Reviews

The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard

katymvt's review against another edition

4.0

Good read, but I wish the mom could have been more sympathetic.

ejmiddleton's review against another edition

1.0

If I did not have a compulsion to read all the books for the book club, there is no way I would have finished this. The main character was awful, and the ending was resolved too happily and too quickly. I can only hope the film was better than the book.

I feel like everything about this book was over the top - the kidnapping, the mother's selfishness, her attempted affairs, her finally realizing the worth of her husband and non-kidnapped children, and the happy resolution. I felt like I was experiencing an ABC special at its sensationalistic worst.

melsa781's review against another edition

3.0

I found this book slow moving and had hard time getting into at anytime.

knitter22's review

3.0

Reread this in anticipation of the release of Second Nature on Tuesday.

laura_thereflectivebookshelf's review against another edition

2.0

While reading this book I felt like I had heard the story before. It was an interesting idea but reminded me of a Lifetime movie.

tee3's review against another edition

3.0

I’m not sure how to rate this book.
For some of the book I so bored I wanted to stop reading. Other parts were absolute page turners. For half of the book I hated Beth, pretty much the main character. Some parts really annoyed me. I did love Vincent/Reece though

It also showed its age, using words like “fag” which although hard to critisize the author for something more common place back then. I didn’t love reading those slurs.

In saying all of that I just stayed up until 1am to finish it, so it can’t be all bad. I think overall I enjoyed it, but won’t be rushing to recommend it to others

markatong's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This has a really good story but the storytelling didn’t do it for me. Her idea of building a suspenseful narrative is segueing into a boring detail with little relevance before dropping the punchline, which by that time wanes your interest in what she wants to convey. 

themountaingoats's review against another edition

i skipped so much it’s disingenuous to say i finished this. way way way way way too long, but the central idea is interesting and compelling in the exact blockbuster-y way it should be (the kid who was stolen has had a better time of it than the kids that were left, where do you go from there?). it doesn’t work for a lot of reasons but like. especially because it can’t decide what to do tonally, and it’s really conflicted on what it wants its goal to actually be. beth remains so unsympathetic that it’s hard to understand how the novel is pushing for the reunited family angle, but it refuses to have any lasting heft as a study of a bad mother who experienced something impossible. whatever, i’m bored on a train and writing too much about an oprah pick

rileygracej's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

abbeygleroy's review against another edition

3.0

I was very interested at first and the plot drew me in but I think it was too drawn out. It was a slow finish for me.