White Oleander: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I am almost finished with this book and am dreading completion. This book is so interesting and so well written. Her writing style simply flows...... I highly recommend ordering it--you will have learned so much.

Rating:
Summary: Rave reviews may be a disappointment to some!
Review: I have read and studied a fair amount of literature and am amazed at the rave reviews of this one. Yes, I concede this is a good book. I also agree that the author has a talented way with words. Yet, I have trouble with the overall voice of the novel. The beginning is from a 12 year-old's perspective but is certainly not written in a 12 year-old's voice. I found that I had to suspend belief far too often to appreciate this main character. Does no one else think this? Granted, by the time she is a teenager her voice is more believable and hence why I continued reading. I think the personal issues and level at which one relates to the story strongly impact how one feels about this book. Overall a good read but going into it with the reviews here and from Oprah caused me to be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning! A book to place on your shelf of personal Classics
Review: A book so affecting and beautifully written that I did not want it to end. A literate blend of exquisite prose, unforgettable characters and the triumph of the human spirit. If you think you've met the mother from hell, you have not met Ingrid Magnussen!

Rating:
Summary: A great story, interesting characters.
Review: The story flows beautifully, the characters are complex and well developed. Read it on it's own merit. Don't expect earth shattering or life changing literary revelations - just a really good, believable story. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Her words are so rich, you can taste them.
Review: I was a little wary about reading this book, since Oprah raved about it so much. I thought nothing could live up to that much praise. But it really is a beautifully written work. The language is so rich it's taste-able, and where the story is ugly, the language is ugly. The characters are so complex I think I'd know them if I met them on the street. And the murder is really interesting. It's hard to believe it's a first novel

Rating:
Summary: What a journey for such a young girl. A summer must read.
Review: The author's use of prose and descriptions made me feel I was in LA and could feel the Santa Ana winds burning my face and eyes. The heroine is a classic, and her mother reminded me of the mother in the World according to Garp....not of this world!!

Rating:
Summary: Sad, but not without hope
Review: I devoured this book in three days (and I don't have THAT much free time!!), it was intriguing. I spent much of the time feeling sad for Astrid, but never felt that there wasn't hope for her. Her mother is AWFUL; self-centered and self-absorbed to the core, and I found myself GLAD that she was in jail. Definitely worthwhile reading, and another interesting choice from Oprah.

Rating:
Summary: A poignant exploration of female strength and toxic people
Review: A young girl looking for a mother figure anywhere she can as she tries to escape from a mother who, as the layers of her personality are shed, reveals herself to be an utterly toxic person, poisonous as the oleanders.An amazing novel. Amazing. It will haunt you for a very, very long time. Read it at least twice.

Rating:
Summary: Superb writing leaves the reader wondering what happens next
Review: Janet Fritch's tale of life in America's foster child care system is breathtakingly colorful. My mind was kept busy with the descriptions of life through Astrid's eyes. The writing played on my emotions and made me feel like I was Astrid, feeling what she must have felt, and wondering how it must be to not know what life was going to hand you for a challenge from minute to minute. As you read this book, you want to reach out to Astrid and let her know that life isn't always this complicated, or unfair. For many people this story will make you appreciate the finer things in your life. Excellent, excellent, excellent!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Gripping, but the ending was a bit too pat
Review: I enjoyed the story and the descriptions by the main character. I was interested in what would happen to her and I found all of her foster home experiences to be unique and intriguing. I wish the author had given a little more detail about what happened in the second trial, she rushed the ending in just a few pages after a novel full of intense and verbaceous descriptions of just about everything else. I also wanted more details about the relationship between Astrid and her boyfriend - I felt confused by it. Other than that, very enjoyable book which made us care about the colorful characters.