Rating: 
Summary: seen myself in certain characters
Review: What a good book. I seen myself and others around me in the characters. They were completely believable. I enjoyed the story and was very interested to find out what happened. The ending is completely shocking. It's a book that I will read again just to enjoy Shreve's wonderful way of telling the story. When I finished I wanted to almost immediately go back and start again to see if there was anything I had missed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lovely Story...
Review: Agreed - it starts slow with too many unnecessary details. But, get past the first few chapters and find yourself entrenched in a bittersweet love story between a man and a women you will agree are destined to be together. The story of love between Thomas and Linda is unforgettable, tearjerking, and frustrating. I never knew a man to have such deepness, especially in his younger years.
Only problem with the novel: the final paragragh. Completely unexpected, completely unwanted... Other than that - BRAVO!
Rating: 
Summary: Unforgettable for one reason...
Review: ... because I'll never forget wasting my time trying to get through the first few chapters. I found this story *un-bearably* boring and, consequently, I was not able to complete the book. Despite moving backward, the story was very slow; and I do mean 'very' slow. The character development was near non-existant. And after several dozen pages, I couldn't care less about Linda or her life. Additionally, Shreve's writing style in this book was remarkably distracting! Her use of parenthesis was downright distressing. The parenthesis statements would go on for half or more of the page; so long, in fact, that you were forced to re-read the beginning of the sentence (or paragraph) just to get a sufficient grip on what was just written. So it goes without saying that you could conceivably spend numerous minutes on one single page. In short, nothing about this book was spell bounding, captivating or mesmerizing. It was not a 'can't-put-it-down pageturner'; franky, I found it quite easy to put this one down.
-ekgheiy
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable!!
Review: This is the first book of Anita Shreve's that I read. I have never forgotten the story and images. Like others have mentioned the first section is brutal. But please, please give it a chance because once you get to the second section it is awesome. Unique and wonderful. But bear in mind that Anita Shreve is not for everyone. She has a unique way with language and some people just cannot get into it. I'm a big fan though.
Rating:
Summary: I can't bring myself to keep reading
Review: A number of the reviews mention the "slow" beginning. Slow! Slow?! Slow hardly describes it. Torture would be a better description. Horrid torture actually. I can tolerate a slow beginning, but this is beyond slow. It's just too bad to keep reading. Save your time, save your money and find something you actually enjoy reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Seen it before...
Review: *****SPOILERS******I'm surprised that nobody's compared this one to "Atonement." Maybe it's only because I read this one a mere month after I finished "Atonement," but boy talk about deja vu. I even checked to see the copyright years on both books - 2001. I thought the story moved very slowly, and I too, as mentioned in other reviews, had little sympathy for Thomas. I didn't like his character very much at all. The teenage romance hardly seemed as deep and long-lasting as the beginning of the book described. And I saw the "uncle" story coming a mile away. Of course, I didn't predict the ending, but then I just read nearly the exact same ending in "Atonement" so I was hardly astonished.
Rating:
Summary: I am so confused!!
Review: I greatly enjoyed reading The Pilot's Wife, Sea Glass, Where or When, Eden Close, and the Weight of Water. How was I to know that Shreve could put out such a confusing, impossible and unrealistic novel? I've reread the end several times and am trying to put a timeline together of what I've just read and it's not possible. If you're good at figuring out a Rubik's Cube, this is a novel for you. Otherwise, stick with the others I mentioned before!
Rating:
Summary: Good start but weakens at the end
Review: While this book kept my attention and seemed believable in the
beginning, it lost it by the end. As older characters, Linda and Thomas are real. Yet as teenagers, who's love lasts a life time, its pretty far fetched. As teenagers, the characteres seem good friends, but there's no evidence of strong feelings. Yet, these two people become obessed with each other later in life. I found it disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Pretentious drivel
Review: I was looking forward to reading this book after hearing so many positive things. I'd never read Shreve before...and I never will again. Her style is stiff, pretentious, & unnatural. Especially in her descriptives (overwhelming use of superfluous adverbs) and dialogue. I challenge any reader to think of a person they know who actually speaks like these characters. The ending in particular was silly. That last paragraph - unnecessarily tragic. Like a typical Hollywood tear-fest. Sad for the sake of being sad. Silliness.
Rating: 
Summary: LAST PARAGRAPH RUINED BOOK!
Review: I really enjoyed this book until the last paragraph. Sure, it's not great literature, but I still had a few hours invested in the damn book. I want those hours back.
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