Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't finish it!
Review: I started out liking this book, but I never connected with any of the characters. I really didn't care what happened to them at all. The ladies in this book didn't seem to care about anybody, or anything in their life either. I never got what was special about their friendship, or why they loved each other. I finally gave up on the book and ditched it. I love dramas and especially books about women friendship. If you want a friendship book for women, try Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I started this book with high hopes. My best friend and I met in college and are still extremely close after 20+ years. I was hoping for a story about the deep closeness women can share. As in the book, I live in California and my best friend lives in Boston, she's Jewish and I'm a WASP. We've seen each other through a multitude of ups and downs, family issues, job changes, bad partners, aging parents, etc. But I just couldn't relate to Clare and Sally's friendship. It seemed to really lack intimacy, there so many things they didn't share (boyfriends they were seeing, what their experience of pregnancy or love was, feedback on each other's choices) which they attribute to not "wallowing". Not to mention the serious secrets they kept! My best friend and I talk about eveything, all our experiences with our jobs, our bodies, our loves, our loved ones. This is a source of great pleasure and solace to both of us, and we help each other laugh and hang on through bad times, and cheer each other on in good times. When Sally starts crying at some point toward the end, Clare is so uncomfortable with it. Shouldn't a best friend's shoulder be a safe place to cry? It's not like Sally didn't have enough to cry about! The one secret Clare should have kept (about Sally's dad) she wants to tell her for her own selfish reasons, and they never actually talk it through. I grew frustrated with their apparent cluelessness. I admired them for some reasons (Clare's work with AIDS patients and Sally's optimism) but for the most part they seemed to lack empathy and insight, were remote, self-absorbed and not particularly warm or wise, and very slow to learn from experience. In addition, I agree that the book was carelessly edited. [and I, too, know what 'hector' means, LOL]. That said, I did read it to the end, but mostly in hopes that the characters would break through to some deeper self-knowledge and understanding. It's not neccessary to like characters to enjoy a book, but I could not warm up to these two.
Rating: 
Summary: MORE PLOT TWISTS THAN SEEM POSSIBLE IN ONE NOVEL
Review: I stayed up to 3 a.m. finishing this novel by a first time novelist because I could not predict what new plot twist that she had up her sleeve for her readers. I am looking forward to more works from this author who knows how to engage a reader and tell a unique story. The main characters are so well drawn that at times I wished I could shake some good sense into both of these women. As an unpublished novelist myself, I was extremely envious of the author's use of language in "showing and not telling" the reader about the complexities of friendship. The geographic descriptions were superb and greatly enhanced the unfolding of the tale. The only flaw with the story presentation was that there was no real attempt to give the reader the necessary background on the basis for Sally Rose's change of lifestyle at the end of the novel. Her motivation was not made clear. Another problem was in understanding the characters' motivation of some of the secondary male characters. As a result of this lack of understanding motivation, the plot sometimes seems muddled.
Rating:
Summary: not an original book
Review: I think this author wrote her book after reading Judy Blume's Summer Sisters. The plot is SO not original.
Rating:
Summary: Worst Read
Review: I thought this was one of the worst books I have ever read. The characters were uninteresting and I detested Clare. At one point she wonders if Sid molested his daughter - an outrageous, baseless thought to begin with - and on the next page decides he was a good father. There was no plot to speak of. And to a previous reviewer, yes I know what "hector means". But that's probably because I have an IQ over 75 and have the sense to know when I've read a dreadful book
Rating:
Summary: I Kept Waiting For It To Get Great.....It Never Did
Review: I wanted a great "Best Friends" book that I could savor and completely enjoy. I wanted to see two women who go through life together and watch their lives intermingle. I wanted to see myself in this book ---- Well, I never did. I couldn't relate to either of these women. I found them selfish and really annoying.... by the end of the book I was so mad I had spent time reading this VERY long book that was really about nothing. Sad and Disappointing.....
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: I was really disappointed in this book. I found it boring and hard to get through. As one other reviewer said, it's very difficult to like the characters in this book. My advice, don't waste your time reading this.
Rating:
Summary: Too Preachy, Too Contrived, & Too Long
Review: I'm amazed at all the glowing reviews this book received. At best, it is a story about a shared friendship between two women over a period of about twenty years. Nothing extraordinary happens, no great insights, no "wow" moments. I struggled to get through it and was tired of both women by the end. I know I was supposed to be shocked to learn that Sally's father made his money through pornography -- and I was at first, but it became a chore to read about it again and again (did the author think we would forget?!). I like it when the author poses questions to its readers, but apparently Ms. Moody does not credit her readers with much intelligence. If you want to read a book that captures how emotionally complex and rewarding women's friendships can be, pick up a copy of Susan Kelley's, "How Close We Come," or Patricia Gaffney's "The Saving Graces." Both are quick, easy reads that prove the importance of women's friendships.
Rating:
Summary: Life's not that easy
Review: Like some reviewers I don't really like Clare or Sally. Actually, I don't recall really liking any of the characters in the book. However, the book makes these people real. Not nice, but real. Readers looking for artificial characters who have everything worked out in their lives will be disappointed by this book, but those looking for an honest, though sometimes painful portrayal will appreciate it. I look forward to her second book.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Friends
Review: Martha Moody writes about two "Best Friends" - Sally and Clare. When they first meet at Oberlin in college, Sally - to Clare - had a perfect life: A big house in L.A., a father she spoke to every night and who read her school books with, a cute younger brother...
When they first became friends, Clare wished her life could be like Sally's. But no, her father was embezzling money from a business he worked for and ended up dying while Clare was in college, she didn't get along with her brothers, she had no family money...
And, as they grow - Sally and Clare - the reader is touched by the truth in their friendship. It reminds me of my best friend, when Clare takes note of the lenghth of time she and Sally have been friends for and how little they see one another. But with best friends, even if you have not seen them for a long time, when you do see them it is like you were never apart.
Of course, there are always family issues and events and problems that both drive the two apart and also keep the two friends together. The fact that Sally and Clare barely needed to speak to communicate reminds me of how things are with my best friend. People seem to be criticizing this book because it does not show Clare and Sally spending time together so often. But, that's life. And that is what friends are for.
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