Rating: 
Summary: Heartbreaking and beautiful
Review: I'm amazed at all the swirling of opinion about this book--It's really not that complicated. The Smarts went through one of the worst possible things that can happen to a parent but they were miraculously spared the ultimate tragedy. This is the story of their ordeal. They come across as very normal, caring parents, and they seem to really have their hearts in the right place when it comes to the well-being of all their children, and for the missing children (and their parents) who have not yet or will never be found. It's really a tear jerker. I think they couldn't have put presented their story any more tastefully.
Rating:
Summary: Let me get this straight
Review: These critcal reviewers bought the book and now they accuse the Smarts of being exploitive for writing it. If something is wrong here it is that kind of cynical hypocritcal schitzophrenic reasoning. Why don't they write their own book? Go ahead just make up your own story since you all seem to know more about what happened than the people who lived it.This is the Smart's story. They are the best qualified to tell it and they have done a very nice job of it here. I admire their faith, courage and tenacity. I wish all of them love and healing.
Rating: 
Summary: Stupid? Foolish? Exploitative? Sad.
Review: It is difficult for me to imagine how horrible it would be to have your young daughter disappear for a year. So the Smarts have my sympathy for that. But this book only leaves me with one conclusion about Ed Smart: He is either stupid, foolish, or exploitative... or some combination of the three. The book is wandering between an affirmation of the family's LDS faith (and that's fine) and the personal trials of the disappearance of their daughter (and that's fine too). But the two story lines distract from each other. And, honestly, the book is poorly written.
It is difficult to understand how Ed the father could have been so stupid or foolish to allow some of the events to have occurred which may have contributed to placing his family at risk.
And it is sorely saddening that he now wants to exploit his daughter's plight through this book (and all of the accompanying media circus they have been performing in conjunction with its release). He is doing this for income: either monetary income, or psychic/publicity/attention/sympathy income. A better man and father would keep all the attention away from his daughter and his family surrounding this event and try to get them back to a normal, and anonymous, existence.
I conclude that the best description of this book is that it is a selfish effort on Ed Smart's part... for whatever motive.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was waiting for this book to be released. Surprisingly I had trouble completing the book. I found there to be very little information. Yes we all should have faith in what we think might be impossible but I was hoping to read an interesting book and this was not the case.
Rating:
Summary: Uplifting!
Review: No, this book is not a feeding frenzy for those looking for gruesome details of Elizabeth Smart's 9-month ordeal. As her parents point out in this book, it will be her decision whether or not to ever make those private details public. Rather it is just what the title and subtitle of the book imply: her parent's story of the toll the ordeal took on them & their family and how they held everything together through faith and prayer until Elizabeth was brought home. Encouraging scripture and relevant explanations of their LDS faith are interspersed with chronological details of the investigative process. Ed and Lois Smart, I am rejoicing with you in God for this miracle! The importance of family and faith jumps off every page here. Read it and be inspired!
Rating:
Summary: They didn't ask...
Review: Here's a little food for thought...The Smart family didn't ask to have their daughter stolen away in the night...they didn't ask to have her missing for 9 months...they didn't ask to be thrown out in the public eye for all to see...they didn't ask to be openly critized for their religious beliefs...they didn't ask for any of that. Who would ask for that? What they did ask for they thankfully got...they asked for her to be returned safely...they asked for help from the public...and they asked for a chance to tell their story. That would be the true story and not something that a journalist speculated to be fact, or that the gossip papers displayed on their covers. All that they did ask for, I believe they asked to a Being that is far greater than any of us could ever imagine. So, to those who wish and do cast judgement...stop for one moment and think. Have I ever had a loved one ripped away from me? Have I ever suffered a great loss of any kind? Have I ever been publicly scrutanized for anything? Hmmm...It's really easy to cast judgement until you think about how you would react or what you would do if a similar thing happened in your own life. I don't believe that their is anyone who can honestly say that they know what this family went through. Everyone and every situation is different. Sometimes I wonder how people think they were given the authority to judge others. That's a very big job! One that I would never want to mess with. For one day we will all be judged by the one who DOES have that authority. Lots of people have been known to impersonate different positions...seen "Catch Me If You Can"? Taken from real life. So, just a suggestion let us all try to not practice a job that we weren't chosen for; a job that none of us has a degree to do. The irony of it all...those who have impersonated positions of higher authority, they all ended up in prison.
Rating: 
Summary: With Everyone Asking, they were bound to respond
Review: In our voyeristic society, we all wanted to know exactly what happened to Elizabeth. The Smarts decided to cooperate and try to show that in every dark moment, there can be some source of hope. They told this story as a thank you for the country who supported them through their ordeal and as a faith-building affirmation of their beliefs. It is completely unsubstantiated and sick and wrong to come on this forum and "bash" the Smarts based on your own bizarre conjecture that there is "more to" the story than appears. It is an awful story as is. How can you blame the Smarts for trying to help a homeless man or try to spin the whole ordeal as if they had put their daughter in hiding. I have seen Elizabeth on TV, and find her credible. The "Stockholm Syndrome" is a very real condition, and no one on this board can possibly judge what was going through Elizabeth's mind months after she had been kidnapped, raped, tortured and forced to live on the streets. No one here has the right to criticize her or her parents for responding for the media's persistant questions with a brief and faith-affirming statement of their ordeal. No one. You should be ashamed of yourselves, all you people who come on here and defame the Smarts based on nothing but your own vile imaginations.
Rating:
Summary: It would be nice...
Review: Yeah, it would be great if the whole Smart story were as storybook as we were lead to believe. But... there are too many inconsistancies in this story... to many things that leave you scratching your head. We aren't being told the whole story; there has to be much more to it. We aren't niave... tell us the truth.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT
Review: This is a family telling a story of how they used Faith and Hope to get through the most horrible and terrifying of all situations. Love, prayers and faith predeced the Miracle God prodived in bringing their daughter home. Read this. Keep it on your shelf so that when we have our hard times, we can remember that we CAN get through them, with hope and prayer.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful end to a tragic experience
Review: I would like to point out that I have personally known the Smart family for several years. I have been closely associated with them in a business venture. In response to an earlier review, I state the following categorically: There are no finer, more generous people than Ed & Lois Smart. I have witnessed firsthand the turmoil that this event took on the personal and professional lives of Elizabeth's parents, aunts & uncles, grandparents and friends. The world literally stopped moving for them. There is no conspiracy, nothing fishy. In fact, the opposite is true. This book is a memoir published from the point of view of parents thrown into a terrible nightmare. How would you react? What would you do? Don't forget that Lois Smart's father had just passed away in the weeks before the kidnapping. Naturally, as a religous family, faith plays a huge role in coping, surviving, being there for the other children. I highly suggest this book as a unique perspective of a position you never, ever want to experience - the loss of your child in the middle of the night. (Note: It is my understanding that a detailed, authoritative book on the actual investigation and case will soon be available.)
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