Rating: 
Summary: Missing something...
Review: I must admit that I was a little disappointed after reading this book. I went in with lofty expectations, so perhaps I was setting myself up for it. While "The Virgin Suicides" is very well written it is never as compelling as it should be, as it probably could have been (Eugenides seems very capable of writing compelling literature). I never really saw why the boys were so obsessed with the Lisbon girls, aside from their seclusion. And in the end I was unsatisfied with the mystery the Lisbon girls left behind. Obviously since the boys narrating the story would not have had an adequate explanation it is impossible for us to expect one - but a little more insight into what drove the girls toward their inevitable demises would have been appreciated. I guess that's the point - no one would ever know what it felt like for them, but it still doesn't leave you satisfied.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and Moving.
Review: After watching Sophia Coppolas interpretation of The Virgin Sucides, I was compelled to read the novel. I felt it was important for the reason behind the suicides to be left a mystery (hence the premis of the entire book). If their rational had been disclosed, the mystery behind the girls' lives wouldn't have continued to intrigue boys well into their adult lives. No one has 20/20 vision of everything that goes on around them, even in hindsight.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely...Brilliant...Captivating...
Review: After my mom told me not to read it because of the suicide aspect, I drove to the book store and bought it...I'm VERY glad I did and I probably wouldn't have read the book if A.J. Cook wasn't in the movie. I wish I could write the Jeffrey Eugenides...His words were poetic and magical...I could only dream of having the power to captivate a reader so much in my trival writings. This is the book of five sisters, Bonnie, Therese, Mary, Lux, and Cecilia, and how they were able to bewitch a group of boys living across the street from them. It is told in past tense, after the boys grow up and have, I suppose, gone back to talk to those that may have been affected by the sisters. Throughout the book there are quotations from various people. I can't wait to see the movie now that I know what it is about. I am sure the casting was perfect!
Rating:
Summary: The Fall of the House of Lisbon?
Review: The plot of this novel is intriguing: the youngest Lisbon daughter, Cecilia, commits suicide, and fromt he novel's opening lines, it's clear that her four sisters follow in her footsteps. Why Cecilia decides to kill herself is not clear to her parents, or to the group of boys whose fascinated surveilance of the Lisbon family provides the narrative force of the novel. What is clear is that the Lisbon family is catapulted into a downward spiral of decay by Cecilia's suicide. The novel is a fascinating look at the lives of the five Lisbon girls, told from the viewpoint of would-be saviors who are ultimately powerless. At times, the narration takes on a quality reminiscent of the narrator(s) in Joyce Carol Oates's _Broke Heart Blues_: the narrator is strangely anonymous -- simply one of a group who admires/fantasizes about the tragic hero/heroines they know very little about.This book was wonderful but also depressing. It took me a while to read, simply because at times the pain these girls felt was so visceral I had to set the book aside for a while.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing saga
Review: This work thoroguhly depressed me. I know it was a hit movie which I happened to hate. The major flaw to this effort is that it provides very little motivation for the characters to commit mass suicide. Yes, the parents are very domineering and controlling but i can't think of 5 people who would kill theseselves because their parents were rotten, much less five sisters. If you are depressed or unahppy in any way, don't waste your time on this. There are far better things to do.
Rating:
Summary: I think people are missing something
Review: This is one of the most beautiful and captivating books I have ever read. I see a lot of complaints that the story is about the boys and that makes the girls seem one dimensional . . . THATS THE POINT . . . thats whats wrong with the girls is how they are seen . . .
Rating: 
Summary: Not exactly literature
Review: I had to read this book for a college class and I couldn't believe the professor would assign such trash. The book made Catholics look bad, trivialized female emotions, and was just too depressing. Literature worthy of study? I think not. This read like a bad Lifetime movie. Wait, that's not exactly right--Lifetime movies are sometimes entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: This book is an exotic tale of the love affair with death. There is something darker that is left to the imagination in each of the characters. This a book that will upset you, enchant you, and inspire you.
Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: This is a good books for students in high school. The story reads very easily and has a unique style of telling a story.
Rating:
Summary: Pefect Portrayal
Review: This wonderful novel is, quite possibly, the most interesting, heart-wrenching story of desperation and love that I have ever read. I picked it up after seeing Sofia Coppola's movie version and was blown away. Not only had Coppola done an incredibly perfect job transferring the book onto film but at the desperation that is so marvelously conveyed. The reader is thrust into the world of the neighborhood boys and, because of this interesting point of view, he never really understands what the Lisbon girls are forced to do. He is, however, just as deeply moved. Highly recommend this novel and the movie. Both are outstanding portraits of suburban depression.
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