brock111's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked some aspects of the story. The piecing together of the family history especially about the women's suffragist movement. At times it felt too wordy. I am glad I read it.
rah's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
kellysmith72's review against another edition
2.0
The plot had many interesting elements (family history search/mystery, beautiful setting, stained glass art descriptions, suffragist movement, environmental issues etc.) that on their own would have been excellent topics for exploration, but there were so *many* that the book became a kind of muddle. Also, the narrative was often dull and needlessly specific.
lisbethcx's review against another edition
3.0
Loved it at first... and then it felt drawn out.
I feel like it had a alot of potential in the beginning, but it got too drawn out in the middle. Toooo much description about the windows and some other stuff for me. Then it kinda picked up again, but the ending wasn’t anything special.
Also, didn’t love the main character Lucy - she was childish and annoying.
Won’t be reading again, was kinda disappointed, but also don’t regret reading it.
I feel like it had a alot of potential in the beginning, but it got too drawn out in the middle. Toooo much description about the windows and some other stuff for me. Then it kinda picked up again, but the ending wasn’t anything special.
Also, didn’t love the main character Lucy - she was childish and annoying.
Won’t be reading again, was kinda disappointed, but also don’t regret reading it.
a_prett's review against another edition
5.0
I read so many negative reviews but I absolutely adore this book.
The determination Lucy had in revealing the history of her roots is to be admired.
Dreams do come true even if decades have passed. Wonderful stories to be told through the eyes of glass work.
Beautifully written with a heart warming ending.
The determination Lucy had in revealing the history of her roots is to be admired.
Dreams do come true even if decades have passed. Wonderful stories to be told through the eyes of glass work.
Beautifully written with a heart warming ending.
lisa_mc's review against another edition
3.0
Don't let the title fool you: "The Lake of Dreams" is not a sappy romance or a new-agey parable. It's a tightly packed, well-written story of two branches of a family and the past and present events that affect them all.
After years living a somewhat nomadic life abroad, Lucy Jarrett, the novel's narrator, returns home to upstate New York and her fictional hometown of The Lake of Dreams. The impetus was her mother being in a minor accident, but the changes Lucy finds upon her return are far more than her mother's arm in a cast: Her brother is engaged and soon to be a father, her high school sweetheart is a successful artist, and the town is churning with plans to develop land where a military depot once sat.
In an upstairs room of her mother's house, closed off since her father's death a decade earlier, Lucy finds a packet of personal writings and suffrage literature. This piques her curiosity, and her quest to find out more about Rose, the writer, leads Lucy not only into unknown family history but also to a connection with a famous glass artist.
At the same time, Lucy's own unsettled life comes into sharp relief as she deals with the fact that time hasn't stood still at home in her absence. And the unresolved grief over her father's death when she was a teenager rises to the surface, which involves some other family conflicts and secrets, albeit in the more recent past.
Lucy is not always likable — she gets petulant and self-absorbed at times — but her indecisions and insecurities are piercingly realistic. And her curiosity about her distant relative is infectious: We want to know the whole story of Rose's life as much as she does (plus we want Lucy to get her own life sorted out as well).
Edwards has laid out a lot for herself to manage as an author, but she smoothly and ably weaves the past and present storylines into a hearty, complex tale of loyalty and betrayal, heartache and redemption, love lost and found. The glass motif and the anchor of Halley's Comet add a layer of art that's a perfect complement to the story.
Lucy and her family discover more than one long-lost truth, but the story is as much about the letting-go as it is about the discovery. Edwards roots "The Lake of Dreams" in the past, without sentimentalism, but in the end the novel is about people releasing the past to move into the future, however uncertain it may be.
http://www.kansas.com/2011/01/09/1665288/dreams-past-dreams-present.html#ixzz1Ah8zdfhU
After years living a somewhat nomadic life abroad, Lucy Jarrett, the novel's narrator, returns home to upstate New York and her fictional hometown of The Lake of Dreams. The impetus was her mother being in a minor accident, but the changes Lucy finds upon her return are far more than her mother's arm in a cast: Her brother is engaged and soon to be a father, her high school sweetheart is a successful artist, and the town is churning with plans to develop land where a military depot once sat.
In an upstairs room of her mother's house, closed off since her father's death a decade earlier, Lucy finds a packet of personal writings and suffrage literature. This piques her curiosity, and her quest to find out more about Rose, the writer, leads Lucy not only into unknown family history but also to a connection with a famous glass artist.
At the same time, Lucy's own unsettled life comes into sharp relief as she deals with the fact that time hasn't stood still at home in her absence. And the unresolved grief over her father's death when she was a teenager rises to the surface, which involves some other family conflicts and secrets, albeit in the more recent past.
Lucy is not always likable — she gets petulant and self-absorbed at times — but her indecisions and insecurities are piercingly realistic. And her curiosity about her distant relative is infectious: We want to know the whole story of Rose's life as much as she does (plus we want Lucy to get her own life sorted out as well).
Edwards has laid out a lot for herself to manage as an author, but she smoothly and ably weaves the past and present storylines into a hearty, complex tale of loyalty and betrayal, heartache and redemption, love lost and found. The glass motif and the anchor of Halley's Comet add a layer of art that's a perfect complement to the story.
Lucy and her family discover more than one long-lost truth, but the story is as much about the letting-go as it is about the discovery. Edwards roots "The Lake of Dreams" in the past, without sentimentalism, but in the end the novel is about people releasing the past to move into the future, however uncertain it may be.
http://www.kansas.com/2011/01/09/1665288/dreams-past-dreams-present.html#ixzz1Ah8zdfhU
bashayer_e's review against another edition
2.0
It was good book although I think the main character Lucy was shallow and silly. Some parts of the book I thought it wasn't nesscsry and it was draging on. In genral it was fine read, not to bad.
michelereynolds_edd's review against another edition
1.0
Boring, boring, boring. No real plot, no real climax, nothing to care about. I plodded through thinking that something exciting was bound to happen soon and I have never been so thankful to turn the last page of a book.
barkylee15's review against another edition
2.0
What a complete waste of a good writing talent. Just as with "Memory Keeper's Daughter," I loved the beautiful way that Edwards writes. But good writing can't save a BORING plot.