The Deep End of the Ocean

Rating:
Summary: O God, what did we do to deserve this potboiler!?
Review: Be prepared for a journey to the shallow end of the ocean, or the baby pool as the case may be. This book defies credibility--how could the boy be living just 2 blocks away for years? And the mother figure is completely unsympathetic--I was hoping she would get bumped off at some point, but no such luck. Remember, you can drown in shallow water just as easily as deep.

Rating:
Summary: A well written, soon-to-be classic.
Review: The struggles of Beth and her family, are heart-wrenching, making you compationate towards them. It makes you place yourself in Beth's shoes, and you really feel her sorrow.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, you can put this book down!
Review: This book came highly recommended to me by a good friend several years ago when it first came out. I wasn't very impressed with it to begin with, and once I had read about 2/3 of it, the story line seemed to end - so I put it down and never picked it back up! I only hope the movie is more interesting than the book!

Rating:
Summary: LAME
Review: I read this book when it first came out on paperback and I agree with most of the other readers that the story was shallow, especially once we find out who kidnapped the son. The beginning of the book was good, with the rest of it just capturing my attention only because I paid for the book and had already committed myself to reading it and because I did have great hopes that the story would come around and end up giving me a good feeling about the hours spent reading it. Needless to say, the good feelings never materialized.

Rating:
Summary: Once you start, you can't put it down!
Review: This book really pulls you in. It tells of all of the hardships and heartache that this poor family goes through. I can't wait to see the movie!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful for anyone who appreciates very emotional stories
Review: I read the book after seeing previews for the movie. The writer of the deep end of the ocean did a wonderful job a depicting the horrors of losing a child and the pain it caused the family.. The book was filled with emotion that will touch the hearts of millions. As I read the book I could fell what the family was going through and that is the sign of a wonderful writer. i couldn't put the book down and recomended it to many others. The people that I told to read it Love it. So did I.

Rating:
Summary: A fairly uneventful story
Review: I decided to read the book instead of seeing the movie. I should have waited for the movie. There are those works of fiction that make better movies instead of books, this is one of them. The story while interesting was not very compelling. The book offered very little in depth to the true aspect to the emotion of grief. What I thought might be a profound testment to the human heart was really nothing more than a story of grief in the form of total abandonment of her other two children and her own selfishness. I was ready to put it down but after I had invested the time in reading over 200 pages, I trodded along to the end, which left me very unimpressed. The point at which this story ended really should have been it's climax. Like I said I should have waited for the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Please don't make me see the movie!
Review: I missed the fact that this was an "Oprah Book", or I probably wouldn't have picked it up at all. This type of fiction is not my normal choice, but I was intrigued by the movie hype. I certainly hope for Michelle Pfeieffer's sake that the movie is better than the book! I think changing the Candy role from a waspish, gorgeous blond to a Whoppi Goldberg character might be helpful. I can't imagine what the horror of loosing a child like this might be and I do understand that depression is very real and ver debilitating, but even before the kidnapping Beth was just not a likeable person. The only character I really felt any empathy for was little Kerry. Didn't anyone EVER pay any attention to her? Beth is a total mental case, Pat was a total wuss who should have claimed his own life years before and Candy would have been disciplined by any good police force in the country if she did as little work on a case while getting totally involved with the family. Reesewas the only character acting like a real person - and he wouldn't have had the problems he has if any one had paid him an ounce of attention...of course he felt like it was his fault. It really shouldn't have taken a shrink to figure that one out! I felt like I was struggling through quick sand for most of the book and when I finished it I felt like a teacher should have given me an "A+" for completing it.

Rating:
Summary: She Drove Me Crazy!
Review: I figured I better do a quick read of this story before going to see it at the movies. Glad I did -- I will probably not subject myself to the frustration again! I just could not figure the mother out. She was supposedly very enamored with her lost child -- why then did she have such a complete disregard for her other children or her husband, for that matter? I cannot see Michelle Pfeiffer in this role. I only continued reading to see the relationship develop between the two boys.

Rating:
Summary: Must Read for the Book and probably a must see for the movie
Review: This book is truly breath taking and seemily ubiguoutous, I love all the characters but my favorite was Candy she truly stole some of the scenes in the book away from Beth. This is truly sad but wonderfully written book, my congrats to the author. I will not hesitate to see the movie and I cannot wait to see Michele Pheiffer. All the other people who critized this book should just stuff a sock in their mouths, they were probably males who don't care about this kind of an emotional plague that occurs in our country. So I recommend you take a few days alone go up to a cabbin,put on some comfortable clothes, get some food, and sit back and read your heart our, TRUST ME!!!!!!!!