At Seventeen

I liked it by the end.

I was reluctant to listen to this story, because I knew going into the book that Shannon and Madison had a relationship that ended, and now they're encountering each other again after many years apart. I don't usually enjoy stories like this. The whole first part of the book is Shannon relating the story of her first love to her best friends before she moves back to her home town. This may have been one of the sweetest stories about first love that I've ever read. And it was torture, because we knew it would end, and how could it end well? I kept hoping I'd get to that point soon, because the sooner we knew their pain, the sooner they could meet again. I wanted to rip the band-aid off and get to the good stuff already.
I didn't have much sympathy for Madison. We're talking about someone who's almost forty years old who is still allowing decisions that she doesn't like to be made for her. Grow a pair! And part of me thinks Shannon was a doormat for just taking it. But beneath the cynic within me beats the heart of a romantic, so I loved when Madison finally woke up and took a good look around.
One final thing that I didn't like was the fact that Shannon let her friendship with Charlotte and Tracy go so easily. If you were good enough friends to tell them things you've never told another living soul, I wouldn't expect you to just tank the relationship like it didn't matter in the first place.
At the end of the book, I found that I enjoyed it, and that's a tribute to Hill's skill at telling a tale, because I didn't expect to like it much at all.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Hill is Magic for Romance Novels and Lesbians!

What did you love best about At Seventeen?

That the story started with the girls when they were 17 then made them come full circle to adult woman and all they were dealing with, I loved that Madison had to deal with her parents, her estranged husband, her son, the growing feeling toward her childhood lover and she did the smart thing and decides she doesn't want to just have an affair, friendship is welcome but until her divorcee is final she is only interested in friendship because that is all she can manage at the time. And it's fair to ever one. Madison knows she needs to get act together before she can give her heart 100% to another. And that the only way she wants it.

What did you like best about this story?

Mostly what I said above, but that there was a lot of background on each girls families. I liked learning about Madison's super smart young son off at college, I liked the picture of her mother (Jerk 1) Husband (Jerk 2) and her father, I liked learning about Shannon and mother and brother. It was nice to have family support in a book. Not just those books with, you family hates because your gay, you must make your own family and never have a mother/brother/uncle or aunt show up and embarrass you in a story, It was refreshing.

Which character – as performed by Carly Robins – was your favorite?

Madison- I related to her the best, what it;s like to not be able to say no and to do it for so many years it just builds up. Only for me it was at work not at home but I could totally relate and to have someone telling you what to do every second of the time until you can't breathe, been there done that, not fun.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Two woman separated by time and circumstance, Brought together by love and chance, will they take the leap, or live in hell.

Any additional comments?

Hill is to me the second best lesbian romance writer topped by only Radclyffe, and then only just. Hill is amazing, she can make the same old story sound new, and the new sound amazing. In this jumping back and forth from 17 to the present, she wines and dine us on gourmet food. all the while making you want to eat more and more. Save room for dessert.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Good Story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would. It was a well written story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to listen in one sitting but appreciated being able to listen over a couple of days.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

what a wonderfully written book

I have to say i hated Madison for everything she put Shannon through, but that wouldn't be right. I've had friends who's lives were controlled that way. This book will bring out lots of emotions, from frustration, sadness, heartache, laugh out loud moments, smiles, happiness, lots of yeh about time moments.
The flow of this long story is great. There is a wonderful assortment of Characters that the Narrator did an amazing job bringing to life. Just a hint for anyone wanting to read this, like me, I was on the fence for months about it.. still not convinced I was gonna like it because of Madison and her mom. I finnally gave it a shot and I was so glad I did.... and trust me so will you. However, you will hate Madison's mom for sure...
Gerri Hill once again knocked it out of the park with yet another book.
This is a must read.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

LOVED IT!!!

I really like this story. I loved the narrator's voice, the plot... all the characters were relatable.

Young Love, First Love at its finest.

I'm on the fence on whether to rate this a 3 or a 4. I will say I enjoyed the flashbacks in order to tell Shannon and Madison's story, but for whatever reason I didn't expect all the sex. There was a lot of it, lol! It was all well written to say the least. In typical GH fashion, the story was constructed well and moved along quickly. There were a few parts to the story that I thought for wrapped up into a neat little bow and didn't seem realistic to me, especially based on how the story line went. i.e. the whole divorce. There's no way things went that smoothly and was just as simple as signing a document and it was done. Having been through a divorce myself, it just doesn't work like that. Not that I expected that whole plot to be hashed out, because that would be no fun, but it was glossed over like it was just so easy and no roadblocks. Otherwise, I'm glad all the storylines were resolved and we had a happy ending.
As for the narration, it was ok. I can't say I'll be searching out books by this narrator though.

Love is forever

A story of heartbreak and reunion Growing up having to hide their feelings and love for each other. Then separated for sixteen years. Time to heal.

Pretty Good

When I was listening to this audio I anticipated the copyright date to be considerably earlier than 2013. The situation described seemed to be outdated by a few generations, the parents of the upper crust family not allowing their child to socialize the child of the 'help.' The same for Madison going along with her overbearing, controlling mother, this seems to be more relevant to the author's generation than that of girls born in the mid seventies.
That being said I liked this book; less so than some of her others but the sweetness and sensitivity in this effort were well done. I found Shannon's attitude was rather childish for her age but I suppose that was the hurt speaking. Shannon's drifting away from her 'best' friends Tracy and Charlotte makes it look as if they were plot devices to fill in her backstory. The childhood love story was sweet, or maybe bittersweet. I had genuine sadness for them, especially Shannon, when Madison was telling her about her impending marriage. The end was dragged out too much but it's still a good listen.

fucking loved this audio book

great voice acting great characters I'll be it a little cliche but still an amazing book to pass the time

A beautiful love story

I absolutely love this book and its even better hearing it on audio. You can't help but fall in love with Shannon and Madison's story