Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I bought this book excpecting something very different from what I got. It is not just a story of how a family is affected by Catholic guilt, but Catholic guilt topped off with some incest and a vengful God.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I devoured this book. Maile Meloy writes the best kind of domestic fiction -- an emotional page-turner in clean, unobtrusive prose. Very very well-written, with a completely compelling plot. I laughed and I cried. And I mean cried! Don't miss this novel. It's one people are going to be talking about for a long time. I'd been waiting for it ever since reading Meloy's short story collection a year ago, and some of the stories she's had in The New Yorker since then -- which I LOVED! -- but LIARS AND even surpassed my expectations. Trust me: read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Special
Review: I found it impossible to get involved with the two-dimensional characters. This book went, unfinished, back to the library. I'm glad I didn't buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Barely a star
Review: I had the great misfortune of choosing Liars and Saints for a discussion and was the first to echo our group's great disappointment in this book. The prose is poorly articulated. The characters and plot are sadly underdeveloped. As a result, the novel reads like a fifth grade creative writing assignment. The dialogue uttered by many of the characters seems inconsistent for their life experience. As an adult Catholic, I find the treatment of Catholicism to be both superficial and superstitious. There has been no theological reflection or struggle demonstrated in the characters or in the prose. If you have a free afternoon, relish it, don't waste it on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Unfulfilled possibility
Review: I purchased this book after reading some of Meloy's short stories. Needless to say I was greatly disappointed. Reading this book was the equivalent of being on one of those conveyor belts in American airports. Everything felt rushed along, but you never really got anywhere. The plot was contrived and the characters were cutouts -- poorly conceived. Ms. Meloy pushed her story along as if she couldn't wait to finish it, and start something else. If she had taken more time to write a novel, instead of an expanded short story, the book might have kept me in its grip and I would have had better things to say.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting with no meat
Review: I read this book in one day. Not because it was so good I couldn't put it down, but because there was not much to read. Although it has an interesting and complicated plot, the characters are dreadfully underdeveloped and stagnant while the author's voice lacks compassion. The characters found themselves in precarious situations resulting in scandalous consequences, but I found myself unable to care. While reading, I was wanting to know more, but by the end, I could care less what happened. If you are looking for a book to pass the time on a rainy Saturday, this is the book for you. If you are looking for literary heft, look elsewhere. Try "The Curious Incident of a dog in the Nightime" by Mark Haddon. He has written a character you will truly care about.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth reading--twice
Review: I read this novel when it first came out and was favorably reviewed in the New Yorker as a "short." (The author's stories have appeared in the New Yorker). Recently, less than a year later, I picked it up again. I had only vague memories of the characters and story, as if I'd dreamed it. This makes me wonder about the strength of the character portrayal and the narrative (not, of course, about my memory). Although each character is interesting, none are very endearing, except perhaps for the young man, Jamie, who is, at least, funny and articulate. Part of the problem is that we aren't allowed much "time" with each character, as the narrative speeds through several generations, leaping from point of view to point of view. The writing, although flawless and strong, fails to create a sense of place or to paint a picture of any of the participants. It's more like a a fictional breeze through a family's generational history.On the other hand, I enjoyed it both times I read it. I think, therefore, that this novel should be read more as a narrative poem, and really a rather lovely one.
Rating:
Summary: Growing Up Catholic OR Growing Up With Family Secrets
Review: I think the title of this book could easily be changed to 'Growing Up Catholic' and/or 'Growing Up With Family Secrets'. I imagined the matriarch of the story as actress, Imelda Staunton (she was Academy Award nominated for the film VERA DRAKE in 2004). The story moved along so quickly that the first chapter had the matriarch married as a young girl, the second chapter had her with two young daughters and the third chapter had one of the daughters impregnated by a schoolteacher during a school dance outing. The chapters get more steamy as one reads along. I must thank my dentist friend, Jane Carter, in Surrey, England who recommended the book. I truly got a lot out of the book. It's clearly true that 'a family is irrevocably changed with each additional child' as is mentioned in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Promise But No Substance
Review: I truly WANTED to like this novel more. The idea was compelling: several generations of Catholic guilt and a snapshot of the changing times. But I felt as if I were quickly turning the pages of a photo album without lingering too long on any one photo. Here's Abby: she's born, she's pregnant, she dies. But who IS Abby? What is her essence? Just when I began to become acquainted with a character, he or she was thrust into the background as another one appeared. The result: I never became emotionally invested in any of them. There's promise here, but not enough substance.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of Promise But No Substance
Review: I truly WANTED to like this novel more. The idea was compelling: several generations of Catholic guilt and a snapshot of the changing times. But I felt as if I were quickly turning the pages of a photo album without lingering too long on any one photo. Here's Abby: she's born, she's pregnant, she dies. But who IS Abby? What is her essence? Just when I began to become acquainted with a character, he or she was thrust into the background as another one appeared. The result: I never became emotionally invested in any of them. There's promise here, but not enough substance.
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