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Rating: 
Summary: Don't miss this one
Review: Elizabeth Stark's novel is a fast read that is compelling and beautifully written. Hang onto the mystery -- and see how much we are alike -- and how our differences still are more accentuated and divisive than honored! The context of this novel is a MUST for the message. The author pulls the reader in -- and holds on! If you can't read this -- ask yourself why not and then finish it for the answer! Most of all, don't read the reviews (like the ones printed above!) that give the mystery away. You'll love it anyway, but will miss the ironic twist that Stark so eloquently delivers.
Rating:
Summary: Read Shy Girl -- not the reviews! Save the mystery!
Review: Elizabeth Stark's novel is a fast read that is compelling and beautifully written. Hang onto the mystery -- and see how much we are alike -- and how our differences still are more accentuated and divisive than honored! The context of this novel is a MUST for the message. The author pulls the reader in -- and holds on! If you can't read this -- ask yourself why not and then finish it for the answer! Most of all, don't read the reviews (like the ones printed above!) that give the mystery away. You'll love it anyway, but will miss the ironic twist that Stark so eloquently delivers.
Rating: 
Summary: All right, but not what I'd hoped for
Review: I could not put this book down from the moment I started reading it. It is a definate page turner. The characters felt real to me, but somehow I felt I was missing something. I wanted to know more about what they had gone through and what their thoughts were. It left me feeling like I had just skimmed over their lives. The ending was suprising and the story was never dull. It is very well written, thought provoking and very sad in a way. This book is for anyone who has felt out of place or anyone who does not fit "the norm" of today's society. It reminded me of a book I read called Choices, with a different twist. I know that books are about using your imagination, but I didn't want the story to end. I am glad I bought this book.
Rating:
Summary: now for a review with a different point of view...
Review: I'm constantly on the lookout for queer novels that are very well written -- novels that are powerful and real and don't rely on carricature of LGBT folks, and that are also showcases for finely crafted, elegant and powerful text. I had high hopes for this novel, especially since I had seen quite a few glowing reviews of it before I read it -- shortly after it was published. But, unlike the other reviewers here, I was very disappointed. The plot of this novel has a great deal of potential, and much of the book is fairly well written. The message is an important one. But I found much of the writing to be contrived, the dialogue especially so -- to the point, even, that the dialogue itself became quite a distraction to me. I wanted so much to let these characters come to life, and yet they moved so stiffly that I could hardly get them to flicker on the page. And the message seemed to be forced -- as another reveiwer said, the author just seemed to be trying too hard to be profound. This is a successful novel in so many ways, but perhaps not the literary phenom that it has been billed as. I'd like to see more women-written queer novels that are as powerful in their delivery as those by Michael Cunningham and Dale Peck (for instance). For me, Shy Girl just came up short by quite a few ways.
Rating:
Summary: Can't put it down!
Review: It's hard to beileve this is her first novel! I couldn't put it down. The story is engaging and the prose is sensual. Stark connects themes in a brilliant way, inviting readers of all backgrounds to appreciate the vital messages of this novel. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: so familiar
Review: like i said, everything about this story is so familiar to our own lives, even if they are so different. i can relate to everyone in the story and feel like i've been there. you can't help but understand and feel for the characters. especially alta, whom i have a huge crush on... we've all been young, held secrets, never forgot or understood that first true love, we've all been lost as well... i have read so many books, but this is the one i want to read over and over again and again. the best book in so very long that i have true feelings for.
Rating:
Summary: so familiar
Review: like i said, everything about this story is so familiar to our own lives, even if they are so different. i can relate to everyone in the story and feel like i've been there. you can't help but understand and feel for the characters. especially alta, whom i have a huge crush on... we've all been young, held secrets, never forgot or understood that first true love, we've all been lost as well... i have read so many books, but this is the one i want to read over and over again and again. the best book in so very long that i have true feelings for.
Rating:
Summary: Can't put it down!
Review: Stark's first novel is an astonishing story of the power of secrets and things left unsaid. Sasha ("Shy") left abruptly years ago, and Alta still hasn't gotten over her. When Shy's mother has a stroke, Shy is forced to come back. The out lesbian Alta and the pregnant Shy struggle to reconnect and together they face the things they left unsaid between them, as well as the secrets harbored in Shy's family. After Shy's mother dies, Shy discovers her true heritage and finds herself finally understanding her mother. By being witness to this, Alta connects to aspects of herself and her relationships (lovers, her mother, her friends). The story is beautifully rendered, and reminded me of Allison Green's "Half-moon Scar" and Aryeh Lev Stollman's "The Far Euphrates". A potent and moving story of surviving the past, and the cost of this to our present and future lives.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This book is the best fiction I have ever read. It is funny, deep, and compassionate. I have recommended it to all of my friends.
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