Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderfully Wild , Melodramatic Roller Coaster Ride
Review: Of the three novels of Paullina Simons this is the one that had me wishing I could really get inside her head. What a frustrating, at times annoying,and yet, grudgingly compelling character this Tully is! I loved the fact that she was a complex, not always likable "heroine". This was a minefield of emotions. The hodgepodge of perspective, narration, etc. worked on every level to give us Tully in all her human complexity. Her flaws, frailities, strengths.....Tully comes alive as someone we react to in one way or another. This is no one-dimensional character.
Rating: 
Summary: Very frustrating book!!
Review: If you feel like reading a book, that leaves you completeley frustrated with the character, than this is it. Tully, is an utter mess. She doesn't know what she wants or who she wants. I enjoyed this book, but at times, I did not like Tully. She was sometimes very unlikable. Over and over, I thought to myself. Tully, make up your mind!
Rating: 
Summary: Unimpressed...
Review: I admit that I read this novel in its entirity within two days, but it was with a sort of morbid fascination - the kind that causes drivers to rubber-neck on the highway around the scene of a deadly car crash. Perhaps this is a slightly harsh analogy, but I found Paullina Simon's prose jolting, the syntax off-kilter, and the overall story exceedingly desolate and far too predictable. I felt emotionally abused by the author, especially in the last fifty pages or so - and yet I couldn't find a plausible explanation in the insufficient characterization for it. I feel the most irritating fault with this novel is the leaping around from perspective to perspective, from tense to tense, with no real reason and with no real finesse. For the majority of the book, the reader is able to easily follow the omniscient narrator's (focusing on the main character Tully) perspective, but inexplicably, in some chapters, the narrator focuses on two peripheral characters and their interation, portraying their thoughts and emotions - I think it's very difficult to sucessfully narrate from an omnicient perspective, and this book is no exception. Though I found the characters and situations to be for the most part realistic, the plot races in the beginning and then stagnates. While I was able to appreciate on some level the characters and their situations in this novel, I found the writing style too distracting to be enjoyable. However, other reviews have piqued my interest in reading another of Simon's novels in comparison.
Rating:
Summary: An emotional Journey from start to finish
Review: Tully is one of those books that you read from start to finish without putting it down. I literally stayed up all night long and finished it at 8:30 in the morning. Tully is about the life of a young girl trying to come to terms with the traumatic experiences in her life. As she grows older she continues to hold onto these experiences allowing them to take over her life and her heart. Tully continues to push away the people who love her untill she herself finally falls in love. This causes many more problems for her as she has to choose between the two men who love her most. Do not pass this book, it is a must read, one you will never forget!
Rating:
Summary: Yet again Simons runs out of steam 1/2 way through ...
Review: I quite enjoyed PS's novel "Red Leaves" so I was pleased to find a copy of "Tully" in a second hand bookshop. This starts out as an intriguing story of a girl "from the wrong side of the tracks" who rebels against her abusive mother by entering dance contests and sleeping around. When her life is marred by a further tragedy I could feel nothing but sympathy with her and wish her the best for the future.But the eponymous heroine DOES turn her life around surprisingly quickly. She marries a great guy who loves her (probably more than she deserves as she has been two-timing him) has a child goes back to college and has a rewarding career. As far as I was concerned from this point on the book lost all interest as it seems to turn into the story of a woman who has everything doing her best to destroy it by her inability to come to terms with the past. For pages nothing much happens in the way of plot and the book just seems to drag on to a predictable conclusion. One gripe - it annoys me the assumption that female readers will naturally identify with this sort of character no matter how badly she behaves - as if they agree that a right to "self-fulfilment" justifies trampling over other people's feelings. To be honest I felt more sympathy for the male characters, particularly Tully's long-suffering husband!
Rating:
Summary: Read it... but don't take it too seriously.
Review: I cannot believe how many people so strongly enjoyed this book. It is slow, unbelievable and incredibly depressing. Perhaps for readers who have not experienced Tully's difficult type of life it seems exciting and moving, but for someone who has, it is painful and unimportant. This book does NOT present an inspirational character that can show women how to be strong and move on through terrible experiences, but rather a heroine that is selfish, wallows in self-pity and uses her unhappy childhood as an excuse to be a self-centred and manipulative woman. From a literary point of view the book is well-written but the content is waffle and at times comes close to torture. However it is worth reading simply to see for yourself what all the hype is about.
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Summary: Jenny.. Charlotte, NC
Review: Tully is one of the best books I have ever read! It was definately a novel I could not put down until I know what happenned. Tully helps make sense of life, when there is really no sense to it. You will appreciate your friends a lot more after reading this book!
Rating:
Summary: Simply Brilliant
Review: I miss Tully now I have finished the book, can't wait to read it again. She feels like a friend that has been in my life for years. The best book I have ever read. Do yourself a favour, buy it, find a nice quiet corner, you won't be able to put it down, and Tully Makker will live on with you forever after the experience.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: This book is absolutely brilliant, it affected me for days after I had finished reading it. This is probably one of the best books that I have ever read and I am a die-hard Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, Janet Evanovich fan. I recommend this book to anyone, esp if you only read one book at year, definately read Tully. I am an avid reader, but don't get much time read anymore, I find myself reading only the first few chapters of books and then dumping it, if it doesn't capture my attention ( I would never usually do this! ) But with Tully, it drew me in straight away, I couldn't put it down and was reading it even at work as I loved this book so much. I will probably be re-reading it shortly & I never re-read books! Definately read this book! Have I said it enough?
Rating:
Summary: I truly missed Tully after finishing the book...
Review: This book makes you crazy with wanting to read, and read, and read until nothing else exists but Tully! Such amazing depth to each character. Intense emotion all the way to the very end. It leaves you wanting more Tully. Thanks Jennifer for loaning me your copy...I now have my own copy to pass along, and torture the next person! :) Peace!
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