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kricketa's review against another edition
3.0
a moving (albeit anxiety-inducing) story that reminded me of sue miller. carrie bell is considering breaking her engagement to mike when a diving accident leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. but what kind of monster breaks up with a quadriplegic?
i liked but did not love this. it made me feel anxious and funky, although there were rare moments of humor. packer has some incredibly apt observations about human nature, but i spent most of the book feeling frustrated with carrie. it's not that i thought she was making the wrong choices, i just wanted her to be more surefooted about the decisions she did make. 3.5 stars for lovely writing though.
i liked but did not love this. it made me feel anxious and funky, although there were rare moments of humor. packer has some incredibly apt observations about human nature, but i spent most of the book feeling frustrated with carrie. it's not that i thought she was making the wrong choices, i just wanted her to be more surefooted about the decisions she did make. 3.5 stars for lovely writing though.
birdlawyer's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really good book and there are definitely questions one asks him or herself when one reads this book. There actually isn't much "action", but one still keeps reading, which I believe shows how good of a writer Ann Packer is.
mbsteblein's review against another edition
I read this book on my own but then found a book club that was currently read it (my first evening with that book club, more than 4 years ago!) I am always interested in books that challenge me to figure out how I would react in the protagonist's position. I'm not sure there IS a "good" ending to this story, but it's a book to make you think a little about what kind of person you are in times of trouble/change.
chrizzavilla's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
pidgevorg's review against another edition
2.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the author's style is very smooth and readable, and her character portrayals are very true to life. But on the other hand, the story and characters are unoriginal. The main characters, Carie, Kilroy and Mike, in particular come off as complete non-entities, with nothing unique about them whatsoever, other than the fact that they suffered a personal tragedy. They may embody different “types”--for example, the naive midwesterner vs the “urban snob”--but these are types we've all seen before both in life and in fiction, and nothing new or insightful is being said about them here. It might be unfair to the author to say this, because after all she portrayed the characters brilliantly. But the fact remains that what is being portrayed is a group of people who are completely mediocre and have no depths of character. In a novel like this one, which relies on people rather than plot, character development is critical, and you might even say that this book technically has it. But it all boils down to this: the characters make some half-hearted attempts to transcend their situation, but quickly give up and embrace their moral, mental, and artistic mediocrity. Once again, this might be true to life, but this is a novel, not a sociology textbook. In the end, I was left with a big, bored “so what?”
kbratten's review against another edition
3.0
All the reviews that say Ann Packer has a gift for details that make words feel like real life are correct. This is a rich story filled with tiny human moments. It's hard to not rate a book poorly because you wish it had ended differently. I wish it had ended differently! Still, I was moved throughout and thought the characters were realistic and unique.
jlange64's review against another edition
4.0
The concept for this book fascinated me. How to deal with such a horrible set of circumstances? Though I find myself a little disapointed with the ending, I guess that is just how it has to be. There isn't always a picture perfect ending to life. My favorite parts of the book take place in Wisconsin. I wasn't a fan of Kilroy and didn't think he was good for Carrie. So I was so happy when she went back to Wisconsin. But as much as I didn't like the NY part, I think it was necessary for the story. It showed the desperation of her life. In other reviews I see that some people just couldn't feel sorry for Carrie, but I definitely did. I may not have reacted the way she did always, but how can you possibly know how you'd react until you're in the situation. Like I mentioned earlier, there were parts of the book I wasn't really into but now looking back over the whole book, I kind of appreciate the author taking us off course for a while, showing that life can throw you all kinds of curves and you don't have to be defined by them. Your decisions don't make you a good or bad person, just the person that you are. I liked that statement by the author in this book.
skyeslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
This isn't a book that I would normally enjoy but I was so caught up in the emotions of the characters: the battle between what they desire vs. what they "should" do. I felt the reality & heaviness of this story as I read it. Spoiler alert: the ending may not be what you want so brace yourself!
whatismollyreading's review against another edition
I cannot read a book about someone who wallows in self pity. Get a grip lady! Go do something, for God's sake.