Titanic: The Long Night

At one point, in grade nine, I watched Titanic. This spearheaded two things: my obsession with Leo DiCaprio (yeah I know, join the club Erin) and my obsession with Titanic. I will literally read anything about this disaster. It might honestly truly be the way to my heart. That being said, after this life altering event (the watching of the movie, not the actual sinking) there was a period of about six months where I did not read anything that was not related to Titanic. Novels, non-fiction, Wikipedia pages, you name it. If it had a link or a page, I read it. This was one of the lucky selections.

Well so far (1/3rd of the way in) we have a more than obvious rehash of the film Titanic. Rose .. I mean Elizabeth is rebelling against her upcoming marriage to the boring Alan (who isn't on the ship), her overbearing mother, the wealthy lifestyle (she'd rather be free to do whatever - but with money please), and etc. Enter Jack .. oops Max. Having spent time penniless in Paris pursuing a penniless artist lifestyle. (unlike Jack he's actually wealthy and headed home to New York now - oh and staying in 1st class) Representing the poor/3rd class we have Kathleen and her neighbors and (brothers) Brian and Patrick; who are all off to America to seek their fortunes.

Hopefully there will be some originality to this plot SOON. (continued) But show more sadly such was not the case. There was excessive overshadowing and beating the reader over the head with plot points or Titanic experiences already well stated on previous pages. Then after nearly drowning Max(Jack) does survive and returns to Elizabeth(Rose) and they look forward to their future. Kathleen (Katie for short) and her romantic interest (Paddy) also survive. In the epilogue everyone gets a happily ever after. (Oh and money.. Paddy becomes wealthy too)

I notice Ms. Hoh seems to be prolific in other series (by other authors) While I won't be reading any of her work again (yep, I'm avoiding it), I sincerely hope she pens a better story elsewhere.

I will not be recommending this as a worthwhile read for young adults. (which is why I was reading it..) show less

Wonderful, wonderful read. Absolutely loved this. It does have romantic similarities to the movie, but including another story line solely of steerage passengers I consider it an overall original work. I've read this book numerous times, and I still cry at the end. It has a permanent home on my favorites shelf.

Exactly what I expected: not super but not bad, either. Stories like this about the Titanic have been told a million times so it wasn't anything new or refreshing, but I still enjoyed it for what it was.

I have a fascination with the Titanic for some reason, so I may be judging this a bit harshly, but I feel the author could have done more. Made more of an impact perhaps. She did a good, but not great job, showing the reader what took place and I will read it again, but I was left a bit disappointed.

Definitely better than the movie. I read this book at 13 in one night. I read it a bit out of sequence having read the sequel first not knowing there was a first book. This is great young adult fiction but I suggest it as an easy yet often emotional read for anyone. I suggest reading them in order however.

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