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toesinthesand's review against another edition
1.0
I hated this book, it went along quite well until the end, you have your suspicions of what goes wrong, of what Pete does, but ultimately the reveal is not only a let-down, it’s incredibly disturbing on top of it. Laura is a psychopath who should never see the light of day and Alec is a spoiled brat. It makes me laugh that his dad is so angry that he won’t attend college... what do you expect when you do everything for this kid but chew his food for him? My dad would have kicked me out of the house with nothing but the clothes on my back if I acted the way he did.
And the accusation against Pete, from the fact that he’s living over the garage you think it must be something awful that he’s done, and while the accusation is horrible, if Elaine believes for a second her husband is capable of that, she needs to get divorced immediately, not because he did it (he didn’t) but because what does it say about your marriage if you believe it’s possible?
Also, on a shallow note, I was completely distracted by the fake NJ towns. Round Hill? Hopwood? Bergentown? Come on.
and to the author: the sun does not set behind Riverside Church if you are looking at it from NJ. NYC is to the east. Buy a map.
And the accusation against Pete, from the fact that he’s living over the garage you think it must be something awful that he’s done, and while the accusation is horrible, if Elaine believes for a second her husband is capable of that, she needs to get divorced immediately, not because he did it (he didn’t) but because what does it say about your marriage if you believe it’s possible?
Also, on a shallow note, I was completely distracted by the fake NJ towns. Round Hill? Hopwood? Bergentown? Come on.
and to the author: the sun does not set behind Riverside Church if you are looking at it from NJ. NYC is to the east. Buy a map.
heather425's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the premise of this book, but it just didn't grab me like I was hoping it would. The fact that it was written by a female and told from a male point of view was interesting, but it still didn't make me care about the characters. Pete, the father, is upset because his son, Alec, has dropped out of college and is now seeing Laura, the daughter of Pete's best friend. Laura did a very unspeakable thing when she was seventeen and has returned now at the age of thirty to be with her family. I am sure this is where the book lost me. I don't think it would have given away the plot to know that Laura killed her baby. I would have liked some warning about that before I started reading it. I'm sure I'm not the only person who felt that way.
The other thing I just didn't understand in this book was Pete's obsession with his son Alec's life. Alec is twenty one and wants to be an artist. Pete is just convinced that Alec must have a college degree to live a full and happy life. I cannot relate to that feeling because in these times I don't feel a college degree leads to a good paycheck. Nor do I believe that a big paycheck equals a happy life. In my opinion I would rather allow my child to make mistakes and still have a relationship with them than to destroy the relationship just so they do things my way.
Overall I would have liked to see more character development and a different ending.
The other thing I just didn't understand in this book was Pete's obsession with his son Alec's life. Alec is twenty one and wants to be an artist. Pete is just convinced that Alec must have a college degree to live a full and happy life. I cannot relate to that feeling because in these times I don't feel a college degree leads to a good paycheck. Nor do I believe that a big paycheck equals a happy life. In my opinion I would rather allow my child to make mistakes and still have a relationship with them than to destroy the relationship just so they do things my way.
Overall I would have liked to see more character development and a different ending.
rebecca2023's review against another edition
3.0
A real page turner. This book would be a great book discussion book. Judgement, perception,....lots to think about.
melissakuzma's review against another edition
4.0
I originally gave this three stars, but after several of my friends questioned me on it, I decided to change it to four. I loved this book up until the very end, where I think it didn't totally deliver. The book was written so well - you know from page 1 that something terrible has happened, but you have know idea what it is. And the narrator, who is quite an interesting character, doles out the information a bit at a time, in a very suspenseful way. Unfortunately the end, to me, was a bit of a "THAT'S IT?!" moment, which is why my first reaction was to give it only three stars. But when everyone started asking me about it, I had to admit it really was better than that. If the ending had had a little more "oomph", it might have even gotten five!
antidietleah's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh, the main character is such a schmuck. And the timing in the story was confusing - the author jumped around a lot. There wasn't really anything about this that I liked.
msethna's review against another edition
4.0
October Book Club Choice - How far would you go to protect your child and make sure they make all the proper choices in his/her life? Would you ever let them fail? In this story, the main character, Pete, is obsessed with protecting his son and does whatever he can to make sure he follows the "right" path - spending time with the "right" people, attending a "proper" college, chosing a "dignified" profession. As Pete pushes harder, his son, Alec, rebels and pushes farther away. Pete is so entrenched in his son's life, that he doesn't realize how he has destroyed his own.
While this is not a book I would have picked up on my own accord, it made me stop and think A LOT while I was reading it. Am I "that" parent? Do I give my children space to be creative and make mistakes in a safe environment? This book was not perfect by any stretch, and there were several parts where I had to stop and figure out if it was a flashback to Pete's earlier life. I did get confused often, but I am glad I stuck with it and finished it. It was worth it.
While this is not a book I would have picked up on my own accord, it made me stop and think A LOT while I was reading it. Am I "that" parent? Do I give my children space to be creative and make mistakes in a safe environment? This book was not perfect by any stretch, and there were several parts where I had to stop and figure out if it was a flashback to Pete's earlier life. I did get confused often, but I am glad I stuck with it and finished it. It was worth it.
not_mike's review against another edition
4.0
A suburban tragedy through the POV of a middle-aged family doctor, written by a female MFA professor. It's an excellent story.
zilfworks's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fairly fast read, and most of the time, as I was reading it, I wasn't overly impressed with the quality of the prose (it wasn't bad, but didn't by any means impress me as uniquely lyrical or magical in any way). By the end, however, I was quite caught up in the story's spell and, even more, extremely impressed with the way the author made the male protagonist entirely believable. In fact, I completely forgot that it was a female author spinning the story until after I finished the book. And then learning that this female was 31 and childless when she wrote the story - about a 53-year old man and his wrenching relationship with his 22-year-old son - made it even more impressive. I have a hunch this one is going to stick with me a while, which in the end makes it much better than I expected it would be.
jgoalder's review against another edition
Wow. Incredible novel about being a father. The characters are fleshed out remarkably well, easy to understand and identify with. Jumping around in time was a little disorienting at first, but I got used to it quickly. Strongly recommend this haunting tale.