Rating: Summary: I really enjoyed this book Review: Thankyou to Carol Goodman for this enchanting book, I could not put it down . I look forword to purchasing her other published work
Rating: Summary: A bad Nancy Drew rip off Review: I had a hard time getting into this book at all and it seemed that nothing really happens until you get 100 pages into it. I thought that you could see the plot twists a mile away and everything and everyone was all tied together in the end just like those Nancy Drew books that I used to read years ago. I didn't care for the characters and was just bored by whole story.
Rating: Summary: a good beach read Review: Goodman creates a multi-layered story that revolves around her characters: Jane, Lucy and Matt primarily, with some other side supporting cast. Jane the main character ,in this story, is now being tormented by events of the past when she attended, as a student, the same school she teaches in. The author does a fantastic job of capturing the cold icy scenery that backgrounds this story and keeps the school itself isolated. The interactions, both innocent and manipulative, amoung friends twist the reader's emotion between shock and loss. The only slight with the book is you can guess fairly early who the tormentor is, however how the story unfolds and interacts smoothly makes it more than worth while.
Rating: Summary: Eerie! Non-spoilery review: Review: I stayed up until 4 AM because I just had to finish this book, couldn't put it down.I have two words for it: 1. Chilling 2. Haunting If you read it, you'll know it is chilling and haunting in more ways than one. I liked the characterizations. The main narrator is very likable and you feel for her. What I would have done to have a friend like her. But I was mostly *her*, trusting my girl friends and liking them intensly in a high school girl crush kinda way. But you don't hate any of her friends even in the end. Girls do things sometimes, out of love and the need for love. I liked the overall plot, though a bit stretched and long. I liked the psychology of it. So many people bearing guilt but all just hoping to relieve themselves of it and in some cases, unload it on someone else. Initially I thought, geez what's this thing with suicide...but turns out, it's not so creepy after all. Goodman does a good job going back and forth between the past and the present and is able to hold your interest. Not many people can do that without being confusing especially with 6 characters - 3 girls in the past and 3 in the present. I could see the plot twists coming a mile ahead, Goodman throws in a lot of clues, so it was not a *thud* moment when it actually unravels - it just confirms your theory but she times it well. A good portion of the book is Goodman's description of the lake and its surroundings, the icy conditions, chilling, freezing weather that enhance the setting of the story. She does it without sounding too repetitive. I liked Carol Goodman's language although I noticed a few grammatical errors, punctuations and such. Lastly I wish there was an illustration of the lake adn the three rocks and a corniculum. I tried to come up with a visual but I couldn't.
Rating: Summary: a fire-side companion Review: I loved reading this gothic mystery. The setting is solid and contains many well developed characters. The book uses chilling details and plots that give you a cold feeling on your neck. A wonderful book to read by the fire. It was such a deep story I almost didn't want to finish it, but my inquiring mind made me think otherwise. An engrossing book that made me want to visit such a place as Heart Lake.
Rating: Summary: Couldn't Put It down... Review: This is such a great book. I haven't read many psychological thrillers but I can tell you this one kept me interested from the very first chapter. I didn't want this one to end. If you don't wanna hear things that go bump in the night, I suggest to you not to read this alone at night!!!
Rating: Summary: To Put it Succinctly Review: If Donna Tartt's _The Secret History_ were the Addam's Family, Goodman's _The Lake of Dead Languages_ would be the Munsters.
Rating: Summary: This book is too long and too slow. Review: I seriously do not know what all the hoopla is about that is surrounding this book. Everyone seems to love it and I didn't. I don't know, maybe I missed something. This book is part Greek myth, part age old legend and part coming of age thriller. All in all, too many parts!! I kept waiting for something more to happen after I solved the mystery.
Rating: Summary: An almost guilty pleasure. Review: You know, I tried to explain the plot of this thing to my husband last night. It took almost ten minutes, partially because it's so convoluted, and possibly because I kept having to stop to giggle like a fiend. Some reviewers have, rather snarkily, compared this book to V. C. Andrews. I think that's a very apt comparison-- it just saddens me that they've said it like it's a bad thing. This book has everything that made you love V. C. Andrews, back in those hormone-soaked days back before you had taste or shame: Secret births! Hidden legacies! Incest! Veiled couplings! A girl's school with a deadly curse and a dark secret! Best of all, it has enough solid writing, enough character development, and enough Latin, to keep the adult in you from feeling like a twit when you read it. If you do buy this book, try not to think of _The Secret History-. The similarities are there-- boy are they there--, and the other reviewers are absolutely right when they say that this book isn't as strong. Still, it's a delightful, gothic, prurient little gem, and a fine companion for a rainy afternoon. I can't wait to read her second one.
Rating: Summary: Enjoyable page turner Review: How nice to have a book that keeps me up until the wee hours reading! Goodman has crafted a story filled with memorable characters and mysterious plot lines. She does an excellent job weaving the story together with masterful touches such as creating parallel stories between her characters lives and the Latin stories they study at Heart Lake. Goodman moves the story along well with her technique of alternating between past and present. I believe that her choice of this stucture actually improves the overall pacing and clue-revealing in the novel. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I was able to solve the mystery pretty easily. It was no less enjoyable because I was right, but perhaps it could have been a touch more surprising. Then again -- if it had been too far in left field, I might have complained that it was unrealistic! This is a gripping, page-turner -- perfect for cozying up to a fire and reading your way through a weekend!
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