Rating: 
Summary: No Good
Review: I'm afraid I didn't like it at all. The dialogue between the the various Viking warriors was completely contrived and sophmoric. The battle sequences started off well but became boring rather quickly. Warrior-Chief Johannson's final monologue as he was succumbing to his wounds is, no doubt, the stupidest piece of writing ever published in the history of English-language literature. The author was trying to create an epic but only managed to produced an epileptic fit.
Rating:
Summary: Why?
Review: The main character survives a poisonous poet mother, murderous alcoholic born-again Christian, racist Mary Kay houswife, suicidal aging Hollywood actress, and Russian con artists. Throw in child abuse with father figures, verbal abuse with foster families, attempted murder, and dog attacks. Every character is extreme, every situation is extreme. There is no balance. Then after building to a climax with all these extreme characters and extreme events, all loose ends are tied up in a hurried few pages. The end result is an unsatisfying book. And the reader is left asking why. Why did I buy this book?
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing, but a WONDERFUL read!
Review: Having worked in a group home for girls, I can assure you, this book is alarmingly close to the truth. Ms. Fitch has obviously done her research. Having also spent time doing research in women's prisons and juvenile prisons, the book was all too familiar. Still a compelling look at a young woman's ability to survive and dare I say triumph. I loved this book.
Rating:
Summary: A great book to read
Review: I loved this book! I loved the way Janet Fitch helps you visulize the characters & place in her writing. Very well written. As a foster child myself, I am just happy my foster parents were loving, caring people. You must have an open mind to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely enthralling, I couldn't put it down
Review: I was given this book as a gift from my mother in law and had no idea what it was about, and no expectations. But from the first page, I could not put it down. Literally. I lost sleep, I read in the car when I stopped at a stop light, my husband yelled at me for ignoring him. As a writer, I was overwhelmed with Fitch's poetry, her gift for the English language, the intensity of her descriptions, the incredible insight into each of her characters. The descriptions did not slow the plot. Instead, she weaved everything into a perfect cloth of words. What can I say, I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is breath-taking in it's writing style.
Review: During the first 20 pages, I found the author too flowerly if that is a word. From then on I could scarcely put it down. I got it - whatever "it" means. Ms. Fitch used expressions I could hardly have fathomed. I would like to write a book and only hope I can do half as well. What I liked were the descriptions of scenes,, people's expressions, and lack of explicit sexual scenes. We don't need everything described for us. Astrid's mother was someone I would never want to meet except out of curiosity. She was unbelievably selfish. Why do some people have children? I esp. loved Claire. She was a born caretaker something I can relate to immensely.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful imagery ... yet ...
Review: Since I work in a bookstore, I know that when Oprah speaks, her viewers listen. Thus, I set out to read WHITE OLEANDER.While Janet Fitch created wondrous metaphors and similes throughout the story, in my opinion, she went overboard with them--thus, they lost their effectiveness for me. In fact, they quickly became a distraction. In this case, less would have been more. Another reason that keeps me from giving WHITE OLEANDER 4 or 5 stars is the "timing" elements of the story. By my calculation, Astrid was 21 at the end of the story. I realize that in the book world, time can be suspended, but back in 1990, the computer age wasn't as prevalent as it is now, yet one Ingrid's acts of revenge is to go after Barry's computer. It's a little thing, but stuff like that stands out for me. In addition, while Astrid was often older than her years, she often used words/language that I would not have expected. Yes, her mother was a poet, but in the years that Astrid was away from her, her education suffered--her role models suffered even more. This is NOT a pleasant story to read, nor is it a lot of fun to read. Ingrid is beyond bizarre, and I honestly didn't feel sorry for her when she was convicted of killing her lover, Barry (btw, I'm not giving anything away--this is on the dust jacket). I don't like where she ended up at the story's end. It is also hard for me to identify with Astrid--and even like her throughout most of her journey through the foster care system. (If you're skeptical of her experiences, read A CHILD CALLED "IT" and LOST BOY). When she was with Ingrid, she tried to rise above her mother's eccentricities. In with her foster families, she became her mother in that everything she did was for ASTRID with no thought for others, no apparent conscience whatsoever. In fact, it could be argued that she became worse than Ingrid. At least I could "trust" Ingrid for what she was; with Astrid, I wouldn't have trusted her enough to turn my back on her in a room. In going back to the less is more argument, so many things happened to Astrid in this story that I began to shrug and think, SO WHAT? I can't get into them too much because I don't want to spoil the story for others, but did anyone else wonder how it is the scars from the dog attack on her body could still be so apparent so late in the story--yet those on the face weren't noticeable anymore? In the end, Astrid had to make choices concerning her mother; those choices did little to prove to me that she had grown and risen above what her mother was. It ultimately made me wonder why I had bothered to read WHITE OLEANDER. When I read a story, I expect to be taken on a journey, one which shows significant growth with the protagonist(s) of the story. I didn't experience that with Astrid's journey. The ending definitely left me unsatisfied for that reason. There is one "light moment" in WHITE OLEANDER where Astrid refers to the OPRAH SHOW. I laughed out loud at that part. Despite my ambivalence toward WHITE OLEANDER, I will probably re-read it at some point in time. It seems as if I'm "missing something" as far as the message is concerned. So I will give it another shot. But if a customer would ask me for my opinion on this story, I really don't know what to tell them (other than I think they'd rather wait & buy the story in paperback). It's disturbing. It's surreal. The language is "R" rated. The sexual situations are "R" rated. The basis for the sexual situations will rock the foundation of those who believe in morals. And finally, I'm not sure of the lesson(s) that we're suppose to learn from this story. After all, I'm still trying to figure out who the "good guys were."
Rating:
Summary: So pretentious...
Review: Although I'm not done with the book yet, so far I would like to second the comments of the reviewer below. Ingrid belongs in a bad melodrama
Rating:
Summary: Heavy handed , tasteless
Review: Heavy handed Anne Rice style prose, dripping with ersatz sensuality and crude sensationalism. Really seemed forced and base.
Rating:
Summary: This book just seemed devoid of plot.
Review: The book is so artfully constructed to say absolutely nothing new or different. I was bored beyond belief to try to read my way through the endless pages of vacuos antics, leading me nowhere. I fail to see any value in this book.
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