Rating: 
Summary: Repetative Queen
Review: Cranberry Queen is a novel that embodies everything a satisfying novel shouldn't. The novel is rough and reads like a highschool student wrote it. The story, if you can call it that is told in the first person narrative by Diana, whose self pittying attitude grows overly dramatic, selfish and irritating very quick. The most annoying element of the style is the authors habit of having her narrator constantly repeat thoughts throughout the entire book. Example: "I am holding onto him, I am holding onto him." and in the next sentance "What is he thinking? What is he thinking?" she does this throughout the entire novel as though she expects the reader wasn't going to pay attention the first time. Perhaps the reader will forget, perhaps the reader will forget. I find myself distracted,distracted and incredibly irritated, irritated by this and wondering if maybe, maybe, the author was in a rush to reach the minimum word requirement.Diana's character is not likeable at all. We know nothing of her childhood, her appearance her relationships with other people. All we know is she is incredibly selfish and dramatic, carrying on about a boyfriend who cheated on her 3 years ago and labelling herself an orphan when she is a grown woman in her 30's. Her character is also not consistent, she goes from a gutsy gal who stands up to her boss, to a fragile weeping girl to sometimes gutsy again. There is intense drama between her and Louisa which makes absolutaly no sense given they've known each other for a mere 48 hours tops. The secrets Lousia reveals to Diana have no bearing on the story. This book was such a complete mess in so many areas. I suspect that the author was only able to successfully publish this manuscript because of her success as a producer and the literary contacts that provided her. I would recommend this novel to no one. $ave your money!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: voyage of grief
Review: Demarco's novel, The Cranberry Queen, is more than just a novel of grief. It is the voyage through grief and sorrow, the overcoming of loss. DeMarco portrays grief as something tangible; her words take on a palpable feeling as the reader empathizes and experiences Diana's loss and subsequent overcoming of her heartache. It is realistic, her views, her pain and all that she goes through in her attempt to heal. Diana's voice is akin to Liz Wurtzel's in Prozac Nation, but without the sardonic tone. For those who have experienced a loss like Diana's, here is a character with which the reader can identify as the true weight of the situation is given merit. DeMarco also uses a kind of unity of time, in that the action, once Diana gets out of New York, takes place over a period of two days. One may question whether or not this is an appropriate amount of time to grieve, but this is just one photon of healing in a sunburst of sorrow. What is interesting as well is that Diana learns that grief, in many facets, is a universal human experience, as she becomes the confidant of a group who also is trying to heal. The Cranberry Queen may not be the haute fiction of the Western European Canon, but it does hold the interest.
Rating:
Summary: Concern
Review: For those criticizing the protagonist's repetition of certain thoughts must keep in my mind the dialect of the novel. Which was created to give the illusion of the protagonist, herself speaking with you in a conversation, weaving the tale.
Rating:
Summary: Concern
Review: For those criticizing the protagonist's repetition of certain thoughts must keep in my mind the dialect of the novel. Which was created to give the illusion of the protagonist, herself speaking with you in a conversation, weaving the tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Gotta Love Cranberries...
Review: Honestly, I chose this book by the title. I was pleasantly suprised at how quickly the story pulled me in; and how easily my imagination placed me into the shoes of the main character, Diana. My heart swelled, my eyes teared and I laughed as I followed Diana on the journey of 'self discovery'.
Rating: 
Summary: Uneven but pleasing escapism
Review: I admit it: I hold a degree in English, I read literary criticism in my spare time, and I'd analyze metaphors in an Entertainment Weekly article if you coaxed me long enough. That being said, I don't think Kathleen DeMarco's Cranberry Queen was intended for readers like me. I picked up the book this past winter after coming off a long string of heavy nonfiction reads. I hadn't read any contemporary fiction in several months, and I was eager to see what was out there in the world of first-time novelists. What I found was a simple and generally enjoyable story -- the language is familiar and won't require you to go reaching for a dictionary, and the plot won't throw you any curves. In short, Diana, a saucy, single New Yorker in her early 30s, can't face the trappings of her daily life when her parents and brother are killed in a car accident. She heads out on an aimless journey through New Jersey, and crashes (literally) into the quirky grandmother Rosie and her granddaughter Louisa in the cranberry country of the Pine Barrens. The bulk of the story's action takes place over the few days that Diana spends in the Pine Barrens, exploring life in the isolated countryside and coming to understand and accept her grief. DeMarco really loves her characters, and she wants the reader to share her love. Sometimes this is done well, through subtle descriptions that let the reader come to her own judgements and conclusions about the characters. Sometimes, though, you get the idea that DeMarco is itching to pop out of the novel, grab you by the shoulders, and command you to "love them!" The character of Diana is at her best when she's being witty and self-deprecating, especially when she's both analyzing and casually making fun of herself for not being able to get over her ex-boyfriend "The Monster." She loses much of her depth and relatability when she rattles along in the numbness of her grief, seeming more like your average tortured-yet-plucky chick flick heroine rather than the Harvard graduate she's supposed to be. Nevertheless, Cranberry Queen kept me entertained. The story moves well, with new characters and revelations poppping up at the right times. The ending aims to please -- and succeeds. If you've been pricked by the magic of the ancient and contemporary classics of literature, you won't find anything particularly challenging -- emotionally or linguistically -- about Cranberry Queen. But I certainly don't regret the time I spent reading about Diana and the Pine Barrens.
Rating:
Summary: Berry Good Read
Review: I don't like cranberries, and I always thought New Jersey was just a turnpike, but I did like CRANBERRY QUEEN by Kathleen DeMarco. Although Ms. DeMarco is a screenwriter, a seasoned writer, I believe this is her first novel. I like first novels because they seem to be written in a more carefree, heartfelt voice. They seem more personal. This book does not deviate from my opinion of first novels. Diana's life has taken a few bad turns and she's looking for an out. Her boyfriend has run off with a younger girl and she's not real happy about that. But when her entire family is killed in a car accident in South Jersey she knows she has more than she can handle in her life. Diana escapes her well-meaning friends, aunt, and uncle in New York and drives her Volvo to the Pine Barrens of South Jersey where she meets Louisa when she hits Louisa's grandmother. Diana is thrown into an uneasy and unsteady friendship with the brash and brainy Louisa over the course of a few days. Both truths and untruths are revealed about their pasts. This isn't a great book in the sense that I will always remember it, but it's a good book in the sense that I enjoyed reading it. I liked learning a little bit more about the mystical state of New Jersey. Yes, I said, "mystical." DeMarco takes us into the wilds of New Jersey (yes, I said, "wilds of New Jersey" - aren't you listening?) creating an entirely different image for a state that most of us know only through watching The Sopranos or hurrying through it in an attempt to get to some place more exciting. If this is made into a movie, as I understand it will be, I will go see it and will enjoy watching the tug of war between Diana and Louisa as well as discovering the beauty of New Jersey in scenes I hope are filmed on location. If you want something new and different, read CRANBERRY QUEEN. It's berry good. (Yes, I said, "berry!)
Rating:
Summary: tragedy in a New Jersey setting
Review: I liked that this book is set in NJ, because a lot of that state is very beautiful (hence the nickname "the Garden State") and the author's description of the cranberry bogs are so vivid that I truly felt like I was there (trite as that is to say.) Diana has just experienced the triple tragedy of all 3 members of her immediate family dying in a car accident. A Princeton, NJ native, she lives in New York and is in deep depression when friends and other relatives show up as an intervention, to get her to heal. She does not want to see the "Depression Professional" her uncle suggests, and she hops in her car (with the NY license plates) and just starts driving. In a twist that horrifies her, she sideswipes Rosie, an old lady on a motorcycle near the NJ Pine Barrens. Thinking she has just killed someone the way her family has, she is hysterical, even when it is evident the lady is all right. Rosie and her granddaughter Louisa -- who is a "stranger-friend", as Diana puts it --- take her in and have her meet their friends, as the next day is the great Cranberry Festival. Louisa is a drama queen, and sucks Diana into all her little problems, particularly with Jack, who is returning to town after 7 years. Diana does not tell anyone of her past, and lets them think her family is alive. This is a weird little story -- especially since Diana only stays with these people for a day, but what happens and their impact on each other's lives is long-lasting. This is an unassuming book that will nonetheless draw you in.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money!
Review: I rarely stop reading books before the end, but I had to bail on this one on page 109. It was way too depressing! The perspective is that of the main character, but she is grieving and having random thoughts that were way too difficult to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Junk
Review: If you want to read a trite, self depreciating narrative, pick up this book. I enjoy reading, and am not a critic by any means. Certainly when picking up a novel on a Saturday afternoon I'm not searching for a Thomas Pynchon writing level. I am looking for something that I wouldn't mistake for my younger sister's high school creative writing class homework. The voice is inconsistent, and the whole story is poorly written -- sometimes I wonder if the editor just didn't bother looking at it -- there are points when it is not clear who is speaking in the room. It makes me angry that there are so many talented writers out there that can't get published but this thing is what ends up in our bookstores.
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