Knit the Season is the third book in the Friday Night Knitting Club series by Kate Jacobs. I've read and enjoyed the first two books in the series, Friday Night Knitting Club and Knit Two. This story begins a year after Knit Two and Dakota is struggling with figuring out what to do over the Christmas holidays. She is in culinary school to learn to be a pastry chef and has scored an interview for an internship over Christmas week. Her father, has secretly made plans to surprise her and planned a family trip to see Dakota's Gran in Scotland. Dakota is torn between this as well as other issues related to the knit shop Walker and Daughter. The story takes the reader through many holiday seasons including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and finally to New years. Most of Knit the Season was focused on Dakota and her life and decisions including learning more about her mother, Georgia who is a beloved character for most fans of the Friday Night Knitting Club series. I found the story focus on family bonds and friendships weak and not in character with the strength of the previous books. The storyline was disjointed and it just didn't flow smoothly for me. I wanted more focus on the secondary characters and I felt Anita was portrayed as a weak woman and not the strong character she has shown to be in previous books. I preferred the last half of the book when the family went to Scotland to visit Gran as her character is very endearing and wise and the storyline was stronger. I didn't care for the flashbacks of memories of Georgia and her life. I found it didn't flow or fit into the story and boring at times.
I did like to see the knitting patterns in the back of the book including one for a knitted bookmark I'd like to try knitting. There are also recipes that sound delicious, especially the recipe for shortbread.
This is a tough review to write as I am a fan of this series but Knit the Season just didn't stand out as strong book in the series for me. I will not be giving up on the Friday Night Knitting Club and hope that the next book has a stronger plot and storyline.
For reviews with a different perspective:
*My copy was an Advanced Reading Copy and it had a multitude of typos that I found very distracting. I hope that they were all corrected in the final copy.
Sorry this wasn't as good as you'd hoped it'd be. I'd still like to read this series.
ReplyDeleteThere's always one book in a series that isn't as good as the others, I've found. I've been wanting to start this series, and I'm looking forward to the knitting patterns and recipes.
ReplyDelete--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric
I took the audio version out at the library, but then decided I'd rather listen to something else. (Sorry, it was not a homerun for you Bonnie).
ReplyDeleteSorry this one didn't work for you Bonnie. I enjoyed the book tremendously. I get annoyed sometimes with the errors in the ARC's as well.
ReplyDeleteI have not read any of the "knitting club" series, probably because I know next to nothing about knitting. It just seems there are other topics out there more pertinent to my interests. I liked your honest and straightforward review.
ReplyDeleteI need to get my tush in gear and read Knit Two...sometimes that happens with books in a series where one is just not as strong as the others...like you I've gutted it out and more often than not the next one is better!! If you do knit those bookmarks post a picture of it!!! I love shortbread...never tried to make it myself though!!
ReplyDeleteSorry this one didn't meet your expectations Bonnie. I really enjoyed it. I hope another one comes out soon and it's better for you.
ReplyDelete