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elena_gilbert's review against another edition
4.0
Paints a terrible picture of sororities. Other than that, pretty good.
cleah's review against another edition
3.0
To anyone outside of her small community, Nicole Werner's death might just seem another tragic accident. But on the night of that fateful car crash, the lives of those involved were forever changed. Craig, the boy driving the car that night, continues to see Nicole around campus. Shelley, the only other witness to the accident, is haunted by the lack of truth in the newspaper reports following. Perry is Craig's roommate and Nicole's long-time friend, who has been holding in some troublesome secrets of his own. And Professor Mira Polson is the person who will ultimately bring these people together again to confront both the lies and the truth.
Hmm. I wasn't sure what to think of this book. Was it a ghost story? Was it a murder mystery? Either way, it was certainly a powerful story. The writing was beautiful and lyrical. There is almost a strong intellectual feel to the structure, as if it is a professional academic text of some sort. The story does not move fast by any means, but the incredibly short chapters pulled me along relentlessly, making the whole book feel as though it went faster. The scenes alternate between characters and chronology at every turn, which could also account for the story feeling faster than the action actually was. And I will admit, there were a few downright spooky parts, which were scary in a subtle, very creepy way that totally snuck up on me. The characters of Perry and Mira were enjoyable to read, though there wasn't anything new or terribly exciting about either of them. The interesting one in my mind was the elusive and very angry Josie, who was Nicole's roommate and sorority sister. I wanted to see more from her point of view! She seemed to have so much more to her than what we saw. Overall, a good book for a dark and rainy winter's day.
Hmm. I wasn't sure what to think of this book. Was it a ghost story? Was it a murder mystery? Either way, it was certainly a powerful story. The writing was beautiful and lyrical. There is almost a strong intellectual feel to the structure, as if it is a professional academic text of some sort. The story does not move fast by any means, but the incredibly short chapters pulled me along relentlessly, making the whole book feel as though it went faster. The scenes alternate between characters and chronology at every turn, which could also account for the story feeling faster than the action actually was. And I will admit, there were a few downright spooky parts, which were scary in a subtle, very creepy way that totally snuck up on me. The characters of Perry and Mira were enjoyable to read, though there wasn't anything new or terribly exciting about either of them. The interesting one in my mind was the elusive and very angry Josie, who was Nicole's roommate and sorority sister. I wanted to see more from her point of view! She seemed to have so much more to her than what we saw. Overall, a good book for a dark and rainy winter's day.
baskini's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The book was good until the end.
The book slowly brings you in, and then once you can't look away and it's at the turning point, she just does a FOURTEEN YEAR time jump and ends the story.
It's a good ride but a very disappointing destination.
The book slowly brings you in, and then once you can't look away and it's at the turning point, she just does a FOURTEEN YEAR time jump and ends the story.
It's a good ride but a very disappointing destination.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
Not young adult fiction.nixieknox's review against another edition
2.0
This had SO MUCH potential but I had a lot of issues with the resolution.
hippiechick56's review against another edition
2.0
Good idea for a story but too long. And there's too many things going that seem to sidetrack from getting to the point of the whole story. And what's with all the sex story lines? Disappointing after such a good start.
saltycorpse's review against another edition
4.0
A less pretentious, more exciting The Secret History. Not to slam Donna Tartt - I really liked Secret History, but The Raising does something grittier with more sympathetic characters.
However, if you're a person that likes endings that wrap everything up and deliver justice, you're SOL on this one. It's an ambiguous, halting ending - but it suits the story well. Onus is put on the reader to guess the intricacies of what really went on and what crime(s) was/were committed.
However, if you're a person that likes endings that wrap everything up and deliver justice, you're SOL on this one. It's an ambiguous, halting ending - but it suits the story well. Onus is put on the reader to guess the intricacies of what really went on and what crime(s) was/were committed.
haley_j_casey's review against another edition
2.0
I was pretty unsatisfied by this book. It dragged, and many of the characters weren't real likable, and then the giant ending was revealed, and then things went on for like 20-30 more pages before dwindling weirdly to a close. Not the spooky, October book I was hoping for.
cdmreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
okay firstly the vibes are perfection, I love anything set on a campus, prestigious colleges, preppy mysterious students, I eat it for breakfast.
although this book was really slow I was very rarely bored but I feel like literally everything happens in the last 6th of this book. so I was so ready to get all these loose threads tied up and to my disappointment, it fell rather flat.
I did enjoy the different perspectives, some may say that the 4 different view points were a bit much but I actually quite enjoyed them.
I just wish this had a better ending because I still have so many questions!!! so I'm annoyed :) I feel like this could have gone so differently
although this book was really slow I was very rarely bored but I feel like literally everything happens in the last 6th of this book. so I was so ready to get all these loose threads tied up and to my disappointment, it fell rather flat.
I did enjoy the different perspectives, some may say that the 4 different view points were a bit much but I actually quite enjoyed them.
I just wish this had a better ending because I still have so many questions!!! so I'm annoyed :) I feel like this could have gone so differently
raloveridge's review against another edition
4.0
Very, very eerie, tapped into the same feeling I had reading [b:The Secret History|29044|The Secret History|Donna Tartt|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327733397s/29044.jpg|221359] but not in a "hey, this book's like that book!" kind of way. This is compelling and dark and upsetting, especially since there are certain elements of academia that strike me as authentic in the worst possible way in this book. Well-drawn characters in a good old-fashioned mystery (though the first half dragged a bit—I flew through the last 200 pages!).