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What Members Thought
Dec 08, 2014
Carrie
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
family,
brother-sister,
library,
pifm-challenge,
father-daughter,
death,
secrets,
small-town-usa,
mother-daughter,
cheating
This is one of those books that once it is finished all you can think is wow. It leaves you with a tightness in your chest. It makes you think. Makes you realize that you never really know a person, you never truly can understand what things are like what they are thinking.
This is the kind of book that makes you wonder about all the lives you know and interact with. Those close to you, you think you know them so well, when in fact they have secrets, thoughts, words left unspoken. You know this ...more
This is the kind of book that makes you wonder about all the lives you know and interact with. Those close to you, you think you know them so well, when in fact they have secrets, thoughts, words left unspoken. You know this ...more
Lydia is dead, found in a lake near her home. The book then travels back and forth showing the events that led up to Lydia's death and the aftermath. Lydia is the middle child of a family with a father whose parents were from China and whose mother is white. Lydia is pushed by her mother to excel in school and be a doctor and by her father to be popular and fit in. Lydia's older brother Nath and younger sister Hannah are both ignored while all the parents attention is focused on Lydia. I really
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This book is a deep, heartfelt portrait of a family struggling to understand one another. So much sadness written with detail and sensitivity.
The narrator for the audiobook was good. Not special, but carried the novel well. Some of the dialogue seemed a bit stilted, but I think that's the fault of the author rather than the reading by the narrator.
This is the book club pick for April for my neighborhood book club. I am looking forward to hearing what other people thought about this one. On the one hand, I enjoyed it and was interested in the characters. On the other hand, I found them, while flawed and human, also sort of unidirectio ...more
This is the book club pick for April for my neighborhood book club. I am looking forward to hearing what other people thought about this one. On the one hand, I enjoyed it and was interested in the characters. On the other hand, I found them, while flawed and human, also sort of unidirectio ...more
I read this only a few weeks ago and forgot to review it- funny, because now I can hardly remember it. The mixed-race family who didn't know each other very well, and the secrets they held have faded into my memory. For that I have to take off a star- I think it was going to be four stars. Very readable. Don't let me put you off.
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This was a very moving book about a biracial family growing up in the Midwest US in the 1970s. It is hard to read because it is so realistic and powerful, and that made it at times gut-wrenching without being maudlin or melodramatic. It is tragic how some people do not communicate honestly with each other. And how society tries to force us into certain specific roles and expectations, even if we do not want to fit in. This one will definitely stay with me awhile.
For some reason I had the idea that this was a suspenseful mystery/thriller, but in fact it's a character study with limited plot and VERY few thrills. What is interesting is the idea of all the different perceptions people take from the same event, and how a person's intentions can be so wildly miscommunicated. Despite that, this was a long and tedious book.
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I loved this book. As my son would say, "Oh the feels!" The atmosphere in this book is hard to articulate... melancholy, yet beautiful. Definitely one of my favorite books of the last five years. I loved the author's writing style. It took me to another world, and even though the subject matter wasn't pleasant, I still didn't want to leave.
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Beautifully written
Jan 23, 2014
Lisa
marked it as to-read
Jan 16, 2015
Amanda A
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2015,
audio-h
May 13, 2015
Jenn
marked it as wish-list
Jul 06, 2017
Suzanne
marked it as to-read
Dec 21, 2017
Mimi
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2018
Jaime
marked it as to-read
Jun 04, 2018
Ashley
marked it as to-read
