Rating: 
Summary: Bravo!
Review: A "Bravo!" just for the hype. The diary (novel) itself was a bit goofy (how's that for an intelligent critique?), but all of the effort that lead up to it has to be commended. Especially the 'University' web site. Oh, boy. Good one.
I'm giving S.K. credit for THAT, at least.
Don't be upset by the fake-out; having been around as long as he has, S.K. has permission to screw around once in a while.
Rating: 
Summary: Is there really a website?
Review: Is there really a website to get the missing pages? I have not been able to find it.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book!!
Review: I could not put this one down. It was spooky and it is better than the mini series.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly Written Hype
Review: This is one of the silliest books I've ever read. First, whoever Joyce Reardon is, he/she should research the type of writing a post-Victorian woman would have written before they try to mock-up such a piece of lurid fiction. This book is no better than a Harlequin romance with a couple of paranormal events thrown in. Steven King may have written this, but in that case, he's no better at satire (if that's what he's attempting) than he is at horror fiction. Save your money and your intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting Tale or Tale of a Haunted woman?
Review: This book in diary form, is the tale of a woman who firmly believes that her home is not only haunted, but alive. Is the home really haunted, or is the woman slowly driving herself mad? The reader of this novel is left to decide as the story unfolds. Whether you believe in hauntings or not, this novel will keep you reading until the wee hours of the morning trying to decide! Definitely worth buying!
Rating:
Summary: OK, but he can do better
Review: This book is actually written by Stephen King -- oddly the Amazon Database lists the fictional "editor" as the real author. The book was ok but I expected better from King. The characters lack the depth of development I an used to from him, and the ending is anti-climactic and vague.
Rating:
Summary: worst book ever
Review: I love cheddar cheese and bacon bits. This book had neither cheddar cheese or bacon bits. This book is a biatch.
Rating:
Summary: I want the missing excerpts!
Review: I want the missing excerpts! Are they really there? Someone tell me....... P.S. It's not the missing excerpt link at the end of the diary excerpts. The missing excerpts given are not the same dates indicated in the book?!?! Someone please explain this to me!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun and Games at Rose Red
Review: When is a satire not a satire? When you are not quite sure just what is being satirized. I missed the Stephen King mini-series of this perhaps promotional book. I sincerely hope the series was better than the book and the "website." I am not sure if "author" Joyce Reardon is in fact Stephen King, but somehow I doubt it. Though SK has a fascination with houses that develop their own personalities, and he has highly praised Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" as the best mystery ever written, "Dairy" lacks King's cleverness, and his ability to scare you into next week. The title character is right out of a Victorian novel that talks the talk (and then some!) and walks the walk. She marries a fabulously wealthy Mr. Rochester type whom she eventually despises. He builds the extraordinary Rose Red that is to be the most magnificent structure in turn-of-the century Seattle, and Ellen is taken there as a bride. It slowly develops that Rose Red has an appetite for growth that must be appeased or calamity befalls the unwary visitors and certain inhabitants. Our heroine does a lot of fainting and coping and trying to find her way around the increasingly unwieldy mansion with the help of her Nubian maid, Sukeena. Sweet Ellen develops a fairly all-encompassing sexual appetite of her own while bravely keeping up her ladylike sensibilities. Mr. Rimbauer's fears, swinish lust, and poor comportment are in tandem with Ellen's ever-widening perceptions. Rose Red becomes a monstrosity, and all are ruined (more or less.) "The Diary" needs to be a little more funny, or scary, or sarcastic. As it is, it is just a silly story in the penny dreadful category.
Rating: 
Summary: This Diary belongs in everyone's personal library
Review: It amazes me that this diary was found at an estate sale in the summer of 1998. It is quite revealing of the past. The diary will take you into the mind of a woman who found herself in a torrid relationship with a wealthy man in the early 1900s. She forced herself to love this man. I would definitely give this book a solid B as it is a GOOD form of reading a womans' thoughts almost a century ago. The romantic woman, Ellen, was in the forefront for the benefit of women, having some power at that time. Ellen was in touch with her sexuality and even found pleasure with her chambermaid, Sukeena. The relationship with her husband was much more physical and forceful (and she learned to enjoy it at times--yipes!). The mysterious events at Rose Red (their home) make one wonder about the supernatural. The wonders of a seance and disapperances of people are only a small part of the reminiscences by Ellen. I found the diary format quite fascinating, superstitious and easy to read. I especially liked how I had to refer to a website for the "steamy & provocative" missing excerpts/entries that were not suitable to be printed in the book! A few lines that captured me were:
Dare I write this, when writing seems so final an act?
We live under a magnifying glass.
All children spend time in their make believe worlds.
Oh, if that's not the pot calling the kettle black! While John lifts the skirts of his dockside whores he condemns Douglas for taking up with his pale young men.
No walls exist between Sukeena and me.
In just seven short years my life has so drastically changed to where even I do not recognize it.
We're all afraid of something, dear. Never fear the truth. It's the only real passport you have to reach new levels of understanding. You may find it corny, but the truth can set you free.
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