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A Fierce Radiance (2010)

by Lauren Belfer(Favorite Author)

3.55 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0061252514 (ISBN13: 9780061252518)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

HarperTorch

review 1: I really waffled between a 3.5 and a 4 star rating for this book, but I finally went with the 4 because I really enjoyed the science and story of the development of penicillin combined with the historical context of World War 2. (It is really unimaginable to me that in my parent's early childhoods there were no antibiotics for strep throat, ear infections, or simple scrapes that became infected and could lead to blood poisoning! Kind of explains a lot about how neurotic older people can be about illnesses too.) The politics and business of drug development was also very interesting. I overall liked the writing style of the book and enjoyed the shifting points of view the author used between characters. It let the reader know what was going on simultaneously in different ... morepeople's minds; sometimes they saw things the same way, and sometimes they didn't. My main complaint about the book is that I felt the characters were perfect, one-sided stereotypes: research scientist, Life Magazine photographer, corporate raider, etc.
review 2: Okay, I just can't seem to finish this book. I'm within ten pages now, and was not thrilled with it. I don't know why the book has the title it does, and at times the story was all over the place. I did enjoy the historical snapshots, and the whole history of the discovery of antibiotics was interesting, but I'm not sure the author knew what kind of book she wanted to write. The prose is often stilted, and the dialogue awkward and robotic. I had trouble caring about Claire, or really any of the other characters as well.m less

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