Rating: 
Summary: Fast read BUT watch out for ...........
Review: I found this book hard to put down, BUT it truly disturbed me. I read it w/in 3 days. Maybe I just needed to get through it and I was searching for a light at the end of the tunnel. But Oprah has done it again. She has found something disturbing to that will shake the human core. The synopsis is misleading. Go to your local bookstore, read the first chapter, and get a cup of coffee or tea before you buy the book. I gave it a 2 because the author has potential but the context was WAY to disturbing and we don't need that.*** Warning *** She's a great writer but the context is disturbing. Don't we get enough of this on the 5 o'clock news?
Rating: 
Summary: waste of time
Review: Don't waste your time ready this book. Harley is just as whiny as his sisters. The author used this book to make an excuse to throw in some sibling incest, masturbation and gender violence into the pages. Harley hates his sisters so much that he constantly imagines killing them. At the end, he "redeems" himself by taking the blame for one of their actions. Oh please. The characters are unbelieveable and very unlikeable. Then, the author puts in a discussion page at the end of her book asking why Harley did this or why his sisters did that. As if this book were to replace classics such as "The Catcher in the Rye" in the classroom. Get over yourself, Tawni O'Dell.
Rating:
Summary: Read "Here on Earth" Instead
Review: This was a big disappointment. It was too disturbing, too dark, too depressing. I am sure that there are a lot of poeple out there who could relate to the characters, but I sure couldn't. Read "Here on Earth" instead. That was 100 times better!
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping
Review: I bought this book without knowing a thing about it. When I saw the "oprah" selection on it, I almost took it back... I wasn't interested in a smarmy, uplifting book. I was looking for something snappy and a bit dark. After reading one page though I knew I had made the right decision. The book was gripping, I couldn't stop once I started, but I didn't want it to end. It was brilliant, and oh so painful to read. You just want to go into the book and help those kids in some way, yet you know their world is so ugly and so intimate, there would be no room for strangers. Three cheers to Tawni O'Dell on this book, and to her publishers for putting it out. I recommend this book highly, but only to people who can deal with the harsh, ugly realities of life. This isn't a book for kids. And it isn't a book for light reading. I finished the book several weeks ago, and still have to pick it up to read the ending over and over because I couldn't remember it. The entire story is what sticks in your mind, not the outcome.
Rating:
Summary: I'm UPSET that I'm finished reading!
Review: Probably one of the best and most memorable books I've ever read ... I couldn't wait to pick it up and hated putting it down ... which may explain why I finished it in 2 days! Witty, interesting, funny, suxy, unusual, disturbing, exciting ... you MUST read this!
Rating:
Summary: Very Disturbing! Yet you'll never put it down.
Review: This book reminds me alot of Catcher in the Rye. Although its much more interesting and keeps your attention longer than Catcher in the Rye. It's hard not to feel for the boy in this book. I mean his parents are both gone, one in prison and one dead. I liked the book and the ending was very surprising. I would highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Better than 5 stars
Review: This is truly an amazing novel. I am a 15 year old guy who usually reads serial killer novels, I think I'm going to change genres. One of the best books I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: It was OK, but...
Review: Maybe I just prefer some amount of human triumph in sad stories, but this book was just plain sad and depressing. The character Harley was interesting and likable, and Jody was adorable, but the story itself left me asking "what's the point here?" The twist at the end felt like a Hollywood ending, just trying to shock the reader in order to impress.
Rating:
Summary: A Definite Keeper
Review: Back Roads is like a much darker and more disturbing "Catcher in the Rye". I couldn't put it down. Great characters. Great story. Great writing. Very enjoyable. I'll read this one again.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating but Deeply Disturbing
Review: I honestly still can't decide if I actually like this book. Yes, it is a very well-crafted piece of literature which, to be honest, I couldn't put down. However, the level of dysfunction which permeates the story is profoundly disturbing. Despite the horrors of their situation, I felt deeply for Harley and his sisters; I wanted them to break the cycle of abuse and misplaced love which had obviously had a stranglehold on their family for generations. Despite the fact that the further I got into the book the more depressed I became, I had to see it through to the end and literally could not put it down. I would comment that the professional reviewers (e.g. the Chicago Sun-Times) who describe the book as "funny", are not only off the mark but they are offensive to me. There is absolutely nothing funny about the themes portrayed in this complex and disturbing story.
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