily—and the more she learns about the woman her grandmother truly was, the more Chelsea's own life begins to change . . . and nothing will ever be the same again.

Review: Ughh finally, I'm done reading this book! I was looking forward to starting this one after I won an ARC from librarything, but by the end I was just tired of the story. The author had a good idea, but the execution was very poor and had me skimming the last 30 pages because it was so drawn out. 

The main reason I didn't like this book, though, was because of the unrealistic dialogue. Some of the things Chelsea or Brandon say are SO ridiculous and there is NO WAY anyone would ever say that when they're talking to someone. Unrealistic dialogue is my biggest pet-peeve in books, so this book was so hard to read without getting annoyed with how stupid they sounded. 

The idea of Chelsea moving to her Grandmother's cottage and reading her journal from the World War II era sounded like something I would enjoy, but it was, like I said, just too drawn out. I skimmed a lot of pages in between the journal readings because everything else seemed to be there to build "suspense" to the next time they read an entry. The author kept on saying how Chelsea was in so much pain and didn't know if she could handle another entry, but I got none of that emotion whatsoever. The emotion Chelsea felt seemed forced and during the big climax at the end was more of a speed bump...no huge reveal or event that really shocked me. It was also annoying how in the last 50 pages, Chelsea was planning some "secret" thing the reader didn't know because when the big secret was revealed, I was like "well duh that was going to happen!" I could see how the author tried to make this book a sweet romance, it just really did not make it there.