Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Follow-Up
Review: With his first novel, the highly intelligent and enigmatic A Density Of Souls, Christopher Rice explored the angst and axieties of today's teen generation with emotional fervor. Now, a year later, he comes back with The Snow Garden, a novel centered around College life. Unfortunately, this time around, Rice falls flat on his face as this book is highly cliched, derivative and not very interesting.This overlong novel (well, it does feel like it anyhow!) centers on a young freshman who, in his first year of College, befriends a professor and eventually begins a relationship with him. Of course, both men have many secrets which will be unveiled in the course of the story. Their relationship is far from being wholesome. Add to the mix a ten year old murder that still needs to be solved, a student who isn't what he really appears to be, and a slew of characters who are emotionally deficient and you end up with a story that reads like a bad soap opera. The book never interested me in the slightest. I actually found myself eager to get to the end. The book is also badly written; Rice's prose in Density Of Souls was very slow, lyric and beautiful. This time around, the words seem to have been put together with haste, as though Rice couldn't wait to get his second novel finished to get it out on the market. This one needed more care and editing in order to work. Instead, the novel ends up being a like a bad episode of Dawson's Creek, where you just want to grab the characters by the neck and slap them around a few times in order to make them stop complaining about their miserable lives. I hope Rice's next book will be better. What started out as a promising career now seems much less enticing.
Rating: 
Summary: Sophomore Effort Worth the Read
Review: Although Christopher Rice's 2nd novel isn't as good or "charged" with passion as his first, "A Density of Souls," it does still reflect Rice's excellent writing style. His ability of visual description and dropping the clues to the reader throughout the entire book is astounding. He dangles the information in front of you and you're left with always wanting more. None of the characters are especially likeable once you find out their secrets and pasts, but Rice does have you interested in each and every one of their lives as you unravel the mysteries. This reader for one can't wait until Rice's 3rd novel...whatever it may be.
Rating: 
Summary: Notice the last name is the largest thing on the cover...
Review: Poor Chris Rice! I know that he's published because of his mother and with this second outing I'm not sure how he got a book deal. This reads like bad college writing workshop drama. The characters are not only unlikeable but they have very little depth and their subplots are too inane...not to mention the laughably bad plotting he chooses. He has some saving graces though...some of his initial descriptions are quite lush and very gothic (which is what i'm sure he was going for) but all in all this book was such a let down. His first book wasn't that good either but I wanted to see what he would do when he didn't obviously use his life for a plot. Yet again he lives in fantasy land where every "straight" man wants to sleep with other men....as a straight man, I can say that for myself and most of my friends this is far from the truth....but hey who knows right? like the editorial review says this is very much a bad USA late night movie put to the page.... 1 star!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning, Dark, Intense, Disturbing, Chilling, Amazing Read
Review: I finished The Snow Garden in two days and honestly my first thought after reading the last page was "I need mental therapy." Christopher Rice has created the most darkly disturbing, graphic, twisted vision of the hellish side of human nature. Because of this I found it sometimes a difficult read, after some parts I had to put down the book for a few seconds to comprehend what I had just read. My main dislike of the book was the extreme lack of hope. In his first novel, A Density of Souls, Rice crafted an equally spell-binding view of the darknesss of humanity but held a sense of love and ended on a note of hope, however The Snow Garden lacks this view of hope, the one exception being the character of Kathryn (who also in my view was the only truly sympathetic character). Yet, despite this, I loved the book. It gripped me immediately, immersing me in a nightmarish world that although disturbing, was also compelling. Sort of like the same reaction you get from viewing the movie, Silence of the Lambs, it's a unsettling experience but also pure artistry that is amazing. The world and characters of The Snow Garden are engraved in your mind, unforgettable. I admire Christopher Rice, not many writers this young would take such huge risks, but his risks largely pay off. The Snow Garden is an unique, great read, if you're up to the chaotic world it portrays. Looking forward to his next project!
Rating: 
Summary: Sexy and Complex Psychological Thriller !!
Review: THE SNOW GARDEN is one INCREDIBLE read. A psychological thriller, this book has a plot line that will keep the reader under its spell until the last page. Who people appear to be, isn't necessarily who they are, nor is it who they will become. The many layers of a person's real, and sometimes adopted/assumed identity, are the themes examined in this startling novel. We all have pasts and skeletons locked within our private mental closets. How we, and indeed the characters of this novel, cope with these skeletons as they impact upon our present, and indeed our future, is what Christopher Rice explores here. His characters are so real the virtually jump off the page. They are so engaging that the reader actually cares about them and wants to know more. Once you pick-up this book, it will be very difficult to put down. READ IT AND ENJOY IT TO ITS FULLEST. It is a richly written book.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: What can I say? I loved this book. For some reason Christopher Rice's writing has me hooked. The story line is WAY to complicated for me to attempt to sumarize but the main story revolves around Randall, a college freshman who is having a secret affair with his Art professor, Eric Eberman. This book take many twists and turns and involves murder, betryal and more! If you liked his first novel "A Density of Souls" you're sure to love this one.
Recommended for older readers, as the content may be a bit much for younger teens.
Rating:
Summary: What a great novel...
Review: ..well-written and well-crafted. I was hooked from page one. The stories that indwell in the novel are beautiful mix of tragedy and horror and for people not to like a book because of how the characters develop are selfish jerks. The mix of intrigue and suspense and the fact that it felt like the characters were really in college made it so much more believable. For a whilee after I read this book I felt like nothing could come close to this level of intrigue unil I read Kite Runner and got spoiled again.
Rating:
Summary: Yet again - amazing!
Review: The Snow Garden. Wow - this book excited me just like A Density of Souls - Christopher Rice has this knack of making his readers explore mulitple emotions while engrossed in his books. Randall - what a character. How can you not feel sorry for this boy - who seems lost in his own little world - who, due to his tragic childhood, clings to anyone and anything that gives him attention - but, who is so naive to believe that he is not being used - or perhaps he knows it - and likes it. Either way, what a great, complex character. The other characters were very detailed and had twists of their own. It was like 100 stories inside one book. Again, a book that, once you pick up, you can't put it down until you are finished reading....yay. :) Btw, I had to drink apple martinis reading this book - Randall's "addiction" to these drinks made me want one of my own! :) I can't wait for the next book.. :)
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Gothic read
Review: I am going to be honest here. I picked up Christopher's book because I am a fan of his mother. This book isn't disappointing at all ~~ Rice is a different writer than his mother and the talent is there and it's all his. I didn't get the feeling that I was reading one of his mother's books ~~ this is a totally different style of writing and I am hooked.
Kathryn and Randall are best buddies as freshmen in Atherton, a fictious college set outside of Boston. Randall is having a secret affair with his college professor, Eric Eberman, who is a art historian professor who also studies Bosch. This is where the story begins and Rice begins to weave a tangled web of deceit, lies, and misconceptions ~~ till a woman is murdered and the web becomes even more entangled with more characters that lead to different theories. Sometimes, the stories are half-muddied ~~ meaning, that they're not quite finished and leaves more to the imagination than the reader would like. But the plot is solid and the lyrical writing is wonderful to read. It's a great mystery and I found myself unable to tear myself away from the story.
This is a perfect reading for a cold fall night when the fire is crackling in the fireplace ~~ and you're all alone. It's not only a gothic mystery read ~~ it's also a self-search into man's search for happiness and meaning to life. It's an enthralling book ~~ and I am now curious to read more of Rice's books.
8-24-04
Rating:
Summary: Notice the last name is the largest thing on the cover...
Review: I loved Christopher Rice's first novel "Destiny of Souls," so when I saw this in a Penn Station newspaper stop, I knew I had to read it. I read most of the book on my train trips that weekend. It was one of those books I just lost myself in. The story is well-written and very intriguing. It takes twists and turns constantly, leaving you wanting to continue reading. I had never previously read anything by his mother, but have definitely fallen in love with the intrigue of Christopher Rice's novels. I cannot wait to read his next novel.
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