Wish You Well

Rating:
Summary: A departure from the "norm"
Review: While this story line diviates from Baldacci's normal style, it will remain an all time favorite for me. I felt transported to the mountain and a part of that life. I laughed, cried, hoped...well all the emotions. This is a very well written book. The bad part is once it's finished (you won't be able to put it down) you have to wait too long for the next one from Baldacci. No matter how carefully you pick your next book, if it follows a Baldacci book, it's just not quite up to snuff. This is a truly tender story.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely, likeable but formulaic
Review: Let me start by saying this is the first time I've picked up a book by Baldacci as I'm not an avid reader of political thrillers.

I bought "Wish You Well" because I wanted to read something kind and gentle. This book is every bit as heartwarming as an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" (and I mean this in a good way, without cynicism). Baldacci uses WONDERFUL metaphors and descriptions to paint pictures of the people, landscape and characters of the Appalachians. I was quickly drawn in to the characters' lives so much that I finished the book in on sitting.

I was entertained by "Wish You Well" and would happily read another, similar book by Baldacci.

On the downside, "Wish You Well" is every bit as formulaic as an episode of "Little House on the Prairie." The bad are punished, the good triumph and (almost) everybody lives happily ever after.

"Wish You Well" would have been much better if Baldacci had come up with more inventive twists and outcomes. With a gift of description that approaches Steinbeck's, I could easily see Baldacci moving from writing popular fiction to writing literature if he chooses to step away from "the safe formula for popular fiction" and writes his characters and their situations with more truth.

Rating:
Summary: Wish You Well
Review: A drastic departure from both Baldacci and my normal read. I found this engrossing story laid out in beautiful Southwestern Virginia a joy. The story demonstrates that the will to believe in others and yourself resonates as one's core from which your life can be built upon. Having read most of his books..... his best to date. What happens with Amanda, Lou and OZ next?

Rating:
Summary: Best Book I read all year!
Review: This is a wonderful book! I loved every part of the book. It was one I could not put down!! I love Virginia and reading this book made me wish I was walking through the Blue Ridge Mountains myself!! I hope he writes alot more along these same lines!!

Rating:
Summary: Best Book I ever read...
Review: It was, in fact, the best book I ever reads. Though other novels may have greater prestige, this one got it for me.

Rating:
Summary: Wish I Hadn't Read It
Review: I approached this book with no prior knowledge of Baldacci's work... The characters are one-dimensional, each supplied with a name (usually unbearably precious) and a single, overweening personality trait. Lou is Protective Tomboy; Oz is Cowardly, Sensitive Younger Brother; Diamond is Pretty Much Huckleberry Finn without the Funny. Then, even though the author spends too much of his time trying to convince us to love these caricatures, he has no problem killing them for no reason other than providing plot devices. None of the deaths in the story is inevitable, or capricious, or the logical result of a chain of events. They are all carefully timed and arranged to kick-start the story or provide the writer a way out of a corner into which he has painted himself. It's all too convenient, and leads to a climax and an epilogue in which the surviving characters all have their wishes granted by the blue fairy. The wafer-thin characters and plot failures, however, are not the book's greatest problem. That distinction goes to its writing style. The writer lacks descriptive power, whether he's relating a beautiful view, a violent action, or a deep emotion. He's unable to summon the simple, true, poignant phrasing that is the hallmark of great writers of prose, and falls back on the inflated, flowery constructions of the hack. The writing is full of stock phrases and redundancies. Crucial details pop up suddenly and are backfilled, providing the telltale sign of an author too lazy to go back and add details where they should fall, rewriting around them if necessary. This failure is made all the more acute by the book's obsession with a dead character who was an exceptional prose stylist. One could, I suppose, be generous and regard this juxtaposition as intentional irony, but I'm not feeling generous today. I just finished reading Wish You Well.

Rating:
Summary: This is a wonderful book
Review: I love this book. When I heard what kind of book Baldacci was putting out I was kind of
disappointed and wondering if I would read it. I am sure glad that I did read it. This is a book that reminds me of books like "Tom Sawyer" and "To Kill A Mockingbird," because it is kids at play and what can happen. Baldacci tells a wonderful story where I really cared about the characters (unlike the character in "A Painted House" by Grisham). I have recommended this book to many people and will continue to. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Worth 10 Stars-Best Book I've Read All Year!
Review: This is definitely one book that I hated to have come to an end; that's how great this story is. If you enjoy well-written, quickly developed characters & a storyline that tugs at your heartstrings, then this is the book for you. Wish You Well is a departure from David Baldacci's mystery/suspense novels and a very nice one at that. You will find yourself breezing through the pages from the opening chapter and these characters, particularly the children-Lou(short for Louise)and her little brother Oz(short for Oscar)are ones that you actually care about. What a wonderful movie this would make, but what am I saying here-there's no actual foul language or sex scenes-not exactly Hollywood's cup of tea. Still, if it were done right, it would at least make a good Made For Television film. I hope Mr. Baldacci eventually writes another novel about real people from different eras. Very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in a long time!!!
Review: This book has it all! You laugh, cry, feel pain and anger. It transports you back in time to a simpler life, and yet it's a life that could be lived today. The characters are strong and so very true to life. This would make a great movie, can't wait to see it on the screen.

Rating:
Summary: Painfully average
Review: Although I admit some of the scenes and characters in this book are sustaining, I can't agree with anyone using words such as "great," "moving," and, especially, "literature."

Baldacci's book is a chore for anyone who reads with a high standard. A lot of the writing is unnecessary. A good chunk of the descriptions and character motives insulted my intelligence.

Parts of this book are hopeful, but a scene -- or even a hacked-out sentence -- ruined everything. I gave this book too much of a chance at the beginning, and had too much invested in it later on. Otherwise, I would have stopped reading several times, just out of principle.

THERE ARE SO MANY BETTER BOOKS OUT THERE, PEOPLE!

Just because this book may pass as thoughtful and introspective to some, it doesn't make it literature. It's brain candy at best. For those who enjoy Baldacci's thriller genre, I would recommend expanding to other authors who have done the type of story retold in "Wish You Well" many times before, with much more expertise.