Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new or original
Review: Geez. Is there a woman alive in a romance novel anywhere that doesn't go from the rat to the love of her life? How predictable. How boring. And hey, I live in this neck of the woods and I never quite bought the descriptions of this area. It was too generic or too wooded or something. It just wasn't real. But then nothing in this book really is. The characters, the settings, the plot itself are all just superficial plastic stuff you've read about before. If a typical romance novel done up in Pacific Northwest flannel is all you're in the mood for, this is your book. But don't look for anything more than a flavored coffee moment.
Rating:
Summary: Give me a break...
Review: My best friend swore this was the best book she had ever read, and after reading it myself I have come to one conclusion - she really needs to read more. Maybe I didn't like this book because I couldn't identify with Annie, but it just seemed so unrealistic. Her husband tells her he had an affair and she decides to go "home" to find herself. After battling depression and deciding that she wants to be more than just a caretaker for her husband and daughter, she starts by being a caretaker for another man and his daughter. What kind of sense does that make? The only thing that I really liked about this book was that Izzy was given a voice, and we were able to see things from her point of view. But after losing her mother and finally finding someone (Annie) to trust, Annie rips her heart out and returns home to her cold-hearted husband. I didn't understand Annie's difficulty with her decision at that point, and was unable to sympathize. In the end, after Annie had her baby, I thought it was very hokey when, all of a sudden, they bring in her baby and she breast feeds. I was glad she finally broke free from Blake, but thought it was a bad idea to throw herself at Nick. She wanted so much to find out who she was, but didn't allow herself five minutes of self-discovery. I found this book easy to read, but even easier to put down. It didn't hold my attention, and I didn't think it was very well written.
Rating: 
Summary: The first thing that struck me was Hannah's lyric style:
Review: "Rain fell like tiny silver teardrops from the tired sky. Somewhere behind a bank of clouds lay the sun, too weak to cast a shadow on the ground below." The story opens with Annie's perfect world shattering when her husband announces he wants a divorce. Unsure what to do, where to go, Annie goes home to Mystic Lake. There she re-meets her first love, Nick, who is mourning the death of his wife, Annie's best friend. And lost in the shuffle, is Izzy, his daughter who is still suffering. This is truly Annie's story of self-discovery. It was well worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: Poorly-researched, throwback to another age--a triumph?
Review: I truly looked forward to reading this book, my first Kristin Hannah and one that has received rave reviews. On Mystic Lake is the story of a woman who, cruelly abandoned by her husband, goes back to her home town to "find herself." The premise was great, but my disappointment in the story grew as I read page after page. From the beginning, I was frustrated with the heroine, Annie. How could she be so clueless about her husband? Didn't she have any sort of life for herself, outside of her daughter and picking up her husband's dry cleaning? As a stay-at-home mom myself, I found her doormat attitude about life downright insulting. What on earth did she do with herself day after day, while they were away at work and school? She seemed child-like in her isolation, her lack of interests, her total definition of herself as a wife and a mother. I hung on, through the untrue depictions of Malibu and LA, through the flowery, almost purple descriptions of Mystic, hoping she would figure out who she was... well, it turns out, she is a "wife" and a "mother"! She finds an old beau on the skids and his troubled daughter, and so becomes his surrogate wife and dear little Izzy's new and improved mother. We are supposed to cheer for her, because she helps frightened Izzy and tortured Nick become better people, and she feels good about it. But do we really learn anything new about her? Does she learn anything new about herself, beyond her sex drive? I don't see it. She has vague plans about opening a bookstore. Once, she wanted to be a writer, but that idea is also taken nowhere. She blames this on her father, who never taught her to have goals of her own. The final straw, for me, was the arrival of her pre-term daughter. Anyone who has spent any time in a modern NICU will roll their eyes at the inaccuracies. A five-pounder in mortal danger? Not these days. Annie's rivers of tears are downright annoying to anyone who has seen the brave, stoic parents of those babies truly at risk. Annie would not have been allowed to wring her hands at her daughter's side for days on end, and the instantaneous nursing scene was almost laughingly unrealistic. In retrospect, I would say this plot turn was egregiously manipulative, designed for everyone to get out their hankies one more time. While Annie is a truly noble person, who is a fabulous mother and certainly an attentive, efficient wife, I did not find her heroine material because I did not see new dimensions of her personality revealed, I did not see her moving in new directions. And, frankly, I felt insulted by inaccuracies of detail and a plot obviously designed to wring the heartstrings as effectively as a Hallmark commercial. I like Hallmark commercials; but I was expecting more.
Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming
Review: This was an amazing book that I could not put down. It takes you through tons of twists and turns that capture your attention. I felt like I was actually with the characters and felt how they felt. It is a true tear-jerker though. I think it is the first book that has ever made me cry! You can't pass up this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Moving, romantic, sad... a real tear jerker !
Review: This book was really good. It was a powerful story of a middle-aged woman who has to make a decision about "Her" life and no one else. I could't put it down until I found out what was going to happen! Although, I can understand what Kristin was trying to do @ the end but I was kinda dissapointed. I wanted more! Still, great read! I will read more of Kristin's books.
Rating: 
Summary: Great if you wade throught the first half
Review: The end of this book is almost worth a five but it was hard work getting there. Lost one star for having to hunt for a story in long, repetitive, flowerly desciptions of Northwest. There are only so many ways to describe rain and the author used every one. It was the "chicksoup" light, however, that topped it. I wanted to be with the characters, not the trees. A second star deducted for the stereotypical characterization of Lurlene and her husband. Small town quirky characters are "in", but for someone who grew up in a small town, there's a limit, and Lurlene was it. Another 1/2 star should have been deducted for the author's faulty description of the drive from Malibu (which is smog free) to LAX, which goes nowhere near the concrete corridors of downtown LA. I liked Annie once she stopped being a doormat, though I thought her long suffering housewife might have worked better in the 70's than the 90's.
Rating:
Summary: An emotional ride
Review: If you have ever had to pick up the pieces of your life and start over again, this book is for you. Annie's struggle to help others while she helps herself shows the depth of character in Kristen Hannah's writing. The curves that life throws each character tests their will and keeps you reading, hoping that they are able to overcome their obstacles. I wept through the entire last third of the book. It is by far the most intense book I have ever read. And it left me wanting more....
Rating:
Summary: Realistic!
Review: The story here is so realistic! And I was so grateful to Ms. Hannah for not laying all the blame on the husband or wife....it's always taken two for a marriage to end. The stories of AA were real here also and much appreciated--not something you see often in literature or movies. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a story that touches their heart....
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: This is a wonderful story of a woman who did everything for her husband only to have him ask for a divorce. Finding herself separated she returns to her home town and finds love and happiness. I cried, laughed, and couldn't put the book down. You will love it.
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