Reviews

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

Only show reviews with written explanations

arkeith85's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed the plot of this book. The middle lagged quite a lot. I liked Norma’s plot line, and Joe’s got really slow sometimes. The beginning and the end were enough to make it likable.

jsylvester11's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Maybe this is book was ruined for me because of the monotonous audiobook format, and maybe it was all supposed to be obvious, with no real mystery at all, but ultimately this was just kind of boring

brookemaarie's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought this was beautiful. The pacing was perfect and it somehow managed to capture 2 lifetimes in one novel without feeling like you rushed through everything.

beckzareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

I had previously heard of stories much like this one. I am still so mad and shocked that something to this level could and was/is happening in our world.

There were moments that left me angry and upset at what the family was going through. Never giving up, but also should have never happened.

So angry that other members of Lenore's circle let this continue/even happen after hearing how Lenore came upon Ruthie.

I was also triggered when Norma/Ruthie was looked down upon by her mother about children. I feel there was just no sympathy for something that had happened to her too. I feel women are just expected to want to have a family, it's a choice. And we all should respect that choice and not force that. Her body, her choice!

This was my first audio book that kept my attention. Very well done!

araelbird's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Beautiful writing, loss and grief and anger, forgiveness and finding yourself, all bundled into this story.

sscullyy's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I’m gonna need a palate cleanser after this one.

The story starts off right away with Ruthie’s disappearance

Spoiler

(kidnapping)

and follows Joe’s and Norma/Ruthie’s lives after the event that changed everything.

I have a lot of feelings about this story. It just made me so mad but so achingly sad. Norma’s family was never happy because they were always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Norma to be taken away. The dreams that plagued her childhood and caused so much grief were her memories trying to break through. She technically had a more affluent childhood, but not a richer one. Her family life before she disappeared was so full of love and joy, and was so bland and constricted as she grew up.

Joe became a victim of his childhood, using Ruthie’s disappearance

Spoiler

and Charlie’s death

to completely fuck up his life. Time after time he failed to get out of his own way, making decisions I disagreed with and becoming a violent, angry person who pushed the remaining people in his life away. ”Maybe I’m just one of those people who are only happy when they aren’t. Maybe I find contentment in my own misery.”

Ruthie’s family and Ruthie herself were irreparably changed by her disappearance and I wasn’t satisfied with the ending (although that’s likely the point). Decades they could have had together are gone forever and their lifetimes of unhappiness can never be repaired. Normas parents never had to answer for their actions and she never would have known what happened had it not been for the (albeit too late) bravery of Aunt June to finally tell her a hard and difficult truth.