The Olive Tree: The Bestselling Story of Secrets and Love Under the Cyprus Sun Kindle Edition

IEnjoyable reading getting lost in the story that keeps you guessing. You'll fall in love with most of the characters.

Lucinda is a fine author with an acute sense of emotion. I want to be in Cyprus with them at the picturesque home called Pandora. This author always seems to have secrets that are a surprise when uncovered.

I really enjoyed this book, although once you begin, you will let everything else fall by the wayside...I kept finding quiet corners to read it, and stayed up late to finish it. the descriptions of the island the characters and the house were all beautifully rendered, and I now want to visit and try and find the places described.

The year is 2006 and 13 year old Alex is spending a summer in Cyprus. He is a boy with an over active mind and imagination. The house is one that was inherited by his mother and so the family is planning a summer vacation there. The story is set in 2006 and 2016 and mainly told through Alex's diary. Of course, as stories go this one is complicated, with secrets held by its inhabitants from years past as one by one a host of characters enter the scene, each with their own secrets and problems. The house is nicknamed "Pandora" and I wonder why it wasn't called Pandora's Box as the olive tree really has nothing at all to do with the story. Alex is the glue that holds the book together in a most witty and sarcastic way. But that said, in all of its almost 600 pages, I grew impatient to hear about the secrets of the past. That was not to be, as we journey along with Alex to a tidy conclusion wrapped up in a bow. The book could have been a bit shorter with less fillers added to the story. In all, I would rate this story with 3.5 stars.

Lucinda Riley spins a good yarn in exotic places; beautifully drawn scenery that makes me want to visit. Her stories carry me along. Her characters are well drawn and interesting. As something of a grammar critic, I was bothered by several word misuses or errors scattered throughout the book. However, the story provided much needed entertainment during this period of social distancing.

I read the sample and mistakenly ordered the book. Thank goodness Amazon refunded my purchase! This book is just not typical of her excellent writing skill. The story plot is trite and the dialogue written is so juvenile. If this was the first book of hers I chose, I would never read another. By the way, I have read everything else she has written and until this book, enjoyed her stories very much including the Seven Sisters series.

I think I've read nearly all Lucinda Riley's novels and discovered each has a different voice. The Seven Sisters series I find a little over wrought with emotion that doesn't always ring true for me.The Olive Tree has an entirely different mood and voice. Much lighter and with a nice subtle sense of humour which I appreciated. Each character, from Alex to Helena is very recognizable and you can't help but empathize with their ups and downs. Perhaps because this book was inspired by real life, it's easy pace and heart felt emotions shine through. There's the trademark mystery clues strewn throughout but it never becomes annoying or predictable.I bought this to read on my Kindle for a trip and thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading The Italian Girl which awaits on my shelf!

I have never read a Lucinda Riley book that I didn't like. The characters were represented well. There were secrets galore in the story. I recently visited Europe, so I enjoyed the setting. I never give away the plot so you will have to read yourself. In a little note To Ms Riley, if you are going to refer to God, there is only One.

What can I say. Lucinda Riley, I am just in awe of her. Fantastic book. No housework done! My reading place, is sat on my bed where no one can disturb me, with possibly one eye on the clock and thinking about what I should be doing, like feeding the family, but then again one more chapter never hurt!! Can't wait for my daughters to read this book.My youngest daughter has just read The Seven Sisters and we are like two kids in a playground comparing notes! It's so much fun to see how we both felt about it and to discover that we both felt exactly the same about certain parts of the story. My daughter actually said I just want to give up work and read Lucinda Riley's books for a job. Louisa (Kelly's Mum)

I love Cyprus and have visited many times and explored the mountains and villages and the coast. I was at University with Cypriot Students and I have Cypriot friends.I couldn’t find my Cyprus in this book. I found a collection of English people who reminisced a lot about the past and it’s effect on the present. I didn’t take to the changes in tense from the main part of the book being written in the past tense to a boy’s diary being written in the present tense.I couldn’t have cared less about the social relationships and activities of the characters. There was nothing in the story that informed me in a positive way and made me feel that I would like to go there or to have ‘that’ experience or to see those mountains or flowers or churches or museums or festivals etc. There is so much in Cyprus and it has seen some of the greatest history in the Mediterranean.

Had this book not been set by my book club I would have given up after the first few chapters.The pages are littered with cliches; the characters are unlikeable and one dimensional, behaving like the teen love stories in the Jackie magazines of my youth. is strikingly handsome, devastatingly beautiful or just plain unbelievable.Riley's attempt to create a counterpoint to the ridiculous antics of the adolescent adults by reproducing an Adrian Mole character in the form of the 'gifted but different' son fails hopelessly and becomes risible as the chapters go by. Thank God, he finally matures and becomes the only character in the book with any faint resemblance to humanity whatsoever.

I have always enjoyed Lucinda's books and they normally have two stories running parallel, one set in the present day and the other telling a story from the past. The Olive Tree in my opinion was very disappointing and could easily have been shortened in length as it seemed nothing much ever happened storyline wise.I have got to totally agree with a previous reviewer regarding Alex's diary as it did so remind me of Adrian Mole and was just as irritating.I am hoping this is a one off in disappointing LR books.

This is a cunning book that creeps up on you and makes you jump.You think you know what the secrets are, and you find out you may be correct; but then the twists begin as Helena starts to tell her story.Really then it all makes sense! But how sad. Alex really does save his parents marriage which is lovely, but then falls into the same web of secrets from the love of his life!It's like watching a car crash, thankfully there is a happy ending; Pandora's curse is lifted, and the hero gets his girl. The end.