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panthergirl's review
2.0
The most telling review I can give for this book would be "I forgot I had even read it". I saw it on a friend's Goodreads list and then saw my 2-star rating, but had to read the reviews to remind myself what it was about. So, "forgettable" would be the best way to describe it for me.
tarahoc's review
3.0
Started out strong but lost steam along the way.
I would give it a 3 1/2 star rating but apparently you can only give full stars. I enjoyed the book but found the ending disappointing.
I would give it a 3 1/2 star rating but apparently you can only give full stars. I enjoyed the book but found the ending disappointing.
dsbressette's review
4.0
This was a good study of family dynamics, particularly between a father and son. The dialogue was realistic and true-to-life. I would have given it 5 stars except I had a hard time with the switches between past and present. Sometimes I have to read a few paragraphs to figure out where the story was in the timeline. Very good read otherwise...
emjay24's review
1.0
This book could have gone either way, I almost thought I might like it enough to read it, but it was just too slow, and everyone was unlikeable. I couldn't finish it.
melissakuzma's review against another edition
4.0
I originally gave this three stars, but after several of my friends questioned me on it, I decided to change it to four. I loved this book up until the very end, where I think it didn't totally deliver. The book was written so well - you know from page 1 that something terrible has happened, but you have know idea what it is. And the narrator, who is quite an interesting character, doles out the information a bit at a time, in a very suspenseful way. Unfortunately the end, to me, was a bit of a "THAT'S IT?!" moment, which is why my first reaction was to give it only three stars. But when everyone started asking me about it, I had to admit it really was better than that. If the ending had had a little more "oomph", it might have even gotten five!
mrsfligs's review against another edition
2.0
Brief Description: Peter Dizinoff is a successful doctor in ritzy little New Jersey town. However, Pete’s life is starting to fall apart and, as he struggles to make things right, he only succeeds in making them worse. His beloved only son Alec is living at home after dropping out of college and has entered into a relationship with a “friend of the family”—the oldest daughter of Pete’s best friends. Aside from being older than Alec, the girl, Laura, has a past that Pete can’t come to terms with. His wife Elaine doesn’t understand why Pete can’t accept Alec’s choices or stop punishing Laura for her past. Pete’s friendship with Laura’s parents (who happen to be his oldest and closest friends) is strained and threatened as a result of all this. In addition, Pete’s professional life is under fire when a patient’s family threatens to sue him for malpractice. Will Pete be the instrument of his own doom or he can save himself and his family from ruin?
My Thoughts: ACK. I really didn’t like Pete at all. In fact, I thought he was a bit of a stubborn and jerky jackass who caused most of his problems and then couldn’t fess up when things started going wrong. For that reason, I ended up not really liking the book. To be honest, I didn’t care what happened to Pete and thought that Grodstein was juggling so many different plot points that they started to unravel a bit and none felt resolved satisfactorily. Although I finished the book, I didn’t really like it all that much and was happy to be done.
My Thoughts: ACK. I really didn’t like Pete at all. In fact, I thought he was a bit of a stubborn and jerky jackass who caused most of his problems and then couldn’t fess up when things started going wrong. For that reason, I ended up not really liking the book. To be honest, I didn’t care what happened to Pete and thought that Grodstein was juggling so many different plot points that they started to unravel a bit and none felt resolved satisfactorily. Although I finished the book, I didn’t really like it all that much and was happy to be done.
toesinthesand's review against another edition
1.0
I hated this book, it went along quite well until the end, you have your suspicions of what goes wrong, of what Pete does, but ultimately the reveal is not only a let-down, it’s incredibly disturbing on top of it. Laura is a psychopath who should never see the light of day and Alec is a spoiled brat. It makes me laugh that his dad is so angry that he won’t attend college... what do you expect when you do everything for this kid but chew his food for him? My dad would have kicked me out of the house with nothing but the clothes on my back if I acted the way he did.
And the accusation against Pete, from the fact that he’s living over the garage you think it must be something awful that he’s done, and while the accusation is horrible, if Elaine believes for a second her husband is capable of that, she needs to get divorced immediately, not because he did it (he didn’t) but because what does it say about your marriage if you believe it’s possible?
Also, on a shallow note, I was completely distracted by the fake NJ towns. Round Hill? Hopwood? Bergentown? Come on.
and to the author: the sun does not set behind Riverside Church if you are looking at it from NJ. NYC is to the east. Buy a map.
And the accusation against Pete, from the fact that he’s living over the garage you think it must be something awful that he’s done, and while the accusation is horrible, if Elaine believes for a second her husband is capable of that, she needs to get divorced immediately, not because he did it (he didn’t) but because what does it say about your marriage if you believe it’s possible?
Also, on a shallow note, I was completely distracted by the fake NJ towns. Round Hill? Hopwood? Bergentown? Come on.
and to the author: the sun does not set behind Riverside Church if you are looking at it from NJ. NYC is to the east. Buy a map.
heather425's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the premise of this book, but it just didn't grab me like I was hoping it would. The fact that it was written by a female and told from a male point of view was interesting, but it still didn't make me care about the characters. Pete, the father, is upset because his son, Alec, has dropped out of college and is now seeing Laura, the daughter of Pete's best friend. Laura did a very unspeakable thing when she was seventeen and has returned now at the age of thirty to be with her family. I am sure this is where the book lost me. I don't think it would have given away the plot to know that Laura killed her baby. I would have liked some warning about that before I started reading it. I'm sure I'm not the only person who felt that way.
The other thing I just didn't understand in this book was Pete's obsession with his son Alec's life. Alec is twenty one and wants to be an artist. Pete is just convinced that Alec must have a college degree to live a full and happy life. I cannot relate to that feeling because in these times I don't feel a college degree leads to a good paycheck. Nor do I believe that a big paycheck equals a happy life. In my opinion I would rather allow my child to make mistakes and still have a relationship with them than to destroy the relationship just so they do things my way.
Overall I would have liked to see more character development and a different ending.
The other thing I just didn't understand in this book was Pete's obsession with his son Alec's life. Alec is twenty one and wants to be an artist. Pete is just convinced that Alec must have a college degree to live a full and happy life. I cannot relate to that feeling because in these times I don't feel a college degree leads to a good paycheck. Nor do I believe that a big paycheck equals a happy life. In my opinion I would rather allow my child to make mistakes and still have a relationship with them than to destroy the relationship just so they do things my way.
Overall I would have liked to see more character development and a different ending.
rebecca2023's review
3.0
A real page turner. This book would be a great book discussion book. Judgement, perception,....lots to think about.