Rating: 
Summary: average - good writing, but hard to get through
Review: part of my dissatisfaction with the novel lay in the media hype that preceded it. i wish authors understood how over-selling a book can actually work against them. the main flaws of the novel are that its not a compelling story and certainly not a page turner. after a point, there was neither suspense nor drama - carrie seems to be on a boat that she never gets off, travelling through some emotional haze, and leaving us readers wondering where she's headed and why. that leads me to the second flaw - even at the end of the novel i did not feel like i knew carrie very well - i realize that she certainly did not know why she behaved in certain ways, but as the reader i expect to know more about her than she herself might. i wanted to leave the book with some understanding of this woman, around whose actions the novel revolves, but i did not.
some parts of the book were so long drawn out, they could easily have been collapsed and the story made tighter.
its a good idea though. the starting chapters are very good and i had no cause for complaint with the writer's style.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted her to follow her dream!
Review: I really liked the book, but I wanted her to follow her dream! After the heart wrenching split from her small town, she seemed to be building a new life. I wasn't really happy with her choices, but she was very brave to break away from a man she didn't love. Have I given the book away? Good summer read.
Rating: 
Summary: The Dive From Clausen's Pier
Review: I eagerly bought this book thinking I'd enjoy a good read having read numerous positive reviews. About 175 pages into the book, I cared nothing for the main character, Carrie Bell. In fact, she was a bore and if nothing, undirected and pathetic. Unfortunately, the other characters failed to come to life and just sat on the page. There was so much potential! I have yet to finish the book because reading it became a chore--and that's not why I read novels. The story line is flat yet when given the description of the book I thought it would be moving and interesting. The writing lumbers along and it was easy to leave this book again and again to the point finally, I didn't want to return. A big disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite deep enough
Review: Although I congratulate Ann Packer on her success, I wish that she had a more rigorous pair of editorial eyes going over her manuscript. Had I been her editor, I might have pointed out that none of the characters in the novel, with the exeption of Kilroy, were deeply realized enough. The Madison, Wisconsin mothers were too similiar to one another;Mike himself, although he had some poignant moments, just wasn't drawn with enough breadth to make him different than any other midwestern guy of his age and education. Ann went to writing school, I think, but I guess none of the writers with whom she studied imparted to her one of the most important principles of writing dialogue: that everything uttered by a character should continually define them even more as a fictional creation. If they need to say something banal or ordinary, it might be better said in narrative. And so, I found the dialogue wanting, I found a sense of place wanting. Even the description of the fateful dive wasn't brought off with real resonance. It didn't haunt me the way I wanted it to. The writing is perfectly fine, but it isn't particularly lyrical or inciteful. All in all, I found reading the book a pleasant experience but one that was in no way profound. Yes, the book is obviously publishable, and I understand why it has found a readership eager to devour it, but to say that it is a fine novel, to tout it as one of the great debuts of the last few years, is probably unfair to many writers out there who are writing on a much higher level but who have not been blessed with Packer's reknown. The book reminded me of Jennifer Eagen's most recent novel, Look at Me. Eagen, however, has a much better sense of place than Packer; and Eagen's New York City is certainly rendered with more of a magical edge. And yet Eagen, too, sets a lot of her novel in the midwest, giving us the same bildungsroman flavor that Packer does. The bildungsroman aspect of both novels, for me, demonstrates some lackluster writing. If one is going to have bildungsroman sections such as these in novels, they have to be magical. In both novels, sadly, this is not the case. Could it be that I am missing something because I am a male reader? I can tell you this, a man writing the same novel with a male protagonist would have difficulty getting the kind of attention and sales Packer does. It really could boil down to sensibility; and if that is the case, then the women who are reading this review might disagree. And I apologize to them. I will say, however, that savvy publishing people tell me that it is difficult for a novel to do well these days unless it has a female sensibility. So I wonder how many men have read and enjoyed Ms. Packer's novel. An important writer should be able to reach everyone, n'est-ce pas?
Rating:
Summary: Please don't tell me this is where we are headed!!!
Review: This was one of the worst books I have read in years. Carrie and her twenty-something (and forty-something)peers are all sniveling whiners or frosted ice machines. They are flat. Then, all Ms. Packer's trivia which led me at about page 100 to ask "who cares where the dishes are in the sink?" Carrie, Kiljoy, and Mike were so uninteresting, I couldn't even dislike them. It was like a really bad soap opera novel, I skipped ahead several pages at a time and didn't miss a thing.
Rating:
Summary: Obligations
Review: This is a book about place and how the place we are defines us. It is a book about relationships and the battle to maintain the individual within those relationships. Where is the line between obligations to family and friends and lovers and responsibility to oneself? Carrie can't be a true daughter, friend or lover to anyone in the book until she has found her center. It is not clear by the end if she has but she is definitely walking in that direction.
Rating:
Summary: Is being self-protective the same as being selfish?
Review: I have read the book and many of the reviews. It's hard to take sides in a novel of many difficult emotions. I clearly understood Carrie's need to flee and actually applauded her courage. I also connected with her infatuation with Kilroy although at some point I did want to shake her to reality. I feel like Kilroy's obvious emotional hideout was exactly what she was doing which resulted in their temporary attraction. The ending was disappointing to me as well. I didn't see Carrie staying back in Madison, taking care of Mike. I think her decision about Mike was made before his accident and the accident was totally secondary to her feelings for him. I think she cared about him, perhaps loved him on a differnt plane but I didn't see her devoting her life to helping him live his. I thought she belonged back in NY pursuing her career and exploring her talent. I think she could have visited regularly, and continued an email/snail mail relationship with Mike showing concern and friendship but I don't think she had an obligation to be there for him as she chose. I almost didn't finish this book when I began reading it because it dragged and I wondered why I was bothering. But something kept bringing me back and I was glad I made the effort to see it through. It was a character study and one the author chose to make. It may not be my interpretation, but I didn't write the novel. It gave reason to ponder our choices and meanings we put on things in life. I think it's worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Hated Carrie, but a great book!
Review: At first I hesitated to read this book, thinking it would be a sad, corny book. Once I started reading though, I couldn't put the book down. The story was fast-paced and kept the reader hooked. The characters were extremely well-developed and interesting. As another reader put it, I think the characters were too well developed to the point I hated Carrie! I thought she was cruel to all of her loved ones, her mother, best friend adn Mike. I even hated her for the way she treated Kilroy and Simon. What a selfish little girl. I may be alone on this, but was anyone else waiting for Carrie to wear the nightgown she made for Mike at the end? I was a little disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Rich, Well Written, Thought Provoking
Review: I loved this book. Yes, the protagonist is a bit ditzy, but who wouldn't be when connected to a paralyzed fiance you don't love. The author did a great job of exploring the strength of connection between the twentysomething generation, and also looked at ambition, love, and yearing in unique ways. The conclusion was a bit unsatisfying, since everything is left up in the air. Like life.
Rating:
Summary: Heart wrenching. In a bad way.
Review: I decided to read this book because of the good reviews. I plunged through it, reading and reading, waiting and waiting for Carrie to do the right thing. It left me feeling very sad and empty. The writing was good, but the characters were blah.
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