Comments (21)

What did you think about this title?
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Mar 03, 2024chrisabler rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This book is a testament to the need for proofreading and not just spellcheck. A brilliant piece of historical fiction that for me was marred for me by "of" and "if" being improperly used in a couple of places and a paragraph where the…
Nov 28, 2023c1131113 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
I do not understand why so many commenters are treating this book as if the contents all really happened. It is fiction folks. Based on scant references in the Bible. While King David and others mentioned did exist, the authors often…
Oct 08, 2023
Read very little of this book; I couldn't get past the violence early on. Given some comments, I'm delighted I read no further.
Sep 29, 2023
I can appreciate the authors research that went into this novel. The one book she left out was the Bible. No where in the bible does it say that David & Jonathan had a sexual relationship. I did not finish the book.
Aug 28, 2023
This historic novel would have been an intensely interesting and imaginative read for me if it had not been for the horrific rape scene that Brooks chose to write into the story. The rape of David’s daughter by her own half-brother is bad…
Jun 14, 2023
Audiobook fail (self-important and too slow, reads like it's a poetry reading). EBook is promising in a Robert Harris/Rosemary Sutcliffe type vein.
Nov 09, 2022ZepedaL rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
The story of King David, a brutal, vain, shrewd, murderer, rapist, warrior, king, musician, and poet. A tale of the acquisition, the abuse, and the defense of power. Geraldine Brooks is an amazing writer with keen insight.
Feb 02, 2018dnk rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
In a way, I'm the perfect audience for this: biblical stories are not second nature to me (I did not remember that David came after Moses, for example), but I know enough of the broad outline of the Torah/Bible that I'm not completely in…
Oct 23, 2017
on 2017 reading ballot
Jun 25, 2017Beatricksy rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
The moral discussion of David's character is always fascinating, but there's a distinct lack of his faith, except in odd chunks here and there. One might expect more of that element in a tale of his life, but...eh. Maybe it just makes it…
Dec 06, 2016becker rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I really liked the story but the delivery was a bit ponderous. Still worth reading if you enjoy historical fiction based on Old Testament stories.
Aug 19, 2016
Old Testament stories can be so strange and this is quite the story. I didn't love the book or any of the characters but I am glad to have read it. I like learning history and customs of those ancient times and Brooks is always a careful…
Aug 08, 2016Cleko rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is book was an amazing read for me got me back into reading fully and glad for it geraldine brooks is an amazing writer from the betreyals to secrets this book really shows how women really do affect so much in this world and just in…
Wolfespearl
Jul 26, 2016Wolfespearl rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but not one of Brooks' better novels. She tried to compress a great deal of history into a modest novel. The characterizations fell short, falling victim to plot, and didn't always seem credible. It was a large undertaking…
Jun 20, 2016DorisWaggoner rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Not your Sunday School version of King David, except for his musicianship. Still, a stunning version of the story, with the courage to read between the biblical lines to create a complex man in complex times. Told by Natan, his prophet,…
Jun 13, 2016PimaLib_StephanieM rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
A bit disappointing. It's well written and researched like every other novel she has published but it was far too plot-driven for me. Usually, she weaves plot and character development together for a fully engaging story but not so this…
Apr 16, 2016tonyalockman rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I enjoy the details of how life was in a different time and place. Mostly when I read her books I'm reminded how much life was not fun if you unfortunate enough to be born female.
Jan 15, 2016
I did not feel this book was of the caliber of Ms. Brooks' other novels. It was more melodrama than character study and did not tell me anything about David and his family and courtiers that I didn't already know from an honest and…
Nov 14, 2015ehbooklover rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5 stars. A gritty, sometimes brutal, fictional account of the life of King David and his relationships with the people closest to him. Beautifully written, lots of complicated (and extremely flawed) characters, plus a very interesting…
Nov 01, 2015brangwinn rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Whoa, this wasn’t a story of the Biblical King David I was expecting! He’s wildly successful in the battle to become king, but he also is arrogant and his low points are spectacular, too. Brooks has chosen his prophet, Natan, to tell the…
Sep 19, 2015
Taken as the story of a dysfunctional family (with family being extended to an entire kingdom), this story of King David offers us the human side of a king who has a flawed relationship with his wives, children, generals, and God. As he…