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ekb523's review against another edition
2.0
Lovely Bones wasn't available at the library, so I picked up this one. The book was all right, but overall it was disturbing - the plot revolves around a woman who grows up in the "shadow" of her mother's mental illness and eventually decides to kill her aging mother. The book details an intense love-hate relationship between mother and daughter, and for the most part, I just found it upsetting.
beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
Helen has reached her breaking point. Her life suddenly starts unraveling and she finds herself committing a terrible act. Now during the course of the next twenty-four hours, Helen Knightly will reflect back on her life with her parents, her husband and her now grown children. Helen calls the one person who knows can help her with her situation…her ex-husband Jake. While Helen waits for Jake to arrive; Helen will try to make sense of how she got to this point in her life. The people who mattered the most in Helen’s life are now all gone. As Helen looks back at her childhood, she wonders how she ever survived it. Then there was her marriage to Jake. Jake was so handsome and Helen was so in love with him. Now Helen tries to figure out how she and Jake fell out of love so fast. The next twenty-four hours will be the most trying time that Helen ever experienced.
At first I thought Helen was uncaring and whiny but as the story progressed and I understood where Helen was coming from I wouldn’t say I loved her but I did like her a little better. I really liked Jake. He was a good guy to come to Helen’s rescue even though I didn’t think that Helen deserved Jake again. The Almost Moon was a sharp, psychological thriller. It made both Helen and the reader do some deep thinking but in a good way. Thoughts that made you want to keep reading to see what would happen next and how the book would end. The Almost Moon is the first book I have read by Alice Sebold. Mrs. Sebold did a good job with this novel. If readers are looking for something new to read then they should try Alice Sebold.
At first I thought Helen was uncaring and whiny but as the story progressed and I understood where Helen was coming from I wouldn’t say I loved her but I did like her a little better. I really liked Jake. He was a good guy to come to Helen’s rescue even though I didn’t think that Helen deserved Jake again. The Almost Moon was a sharp, psychological thriller. It made both Helen and the reader do some deep thinking but in a good way. Thoughts that made you want to keep reading to see what would happen next and how the book would end. The Almost Moon is the first book I have read by Alice Sebold. Mrs. Sebold did a good job with this novel. If readers are looking for something new to read then they should try Alice Sebold.
thewallflower00's review against another edition
1.0
My wife recently joined a book club. This is one of the books that was on the list. And me, being the curious sort, read it too. After all this science fiction and fantasy, it's nice to see how the other world lives. What do you read on the literary side of the fence?
It turns out you read Lifetime movies. This is the same author who wrote "The Lovely Bones", which apparently was some kind of phenomenon. I should not have started with her sophomore effort. This is a scatter-brained novel. It reminds me of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall", which is the short story we all had to read in literature class when we learned about modern American literature and stream-of-consciousness -- techniques which are no longer used at all. And there's a reason. It sucks. It's incoherent to read. It's repetitive. And it does not add value to the plot.
The story takes place over 24 hours, as a woman who's just mercy-killed her mother, who was suffering from dementia and agoraphobia and generally became a nutjob who was making everyone's life miserable. Then we follow her around as the makes even more poor life decisions, like having sex with the 30-year-old son of her best friend, calling her ex-husband up from two states away, running away from the cops, lying to them. And interspersed in all these scenes are unreliable glimpses from her past, like her dad hiding in the attic from her mother, her dad committing suicide (or did he?), and scenes that just prove her mom was a douchebag and deserved to die a long time ago. In fact, I don't think the world would be so bad off if a lot of the characters in the book died. Skip this one.
It turns out you read Lifetime movies. This is the same author who wrote "The Lovely Bones", which apparently was some kind of phenomenon. I should not have started with her sophomore effort. This is a scatter-brained novel. It reminds me of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall", which is the short story we all had to read in literature class when we learned about modern American literature and stream-of-consciousness -- techniques which are no longer used at all. And there's a reason. It sucks. It's incoherent to read. It's repetitive. And it does not add value to the plot.
The story takes place over 24 hours, as a woman who's just mercy-killed her mother, who was suffering from dementia and agoraphobia and generally became a nutjob who was making everyone's life miserable. Then we follow her around as the makes even more poor life decisions, like having sex with the 30-year-old son of her best friend, calling her ex-husband up from two states away, running away from the cops, lying to them. And interspersed in all these scenes are unreliable glimpses from her past, like her dad hiding in the attic from her mother, her dad committing suicide (or did he?), and scenes that just prove her mom was a douchebag and deserved to die a long time ago. In fact, I don't think the world would be so bad off if a lot of the characters in the book died. Skip this one.
sprainedbrain's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mbrandmaier's review against another edition
1.0
Depressing (but not in a good way); disturbing, etc.
This was quite a disappointment compared to her novel The Lovely Bones and her true life memoir, Lucky. I really don't feel sympathy for the main character, just irritation mostly. After reading the whole book, I still don't entirely grasp why she killed her mother at the beginning. Oh, well.
This was quite a disappointment compared to her novel The Lovely Bones and her true life memoir, Lucky. I really don't feel sympathy for the main character, just irritation mostly. After reading the whole book, I still don't entirely grasp why she killed her mother at the beginning. Oh, well.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
If you want a good book to give your mother for her birthday, look elsewhere. If you to identify with the protagonist and imagine the two of you getting together for a cup of coffee, this isn't the book for you. It's difficult and depressing and very, very good. Alice Sebold takes the reader to some very dark places courtesy of a bitchy, unpleasant, cold narrator.
takeme2wonderland's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide and Mental illness
bethtmorris's review against another edition
1.0
Such a disappointing follow-up to the lovely bones. Don't waste your time!
prolly_roni's review against another edition
sad
tense
fast-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
1.0