Rating: 
Summary: Review of: A Density of Souls
Review: Christopher Rice's A Density of Souls A Density of Souls is Christopher Rice's first novel. As the son of the author Anne Rice and the poet and painter Stan Rice, he has quite a literary reputation to live up to. He succeeded in living up to his namesake quite well with A Density of Souls making the New York Times bestseller list. One will not find the same fantastic, supernatural characters of his mother's novels. Rice effectively establishes his own style. A Density of Souls is a journey into the darker psychology that emerges from troubled and confused adolescence. The novel's four main characters are Greg Darby, Brandon Charbonnet, Stephen Conlin, and Meredith Ducote. A kind of coming of age tale emerges as Rice guides you through their grade school to college years. Stephen struggles with his homosexuality. Greg and Brandon battle with what their identity of high school football players or "jocks" entails, and Meredith grows from feelings of exclusion from "the guys" by her three best friends to being the cheerleader girlfriend of Greg. Their own individual searches for identity play off of each other. Greg and Brandon grow to torment Stephen. Meredith sinks into alcoholism and recording her hidden anger at Greg and Brandon in a secret notebook. She is caught between feeling protective of Stephen and her status as popular cheerleader and Greg's girlfriend. Rice's novel is a brave undertaking. It explores complex and taboo subjects such as homosexuality, alcoholism, abuse, suicide, and hate crimes. It accomplishes this through the depiction of four childhood friends growing up in New Orleans, bringing to light the fact that today's children are not as "young" as they seem. The lives of the children's parents are also entwined in the novel. A close look at their relationships amongst each other and it may be no wonder that their children have some of the "issues" that they do. Monica Conlin finally achieved her place in upper class society in the Garden District after coming from the wrong side of the tracks. She faces the fear that Stephen will follow in his father's suicidal footsteps, and ultimate betrayal by her high society friend, Elise Charbonnet. Angela and Andrew Darby have a less than functional marriage but put up a good front. Elise and Roger Charbonnet attempt to hide away one son they cannot control and conceal truths about the situation and his whereabouts from his brother. Trish Ducote is a divorced mom possibly attempting to ignore the fact that her daughter steals a bottle weekly from her liquor cabinet. Alcohol is an underlying theme in the lives of the parents and their children. All of these elements become various themes discussed in A Density of Souls. Stephen's feeling of isolation due to his homosexuality. Issues of class struggle and exactly what it means to be "upper class" depicted by his mother, Monica. Meredith is also isolated due to her femininity. She is a girl and cannot seem to get past her role as "the girlfriend" even when Greg is abusive and tormenting her childhood friend, Stephen. Her forced silence drives her to alcoholism and secret writing as her only modes of expression. Angela Darby is another tragic female character. Her husband locks her away in a mental hospital after tragedy strikes their family. He makes a deal with the doctor to keep her there even though she does not need to stay. In this sense, her own husband forces her into the "mad woman in the attic" role. Greg and Brandon deal with gender roles and ideologies as they try to be the "All-American football stars". The novel's short chapters and book divisions make it very easy to read. Each chapter has a kind of cliffhanger ending that will leave the reader wondering what's next as the story unfolds and events are explained piece by piece. One will probably catch himself or herself identifying with at least one of the characters on some level. A Density of Souls is a detailed depiction of the delicate interlocking lives of four families. Rice is not afraid to discuss the subjects that might keep us up at night. It is an honest, disturbing, and excellent tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: The first chapter is excellent and hooked me so much that I was sneaking off to the office washroom to read on. Sadly the brilliance falters as the story gets less and less believable. I groaned out loud when the hitherto straight and rather two dimensional all American boy discovers his "real" sexuality - as if! Then there is the gloriously cliche-ed and totally unnecessary revelation at the end on the main character's family relationships.
Christopher Rice's depiction of the emotional complexities of his genuinely gay character and the women around him was outstanding - he should stick with this and avoid the trashier plot twists and the rather contrived happy endings!!
Rating:
Summary: Bad...
Review: Density of Souls is a Dawson's Creek episode gone dirty. Poorly written with cardboard characters, the only reason I gave it 2 stars was that some of the dialoge made me laugh out loud. Rich snotty kids with lots of self-inflicted problems. I wonder where his inspiration came from?
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: I'm not a big fan of reading, but once I started this book, I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: In a strange way it changed my life...
Review: I read this book a year ago, and it's still on my mind. It is overly written at times but it needs it. As a gay boy living in a rural town, the kids I can really relate to. I found at the end that I thought about life, homophobia, teenagers, and even my own situations and it reminded me of the more soft and quiet moments in the book. There are moments and actions in the book that some people think of as just events, like the storm, and everything in Sactuary were you can just close the book and move on. I couldn't move on so easily, by the end I had reread most of the book just shocked at the twists and sadness. Call me stupid, but A density of souls changed the way I think about life...
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: There are only a handful of books that keep my complete attention from the first to the last page. Christopher Rice is a brilliant author. After reading the last page I immediatly went out and purchased The Snow Garden.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it.
Review: I had read this primarily because it was Anne Rice's son who wrote it and when I was done, I loved it and Chris is a very talented author. Unlike his mother who takes a sensual road, Chris is more simple and a lot more relaxed, which I enjoyed. He made protagonists that I could relate to and a nice flow that made the book a good read. Christopher is his own writer and I can't wait to read what he did next.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish I had the hours back that it took me to read this rot
Review: Without a doubt one of the most horrible books I have ever read. Apparently Rice seeks to attract readers with his lovely tale of misogyny, rampant homosexuality and homosexual sex, mental illness, dysfunctional families, murder, rape, marital infidelity, the list goes on and on. .... Don't waste your time on this book, your time would be much more well spent on reading a worthy book like Cane River, a fabulous read.
Rating:
Summary: A Myriad of Spellbinding Plot Twists
Review: Christopher Rice begins with a foursome of friends: Stephen, Meredith, Brandon, and Greg. We meet them at pre-adolescence, and follow them through the sinister world of high school to early adulthood. Though it always seems that youth still have so far to go before they truly understand and develop from life, there is always something amazingly insightful and knowing about them when it comes to characters like Rice's. His are a delicious layering of stereotypical teenage fronts masking the acidic awareness and calculating precociousness hidden beneath. In this novel, we see how the past still has a voice in the present, and that skeletons in the closet have a way of reviving themselves even after you assumed they had been long buried. The four friends are tied together, even after bitterness and hatred erupts between them. As you begin to settle into the story, you will find that many tangents appear, each one leading to shocking revelations and exquisitely formulated plot twists. It is like being on tumultous seas, only you are enjoying the ride to the fullest. If you crave a lushly written story that will keep you guessing up until the very end, pick up A Density of Souls. I didn't know what to expect when I saw it, but am glad to say I was surprised at what a good find it was!
Rating:
Summary: A Stirring Debut
Review: I only picked Christopher Rice's book up because I was a fan of his mother's work. I had high expectations and fortunately they were met. Christopher Rice's book grips you from the first few pages, taking you on an emotional and thought-provoking journey. I literally could not put the book down. I highly recommend this involved tale.
| 
