Scan barcode
meowmeowfood's review against another edition
1.0
Trite and overdone. I was bored through most of the book and there were several sentences where the descriptions were so dumb or just confusing I wondered how they made it past editors. Not worth your time.
tinabaich's review against another edition
4.0
So I think I'm hooked on Amy Einhorn Books. This is the third book from the imprint I've read, and I've yet to be disappointed. What I like most is that these book's aren't my typical fare. I like them not because of genre - and all three are very different on that count - but because they are so well-written and so personal. The stories they tell strike a chord with me. But enough about the imprint, let's get to The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead.
The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is the story of Emily Stewart, a girl who can make an eerie knocking noise with her ankle, and her twin brother Michael, who decides to use Emily’s ability to fool the neighborhood kids with a series of “spirit knocking” seances. Over the course of the summer, this innocent prank spirals out of control as adults begin requesting Emily’s presence and believing in her ability to speak to the dead.
Paul Elwork has created a slightly dark world in which it is hard to decide whether trickery is an acceptable means of assuaging grief. The events of this one summer have lasting effects on both the tricksters and the tricked. Like the other two Amy Einhorn Books I’ve read, The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead makes you think both about the world in general and the effects people can have on one another. Theses books make you reflect on your own actions and choices in life. I’m convinced that even if you don’t think The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is your cup of tea, you’ll find it engaging and well worth the read.
http://iubookgirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-girl-who-would-speak-for-dead.html
The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is the story of Emily Stewart, a girl who can make an eerie knocking noise with her ankle, and her twin brother Michael, who decides to use Emily’s ability to fool the neighborhood kids with a series of “spirit knocking” seances. Over the course of the summer, this innocent prank spirals out of control as adults begin requesting Emily’s presence and believing in her ability to speak to the dead.
Paul Elwork has created a slightly dark world in which it is hard to decide whether trickery is an acceptable means of assuaging grief. The events of this one summer have lasting effects on both the tricksters and the tricked. Like the other two Amy Einhorn Books I’ve read, The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead makes you think both about the world in general and the effects people can have on one another. Theses books make you reflect on your own actions and choices in life. I’m convinced that even if you don’t think The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead is your cup of tea, you’ll find it engaging and well worth the read.
http://iubookgirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-girl-who-would-speak-for-dead.html
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
3/1/11 Just won this on firstreads - lovin' it, lovin' it!
4/7/11
This rating would be a 3 1/2 if that were an option, though I wasn't impressed enough by The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead to give it a 4. I was intrigued by the whole idea of perpetuating a hoax on people who want so badly to believe. Grief is so overwhelming that we are sometimes willing to suspend reality in our search for comfort. I've always condemned those who take advantage of this, but in Emily I saw someone whose trickery came with the best of intentions. I like books that make me see things in a new way.
4/7/11
This rating would be a 3 1/2 if that were an option, though I wasn't impressed enough by The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead to give it a 4. I was intrigued by the whole idea of perpetuating a hoax on people who want so badly to believe. Grief is so overwhelming that we are sometimes willing to suspend reality in our search for comfort. I've always condemned those who take advantage of this, but in Emily I saw someone whose trickery came with the best of intentions. I like books that make me see things in a new way.
lizdesole's review against another edition
3.0
The story was engaging and kept me guessing whether the clairvoyance was supposed to be real or not. Unfortunately, it needed to be a lot more organized. Usually I'm ok with a narrative that toggles back and forth in time. Maybe it would be helpful if the main mother character didn't have a son and a brother both named Michael. Although it's not uncommon to have family names, it would make for a clearer narrative to have unique names for the characters. The character development was a bit weak as well.
lizzieinmt's review against another edition
4.0
This book has quite a few negative reviews but I feel it's because if falls into a very atypical category. Both haunting and beautiful this books follows the story of twins and their attempts to find and make sense of the world around them. Ultimately it deals with grief and lost love and really surprised me with its depth and incite on how complex life can seem when we are still young. It's not fast paced or your typical historical novel but is worth the time to read.
kyrki's review against another edition
2.0
A promising concept bogged down by extraneous character histories and a meandering tone. I was unclear about what Elwork was trying to get across in his work, what themes he was trying to evoke using the story of the twins and their spirit knocking. It seemed he had a lot he wanted to say, and so ended up not really delving into any of it. Or maybe I'm giving him too much credit.
The climax (that's generous to call it that) kind of came out nowhere, almost as if Elwork had a word cap and was getting close to maxing out. Real let down on that end, especially because there was so many directions and climaxes it could have built to and we didn't really get any.
There is a pulsing sadness under the novel though, just when you consider why people are so desperate to believe the spirit knocking. I liked that part.
The climax (that's generous to call it that) kind of came out nowhere, almost as if Elwork had a word cap and was getting close to maxing out. Real let down on that end, especially because there was so many directions and climaxes it could have built to and we didn't really get any.
There is a pulsing sadness under the novel though, just when you consider why people are so desperate to believe the spirit knocking. I liked that part.
audreyloopy's review
4.0
This book has probably less to do with the revival of Spiritualism in late 19th century America than you might expect, but it does not change the fact that it is a brilliant story about loss and letting go, and how sometimes the most persistent ghosts in our lives are the ones that are still alive.