#SRC2015 - Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

Genre: Chick-Lit

Published: June 2, 2015

Pages: 272

Ages: 14+

Synopsis

There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…

Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.

But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

Georgia does what she’s always done: she returns to the family vineyard, expecting the comfort of her long-married parents, and her brothers, and everything familiar. But it turns out her fiancé is not the only one who’s been keeping secrets…

Review

This book had me hooked with the very first line. 

"You have to grow about eight hundred grapes to get just one bottle of wine. If that isn't argument to finish the bottle, I don't know what is. - Anonymous" 

That quote has inspired me to henceforth refer to drinking wine as drinking 800 grapes because that just sounds so much more ambitious than drinking a bottle of wine.

This book is told in first person giving us a narrow view of the events that transpire. We only learn things as fast as Georgia does making the story feel more suspenseful and much more personal. The lies and betrayal cut much deeper than they would if the story were told in third person. The only exceptions to this are the flashbacks which are interwoven into the story that we see from Georgia's father's perspective. These flashbacks show us the history of the vineyard and their lives there.

Now maybe this is the wino in me speaking, but I thought Georgia, Finn, and Bobby were extreme lightweights when it comes to drinking, especially considering the fact that their father owns a winery. Georgia passes out after half a bottle of Pinot Noir, and the three of them get drunk on a six pack of beer. I don't drink beer, but I barely even get buzzed drinking an entire bottle of wine and I don't drink nearly as often as these characters seem to. I realize that lightweights exist, my husband is one, but it still seemed rather odd to me. 

One of the things that I enjoyed most from this book was that the relationships are rocky and real. They are not idealized perfect relationships which makes them pretty universally relatable, but it also means that they provide real hope to any couple that has hit a bump in their relationship road. It helps to remind us that every happily ever after has it's own challenges.

Overall I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It sucked me in and kept me entertained until the end. I would recommend it to fans of books like Sex in the City and people that enjoy having a good excuse to drink eight hundred grapes on a Tuesday night. - Katie 

Buy the Book

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About the Author

Laura Dave is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The First Husband, The Divorce Party and London Is The Best City In America. Her novels have been published in fifteen countries, and three of her novels, including Eight Hundred Grapes, have been optioned as major motion pictures. She resides in Santa Monica, California.

Her new novel, Eight Hundred Grapes, will be released on June 2nd, 2015.

Website: www.lauradave.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lauradavefans

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lauradave