Rating: 
Summary: Interesting dilemma
Review: The book does provoke thought. Even after reading the book and giving it some thought, I can't say what I would do given the same situation. I do recommend the book, but I only gave it three stars because I can't really say I enjoyed it. Even the main character is not particularly likable or interesting. I guess I expected the story to have more highs and lows and to culminate with either something wonderful or something sad or at least something with some emotion. Instead the story just fades into everyday life.
Rating: 
Summary: So disappointed
Review: First of all, it took me two weeks to get through this book. That is bad for me. Secondly, I could completely empathize with Carrie's need to find more in her life. To live her own life even if that meant hurting others. I could even understand her moving in with people she barely new and taking up with a new lover. I could not however understand why she did not follow through. I mean, I understand why she goes back to Wisconsin at the end of the book, but why on earth did she stay? Was it guilt? I felt as though the author rushed through the ending and didn't take the time to make me feel as though I understood her decision to stay in Wisconsin. It is not as though she was getting back together with Mike. Finally, just a little "fat" to chew on....who the hell is able to live in New York City for almost a year on $1,800 from a savings account with absolutely NO job!?! Even if she didn't have to pay rent no one could do that!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting points but mostly stagnant
Review: This book introduced very common characters with common lives. Nothing spectacular. After the accident the main character takes a downward spiral into selfishness. She runs away from her problems abandoning all her friends and family back home but the storyline wasn't more interesting than that. She tries to reconcile but does a poor job because she's afraid and too self involved with her new lover. A slow story about nothing more than a girl who likes to sew and has no life after college.
Rating: 
Summary: pullease.
Review: this was a pretty horrible read. the book started out with a bang and coasted down from there. what happened to kilroy?? sheesh.
will everyone think less of her if she dumps mike? YES. is she mature and capable enough to deal with such a limited future. NO. adding the stress of caring for a paraplegic to an already failing relationship would be a recipe for disaster. compare this to the realization of her dreams - carrie was right on the brink of becoming what she was meant to be. from now on she can use all of that incredible fashion sense in the design of mike's nappies. gimme a break.
Rating: 
Summary: Life held up to a mirror
Review: The reviews I have read are so literal about this story and this is understandable because Packer's writing is like Carrie's sewing--straightforward, easy to follow and not at it's best when adorned. If, however, anyone has ever been in a relationship that was headed for a breakup, then this is the book to read so that you begin to understand that you cannot sacrifice your life to a terminal cause---and you cannot necessarily find yourself by being attracted to the polar opposite--as invigorating as the experience may be. Carrie's dilemma is painful: stay with the man she had outgrown emotionally because he is now quadriplegic and because others expect her too or break hearts and expectations and pursue what she feels is finally in her best interest. Most of us have found ourselves in this situation and saturated with remorse after the fact when we try to understand our motives. The ending is therefore perfect--you cannot escape who you are by moving and hiding somewhere new. You must first accept the consequences of your decisions,and then confront those who are angry or hurt and help them understand that no one can--or has the right--to make us feel guilty for the hurt or dashed expectations of others and finally to accept your choices of the moment because they suit you--and cannot hurt others unless they choose to be hurt. Michael does not finally feel hurt by Carrie--his mother does, because now her son is her responsibility. Is that motherly love? Her friend is upset that Carrie left town and was not their for her familial meltdown. Would that have been made any easier if Carrie been physically present? Is that selfishness or hurt? Must we assure the happiness of others at all costs to our own happiness and dignity? That is impossible. That is not love. Please, lift this novel off the page and apply it to your life. It is personal, reflective and unadorned and I find myself thinking back to it often. This book is truly a reward for the time spent reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Laconic, skillful, but forced ending
Review: I read a bunch of reviews for this book and, seeing how polar they were, decided to read it myself. This book is similar in plot to an Andre Gide book called The Immoralist, about a French couple who go to Algeria on vacation, the wif gets sick, and the man finds it hard to care. The novel does not lose interest after 100 pages. Mike is not a very charming character (he's too...perfect) and I also didn't care about him being in a coma. From there, Carrie meanders sleepily through her life, moving to New York and meeting weirdo New Yorkers. To me, Kilroy, while obviously an exagerration borne of necessity to make a good story, was not over the top. Ultimately the novel resolves with an overly simplistic ending, with the final realizations that drove Carrie throughout the novel taking place on the middle of the next to last page, and far too casually. The great flaw in this novel is that while Carrie's lack of emotion is plausible and suits her, everyone else is similarly not full of enough emotion when they should be. His parents at her, Mike at her: where is this? In real life, she would be ostracized far more than she ends up being. I was waiting for someone to stand up and call Carrie immature to her face, not just through being socially distant. This is their son she's talking about. And so, ultimately, the wisdom of being cautious who you get engaged to gets swept away so that Carrie can emerge scot-free. Emotionally, for me, that was inappropriate.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: I have never written a review before but this book was so laughably bad that I felt compelled. The book is a bad romance novel filled with shallow characters and cliches. The characters are shallow, superficial, and unbelievable. Carrie, the main character has the intellectual and moral capacity of a preteen. The circumstances of her life are neither believable nor compelling. I wanted to throw it out after 100 pages, but it was picked for my book group so I forced myself to finish it. I should have thrown it out...
Rating: 
Summary: Great Summer Read
Review: I picked this book up during the last leg of my summer vacation. The cover and story line actracted me at once. This book gave me the chance to be 23 again - to question myself, my friends, my lover, and my passion for life. Carrie took me to New York as I joined in her discovery of her love for fashion. I admire her for leaving her hometown (only town) and family in the middle of the night. She is a brave young woman. I personally was disappointed by the ending, but now as I reflect upon it she did the right thing for her at that moment. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a moment to step out of reality and into the life of young woman. This is an easy read, slow at times, but the author segments the chapters to make you continue reading.
Rating:
Summary: Weak main character, hard to get through the book
Review: Carrie is one of the most weak and pathetic fictional individuals I have ever "met". I got halfway through the book and had to force myself to read the rest, hoping she'd find her backbone or some sort of respect for her once-fiance and her best friends. I was very disappointed by the book, not by the ending but by the weak-heartedness of the main character. She depressed me and I wanted to throw the book out my window when I (finally) finished it.
Rating:
Summary: An engaging story, but one that doesn't really go anywhere
Review: This is a well-written book with an engaging story: Carrie, a young engaged woman, has started to become disillusioned by her relationship with Mike, her high school sweetheart. As she wrestles with this while she and Mike are picnicing with friends on Memorial Day, Mike takes a fateful dive into shallow water and is paralyzed from the neck down. Mike's accident throws Carrie further into turmoil--she can't leave him now, can she? But she does leave, escaping to New York to begin a new relationship with the enigmatic Kilroy, who she has only met once. Carrie's confusion continues, and although she reaches a point of resolution at the end of the book, the reader is left wondering how exactly she got there. One of the main problems I had with this book is that the characters were not particularly likeable. In particular, Carrie's ambivalence comes across as selfishness, and although the reader might be able to sympathize with her situation, it is easier to feel annoyed with her than to feel sorry for her. Furthermore, it is difficult to understand Carrie's motivations throughout the book; her actions make little sense, even in the face of tragedy. Kilroy is a mystery who is portrayed as so cold and distant that the reader is unlikely to care about him at all. With the exception of perhaps Carrie's mother, the supporting characters come off as hard and judgemental; I just didn't enjoy reading about them. This book has a thought-provoking premise, and the author did a good job of portraying Carrie's ambivalence. Unfortunately, the question I was left with was "so what?" But Packer has enough potential that I would still be willing to give future novels a try.
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