Reviews

Pictures of You. Caroline Leavitt by Caroline Leavitt

jellokites's review against another edition

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3.0

Isabelle and April are two women running from the lives the live. April is married and has a son, Sam who suffers from bad asthma. Isabella is single and hurting. Both driving on the same road, going in opposite directions crash into one another and Isabelle lives, along with Sam, who was hidden in the back seat of his moms car.
Sam and Isabelle, along with Charlie, Sam's father lives become connected and try to heal with the help of each other.
I enjoyed the book, but I guess the ending did not satisfy me. I felt there should have been more closure and the ending just did not make me happy. I wanted Isabelle, Charlie and Sam to be together.

winglady's review against another edition

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5.0

If you're looking for a predictable story with every thread neatly tied up in the end, you'll be disappointed. Instead, this is a remarkable & heart-felt rendering of the many forms that love can take, and how there is seldom just one right answer in real life.

debi_g's review against another edition

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4.0

She's a reliable storyteller, with a knack for explaining estrangements. Pictures of You offers an intriguing premise: two women from the same town leave their husbands on the same foggy day. They're involved in a car accident and only one of them survives. The story deals with the unexpected ways this accident shapes the lives of the survivors. There are dissppointments in this novel, but it was hard to escape thoughts of the characters whenever I was forced to put the Nook down.

madae's review against another edition

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4.0

Isabelle Stein is leaving her marriage after finding out that her husband has a pregnant girlfriend on the side. While headed to New York City for a fresh start, she is in a car accident. The driver of the other car, April Nash, is stopped in the middle of the foggy road without headlights on. She is killed instantly. Her 9 year old son, Sam, survives. It turns out that these two women are from the same small town on the Cape.

Though Isabelle isn't guilty of any crime, she feels guilty that the other woman, a mother, was killed and she begins learning more about April's family, son Sam and husband Charlie. Sam is convinced that the woman he saw at the accident (Isabelle) is an angel who will eventually let him see or communicate with his dead mother. Sam follows Isabelle home one day and she befriends him. They see each other occasionally and she gets him interested in photography. At first, Charlie is hesitant to let Sam spend time with Isabelle, however, he soon realizes that it's good for Sam. Charlie's and Isabelle's lives become more intertwined as they help Sam and as their own emotional wounds heal as well.

I hate to give anymore away without giving away the whole story! This book was intriguing from the very first page and I couldn't put it down.

nursenell's review against another edition

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3.0

I liked the storyline and the characters in this book but there were a lot of loose ends and some things that just didn't make sense. I do have to say I think the author has a good understanding of childhood asthma, Sam the boy with asthma even has a peak flow meter which, as an asthma educator was something I always stressed.

What are the odds that two women from the same small Cape Cod town would pack up their cars and leave their husbands on the same day and then meet up on a road 3 hours away? That seems improbable.

All in all though it was good escape reading for hot summer days.

adrienneambo's review against another edition

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3.0

Read for the last title of book discussion season 2012-2013 and was not a hit!!! I thought the story was very readable and enjoyed it. Criticism from members ranged from realism and plot flaws to comparison to a Lifetime movie. With that said a good beach read.

cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition

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3.0

Recommended by Connie

Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search?formids=target&lang=eng&suite=def&reservedids=lang,suite&target=pictures of you leavitt

lisaeirene's review against another edition

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5.0

I LOVED this book. I wish it hadn't ended. It's the kind of book that sucks you in immediately and mid-way through you get sad that it's almost over.

The story was tragic and heart breaking. Be prepared to cry throughout the whole thing. But it's not all sad. There are sweet, tender moments throughout it. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!

mrs_george's review against another edition

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4.0

The first half was really great and would've earned it 5 stars. But I started getting bored in the middle and I wasn't too pleased how one of the character lines ended.

ljjohnson8's review against another edition

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4.0

A new author for me. A great story. Great writing. Like Jennifer Haigh's books, this was "just" an interesting, moving, deeply felt, astutely written novel. I'm glad she's got a nice long list of titles for me to read.