Rating: 
Summary: depressing
Review: This book is entirly to sad. I really enjoyed the style of writing, also the plot, story line, character development. But it is entirely to depressing. I want gritty reality, but I don't want to have to take prozac afterward. When I started crying on the treadmill, I knew it was time to quit.
Rating:
Summary: depressing
Review: This book is entirly to sad. I really enjoyed the style of writing, also the plot, story line, character development. But it is entirely to depressing. I want gritty reality, but I don't want to have to take prozac afterward. When I started crying on the treadmill, I knew it was time to quit.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the buy
Review: This book is the story of a family thrown into a custody battle when there is a horrible car accident. The story line is wonderfully set up, the characters interesting, the plot seems wonderful. But then the author writes the book as if she is attempting to re-create stereo instructions. Every scene is met with about two pages of unnecessary and often confusing descriptions. I couldnt get past the first two pages when there is car crash and the author spends too much time and energy describing the fathers antique car. I dont recommend this book unless you enjoy reading novels written as a complicated Medical Journel article.
Rating: 
Summary: For the love of a child
Review: This is a beautifully written book that plumbs the depths of human identity, familial relationships and geographic bigotry.
Mitchard is at her prosaic best and this is a satisfying read.
The plot details the custody struggle for an innocent toddler, Keefer, whose parents die in an automobile accident. Everyone loves Keefer but Mitchard deftly shows the difficulty that people have putting the needs of a child first when strained in-law relations, geographic distance, and muddled lines of heredity throw her custody case into the courts.
Intertwined in the struggle for Keefer's custody are the main character's struggle, as an adoptee, for the rights entitled to the rights of the rest of American society. But he also struggles with his own identity and sense of commitment. Also poignantly displayed are the biases of the wealthy and poor, the biases of Northerners vs. Southerners. And never are these biases one-sided.
Mitchard weaves such an effective tapestry and such wonderfully complete characters (even "minor" characters get a full-fledged treatment)that this book is difficult to cover with one review. It must be read.
Only two weaknesses keep this book from being perfect. There are a few unnecesraily graphic sex scenes that add little to the development of the characters and even less to the plot. They will offend some readers.
And the closing chapter of the book, while it contains some great suprises and delights, does not match the seamless construction and gentle pacing of the rest of the book. It almost seems that Mitchard was limited to a maximum number of pages and was forced to tie up all the loose ends quickly.
That criticism aside, this is a fine book.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Captivating
Review: This is a story of love for the family, and the sacrifices and heartaches that come with it.A young couple died, leaving behind the 1-yr old baby girl. She was presumed to be taken care of by the maternal grandparents, only to be challenged by the other set of grandparents. It later focuses on the uncle, Gordon, who was made to fight for the adoption of baby Keefer, whom he felt like his own anyway. Legal turns took place and for all the struggles and fights, the bruises and triumphs, he came to realize that Keefer's interest was the most important thing. It exemplifies how a baby can change people's lives - physically, mentally, and emotionally; and how a family stand together for each other. This book made me feel for the characters - their sorrow, anger, gratitute, relief, happiness and everything in between. The details are the essence. It also made me see many aspects of adoption from inside. Family stories can be too familiar sometimes, but the storyline of this book is compelling and captivating. The author's play with words is interesting too, I couldn't help enjoying the read.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Captivating
Review: This is a story of love for the family, and the sacrifices and heartaches that come with it. A young couple died, leaving behind the 1-yr old baby girl. She was presumed to be taken care of by the maternal grandparents, only to be challenged by the other set of grandparents. It later focuses on the uncle, Gordon, who was made to fight for the adoption of baby Keefer, whom he felt like his own anyway. Legal turns took place and for all the struggles and fights, the bruises and triumphs, he came to realize that Keefer's interest was the most important thing. It exemplifies how a baby can change people's lives - physically, mentally, and emotionally; and how a family stand together for each other. This book made me feel for the characters - their sorrow, anger, gratitute, relief, happiness and everything in between. The details are the essence. It also made me see many aspects of adoption from inside. Family stories can be too familiar sometimes, but the storyline of this book is compelling and captivating. The author's play with words is interesting too, I couldn't help enjoying the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful and thought-provoking
Review: This is a wonderful book. (I listened to it on audio cassette) The people become so real that you can picture them as you go along. I found tears in my eyes a lot which can be dangerous if you're listening in the car. Knowing that our society continues to consider adoptees to have fewer rights than the rest of the citizens is shocking and helps one examine one's own attitudes. The interactions with a toddler seemed so true that I felt that the book must have been written while someone was trying to care for a two-year-old. This book couldn't have been much better although I did feel that the ending seemed a little contrived. Get ready for an emotional experience!
Rating: 
Summary: good potential
Review: This was a book with so much potential, it's too bad it didn't get some editorial help to make it a great book. The strong points were that the characters felt so real to me, and I really felt attached to them. But other than that, reading it was painful. First, the author unfortunately tries to give us points of view of too many characters, making the reader not know any one character in depth, and reading too many details. Also, I didn't like the way the reader was kept in torturing suspense as to the fate of Keefer's custody. I finally figured it out within a completely new context at the very end - the author knew we would all want to know, so why write about it 'by the way'? The book just took too many different directions, taking me off the original path of caring and feeling for the characters.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This was a heartfelt story, and I loved every word. My husband's father adopted him and therefore, I felt a deep connection to this story before I opened the book. I thought that the characters were realistically flawed, and that just enhanced my enjoyement of the book.
There were times that I felt a little overwhelmed by the details in the story, but I was happy to get to know the characters.
I especially enjoyed the ending of this book. I really loved the way the author gave us a chance to hear from Keefer, which was not the case (due to her age) throughout the novel.
Great book from a great author!
Rating:
Summary: show, don't tell...did an editor even read the manuscript?
Review: to say i was disappointed in 'relativity' would be an understatement. i was enthralled by mitchard's 'deep end of the ocean'and left in awe of her ability to write some of the most poignant literature i've ever read. then came 'the most wanted', which left me wondering if it was written by the same author. but i'm willing to forgive and move on. so, when i saw she had a new book out, i was elated! and then i read the book. 'relativity' is 80% prose, telling, and historical account and about 20% dialogue and action. i found myself skipping page after page after page in hunt for -something- to pique my interest. i never found it. as a reader,i feel cheeted because 'relativity' could have been so much better if mitchard had stuck to the old publishing mantra, "show, don't tell."
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