Rating: Summary: interesting analysis of feminism and gender Review: I LOVED this book when I was 16. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I was totally drawn in by the horrible way the Grange family treated their only daughter (horrible-realistic, not horrible as in a horror film). I was quite "into" all 10 girl characters and disagree with the assessment that 10 is too many, although I did have to read the book several times in order to keep all ten of them straight. I was enchanted by the love story between Ann and Dave, and impressed by the very real social issues addressed in the book. Besides, I was in Rainbow Girls at the time and so I totally identified with a group of close-knit girls in an organization tied to dementia.Yet the book didn't stick with me. So many of the books I read in my childhood and teens are still wonderful to me today--books by Roald Dahl, Cynthia Voigt, L. M. Montgomery, and countless others. With Daughters of Eve, I lost interest after a few months and have never bothered to pick the book up again. Come to think of it, the characters ARE pretty flat and unrealistic. Why would Irene turn into THAT much of a nutcase, fighting men instead of injustice? Why is she apparently hiding the fact that she has a Ph.D.? And how did she earn it so fast? Is any family as really, truly sexist as the Grange family? I think Duncan made a great ATTEMPT to make her characters human, but I think she fell short of her goal. In summary, this book is great entertainment, but it isn't literature.
Rating: Summary: Daughters of Eve Review: Daughters of Eve is a great book I think everyone should read. The last chapter and it makes you wonder... what will happen next? And it gets scarier as it goes along. You have to be patient in the begining because that just shows what the details you have to pay attention too is. I don't want to give away the ending so i'll just say they'res hatred in this book and it kept you thinking so anyway. I love Lois Duncan books and they're really good so if you haven't read the book, you should try it.
Rating: Summary: a good read Review: I read this book while I was in high school and loved it. Having just re-read it, I see that there are flaws in the story, but overall I think the book is still entertaining. The characters ARE somewhat one dimensional, but there are so many of them it would have been hard to fully develop every single one and still move the story along. I think one thing that is lacking is that Ms. Duncan might have taken more time illustrating WHY these girls feel so strongly about Irene. Is is just because she's young and different? Does she reach out to them in any way? A few reviewers have commented that the ending was not all that shocking. Just to put this in perspective, when I was in high school, school shootings were unheard of--there were no metal detectors, no security, nothing (at least not where I went to school). And when I first read it I was indeed shocked at the turn of events, and also horrified, as I recall. I also wondered why no one seemed to catch on to Irene sooner, but overall it's still a good read.
Rating: Summary: Daughters of Eve was a great book Review: This was a great book! How could anyone say it wasn't! I guess a lot of young mystery readers just can't understand it. It is not just about feminism-the whole feminism issue is just an example. What Lois Duncan is trying to get across is that this Daughters of Eve club, is like a cult. It explains what a cult can do to you-how it can suck you in. It also shows how taking things too far, like feminism in this case, can be really screwed up. I loved the way it ended, I didn't expect it to end at that moment! But it did! It was so shocking. Some people say that they hated the book, but that just goes to show that some people can't read anything with a little depth....just read the book; it's awesome.
Rating: Summary: Daughters of Eve "GREAT Read for Teens" Review: I thought Daughters of Eve was a great book. A lot of people had mixed feelings about it, but I really enjoyed it. The concept of the book and the plot are very creative, and they kept me reading until the last page. The book is about a high school club called the Daughters of Eve. The club isn't like any ordinary school club, though. It's more like a cult. In order to become a member of the club you have to receive an invitation. The club's sponsor, Irene Stark, is a former high school outcast who has been hurt by several men during her lifetime. Irene tries to push her strong feminist views onto the girls of the club. She "brainwashes" the girls into having the same views as her towards men. She eventually ends up getting the girls to do some pretty shocking things. I loved how the book went back and forth through each of the girls' lives, so you knew what was going on with every member of the Daughters of Eve. The way Louis Duncan tied all the characters' personal lives together was great! The way she ended the book was really suspenseful, and it definitely left me thinking. Some of the scenes really shocked me too. Especially the part when they get revenge on Ruth's brother, and how all the girls look up to Irene, and trust her so much. I really admired Tammy thought, she was able to stand up for herself, and she knew when she was getting herself into trouble with the group. But overall, the book was great!
Rating: Summary: Daughters of Eve....A Great Read Review: Lois Duncan is one of my favorite authors. Although I have read most of her books Daughters of Eve is by far my favorite. There are many characters including Ruth Grange, Laura Snow, Jane Rheardon, and Tammy Carncross. Even though there are many characters I believe Duncan still develops each character well enough for you to feel like your part of their lives. Also Duncan intertwines each of their lives with one another creating a more realistic relationship between the characters. The whole story in general unravels very slowly, but for me it kept me interested because I kept wondering what would happen next. The plot of the book was about a teacher Irene Stark, and a group of students in her club (Daughters of Eve) at Modesta High. In order to be a member of the club you had to receive an invitation in the mail. Most of the girls asked to join the club their family's (mostly their father figures) either didn't care or didn't understand the idea of the club. Irene is a feminist who was mistreated by her father as a little girl and never was in a good relationship. So, Irene with her strong views about men persuades the girls to do some pretty bad things to make up for Irene's past. The only down side to this book are that because there are so many different characters and so many different scenarios and things to remember it is hard to keep all the characters straight. I often got confused and had to go back and re-read to remember what happened to whom. But even though that was a set back the book was still worth reading and I have read it about 10 times since the first. So I highly recommend going and checking out this book at your library.
Rating: Summary: Cult mentality Review: Lois Duncan was one of my favorite authors as a teen. However, this particular book gets average marks not only for lack of characterization, but lack of discernible logic. Irene Stark is an art teacher at Modesta High who also organizes a girls' club called "The Daughters of Eve". Irene, you see, was mistreated by dear old dad and various boyfriends, etc., so she has an extremely low opinion of men and is a rabid feminist who uses any example of unfair sexist behavior as further evidence that ALL men are scum. The problem? Well, this brainwashing cult stuff might work if there are no other outside forces influencing the girls, and if the girls are susceptible to the idea that there are no POSITIVE examples of males in the world. In this case, it's a big stretch to assume a group of bright, "cream-of-the-crop" girls wouldn't see Irene for the loon she is. Nevertheless, this book is written as if the general population of the small town of Modesta, Michigan, never got out of the 1950's. The only one who senses Irene's insanity is "psychic" Tammy, and she doesn't use plain old logic to notice this; she has visions of BLEEDING CANDLES, for God's sake. It takes her far longer than it should to realize her teacher has a screw loose, even with ESP. She can predict who her best friend will marry, but doesn't notice a raving lunatic in front of her. Some psychic. However, that still makes Tammy one up on the rest of them. Fran, the "brain" of the group, doesn't even catch on to Irene's lack of mental stability until the group decides to take up organized violence as a hobby. Some honor student, huh? Ann, the "artist", is given a dilemna that's insulting simply because the advice Crazy Irene gives her is presented as the "feminist" viewpoint. Hopefully, most readers will realize that feminism has nothing to do with the "rights" that Irene advocates, but Duncan is unfortunately very hazy with the correct viewpoint that women want equal rights but are NOT man-haters. (Only one character, Fran, is representative of this idea.) Meanwhile, there are too many unnecessary characters, in my view. Most likely, Duncan tried to populate the club with every possible stereotype: brain, beauty, artist, Miss Sensitive Psychic, athlete, musician, fat (of course) lonely outcast, lone girl in a family full of MCP's, daughter of domestic abuse victim, and bitter, disillusioned daughter of recently divorced parents. Ten major characters! Geez, couldn't Duncan have combined a few of these, such as give the MCP family girl musical ability, make the recently divorced parents' daughter the beauty of the group, domestic abuse daughter becomes the athlete, etc. It's not as if the characterization goes any further than that anyway. And some of these names have got to go, like "Ruth" (archaic), "Jane" (generic), and worst of all, "Bambi"! Who, other than a porno star, has a name like that? Just let her be 'Kelly', let the MCP girl be 'Holly', 'Paula' can be the athletic/domestic abuse daughter, and 'Holly's' boyfriend in the book can be Tammy's brother. What difference does it make? Too late now, but Lois, you could have saved yourself the time and space it took to create 3 extra cardboard characters and gave more dimension to the other 7, which is still a few too many MAIN CHARACTERS in my book. Better luck next time. And P.S. next time make sure your characters' names don't all SOUND alike. I mean, Holly, Kelly, Paula, Laura, too many L's. Not to mention RHYMING names like Ann & Fran. Geez, no wonder readers here are mixing them up. Try names like Karen, Sandy, Heather, Diana, & Amy--names that are DISTINCT from each other. Just a suggestion. As for the rest of the book, the male chauvinist pigs, particularly the Grange family and Jane Rheardon's father, are one-dimensional and downright hateful. Unfortunately, that makes it difficult for the reader to see how irrational Irene and her group is, because the MCP characters don't generate any sympathy whatsoever. The few male characters who ARE positive are not featured prominently enough, so they get little sympathy as well. Overall, the plot showed promise, but the execution...well, was literally an execution. The annoying aspects of this story notwithstanding, it's still worth checking out of the library. If nothing else, Duncan's ending proves she has a wicked sense of irony. Consider the object mentioned in the last paragraph and the usual "domestic" image that one conjures from it. That image will be forever altered in the reader's mind.
Rating: Summary: Daugter of Eve was boring Review: I thought this book was boring because it went too slow. My summary of this book I read was boring because it wasn't effect detail. Some parts in this book was OK but, it was all about her and how everything was about her. No one liked her she had to do so much. She took care of her brother. She never get her way. I feel sorry for her because its a hot summer and she has no cold air in the house so its really hot. She's not liked at school but, then she gets into a club. I wouldn't read this book again. There was some killings but, it should have been more detail. If someone asked me if this book was good I would say no it was really boring inlets you like slow books that it takes a long time to get to the good part. I would rate this book with 1 star.
Rating: Summary: The unwanted truths Review: I think that this book was a good book, although it was very, very boring in the beginning and some what boring towards the middle. Other than that I thought it was very good. Lois Duncan captured the unwanted truths about a wonderful club such as the daughters of eve. The way that Irene lead the girls with her hatred of dependence on a man. It seemed to me that just because of one bad little run-in with a man she deemed all men to be that way. To any one that feels that way they should take a look at this book before taking another step. I also highly recommend this book to high school girls with uncertainty in planning their future.
Rating: Summary: By Day or Dusk Review: The book Daughters of Eve was a very interesting book. I liked this book mostly for the fact that once I thought I knew what was going to happen the whole story changes. Most books that I read I can already tell what the ending is going to be. In the beginning of this book that was written by Lois Duncan was actually not that exciting, and I was thinking about getting a different book to read instead. Then right when I decided to get another book, it got really good. So if you like to read books that have a good ending then this book is for you, but if you are a reader that likes to have a book that is exciting from beginning to end then this book is not for you. Well if you are like me and like to have a book that has a really good ending then this is most defiantly this is the book for you. So if you like to be on the edge of your seat this is not the best book for you to read.
|