rebbemcc's review against another edition
2.0
So boring. The characters, the story, everything. Boring.
modeste's review against another edition
3.0
3,3 ; Interessant om American civil law te begrijpen, maar er zijn betere thrillers om te lezen.
bookswitharrah's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know why it got fewer ratings but I love the growth of Samantha Kofer's character, from someone who looks away from ligitation to someone who embraces it because she wants to earn it.
rlk7m's review against another edition
3.0
Gray Mountain was entertaining enough, but not up to par. It had some of my favorite elements (fighting the coal companies! Appalachia! a female protagonist!) but parts seemed condescending and repetitive.
kandicez's review against another edition
4.0
I used to read Grisham novels the second they came out. I loved them. I would see the announcement of one coming up and count the days. Playing for Pizza. Not since, have I looked forward to one of his so I’ve missed quite a few. This one was just sitting on the shelf at the library as I was walking out. I don’t even know why I picked it up, but I’m glad I did.
This was not a great book. I’ll be the first to admit that. I loved this book for personal reasons and I don’t apologize for it because if we don’t love books for personal reasons a lot less books would be popular! I grew up in West Virginia in coal mining country. This book is based in Virginia, but coal mining is coal mining. Grisham used this book as a platform to reveal the travesty of strip mining and I grew up with deep mining, but again, mining is mining. Each has equal consequences to the people doing the mining and the people that live in the areas where the mining is happening. I’d be the first to admit that strip mining is more devastating to the land, but both ruin men.
I listened to the audio and it was like listening to someone describe the mountains where I spent my childhood. We see these mountains through the eyes of a New York lawyer so they are described in exquisite detail and my heart pined for home. It pined until the description got to the spoiled water, orange sinks and tubs and constant coughing and hacking of the miners and eventually their families.
If you have no interest or personal connection to coal mining this is probably not the book for you. Grisham’s story telling skills feel as if they have degenerated into a form letter format. Big City lawyer helps little guy and finds purpose in the law. Blah blah blah... But for me, this particular form letter was a winner.
This was not a great book. I’ll be the first to admit that. I loved this book for personal reasons and I don’t apologize for it because if we don’t love books for personal reasons a lot less books would be popular! I grew up in West Virginia in coal mining country. This book is based in Virginia, but coal mining is coal mining. Grisham used this book as a platform to reveal the travesty of strip mining and I grew up with deep mining, but again, mining is mining. Each has equal consequences to the people doing the mining and the people that live in the areas where the mining is happening. I’d be the first to admit that strip mining is more devastating to the land, but both ruin men.
I listened to the audio and it was like listening to someone describe the mountains where I spent my childhood. We see these mountains through the eyes of a New York lawyer so they are described in exquisite detail and my heart pined for home. It pined until the description got to the spoiled water, orange sinks and tubs and constant coughing and hacking of the miners and eventually their families.
If you have no interest or personal connection to coal mining this is probably not the book for you. Grisham’s story telling skills feel as if they have degenerated into a form letter format. Big City lawyer helps little guy and finds purpose in the law. Blah blah blah... But for me, this particular form letter was a winner.
antari's review against another edition
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
elinacre's review against another edition
3.0
huh. not your best work, mr. grisham. i loved the idea of this, and loved the parts about coal mining and black lung disease and the infuriating injustice suffered by these mining families of appalachia... but samantha was lame and wishy washy and kind of a snot (with a good heart at least, but take a dang stand, woman!). then, the last bit of the book (and apparently the whopping important part, if the title is an indication) is basically unrelated. so much sucky dialogue and boring narration throughout (ending a chapter with "she was craving a burger and fries" isn't the kind of cliffhanger that keeps me up at night... maybe i've just been reading too much dean koontz, aka the master of cliffhangers, imo). i feel too guilty to give it 2 stars, because i really did like most of the characters (badasses mattie and annette especially rocked), but for such a big name author, this just wasn't the best.
kjersten's review against another edition
It's been too long since I've read this to say too much, but I do remember this being one of the few books that I've read that has made me audibly gasp at a plot twist I did not see coming!
picked up at a little-free-library in IL and later returned to a little-free-library in Madrid, Spain.
picked up at a little-free-library in IL and later returned to a little-free-library in Madrid, Spain.
cbendito's review against another edition
2.0
I don't usually read Grishim novels. Just not usually my jam. But this was 50 cents at the local library sale so I snagged it randomly and it has been sitting on my shelf for a few months. I needed a pallet cleanser book - something quick and easy to read after some heavier stuff lately - so I gave this a shot.
Overall this is a fine piece of fiction. Though I did expect it to have a bit more suspense. It started out feeling like a Dan Brown or Kathy Reichs story - both authors I read regularly. But I there was no real central mystery here, no but puzzle to solve. Just a story about a woman from New York who finds herself in coal country and dealing with the implications of big coal. There are plenty of interesting bits - lots of history and detail about how coal companies work, some interesting and sad cases she works on - but not really a ton in terms of the typical suspense novel I was expecting.
It was overall fine. I read it quickly and was engaged, but I was also always waiting for something big to happen, and nothing ever really did.
Overall this is a fine piece of fiction. Though I did expect it to have a bit more suspense. It started out feeling like a Dan Brown or Kathy Reichs story - both authors I read regularly. But I there was no real central mystery here, no but puzzle to solve. Just a story about a woman from New York who finds herself in coal country and dealing with the implications of big coal. There are plenty of interesting bits - lots of history and detail about how coal companies work, some interesting and sad cases she works on - but not really a ton in terms of the typical suspense novel I was expecting.
It was overall fine. I read it quickly and was engaged, but I was also always waiting for something big to happen, and nothing ever really did.