Rating: 
Summary: Diving for dollars?
Review: I liked the plot, the characters, the prose. So why didn't I really, really like this book? I think the story is just a little creepy. Like being stuck in a backup on the highway and thinking that all those other people are sick for rubber-necking. But then you get up to the scene and you find yourself looking, too. And then, when you get past, realizing that you are one of those people rubber-necking. I guess I'd rather that the story dives below the surface of the seemingly heartless actions of the main character and seems to ask us what we would do if we were there. I don't always like what I see in that mirror.
Rating: 
Summary: An overpriced Harlequin Romance
Review: If you like stories like this, you can get them for around [price] at the supermarket checkout. Except for the fact that it was published in hardcover, this book has no discernible differences from the pulp romance genre. A young 23 year old woman, engaged to be married, undergoes a life-altering transition when her young, dashing fiancee becomes paralyzed! She escapes her contrained life by fleeing to New York and taking another lover--she also pursues her dream of becoming a fashion designer.. . .the sex scenes (frequent) are hilarious--full of euphemisms like "he pressed 'himself' into her"--also reminiscent of the Harlequin romance-genre. As a bland, predictable romance--it's okay. But to somehow claim that this book approaches "good literature" is just plain wrong. If you're in the mood for this kind of book--toss it in the shopping cart with the milk and eggs.
Rating: 
Summary: Quietly compelling & a book that begs discussion
Review: This book has one of those immediately compelling situations, where you can't help but put yourself there, empathizing with all involved. (The depictions of all sorts of relationships--mother/daughter, best friends, absent father, boyfriend's family, first adult love--are outstanding.) The fact that Carrie, a young age 23, continually does inexplicable things, inexplicable even to herself, is what maintains the reader's interest as well as ensures that the book rings true. She may be different than you and me, but she is a wholly formed character whose actions inevitably lead her down a certain path. When I saw where the path was leaving her at the end, I have to admit I had tears for the roads not taken, although again she's only 24 at the end. Maybe Ann Packer will revisit Carrie in few years--I would dearly love to see how and what she's doing...
Rating:
Summary: Could become a book club favorite.
Review: The world of Carrie Bell, a 23-year-old Wisconsin native, changes forever when she witnesses Mike Mayer's dive from Clausen's Pier, a dive which results in his broken neck, quadriplegia, and long rehab. Mike has been her love for eight years, and though the intensity of her early relationship has palled, she has been unable to decide how, or even whether, to call off her engagement. Lovingly remaining at Mike's side during the crucial early months of his recuperation, Carrie wonders, "How much do we owe the people we love?" as she tries to distinguish between love and friendship and the limitations and obligations of each.Packer's naturalistic style puts the minutiae of the daily lives of Carrie, Mike, their friends, and families under a microscope. We learn, for example, even the smallest details of Carrie's compulsive sewing (how to make a spaghetti strap, why she uses a Bernina sewing machine and Butterick pattern), the exacting therapy a spinal cord injury patient undergoes, some of the cherished traditions of Madison (Paddle and Portage Day at the lakes), and even some of Carrie's memories of friend Jamie from third grade. Packer is equally precise about what the characters are thinking, feeling, wondering, and concluding so that the reader need never search beneath the surface for hidden meanings or subtleties. ("We were alone together, and also alone within ourselves." "[Carrie went] from guilt to remorse to relief to exhilaration [as she drove to New York]." "You do what you do. Not without consequences for other people.") The subject of spinal cord injuries arouses powerful feelings in the reader and makes us confront our personal moralities as we consider how we ourselves might behave in similar circumstances, and Packer is remarkable in her ability to illuminate these issues. Some readers may feel shortchanged by the conclusion of this book and question how much control Carrie ultimately exercises over her life--does she decide her future or merely let it happen? But Packer's presentation of her character reinforces the belief that little is to be gained by second-guessing someone else's choices. Ultimately, we can never know for sure what we ourselves would do.
Rating:
Summary: I did not want this book to end!
Review: I was anxiously awaiting this book because of all the great advance reviews it received. Plus, the subject matter sounded really interesting. The whole time I read the book I was completely engrossed in what was taking place, and for the last third of the book I felt short of breath. I was really concerned with what would happen to the characters. I really came to care about them. I would highly recommend this book. You know a book is really good when after you finish it you have an emotional reaction and you don't even want to start a new book yet. You just want to sit and let this book sink in to your consciousness.....
Rating:
Summary: painfully addictive
Review: This book is extremely compelling, even with oveflowing, and sometimes seemingly useless, detail. While I found it heart-breaking in more ways then one, it's not only a good read, but a neccessary one. It challenges the reader to re-evaluate their lives, thinking of experiences as merely experiences. I'm sure that makes little sense, but by reading this book I've been forced to look at decisions confidently, not recognizing them as good or bad, but only experiences to learn from. The main charachter, Carrie, was suprisingly easy to relate to, considering I've never experienced trauma with anyone close to me and I've never been in love. I kept seeing her as cold and unfeeling but when I placed myself in her shoes, I can't see how my decisions would have been so different from hers. In the beginging of the book, I seperated the right decision from the decision that would make Carrie most happy, yet by the end I confronted my own way of thinking, puzzled by why the right decision couldn't be the one that would make her the most happy. With such realistic tragedy, I couldn't help feeling compelled to help the charachters, and rarely do charachters seem so real to me. I'm only 15, but by no means is this book meant for someone my age, actually I strongly reccomend it for those older than me. I really hope this book can affect someone else the same way it has affected me.
Rating:
Summary: Dive right in . . .
Review: This is by far one of the best books I have read. The only other two that I recently came across which were as good were "The Bark of the Dogwood" and "The Lovely Bones." As someone who has little time for pleasure reading, I found this book to be nowhere near a waste of time and definitely not boring. The characters are complicated and dramatic enough to be novel material, yet realistic enough to relate to.Carrie Bell was faced with a choice - she can stay with the quadrapalegic fiancee that she had been thinking about breaking up with before his accident, or she can leave. She chooses to leave and for that she has to face the consequences of emotional guilt from her friends and from herself. I liked this book because it made me think about Carrie's situation and what I would have done. Also recommended: The Bark of the Dogwood.
Rating:
Summary: Deceptive Simplicity - But Did Guys Like This Book?
Review: Generally, if all the ladies poolside are reading a novel, I can predict that I will hate it. After the Good Morning America "tease", I believed that this might be the exceptional novel-of-the-season that I would enjoy...and I was right. My 50-year-old sister had a stroke, and her boyfriend bolted; so Carrie's dilemma was not new to me.
I adore the nuances of the English language; and Ms. Packer's similes satisfied. I found her characters to be interesting and believable. Probably every female over the age of twelve has had a friendship like Carrie and Jamie's; and probably every guy who has belonged to a fraternity has had a friendship like Mike and Rooster's. Was Kilroy the consummate emotionally unavailable man, or what? I even related to Carrie's relationship with her beloved sewing machine. Accurate details - Bernina, NYC, rehab - only added to the story.
No guy that I know (I'm married, and have 21- and 17-year-old sons) would read this novel. Carrie's soul searching is so deep and painful, and Mike's injury is so cataclysmic that my guys would be exhausted by page 50. The sewing details would put them to sleep.
I probably won't read it again, but I would tell a friend to give it a try.
Rating: 
Summary: A love/hate relationship
Review: JoAnne Goldberg pretty much wrote my review for me as far as the plot goes on this book. I want to share something besides the plot with all of you though. This book starts off so good! The end was dismal! I loved it then I hated it! The end just sort of ends and doesn't (at least for me) wrap up anything it started! The book isn't finished in my mind. I have a list of questions about things that I would share but it would ruin the story for you. If you are the type of person who likes to make up the real ending in your head then you'll love this book. If you like the author to end the story for you in a nice little package then you probably won't like this book very much.
When I first started reading this book I was enamored with the plot and the desciptions and feelings of this book were incredible. I just knew that this was going to be one of my favorite books. I had no idea how this story was going to end up, but that didn't matter, I knew the author was going to lead me too great places in this book.
The middle part of this book keeps you guessing what Carrie the main character will end up doing with her life and problem of having these two boyfriends. When I got to the middle of the book I got very frustrated by Carrie's selfishness then the selfishness of her second boyfriend. Finally she starts to make some things right and stopped being as selfish, but then the book just ends.
I ended this book not feeling ok. I felt like I had been "had." I nearly felt like it was up to me to finish the story because the author didn't know how. I loved this book and I hated it. Maybe you'll have better luck with it than I did knowing what I didn't.
Rating:
Summary: Stars on the top of a mountain (figuratively, of course)
Review: It kills me. This book, like many reviewers have noted, started out on a wonderfully promising premise: how fast can a life change? what is the ripple effect that results from tragedy? and, like a smack in the face with heavy-handed reality, what would YOU, the reader, do? what would you do if this person you loved was suddenly rendered motionless, a quadrapalegic? The early beginning narrative felt thick and delicious in details that were lovely yet cuttingly realistic, especially in the scenery of Madison. I absolutely loved the opening scene, the Memorial Day picnic. I began to paint a picture of our main character, Carrie, who seemed so full of complexity and emotion, so full of careful observation. The supporting characters, who were all introduced subtely and built upon carefully, and without contrivances. Carrie's emotions all felt real and true, the result of her struggle over the distance she was feeling in her relationship with Mike pre-accident and post-accident, and her struggle to continue growing up as a young adult.
Things take a turn when Carrie, with seemingly NO motivation, packs up and leaves for New York City in one night. I guess the author thought the premise was that Carrie couldn't deal with the breadth of responsibility and emotional baggage on her shoulder, so she just left. There was a whole, faux-englightening scene earlier where she meets an unusual stranger who "percieves" and then describes her small-town life to her, very presumptuously and condescendingly, and we were supposed to believe it "made her think." She moves in with a recently re-aquainted bud, Simon, and a cast of Gen Y neo-hippies. Simon showed promise when we met him back in Madison, however it is dashed when within a short time he is reduced to a typical Gay Queen, losing all of his quiet charm we thought we knew. Come to think of it, that just about sums up everything that is wrong with the book. However, I'm not done yet.
Packer shoots the dying horse in the foot with one Kilroy. He is just about the most unlikeable character I have ever encountered, but WORSE we're supposed to understand that he is "great". All we ever witness are his snide comments, rude tenseness with everyone he ever meets, too-good-for-everything airs, the "intense" love scenes he orchestrates that rank of cheesy soft-core porn, and a feeling that any minute he's going to strangle Carrie and move on to his next stalking victim. We are supposed to be left awe-struck with what an enigma he is, because we don't know any of his "basic facts" and he annoyingly refuses to reveal any. Yet Carrie reiterates how she loves him, even calling him kind. It is by some stretch of the imagination. Kilroy RUINED this book. After one hundred some-odd pages of this gloomy, ill-portrayed Gotham City hell, I was gasping for air. I was thankful that Carrie was going to finally return home to Madison, to a close friend's wedding and the people she had known and loved all her life. And she CHOSE TO STAY IN NEW YORK, neatly aligning herself with Kilroy and everything she could have and should have avoided becoming. Sure, she went back to Madison eventually, but it didn't matter anymore as nothing was the same. Now that we learned the true nature of her vapid irresponsibility, a nature that once seemed slightly pensive and guarded and confused, it's all been clarified.
She, like this book, had promise, back when she was in the place she called home. But we soon "learn" that small-town life is toxic, that 9-year first loves are just a drop in the bucket, and that our entire past can easily be treated as cold crap. Emotions mean little and friends and family are expendable. Cold-hearted and ineffective, aloof and disheartening, this book left me numb with the disappointment for what could have been.
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