Rating: 
Summary: Such a promising premise, but ultimately disappointing
Review: "The Body" starts with a stunning bang -- the premise grabbing you by the collar and pulling you in. Katherine wakes up in Thisby's body, and then has to unravel the mystery of what has happened, and how to deal with it.It reads a bit like an episode of that old show "Quantum Leap," with Katharine desperately trying to play the part of Thisby without arousing suspicion of the internal switch. Thankfully, Thisby was a drug addict, so Katharine can explain the changes through sobriety. The portions of the book that are most touching are Katharine's relationship with Thisby's sister Quince, and Katharine's push to put on a gallery showing of Thisby's photography. The idea of a memorial gallery showing for a person that no one else believes is dead is truly haunting. It's exciting to watch Katharine work to turn Thisby's life around. The book also delves into issues of where memories are really stored...it's clear that Doud thinks some memories (of sexuality, of addiction, of family) are cellular, an idea that resonates with me and made the book fascinating. Sadly, the last quarter of the book just drops the ball. The excitement and spark of the novel fizzles into a wash of flashbacks, vague explanations, and justifications that Katharine initially trying to turn Thisby's life around was "arrogant." Unfortunately, the author simply doesn't follow through on why or how, and I found myself yearning for the supposed "arrogance" that had colored Katharine's actions in the first half of the novel. And don't even get me started on the epilogue. What was THAT?! Supposedly this book has be optioned to be made into a movie, and I can only imagine the epilogue as the flash of scenes that will be shown during the credits. In other words, it's useless fluff that doesn't match the rest of the book and doesn't resolve much of anything. This was a quick entertaining read, but the end left me frustrated. I so desperately wanted Doud to finish with the same fantastic bang she started with.
Rating: 
Summary: not worth your time
Review: A book club member suggested I read, This Body and because I respect her opinion, I ordered it from Amazon. (One Click, my addiction of choice.) Anyway, the book arrived and I flipped through the first few pages while cooking dinner for my teenagers. At about midnight, I closed the book and went to sleep. The next morning I called my friend and we talked about it for an hour. And it has not stopped haunting me ever since.
The premise, married with teenagers woman dies and comes back a year later in the body of skinny young addict, sounds too out there to appeal. In fact, when I tried to explain the plot to my husband he got that glazed look he gets when I talk about----me.
So I moved on to my daughters who were equally un-enthused. My friend said her 20 year old daughter was not all that engrossed and we decided that Doud's book was written just for us. So, we re-scheduled our next months bookclub just to read, This Body. The discussions ought to be very lively since we always get off track talking about, sex, marriage, love and teenagers. This Body, accomplished what I presume any author would ever dream about. It stirred emotions and thoughts in this reader that have been both inspiring and in some ways life changing. I am going to ease up on my teenagers and pay attention to my life. The intriguing question remains, if you had it to do over, what would you do differently? Doud answers this question and lots others in her original first novel. My question is, when's the next one coming out???
Rating: 
Summary: A fiction that rings true
Review: After being raised in an Irish Catholic family, I had many questions regarding all the issues raised in that religion, especialy the big one of "life after death". After reading "This Body" although fiction, I beleive that we are here to live over and over again. Laurel takes you through a life that to many would seem perfect, could you imagine coming back as a rich, beautiful, skinny younger woman...She takes you on a wonderful, educational ride through Katherine's next life.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely worth it because...
Review: despite the mixed reviews, it's more than worth the eleven dollars just to be able to have an opinion on the matter. I remember not being able to put it down. THe Shakespeare tie-ins were an interesting aidditon. I read it about three years ago and have checked a few times to see if Ms. Doud has anything else in print. I'm interested to see what she will write after hearing the encouraging reviews and also the criticism
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Easy Reading
Review: I had a recurring dream where I died and came back in another body and tried to resurrect my life, so it was interesting to read someone else's take on what that might be like. I agree with the reviewer who found the last quarter of the book disappointing. It seems Doud just lost the energy to write more. Up until the gallery showing, she did an excellent job of showing Katharine's interactions with Thisby's family and her life, but then there is an abrupt, inexplicable change in Katharine that speeds us towards the end of the novel. I found the ending to be disatisfying and hurried. Still, this novel is worth the read for the other three quarters!
Rating:
Summary: very intriguing premise
Review: I had a recurring dream where I died and came back in another body and tried to resurrect my life, so it was interesting to read someone else's take on what that might be like. I agree with the reviewer who found the last quarter of the book disappointing. It seems Doud just lost the energy to write more. Up until the gallery showing, she did an excellent job of showing Katharine's interactions with Thisby's family and her life, but then there is an abrupt, inexplicable change in Katharine that speeds us towards the end of the novel. I found the ending to be disatisfying and hurried. Still, this novel is worth the read for the other three quarters!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Easy Reading
Review: I thought that the book had an interseting but not very original premise. However, it was fun to read. The end of the book was a little boring but in general I would recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting possibilities, but not brought to fruition.
Review: In my genre weakness for first novels by women authors with women protagonists, I finished reading this novel and was disappointed. Ms. Doud takes a unique theme but does not travel the reader on a coherent journey with the protagonist. The starting point of a young mother dying and waking in the body of a dysfunctional teenager presented numerous possibilities. But the major problem was that even as I cast aside my own imaginings of what would I do to read on for what would this character do, the actions/inactions of Thisby (f/k/a Kathleen) were not credible for the character. I was particularly taken aback by the character engaging in a sex with Thisby's brother and then having an abortion and flirting with her former nephew who was out with Thisby's younger sister, particularly because these events occured within the space of only a few pages. Having been blatantly reckless, Thisby then offers no insight or reflection into her circumstances. Several of the supporting characters were original personalities and displayed their own dysfunctions well enough to evoke sympathy. The author is clearly schooled in Shakespeare and does an interesting job of trying to weave well chosen quotes and themes into the story. At times, however, it was a bit overdone to the point of creating credibility gaps of whether anyone could realistically walk about spouting that much Shakespeare. I was also dissapointed with the ending, which to me was the easy out, not any insight into the human condition or even to Thisby.
Rating:
Summary: Reincarnation with a twist.
Review: That is the premise to this unique book that took me completely by surprise; it was a quick read and a brilliant story. A 39 year old woman, and mother of two, screams out "wait" as she is about to check out of the world as she knows it. When she opens her eyes it's a year later and she is in the body of a 22-year-old addict named Thisby, who has just overdosed. Katherine's journey begins as she tries to sort through her new life. She has a brother and sister who she has yet to meet, as well as a personality like a banshee with a nasty reputation to uphold, or so it is believed. Her new family is intellectual and named after literary figures. The author plays a game with Shakespearian quotes that is simply brilliant. As her life progresses in this body of Thisby's, she learns more about her real self and what she needs. There are parts of her own childhood that she still needs to face. It is an extraordinary coming of age story written from an entirely different perspective. Once I started it I couldn't put it down. Kelsana 11/14/01
Rating: 
Summary: Could be good. But it's not.
Review: The characters are boring and annoying, the plotline tepid, and the emotional resonance nil.
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