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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
DNF.
The writing was bad and life is too short to read inintersting, bad books.
The writing was bad and life is too short to read inintersting, bad books.
I loved this book. I originally read it in middle school and now picked it up again at 26. Wow, it made me sad though.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I remember thinking the scene in the leaf pile was so romantic as a kid.
I think I would have enjoyed this book much more 6 or 7 years ago. Reading it now as a 16 year old, it was probably the worst book I've read in a long time. I'm going to tell you now that there will technically be spoilers in this, but I'm not marking it with spoilers because there is not enough story for anything to be spoiled. There was not real climax, therefore no rising action, no falling action, and NO RESOLUTION. This entire book is pretty much the same few sentences over and over again.
"I love my family." "My family are monsters." "I can't believe I was kidnapped. "I don't want to have sex I'm thinking about my real parents in New Jersey." "New Jersey."
Because this is more of a children's book, I could have overlooked that, but that's not where it ends. There is not a single character in this book that goes through any character development - they are all robots, only there to serve their little role to the story. What I mean is that the mother is just the loving mother, the father is just the loving father, Janie/Jane/Jayyne/Jennie is just there to have been kidnapped and freak out, Reeve is just the common 'boy next door' trope, etc, etc. I couldn't even believe that Caroline B. Cooney had so much hype, such a good plot staring her in the eye, and she completely ruined it.
In much more serious note, and despite all of this, I still pushed through the 184 pages. What really made me gawk at the book in front of me was the homophobia, transphobia, and fatphobia sprinkled throughout this book. Usually I can handle it if that's just the way a character is written, or if it's to tell a lesson, but these things belonged to no character in particular, and played no part in the story besides disgusting me. Some examples of this include:
"She walked into the gas station. A youngish man in need of a shave and a good weight loss program in filthy blue overalls behind a greasy table leered at her." (Cooney, pg. 108.)
""All those horrible newspapers in grocery store racks. Talk shows where everybody else on it has trans-bi-cross sexual habits." She Shuddered. "I can hardly wait to be among them."" (Conney, pg. 155)
"I hadn't eaten in days, she thought. Pretty soon my mother won't just have me at adolescent trauma counseling, she'll have me at the anorexia clinic." (Clooney, pg. 171)
Usually, I never tell anyone not to read a book, because everyone has different taste. But I advise you NOT TO READ THIS BOOK. Even if you really, really wanted to, everything that happen in the book is what is written on the back cover, besides the fact that (SPOILER) who Janie's parents thought her real mother was was in a cult. Wow. Thanks, Caroline B. Clooney, you really outdid yourself sweetie.
"I love my family." "My family are monsters." "I can't believe I was kidnapped. "I don't want to have sex I'm thinking about my real parents in New Jersey." "New Jersey."
Because this is more of a children's book, I could have overlooked that, but that's not where it ends. There is not a single character in this book that goes through any character development - they are all robots, only there to serve their little role to the story. What I mean is that the mother is just the loving mother, the father is just the loving father, Janie/Jane/Jayyne/Jennie is just there to have been kidnapped and freak out, Reeve is just the common 'boy next door' trope, etc, etc. I couldn't even believe that Caroline B. Cooney had so much hype, such a good plot staring her in the eye, and she completely ruined it.
In much more serious note, and despite all of this, I still pushed through the 184 pages. What really made me gawk at the book in front of me was the homophobia, transphobia, and fatphobia sprinkled throughout this book. Usually I can handle it if that's just the way a character is written, or if it's to tell a lesson, but these things belonged to no character in particular, and played no part in the story besides disgusting me. Some examples of this include:
"She walked into the gas station. A youngish man in need of a shave and a good weight loss program in filthy blue overalls behind a greasy table leered at her." (Cooney, pg. 108.)
""All those horrible newspapers in grocery store racks. Talk shows where everybody else on it has trans-bi-cross sexual habits." She Shuddered. "I can hardly wait to be among them."" (Conney, pg. 155)
"I hadn't eaten in days, she thought. Pretty soon my mother won't just have me at adolescent trauma counseling, she'll have me at the anorexia clinic." (Clooney, pg. 171)
Usually, I never tell anyone not to read a book, because everyone has different taste. But I advise you NOT TO READ THIS BOOK. Even if you really, really wanted to, everything that happen in the book is what is written on the back cover, besides the fact that (SPOILER) who Janie's parents thought her real mother was was in a cult. Wow. Thanks, Caroline B. Clooney, you really outdid yourself sweetie.
once in a while, an old book strikes your fancy and that's all you want to read. this week it was the face on the milk carton which follows Janie's journey as she finds out her past- she was kidnapped and her so-called patents didn't know it
This book is something that completely catches your head and heart. It pulls you along with Janie, the main character as she discovers her face on the milk carton.
This book was absolutely amazing ! The book takes place with Janie Johnson, the main character who discovers her face on the back of her best friends milk cartoon. After recognizing herself at the young age of three she discovers she might not be Janie Johnson after all or Jayyne Jonstone but she could be the littler girl advertised as missing Jennie Springs. She goes back and forth with her reality and the life of who she once was. Who is Jennie Springs? Why does she remember details from her childhood after seeing this picture. After discovering some new details to this mystery she finds out that the ones she loves most find it just as shocking that Janie Johnson is not their biological daughter or related to the family at all. She’s been kidnapped.
I've had this series on my shelf for several years, because all the books were really cheap ( like $.25 or $.50) at a book sale a long time ago. Plus this was on my teachers shelves in middle school and I almost picked it up but chose The Giver instead. So I've been seeing this book around for over half my life, and since they've been on my shelves, I decide "it's time to pick it up." And I'm glad I did. This is a short novel so it's really easy and quick to read. It was obvious that this was a YA because of the simplified writing. But I still found that I really enjoyed it.
I've never seen the movie, but I knew that it was about a girl who finds her face on a milk carton and finds out that she had been kidnapped at 3 years old. I am interested in stories and topics like these which is what made me want to pick it up. And really, I enjoyed it. I was able to finish it in just a few hours, both because it was an easy read and because the story intrigued me. I will definitely be continuing with the rest of the series, except maybe the most recently released one which I don't own, the 5th one, depending on how I feel the story ended with the 4th. I want to watch the movie too, to see how similar it is to the book.
The book has a good premise, and it keeps you on your feet wondering whats next, but if you can't handle really simplified, almost childish writing, I wouldn't suggest this. That type of writing usually bugs me, but for this book, it was okay and actually worked well. I would recommend this for anyone who likes suspense and thriller and who wants to be able to read a book quickly.
I've never seen the movie, but I knew that it was about a girl who finds her face on a milk carton and finds out that she had been kidnapped at 3 years old. I am interested in stories and topics like these which is what made me want to pick it up. And really, I enjoyed it. I was able to finish it in just a few hours, both because it was an easy read and because the story intrigued me. I will definitely be continuing with the rest of the series, except maybe the most recently released one which I don't own, the 5th one, depending on how I feel the story ended with the 4th. I want to watch the movie too, to see how similar it is to the book.
The book has a good premise, and it keeps you on your feet wondering whats next, but if you can't handle really simplified, almost childish writing, I wouldn't suggest this. That type of writing usually bugs me, but for this book, it was okay and actually worked well. I would recommend this for anyone who likes suspense and thriller and who wants to be able to read a book quickly.
I remember first hearing about The Face on the Milk Carton back in the late '90s when I was in elementary school. The premise (teen girl discovers she was kidnapped as a young child) was interesting, but I wasn't actually interested in reading it. Recently I've been getting into YA mystery and suspense books, and was disappointed to find that there actually aren't that many out there that have been published recently. Whenever I looked for books in the genre, I kept seeing The Face on the Milk Carton listed. I probably never would have read it, but I somehow ended up with it after obtaining a whole bunch of books and thought that I may as well read it, since I have it. I'm not totally sure what I expected, honestly. I never thought that it would be good - even my 5th or 6th grade self didn't think it would be - but I didn't realize how truly bad it would be. I mean, I read a ton of non-quality literature (as well as some that are quality) and they're generally entertaining. This book was just worse than I expected.
I guess a lot of reviewers here have fond memories of reading this in the '90s, but since I just read this for the first time this year while in my 20s, I have no sentimental attachment to The Face on the Milk Carton. It was just so bad. The writing was seriously atrocious. Caroline B. Cooney seems really obsessed with metaphors and there were hundreds in this book. Seriously. Some pages contained about 15 different metaphors and similes - some in the same sentence! And worst of all, there were a lot of mixed metaphors. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was actually happening in the story, which is sort of laughable, considering how little actually happens in this story. You'd think that a book that promises to be a teen thriller would actually be thrilling, but it's not. It's not even 200 pages, but a lot of them seem unnecessary. Speaking of the writing, I weirdly couldn't tell who the intended audience of this book is. Janie, the protagonist, is 15 but I can't see many actual teens enjoying this book. The writing is extremely simple. On the other hand, there are a number of sexual scenes in here that seem inappropriate for preteens.
Perhaps some of the flaws could have been overlooked if the characters were at all engaging, but they were not. Obviously our protagonist Janie was going through a lot, but she was just too wishy-washy. I got tired of her whining early on. And other than being totally weak-willed, Janie doesn't have much of a personality. The other characters aren't much better. Janie's best friend, Sarah-Charlotte is the worst. I guess it's a point in Janie's favor that she sort of agrees. But Sarah-Charlotte is hardly alone in her terribleness; Janie's sort-of-boyfriend Reeve is seriously awful. He's a senior to Janie's sophomore, and is a controlling, manipulative bastard. He spends most of his time putting her down (and not in a flirty way) and pressures her to go further sexually than she's ready for. Somehow, as readers, we're just supposed to accept this relationship, but I was totally skeeved out.
Lastly, this book ends on a total cliff-hanger. Apparently the sequel(s) was planned from the beginning, so if you want to know what happens, be prepared to read the sequel. I think I got one or two of the sequels along with this first book, but I don't feel particularly inclined to read them at the moment. I wasn't expecting this book to be good, but it was worse than I expected. According to some other Goodreads users this text is being used in some schools and for the life of me I cannot figure out why. 1 out of 5 stars.
I guess a lot of reviewers here have fond memories of reading this in the '90s, but since I just read this for the first time this year while in my 20s, I have no sentimental attachment to The Face on the Milk Carton. It was just so bad. The writing was seriously atrocious. Caroline B. Cooney seems really obsessed with metaphors and there were hundreds in this book. Seriously. Some pages contained about 15 different metaphors and similes - some in the same sentence! And worst of all, there were a lot of mixed metaphors. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was actually happening in the story, which is sort of laughable, considering how little actually happens in this story. You'd think that a book that promises to be a teen thriller would actually be thrilling, but it's not. It's not even 200 pages, but a lot of them seem unnecessary. Speaking of the writing, I weirdly couldn't tell who the intended audience of this book is. Janie, the protagonist, is 15 but I can't see many actual teens enjoying this book. The writing is extremely simple. On the other hand, there are a number of sexual scenes in here that seem inappropriate for preteens.
Perhaps some of the flaws could have been overlooked if the characters were at all engaging, but they were not. Obviously our protagonist Janie was going through a lot, but she was just too wishy-washy. I got tired of her whining early on. And other than being totally weak-willed, Janie doesn't have much of a personality. The other characters aren't much better. Janie's best friend, Sarah-Charlotte is the worst. I guess it's a point in Janie's favor that she sort of agrees. But Sarah-Charlotte is hardly alone in her terribleness; Janie's sort-of-boyfriend Reeve is seriously awful. He's a senior to Janie's sophomore, and is a controlling, manipulative bastard. He spends most of his time putting her down (and not in a flirty way) and pressures her to go further sexually than she's ready for. Somehow, as readers, we're just supposed to accept this relationship, but I was totally skeeved out.
Lastly, this book ends on a total cliff-hanger. Apparently the sequel(s) was planned from the beginning, so if you want to know what happens, be prepared to read the sequel. I think I got one or two of the sequels along with this first book, but I don't feel particularly inclined to read them at the moment. I wasn't expecting this book to be good, but it was worse than I expected. According to some other Goodreads users this text is being used in some schools and for the life of me I cannot figure out why. 1 out of 5 stars.