Reviews

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

dbenton90's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

meghanlovesbooks's review

emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

angeg's review

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Brilliant! Gripping and brave true story  

iphigenie72's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

andrea_zimlicki's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

applebottomjorts's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

laurenbowling42's review

adventurous dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One of the more action packed historical fictions I have read! Well, historical non-fiction I suppose. 

nsmcfarlane88's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

missyjohnson's review against another edition

3.0

Interesting story that kept me reading. I did feel as if the story lacked something, and am not sure that I can identify what it is exactly. Some may be that the story told was far removed from when it happened which is exactly the case. Some of the recollections lacked sharpness if that makes sense. The events during the war would certainly stay in the memory. I cannot imagine experiencing the horror of some of the things that Pino witnessed. I certainly cannot imagine the chaos and confusion and fear during the final days of the war in Italy and the withdrawl of German troops. I would like to know why Leyers new the name Observer. That twist would be an interesting area to hear about. Lots of crap for a 17 year old young man to live through. And for his family and friends. War is just stupid. The author did ok with recollections from 70 years prior to make them real..................I was surprised to see that this was an accomplished author as the writing seemed more suited to a college freshman. Amateurish is probably a better word/descriptor.

sandiet's review

1.0

I read this one for our monthly bookclub and I was definitely a lone wolf on my dislike of this novel.
Although this was supposed to based on a true story about Pino Lella, it just did not ring true to me at all. Yes the author did say at the beginning that he filled in some details but it was more like embellishment to me. Too many heroics, Pino never sustained any significant injuries except for the one to the fingers of his hand, yet he was able to drive a powerful stick shift days later! The only things in this book allowing me to rate this a mere one star was the passage about the two fathers performing Nessun Dorma and the chapter which recounted what happened to everyone in the book.
This could have been shorter and more realistic. I like WWII novels but I did not like this one at all.