Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment from the first page
Review: After being blown away by the brilliant prose of The Deep End of the Ocean and deeply moved by its poignancy and insights, I was anxious to read Mitchard's second novel, The Most Wanted. The premise of the book sounds great--the love-starved teen, the handsome prison inmate--but this book disappoints from the first page. It isn't the writing that disappoints. The prose, particularly of Arley, has the lyrical quality I have come to associate with Mitchard. It's the plot itself which is a let down. This story could have been a gutwrencher; instead,it is only a huge build up of such heavy-handed foreshadowing that by the end of the book you just want to get it over with.("Oh, so that's the blood and the fire mentioned on every tenth page. What a relief.") The conclusion is completely anticlimactic, and worse, confusing, leading to the supremely anticlimactic epilogue.Also, the characters for the most part are not fully developed, their motivations are not believable or not fully explored; in short, they are completely unsympathetic, which is a real shame. It was never clear to me why Dillon and Arley fell so "in love" so fast, what happened between Charley and Annie to move their relationship along so fast. . . This book is too full of impossibly beautiful, impossibly immature people moving through an irritatingly implausible plot. If you must read this book just to see for yourself, check it out from the library and save your money!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad
Review: Arly Mowbray is a 14 year old who's beuatiful, athletic, extremely intelligent, and has a best friend. So what is missing in her life that would push her into the arms of a twenty something prisoner? One word...neglect. Her family has nothing to do with her. Her mother treats her as if the only reason she keeps Arly around is so she can keep the house clean and cook for her lazy, older brother. When Dillon LaGrande pays extra special attention to Arly; written poems about her, telling her how wonderful she is, etc. she falls madly in love. This story is wonderfully written and it's not your typical coming of age story. It's a nice mix of detail, character building, and a good solid plot. I give this one 4 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite books of all time.
Review: I read the Deep End of the Ocean, and I must admit, it didn't touch me, as this book did. The Most Wanted is a title that fits the book for many reasons, but mostly for the reason this book is all about being wanted: as a daughter, a criminal, a lover, a mother, and a wife. To where you feel the most wanted, and who you feel the most wanted by is where you'll be the happiest. The main message is if you're not the most wanted, find somewhere you will be. I must say again HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating:
Summary: A really good novel!
Review: I really enjoyed More Than Wanted, it's only problem was that it started out kind of slow.It wouldn't have worked out right though if it had gone right into the plot.It did start out good though & continue that way. I liked the storyline a lot & this book was sentimental & poetic. It was a nice love story that showed what power love has over people. It is written in chapters seperately narrated by the 2 main characters. This was nice because you saw what was going on seperately in their life & their different takes on the situation. More Than Wanted had all the elements of a good novel: a little romance(not trashy), drama & a little insight into the characters interesting lives. It deserved 5 stars because I thought it was great & had trouble putting it down. You should go read it!!!
Rating: 
Summary: that's what we are
Review: i was very impressed with arley's life philosophy at so young age and learning it hard way: she is not sorry for any past event or feeeling ,because everything contributed to the person
she is NOW, the past, the present and the future,yet to come.
and i was also impressed with annie openness ,at her age, for
relationship possibilities .
great book,which makes you think.
Rating:
Summary: Great as jailhouse comedy
Review: I'm more than halfway through the book now, so I haven't quite taken in the whole thing, but I can give some impressions. Emotionally it grabs you, that's the up side. If enjoyment is an index of a writer's success, I enjoyed the book. It's very seductively written and goes down one's throat like bubbly, fizzy, great tasting alcohol. This is especially cool because there is a great need to play off against the morbid, too-conservative, hypocritical and dowdy aspects of life. People take themselves too seriously and need a little laughter and imagination in their life. The down side is that if I had a teenage daughter I know I wouldn't want her into anything like this. No way! Especially the part about condoms, strip searching (complete with body parts) and the legal right to have jailhouse sex. Horrors! But seen as strictly comedy, it is a great read (for an adult or even an older young adult, that is)! If one views this book from a tongue-in-cheek perspective, however, one can detect a well-developed sense of irony throughout. It is a great take-off and caricature on the corruptness and impersonality of the legal system in which one is definitely just a number. And in which so much wheel spinning and misspent, financially disastrous do-goodism takes place. So much so that Mitchard goes to the other extreme and develops Arley's "overlooked" individuality to an intoxicating, some might say refreshing, somewhat absurd but still very interesting and certainly humorous degree. In conclusion, although I liked the book and could relate to it emotionally, I think Mitchard went too far in scraping the bottom of the barrel. For example, talking about "crotch jumping" and a "pulse in her crotch" starting to kick in, etc. when Arley thought about Dillon--and Annie thought about the handyman who worked on her house, etc.--is cute, but so overly physical. What has any of that got to do with the purported theme of the book, "love" that conquers all? The beauty of the book, however, from my point of view is its very appealing, no-holes-barred, tell-it-all-straight-from-the-shoulder, ultra-colloquial conversational style. So sometimes I could give Mitchard the benefit of the doubt about the kinky stuff. At other times it turned me off! The poetry was rather corny and unbelievable, also, and the events implausible. For example, a boy such as Dillon would ordinarily have had a great deal of understandable hostility towards the opposite sex, especially at the beginning, and this is not addressed very much, if at all. In spite of this, the emotional impact and freshness of seeing the world through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old is very cute and endearing and may or may not make up for other flaws, depending on the viewpoint of the reader. However, I agree with one of the other reviewers who said that you have to like a book like this, and if you don't, you just don't...This book was definitely not on a par with "Deep End of the Ocean" and I know what still other reviewers meant when they said the "foreshadowing (and transitions) were gimmicky." In its defense, however, I don't think the author intended this as a book to be taken strictly "literally."
Rating:
Summary: Wouldn't it be nice if this story really was unbelievable?
Review: I've been reading some other reviews, and it seems that the people who didn't like the book disliked it because they thought the story was unbelievable. Wow! Wouldn't the world be nice if there were no abandoned children like Arley? No criminals like Dillon? No despicable parents like Arley's mother? The world would be a nicer place, I'm sure. But, the world is not a nice place. Screwed up things that make a plot like this credible happen every single day. Maybe some people don't like to read about them. But, if you are not one of those people - and if you like books about human compassion and the spirit of survival, this is definitely a book for you. What got me the most about this book was the author's uncanny ability to bring you inside the head of a troubled teenaged girl. Then, when she would switch back to writing as if she were Anne, you were right inside the head of a woman who was sitting at the crossroad of her life. I could understand everything each character did, and why. This even holds true for the many "bad guys" in this book. They rang true and remained consistent throughout the book. Some people only like to read about situations they can identify with and/or people they want to be like. If that were the truth for me, I would not have liked this book because God only knows, I would not want to trade places with any of these people. But for me, reading is about going places I would dare not go myself. And, boy oh boy did this book take me there. I wouldn't want to be Arley AND I sure wouldn't want to be Annie, either. And, maybe that was why I liked this book so much. Because, the author put me in a place I would never go myself and made me believe in it. She made me feel the hope that these characters needed to go on. Now if you ask me - THAT IS WHAT GOOD WRITING IS ALL ABOUT!
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth your time and money!
Review: If you are looking for a good book to curl up with, read on the road, or simply sweep you away this is it! I really loved this one, have bought it a number times to share with friends. I found it much more engrossing than Deep End of the Ocean, and while I liked that book also I cannot recommend it with the confidence I can this one. You will get caught up in caring for a young girl, being swept away as she loses her virginity, watch her grow smarter and stronger, and cheer for her and her lawyer. Very fun, perspective writing so you can get in the heads of different personalties and get a good perspective. This is well worth it!
Rating:
Summary: A unique perspective of an all too common situation
Review: It's not often that an author gets inside of a teenage mother's head--and reveals one of those that tries very hard to be careful and logical. There are some of these girls out there: those that want to do the best things and yet the rest of the world would never see the method behind the madness; or the logic (skewed, but understandable) in what they're doing. I found this to be an EXCELLENT book... true to the times and yet not downhearted enough to make me want to put it down (because we have enough misery--don't we?).
Rating:
Summary: LYRICAL AND TOUCHING
Review: There are two kinds of books that make me read fast: A very good book that I can't put down and race through to see what happens; and a very bad book that I zip through just to get it over with. This book actually inspired me to read very slowly, savoring each word like a sip of good brandy. In spite of the controversial subject matter, there is an innocence and purity about this story. In fact, Arlington reminds me quite a bit of my own 15 year old daughter, who is both naive and hopelessly romantic and incredibly beautiful. I have given her this book to read, and look forward to hearing her opinion. If the reader can get past the their prejudices about adult/adolescent relationships (we somehow accept Romeo and Juliet who were just children!)then we can allow ourselves to feel the deep love between two very different people - a love that ultimately becomes destructive. Nor is the idea of a 14-year old girl falling in love with a hardened older guy at all incomprensible. It is probably the fantasy of many of our young teen daughters. Mitchard's ability to so accurately evoke the feelings of a young, budding girl/woman in the flush of first love is astounding. By the same token her rendering of Annie, a slightly cynical adult captivated by Arley, gives a wonderful contrast. The story weaves back and forth between Annie and Arley. And so, I found myself ready very slowly, losing myself in this emotionally charged story, in no rush to leave two women I had come to admire. I also find myself looking at my young daughter differently - I take her feelings much more seriously and realize that as young as she is, she is capable of deeper feelings that we adults would otherwise give credit to. Thank you, Jaqueline Mitchard, for a magical, tragic, but ultimately uplifting experience for this reader!
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