Rating: 
Summary: The Lake of Dead Languages Vs. The Seduction of Water
Review: Admittedly, this is a good, engrossing book. I am not going to recount the story because it's already recounted in many other reviews but I'm writing about what I think of the book since it may help other avid readers decide whether to give this book a try. First of all, if you'd read and like the Lake of Dead Languages by the same author then I urge you to try reading this. However, if you are still skeptical, then I will give you the following comparison pointers:
First of all, the Lake of Dead Languages is a thriller all the way. The story keeps you reading from the beginning to the end and there's no question at all that it's a page-turner. On the other hand, The Seduction of Water is a little more 'classic', the story somehow not moving as fast. This is because it is also a love story. Her descriptions are still chilling and morbid, but the reader is not as tempted to turn the page as much as the last book. When I read the book I feel that only half of the book is an element of 'mystery'.
If you are looking for a very fast page-turner , then this is not the book for you. In that case, read The Lake of Dead Languages.
Don't get me wrong. This is still a great book with a great storyline, it just goes slower, weaved with a love story that gives it a more 'classic' than a 'mystery' feel. However, the ending is suspenseful and I still highly recommend the book!
Rating:
Summary: A very interesting read
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal, with a few reservations.
Overall, it was fast-paced enough to hold my interest. I found the characters were realistic, although Iris was sometimes a bit of a whiner.
Loved the convict, Aidan. He was charming, but also burdened with his past as an inmate. I liked the fact they met while she was teaching a class.
The mystery was involving, but at times (especially towards the end), I felt that I missed a turn and had to re-read portions.
Rating: 
Summary: A satisfying read!
Review: I found this to be a nice, well rounded novel. Some "thrillers" are so plot driven that the characters seem little more than puppets, but here, characters were well developed, even the minor ones. And there were interesting subplots, which enhanced the story, rather than distracting from it. Okay, the foreshadowing was a mite heavy handed, but so what?
The reviews to date suggest that Lake of Dead Languages is better - if so, I'm looking forward to it!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Literary Mystery
Review: I loved this book. I found myself thinking about the characters during the day and wondering what was going to happen with the story. I couldn't wait to open the book and read more each night. I can't wait to read the author's other two books.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and languid mystery that seeps in to your soul.
Review: Iris Greenfelder is trying to make peace with herself, her life, her choices but can't quite move forward with out going back to her past. She begins inquiring on her mother who passed away in a tragic hotel fire when Iris was ten. This fire was mysterious and left Iris with a sense that somethings gone off kilter. So Iris begins her own journey of discovery as she slowly uncovers her mothers secrets.
The picturesque descriptions of the Catskill Mountains in which some of the book takes place are breath taking and will seduce you into inquiring on a vacation in NY. The characters are wonderfully flawed and you'll be able to identify with their struggles as Iris uncovers her mothers secrets.
I truly enjoyed this book and loved the deep connection Ms. Goodman evokes between Iris and her mother.
girldiver:)
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting, then Hopelessly Obvious
Review: It's fantasy, it's a mystery, it's a romance. Actually, The Seduction of Water has elements of all three, and while it began with a beatiful, even lyrical, tone, and the folktale woven into the novel was haunting and beautiful, about halfway through it became hopelessly obvious what was going to happen, and who people really were. It could have been an amazing story, with life parallelling a folktale, and the tale being woven into the novel within the novel. But I, at least, never really empathized with the main character, Iris. True, she's a bit older than I am, but she seems so wishy-washy, never standing up for herself. She falls into the mystery of her mother's past unwillingly, and seems to think solving it is more an obligation than a true quest for knowledge or peace. This novel could have been amazing. Instead, it's a great afternoon's entertainment, with some vivid scenery, and some nice language, but a flawed plot and characters that never truly breathe.
Rating: 
Summary: Still looking for a thrill
Review: The review quote on the book's cover called this an atmospheric thriller. Hardly. The book certainly had atmosphere as most well written novels do, but it was more of a mystery novel than a thriller. Much of the novel's length was spent in character development. The last hundred pages or so presented the mystery. I don't like being mislead by review blurbs that don't present a true depiction of the novel. A thriller is a book that you can't put down. This novel was easy to put down and hard to pick up again.
Rating:
Summary: Seduction, Mystery, Intrigue, Romance,
Review: This book has them all. It is the story of a woman, Iris Greenfeder; an almost writer, an almost professor, and an almost wife. An urge to write a story told to her nightly by her mother, leads to her quest to find out more about her late mother, who died in a hotel fire, registered under a different name. Under the pretenses of writing her mother's memiors and looking for her mother's lost manuscript, Iris becomes manager at the hotel she lived in as a child. She finds love in an unlikely place, as well as a renewed love for the hotel she grew up in as her parents worked in the hotel. The writing in this book is beautiful. The imagery in both the fairy tale and the rest of the novel, jumps out of the book and paints a picture of the time and the place. The author's characters are real people- not "fairy-tale" people who live perfect lives. Every time I had to put the book down, I could not wait to be able to pick it back up again to finish it. It was a very satisfying story- and I will be sure to check out Goodman's first book- and her new book.
Rating:
Summary: Seduction, Mystery, Intrigue, Romance,
Review: This book has them all. It is the story of a woman, Iris Greenfeder; an almost writer, an almost professor, and an almost wife. An urge to write a story told to her nightly by her mother, leads to her quest to find out more about her late mother, who died in a hotel fire, registered under a different name. Under the pretenses of writing her mother's memiors and looking for her mother's lost manuscript, Iris becomes manager at the hotel she lived in as a child. She finds love in an unlikely place, as well as a renewed love for the hotel she grew up in as her parents worked in the hotel. The writing in this book is beautiful. The imagery in both the fairy tale and the rest of the novel, jumps out of the book and paints a picture of the time and the place. The author's characters are real people- not "fairy-tale" people who live perfect lives. Every time I had to put the book down, I could not wait to be able to pick it back up again to finish it. It was a very satisfying story- and I will be sure to check out Goodman's first book- and her new book.
Rating:
Summary: THE BOOK FOR YOU IF YOU LIKE GOTHICS!
Review: This book is written in present tense - and I usually avoid these like the plague -- but after just a couple of pages, I didn't even notice it any more, I was so into the story. Iris Greenfeder is a woman in her mid 30s, as aspiring writer and professor who is the daughter of a well-known fantasy author who died suddenly after only having the second book of a trilogy completed. She is contacted by her mother's agent who is sure there is a third book somewhere. Circumstances allow Iris to spend the summer at the hotel on the Hudson River where she was raised where she will spend time looking for the manuscript. There's romance (Iris has been "involved" with a man for the last ten years and then meets a younger man - and ex-con- who is one of her students). There is Irish folk legend (the story of the Selkie which is the foundation for Iris' mother's books), mystery involving the disappearance of items stolen in WWII, and an almost-gothic feel to the book during the part that's set in the hotel. Even though I had figured out one of the "big" surprises very early on, the writing and the story kept me reading into the wee hours. Despite the fact that the ending was pretty melodramatic and a bit over the top, I really loved this book and plan on reading the author's book THE LAKE OF DEAD LANGUAGES soon and will buy her third book very soon.
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