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labunnywtf's review
3.0
I read the reviews for this book and have had it on hold with the library for a couple of months now.
9/26 - I'll give it up for the author, he used his Thesaurus well on this one. Sometimes it felt like he grabbed for it too often, though.
I think this book suffered from having too many characters to remember. I liked the book, I think the story was extremely interesting, but it lagged an awful lot. I understand that we needed to understand what made each person who they were, but really, it was just so excessive. Also, there wasn't near enough back story on the person who was at the crux of it all, which was Dori.
At one time or another in the book, I sympathized with most all the characters, save for the psycho bitch of a wife. But sometimes their character flaws spilled over and drowned my sympathy.
Good book. I'd recommend it, but with hesitation.
9/26 - I'll give it up for the author, he used his Thesaurus well on this one. Sometimes it felt like he grabbed for it too often, though.
I think this book suffered from having too many characters to remember. I liked the book, I think the story was extremely interesting, but it lagged an awful lot. I understand that we needed to understand what made each person who they were, but really, it was just so excessive. Also, there wasn't near enough back story on the person who was at the crux of it all, which was Dori.
At one time or another in the book, I sympathized with most all the characters, save for the psycho bitch of a wife. But sometimes their character flaws spilled over and drowned my sympathy.
Good book. I'd recommend it, but with hesitation.
lisawhelpley's review
4.0
This is a page turner, and I could see it being a movie (Lifetime TV at least). But there was something about the characters...I never got to really love, or hate, them. It felt like something was missing?
radishcake's review
4.0
I came away from this book very unsettled. It was an indictment of personal responsibility (or lack thereof) in our society and it was superb. It was a very fast read for me and the various voices were elegantly done.
jules1090's review
2.0
There were elements of this book I appreciated, and others that just seemed superfluous. For example, the author goes into great detail about the appearance of a tertiary character, in a very verbose manner than doesn't really work to add to the story or move the plot along. In fact, I'm not sure that that character himself was all that necessary. In this way, I feel that there were about 50-100 extra pages that likely could have been eliminated without shortchanging the story.
On the other hand, I was amazed to realize who I found myself rooting for and who became "the bad guy". Without giving too much away, it was odd to find out that the resolution near the end of the book was both relieving and worrisome. And the sympathies and understandings I developed for the "irrational" character were internally troublesome, too -- not quite as black and white (no pun intended on the racial undertones of the book) as one would expect.
The very ending, the last page or two, was disappointing, though. In opposition to the detail the author had went into in the rest of the book, the ending was very abrupt and left unanswered questions. I felt led on and let down like I had been through a scavenger hunt only to find out that there was no prize at the end.
Overall, this was an ok read. Not anything earth-shattering, nor did I learn much from it. Moderately entertaining, but there are better books out there.
On the other hand, I was amazed to realize who I found myself rooting for and who became "the bad guy". Without giving too much away, it was odd to find out that the resolution near the end of the book was both relieving and worrisome. And the sympathies and understandings I developed for the "irrational" character were internally troublesome, too -- not quite as black and white (no pun intended on the racial undertones of the book) as one would expect.
The very ending, the last page or two, was disappointing, though. In opposition to the detail the author had went into in the rest of the book, the ending was very abrupt and left unanswered questions. I felt led on and let down like I had been through a scavenger hunt only to find out that there was no prize at the end.
Overall, this was an ok read. Not anything earth-shattering, nor did I learn much from it. Moderately entertaining, but there are better books out there.
emilyisreading2024's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly well-written but so disturbing that it wasn't enjoyable to read. Also too many side plots.
ldv's review against another edition
1.0
When I'm borrowing audiobooks from the library, I prefer unabridged books because abridgements usually let me down. Here's a time when an abridgement would have been beneficial.
Other Goodreads reviews suggested that this book would get better after the initial introductions. It didn't.
The character developments were so long and indepth! They got very boring. And though eventually the detailed background of Darlene Stokes did become relevant, there was just too much character development overall. (Which makes me wonder why only the social worker never got a personality background.) Too much character thinking, too many diatribes and tangents by the author (did he think he'd never get a chance to publish again and thus include all of his essays on all sorts of topics in this one volume?!), too many characters to follow, it got boring and stayed that way. I cared about none of the protagonists (not the mother, the father, the doctor, or her father) and so I didn't care at all what happened.
So glad to be done this one.
Other Goodreads reviews suggested that this book would get better after the initial introductions. It didn't.
The character developments were so long and indepth! They got very boring. And though eventually the detailed background of Darlene Stokes did become relevant, there was just too much character development overall. (Which makes me wonder why only the social worker never got a personality background.) Too much character thinking, too many diatribes and tangents by the author (did he think he'd never get a chance to publish again and thus include all of his essays on all sorts of topics in this one volume?!), too many characters to follow, it got boring and stayed that way. I cared about none of the protagonists (not the mother, the father, the doctor, or her father) and so I didn't care at all what happened.
So glad to be done this one.
ginnygrace's review
1.0
I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t even finish it. I read 291 pages then, for the first time ever, skipped to the end to see if it was going to be worth finishing.
.
.
birdkeeperklink's review against another edition
1.0
I hated this. There was no clear resolution, or at least not one anyone could possibly be happy with. It was more a series of character studies, but I couldn't identify with any of the characters, and the end left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Don't recommend for anyone.
Don't recommend for anyone.
lisaeirene's review
1.0
I really wanted to finish this book but it was painfully boring and just made me irritated. There were too many characters that I didn't care about. I didn't like his writing style and felt like he was padding the book to make it full length. The real story of munchausen by proxy is fascinating and sad yet the book just never got my interest. Poor writing, unlikeable characters and what does RACE have to do with this at all??? Nothing. Stick to one topic dude.