Rating: 
Summary: Not up to Siddons Previous Works but Readable
Review: I was disappointed in Ms Siddon's latest offering, "Islands." As a fan of long standing, I always am happy to hear when she has a new book about to be published. Unfortunately, "Islands" was not up to the standards set by such outstanding earlier works as "Colony," "Hill Towns," "Downtown," and "Outerbanks." In this book, Ms Siddons' narrator is just plain boring:it is easy to understand why Anny Butler has spent most of her adult life devoting herself to her work, as the woman is as dull as dirt! Given that, it is less than understandable why a man-about-town takes an instant shine to her and immediately begins courting her. This improbable romance takes on the characteristics of a wish-fullfillment for potential readers, most of whom will be female of a certain age (being that age myself, I have to state that I dislike being manipulated in that fashion by an author, although maybe I am being too unkind to Ms Siddons). Unlike many of Ms Siddons previous works, there was nothing gripping about the plot of the story, and none of the characters stood up and grabbed the reader. Ms Siddons has explored the nature of sexual and personal obsession before, and done a much better job of it. My biggest gripe is reserved for the secondary character of Gaynelle: the reader is supposed to believe that Gaynelle has an advanced degree in library science, but can only support herself and her obnoxious child by cleaning houses. In addition, most of her spare money goes to entrance fees and tacky costumes so her 7 year old girl can enter beauty pagents. It just doesn't wash! My advice on this book is to save your money for the paperback edition.
Rating: 
Summary: It Gets Better As You Read More Into It!
Review: I wasn't 100% sure of this book after the first 50 or so pages. But as I read further along, I enjoyed it more.
Anny Butler never knew what a real family was like. That is,until she met Lewis Aiken, a doctor who treated kids. When the two meet up, it's love at first sight, and they become married shortly after.
With her new husband of course, comes the Scrubbs family, a family in Charleston who own an old beach house on Sullivan's Island. They live day by day and care for each other as familie's do. But as life changes, tragedies occur, and many secrets are found out with them at a terrible price.
As the book rolls along, it becomes more sad/depressing, but gets more interesting to read all the same. I sure enjoyed the last 200 pages all the more.
Rating: 
Summary: This was almost a 4 star rating!
Review: I've been a fan of Siddons' work for years. I've enjoyed most of her novels, loved some of them (Downtown, Outer Banks, Colony), and maybe once or twice just felt one of her books wasn't up to her usual standards (Low Country). In general I've looked forward to each new release, and enjoyed reading them. This is the first time I've ever actually been disgusted. I'm referring here only to the ending. The rest was quite good, not her best ever, but an interesting story with wonderful characters. Oh, I thought there were a few flaws - for example, the immediate acceptance of Anny into a tight knit group of lifelong friends, who were all a good 15 years older than she, seemed a bit unrealistic. There was a very brief mention of animosity between Anny and Fairlie at their first meeting. But suddenly, a page or two later, they are the best of friends, with no indication of how their relationship developed. Anny's romance with Lewis seemed a bit forced also. It felt like the author was quickly laying down the background so she could get to the main part of the story. I was actually willing to overlook that, since the rest of it was absorbing and often touching. But the ending! Ugh! I won't spoil it by saying what happens, but the last 15 pages completely negated everything else about the story, by turning it into a bad soap opera or a B-movie. I agree with another reviewer - it really seemed as if another person wrote the last chapter. It did not fit at all, with the story as a whole or with the characters. Worse than that, it was completely ludicrous. I am extremely, extremely disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Past her Prime?
Review: I've read and enjoyed several of Siddon's other books, and her descriptions of places, customs, climate, food often make you feel you've been there, but to this book I often said, "Blah, blah, blah-who cares?" As I was trapped in airports and airplanes I read the whole thing in a day. Actually I skipped over some of the descriptions because her writing was unimaginative, methodical, repetitive....boring. I think I'll go back and actually count the number of times she used the word "obscurely"as an (obscure to be sure) adverb. Doesn't she have an editor? Do writers get paid by the page?
Rating:
Summary: Decent read
Review: I've read everything ARS has written and have lived in either Charleston or Atlanta all of my life so I enjoy reading books set in these locations. I probably enjoyed this book more than some might have because it reminded me of my childhood and experiences on Sullivan's Island. Also, the descriptions of the sea and the pluff mud and the Charleston "elite" all rang true. It is nice to see her lead female in a good relationship, since ARS tends to start her books with women who have just been cheated on who have to pull themselves up and out of that circumstance. The story itself was okay, but with every chapter that started, my brain started calculating what horrible accident was coming up and who would it involve? Don't read this if you're already in a low mood. It was kind of a tough book to get through - lots of tragedies to overcome and in the end just left me feeling really sad and alone for Anny. Everyone writes that the last chapter didn't connect. I thought it connected perfectly. Without giving it away, I figured from earlier "odd" happenings that circumstances were being helped along. The writing itself was kind of choppy in some areas. She'd write about something and start going along and then say "and we never were to talk about it again" or "we never saw them again." It was like she wanted to start writing about something but then got tired of it so she chopped that storyline off - like wandering through a maze and running into dead ends. It's a good ARS book though. I'd recommend it just based on enjoying her other books.
Rating: 
Summary: a lovely story with a fabulous protagonist!
Review: like some of the other reviewers, i too have read everything ms. siddons has written. although this is not my favorite of her books, i give it five stars because it is head and shoulders above so many other books i've read lately. it is very well written, as always from ms. siddons, and has a wonderful main characters. the very last scene blew me away!
Rating:
Summary: Keep your hanky handy!
Review: This is a heart-wrenching tale of 8 friends, growing older, and promising to always be there to take care of one another despite the fact that one of them is crazy and a murderer!!! All the usual problems of growing old....death, sickness, crises, etc. I did not especially care for this book, thought it was a downer.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly captivating read!
Review: This was my first ARS book and was well worth the weekend I devoted to it! While, to a certain extent, I shared the feeling about lack of character development expressed by other reviewers, for me, it was more a book about the exquisite character of Charleston and Edisto, and Sullivan Island. The first two are personal favorites, and the story that covered so many years included wonderfully descriptive narratives about places I love dearly, although I felt the devastation of Hugo was understated. ARS must have utilized very subtle foreshadowing because I had an uneasy sense about the villain almost from the beginning - these Southern women can be lethal when crossed (speaking as transplant from the north). Perhaps it was that uneasiness that made me feel I'd learned as much about these women as I cared to! This was a very enjoyable book that'll be the catalyst to reading some of her other, more highly recommended, books. I cannot compare this to others by this author, but on its face, Islands is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Islands
Review: To have the gift of a group of friends like the one in Islands is a blessing. Read about them and share their lives. If you don't have friends like these, try to make at least one really close friend who'll share your life with you.
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