The Deep End of the Ocean

Rating:
Summary: Every mother's nightmare.
Review: Excellent! Filled with so many emotions and twists and turns. Deeply engrossing. I liked the fact that there was no "fairy tale" ending. It shows how each member of a family can react to trauma in a different way. Very real.

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Summary: A riveting and consuming plot about loss on all levels.
Review: " I could not put the book down and was sorry for it to end. The characters were true to life in their emotional responses. The only complaint I would have is that the reality of the Christian faith, in life siutations was misrepresented.

Rating:
Summary: Once you start, you won't be able to put it down!
Review: Although I haven't finished reading it yet, this book is truly captivating. Although I agree that the mother is somewhat self absorbed and sinking in her own self pitty, she is HUMAN. The characters of the book have a very real quality about them. I highly recommend this book. Kudos to the author.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I don't understand all of the criticism. Most people read books as a way to escape and for enjoyment. Understandably, the end of the story was somewhat far-fetched but I still found myself caring about the characters. I couldn't put it down. I ended up reading this book in one day.

Rating:
Summary: Jaquelyn Mitchard takes real-life tragedy...
Review: Jaquelyn Mitchard takes real-life tragedy often neglected or ignored by public to back-up the cliche "if you ignore it it goes away" and makes people realize that there is a reality to face and bad things happen to good people. Jaquelyn Mitchard writes from the heart, and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

Rating:
Summary: The book is great.
Review: Tell me you didn't like the way Ms. Mitchard described the basketball play between the brothers. This is people hurt, people in pain, and people getting better. Beth's mental state throughout most of the book (my husband calls wining) is just exactly the way some people, especially artistic people, react to grief. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and there would have been light, even if she had not found Ben. I wasn't all that excited about the story, I was lost in Jacquelyn Mitchard's words. I was there with her, and I was there with Vincent. I saw myself at a time in my life. If you've lived your life, you'll love it.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating...Stayed up til 4 a.m. finishing it!
Review: Thought Deep End was a great book! Jacquelyn Mitchard shows the difficulty of losing a child and the pain and the guilt suffered by the entire family so eloquently. The end had a twist that I didn't expect is what kept me up so late completing it.

Rating:
Summary: I hate how the mother just gave up on her family
Review: Some parts were ok but there is no use for the swearing or for Beth acting the way she does towards her family I understand the agony of losing a child but you just cant give up on the whole family like she did.

Rating:
Summary: best book
Review: I read this book in a matter of two days I couldn't put it down...

Rating:
Summary: A start that grabs you to the boring finish
Review: Ms. Mitchard wrote the first seventy pages and landed her big contract. Reading those first pages, it's easy to see why. Thereafter, Deep End reads like she ws just trying to get to a finish just to finish. The dialogue is just outright bad and the research sloppy. There is a reference to a fire that occurred "just before WWII--in 1943!!!" That error is inexcusable and shows at best a rush job attitude. The numerous typos appearing in this Oprah-ordained best-seller jolt you, as if the publisher was drooling to get to press in a reckless hurry; and the Sam-Ben, Ben-Sam interchanges were silly ordeals that Ms. Mitchard handled poorly--I doubt any author could have because it was more a problem with the aimless plot in the last third of the book. I wish Ms. Mitchard would offer the first seventy pages, which were enthralling, to some other, patient author to finish. It is difficult to read someone as precise and purposeful as John Irving, then read Deep End without having to accept the fact that Ms. Mitchard was simply shooting for emotional platitudes interspaced by poor dialogue aiming to get to the next random platitude.