Rating: 
Summary: More Than You Know;...One persons veiw point.
Review: I read the book More Than You Know. It was an enjoyable book to read. If you like love stories with a little mystery and ghost tied into it, I would suggest you pick this book up and read it! This Author did a great job on this book. The way she wrote it made me never want to quit reading it. I would get to the end of a chapter and it would leave off with something really interesting, and to find out what was going to happen you had to read a whole chapter and then get to where you left off. It's like Beth is telling two different stories. She switched every other chapter; I thought that that technique she used was really great. Well to wrap it up, I would just like to say you won't be wasting your time if you read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling--
Review: This was a good book. It was kinda weird because it was a mix between a love story, family drama & scary ghost story!!
You didn't know what to expect next, something funny, sweet, upsetting or crazy. I enjoyed the book, but I was the suspense was built up so much for the ending...it didn't quite meet all of my expectations. There could have been a more thorough explanation for things. I felt a little bit like I was left hanging. But the book kept me interested the whole way through and there were some good surprises. Characters were very weird, hard to relate to most of them!
Rating:
Summary: Quick Read
Review: I read this book cover to cover in about 5 hours. Great book, didn't want it to end. I wasn't sure how easy a read it would be when I started, but a few pages into it I couldn't put it down. I like Beth's style of writing and will definitely look for more of her work. It was interesting to switch back and forth between two different times, but made you want to keep reading to see what would happen next. Great book for curling up next to the fireplace...
Rating:
Summary: Romance/Ghost Story/Drama/Suspense
Review: The last book I read was the Shipping News. Blech. I hate books that seem to want to educate you about something. The Shipping News constantly talks about Boats and Newfoundland. That just kills a book for me. Now, after reading the back of More Than You Know, I was afraid I was going to get an education on the state of Maine. Thank God I didn't, and Beth Gutcheon really knew how to write this book.
The story is about Hannah Gray, Claris Osgood, Sallie Haskell, Mercy Chatto, Danial Haskell, and Conary Crocker. Hannah Gray decides to write about a love affair she had many years ago with Crocker. Every so often, her story is interupted by the story of Claris Osgood, which quickly transforms in the story of Sallie Haskell, before ending with Mercy Chatto. The book flucuates between the Haskells story back in the 1800's, and Hannahs story.
More Than You Know, in my opinion is a romance. It's kind of a book within a book. Hannahs story is the romance, and the Haskells claim the drama/suspense. The real reason to read this book is the Haskell story. its the story with the meat, the one that keeps you guessing. You know very early on in the book that Danial Haskell will have his head chopped open with an ax, but you are waiting for it to happen, you're waiting while the tension builds up.
Something the book does which I really liked, was that Hannah/Conarys story seemed to be a kind of Cliffs Notes guide to The Haskell's story. You find out what will happen to the Haskells while reading about Hannah.
In terms of Romance, Drama, Suspense, the book also combines a ghost story, but not some over the top ghost story, like...Stephen King books, just subtle ghost appearnces, and when they happen, you can tell how scared Hannah and Conary are. The writing is that good, it really leaves an impact with every appearance by this ghost. Something else that's interesting, Gutcheon never explains exactly WHO the ghost is. clearly, by the end of the book, you know who it could be, but who is the ghost is never explained. My opinion is that it's Claris Osgood, but maybe it's Sallie, the options are endless.
The reason I give the book four stars (My actual rating would be 4 1/2) is because I really wasn't convinced that the Haskells were living in the 1800's. It just didn't seem that way to me, and I had no idea of in what time period Hannah Gray set her story. That would have been nice. Overall, it was a good book. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Story
Review: This is a great story of a young girl in a seaside town in Maine during a summer in the 1930's. It is told through the narration of the same girl as an old woman, who comes back to the town and tells the story. Also in this book is the story of a family in the area during the mid to late 1800's.With out giving too much away, this story involves a wicked stepmother, a boy, a small town, and a ghost. The narration was easy to read, although every once in a while I would find myself rereading a sentence or two because it seemed grammatically incorrect. Also, it wasn't quite clear to me as to why this old woman returned to Maine in the first place. She does mention she has to tell the story, but why? Is she dying? Or is it something that she just has to do? I am still not quite sure. Some of the elements of the story are predictable, but it doesn't really matter since the characters are appealing and the story well written and thought out.
Rating:
Summary: Left Me Somewhat Wanting
Review: I'm another reviewer that would give this one 3.5 stars, but I will err on the generous side. This is not what I would call a stellar "ghost story" but it is interesting and well written. I must echo other reviewers who were left rather unsatisfied overall. Even though I re-read several parts of the book, I still could not gain clarification on why the ghost chose to haunt Hannah and Connery. Perhaps ghosts are not really all that concerned with their motivation for haunting, however the author never really delivers the goods as to why Hannah was the intended victim. Considering the phantom follows her around from place to place there must be a reason. The dual plot line is well done, and very similar to "The Weight of Water" by Anita Shreve (I do think Ms Shreve was more effective overall with her effort however.)
Rating:
Summary: Scared Me Silly
Review: Foolishly I read this book before bedtime, when my house was quiet and no one else was awake. Big mistake. As I read Hannah's remembrances regarding her first love experience and her chilling introduction to a lingering malevolence residing in her summer residence, I found my eyes searching through the shadows in the corners of my bedroom for something other than dust bunnies.
Gutcheon's clever narrative allows the lightness and hopefullness of first love to temporarily scour out the darkness of the house's past. As readers, we are intrigued by the mystery, we want to know the full anatomy of the murder and we are fooled into thinking even though we know Hannah's story somehow ends in tragedy that the echoes of the past will reverberate through her life then and now.
The author makes use of a parallel story line, similar to the technique Anita Shreve uses in "The Weight of Water." As each chapter alternates, we discover in small increments the story of the two woman in different time periods and realize along with Hannah, just a little too late, that the older evil has somehow permeated her bid for that special happiness with Conary for which we all wish, but are sometimes denied.
Recommended with sufficient warning to read in daylight only. . . or if so desired as I did in a still house after midnight for a delicious fright.
Rating:
Summary: Good story, but slow read at times
Review: I picked up this book on as a quick read and was caught into the story from the moment I got it. It was a great story with some great characters. At times I felt like I was very much into one of the storys of the time periods and then all of sudden it changed and I wanted to know so much more about what was going on with the other chacaters, but I was good and continued the story as it should have been. I loved Hannah's story the most all that had happen to her got me into it. The only bad part was towards the middle of the book the story begain to drag a bit for me but once I got past that it picked up and was a very quick read. I can't wait to read more by this author.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good read
Review: There were times when this story was a little slow, but I liked the parallel lives that run through the story. I would kind of compare it to "The Weight of Water" by Anita Shreve, but "Weight" was better. I would recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read and one really creepy ghost story!
Review: I just finished Beth Gutcheon's "More Than You Know" and I have to say I hated to see this one end! It's very aptly titled as it left me with more questions than answers when I finished!
This was an excellent story with some truly creepy moments and a very compelling murder mystery as well. A great read anytime of year but if you're looking for a good scare on a cold October evening-this is your book! I'll definitely have to pass this book along to a friend because I'm "dieing" to discuss it with someone...
|
