Reviews - The Face on the Milk Carton

778 reviews for:

The Face on the Milk Carton

Caroline B. Cooney

3.45 AVERAGE

cozyrae's review against another edition

3.0

emotional medium-paced

neverinaglut's review against another edition

4.75

emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

naomibrendsel's review against another edition

3.0

emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I wouldn’t recommend this book for young people

tiffanywang29's review against another edition

2.0

Wow...when I read the synopsis of this book, I was so excited to read it because the idea seemed really cool. Then, I read the first chapter or so and realized that it wasn't going to be very good. I'm not sure if it was the e-book format in which I was reading it, but the editing was awful. There were actually some mistakes (like leaving out words) that were so obstructive that I barely understood the sentence. The writing itself, even without the errors, was acceptable at best. There was no character building. If there was any personality trait given to a character, it would be directly stated, like, "Sarah-Charlotte liked to gossip." (By the way, what kind of name is Sarah-Charlotte??) There are so many ways to make these characters seem real, but they were simply just flat, 2D characters. Also, there were random parts where Janie started talking in first-person. It would usually have a "Janie thought," but it just seemed awkward because the book was in third person, yet there was so much first person!
The plot, like I said, sounded like it would be really cool and unique, however the writing made it fall flat. After Janie realized that she was on the milk carton, all she could do was think about it. Granted, I would be really freaked out if I realized that I had been kidnapped, but for a good book's sake, I wish Janie was more interesting. Literally any time some kind of interaction with a person occurred, Janie would go into freak-out mode and get a stomachache or something and barely hold a conversation. Then, the whole book became Janie trying to solve a pretty flat mystery. Even more annoying is Janie's attitude towards everything. Even when she finds out where her real parents were, she made Reeve drive all the way to New Jersey just to look at the kids enter the house. Again, in an attempt to make Janie seem real in not wanting to believe that her parents kidnapped her, it just makes the plot fall flat.
The characters were also a huge roadblock to a good book. Janie had all kinds of issues. It seemed at the beginning that she liked being popular, but once she finds out that she's been kidnapped, she falls off the face of the social universe. There is literally no good dialogue in the entire book. It's also awkward how she calls her dad "daddy" and her mom "mommy" or "mom." I feel like there was such a big emphasis on this and I have no idea why. It also makes her seem like a little baby girl even though she's a sophomore in high school. Even in her moments of biggest anger at her parents, Janie still goes "Daddy!" It's almost nauseating. When she is suspicious of her parents, Janie still calls her parents and is like "omg I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you that I'm going to the library. I'm so sorry I made you worry that I was kidnapped." Again, she sounds so fake. Then there's Reeve, who I really wish that I could like because he was so patient with Janie even when I wanted to slap her with a shovel. However, I'm pretty sure all he wanted was to have sex with Janie. Everything about him seems likable until he says something about going to a motel and doing stuff. I mean, every time they talk, he mentions it. Regardless, I like him a heck of a lot more than Janie. All her friends seemed superficial, but I never really got to learn about them since Janie pulled her self away and became antisocial.
So basically, the only good thing about this book was the potential of a good plot. However, this book didn't meet that potential so it was just a flat, boring book.

slockmil's review against another edition

3.0

I read this when I was in middle or high school, and it was kind of fun going back into the nostalgia of a book that I read very quickly when I was young. It's held a kind of legendary status in my mind, and it kind of turns out that the sequel might be the one I remember more clearly. The ending caught me by surprise. I think I'll probably continue onto the sequel, if not more.