Rating: 
Summary: S'okay, but some of her others are lots better...
Review: Well, I like Alice Hoffman's books as well as the next person, but personally I don't think this one quite measures up. Here on Earth is an attempt to explore the many sides of a once-loving relationship that has gone unexamined and unrealized for many years. The language, of course, is evocative, and makes the sharp evidence of damage to the individuals involved all the more searing. Terror, lonliness, compassion, unforgiveness, and memory, and loss all play a part in this good (but not great) novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This was my first Alice Hoffman novel. I think she is a good writer, and the story held my attention. (The similarities to Wuthering Heights are unmistakable... at least for a good part of the book.) But the ending was ridiculous, in my opinion. The main character sort of fades out of the story, as does her daughter. The book ends up being about three completely different characters than it's starts out (and continues for quite a while) being about. I must have missed something along the way, but I found the ending contrived, disappointing and flat. I also found the transformation of the daughter (and the main character as well) pretty far-fetched. All in all, I don't recommend the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging
Review: I don't know why the previous person thought that this book was bad. I couldn't put this book down once I picked it up. It is fast paced and full of intrigue. It is a story about confronting your past and old loves. Yes, the story line may be a little dark for some but that darkness only seems to add to the intrigue. This book is well worth reading, especially for a truthful ending that neatly avoids being maudlin.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to author...
Review: I have never read anything by Alice Hoffman before, so I am very pleased that Here on Earth ended up being such a good introduction. The writing was extremely well done, and the storyline was surprisingly page-turning. Here on Earth tells the story of March Murray and her 19-year-absence from her hometown in Massachusetts. After living in California with her husband, Richard, and 15-year-old daughter, Gwen, March is called home for the funeral of Judith Dale, the woman who took care of her as a child. Accompanied by Gwen, March is thrust back into her old life -- her friends and her old house. But something worse haunts her heart -- March's childhood sweetheart, Hollis, is still in town and is just as much a magnet to her as he was before. Before she knows what hits her, March and Hollis rekindle their romance -- but this time things are very, very different. I was very surprised at the direction this story took, but I loved the twists! I started out with my feelings for certain characters pretty much set, then all these secrets start coming out of the woodwork and my emotions do a 180. I believe that when an author can evoke such reactions out of a reader, that is the hallmark of a talented writer. Here on Earth also had a fantastic supporting cast that carried the story well. Alice Hoffman surpassed my expectations, and I'll be sure to read another of her novels soon.
Rating:
Summary: Attention Grabber
Review: Alice Hoffman has done an outstanding job with her characters, you really haver strong feelings about each of them wether it be love, hate or respect. Here on Earth has one of the best storylines that I have read. In this book you will find adultry, love, unresolved feelings, anger, and suspense.The novel pulls you in from the very start and it was one of those books that I could hardly put down.
Rating:
Summary: Mysticism & romance
Review: I love the mystical undercurrent in all Alice Hoffman's books, and this book is no exception. Great characters. A classic Hoffman tale.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book!
Review: i had to read this book for an english class and i enjoyed it. It was very realistic, although there were some scenes when what was going on didn't quite make sense to the story. i ccouldn't put this book down! the first chapter was a little hard to get into, but then I was [pulled] in. i didn't like the way things turned out in the book, but then again, you can't always get what you want. (I am actually 16, but this computer won't let me do a review any other way.)
Rating:
Summary: Slow start--Huge finish
Review: ...So I start reading...it's kind of slow. And WHAT? It's in present tense? I don't know if I've ever read a book written in present tense...and I read alot! Get past the first 50-100 pages and it picks up, QUICK! Wow, I couldn't put it down. Maybe it's because it made me think of my first love. And what it's like when it feels as if things are unresolved. And hey, everyone likes a story about true love, soul mates...or so it seems. I won't spoil this story. But let's just say, there's much more to this book than meets the eye. I really enjoyed it. There's one paragraph where it talks about how March's love for Hollis has been everywhere around her in the past years, in a tree in her back yard, her bathwater, her tears...(it's much more eloquent, but I can't recall the exact words)...and that a true love never lets you go until he's finished with you. (that was put better too...) WOW. Great stuff. Gave me chills. I don't think this book will disappoint you. It will cause you to think, to hate certain characters, to love others...to get mad, to cry, to laugh-- but that's what a good book does. And this is one.
Rating: 
Summary: Saltines, anyone?
Review: Sometimes in taste tests, they use saltine crackers to "reset" the taste buds and keep the flavor of one item from influencing another. Well, this book left such a bad taste in my mouth I'm going to need a whole box of saltines to overcome it. I didn't like Wuthering Heights, and I didn't like Here on Earth. I guess I'm loathe to promote a book where there's not a single likeable character, or one who doesn't fit into some stereotyped role. I believe in realistic characters: people, I agree, are not black and white. No one is all good or all bad. This book seems to attempt to make the characters appear real, but fails miserably, as the "good" and "bad" qualities they exibit are transparent, superficial and worst of all, predictable. They are one-sided, painted china dolls whose behavior doesn't make any sense, here on Earth. Not the Earth I live on, anyway. I can't even praise the writing style. One never knows who is thinking what, or who is feeling how, becuase the author switches so rapidly from one point of view to another. A paraphrase: "Hollis was angry, and he looked at Hank meanly, because he was mean man, and Hank looked back, thinking about all the things Hollis had done for him, and thinking about Gwen, who was across town, thinking about..." I've always considered this a writing faux-pas, and while I'm all for breaking the rules, I don't think this one pulls it off successfully. The writer does so much telling (this one is beautiful, this one is good, this one is selfish) that the reader doesn't even have a chance to form his/her own opinions. I felt annoyed, talked down to and frustrated the whole way through. How did this get published? I kept asking myself. The reason I didn't put this book down after the first 20 pages is becuase I don't believe in walking out of an argument until everyone has said their piece, and believe me, when I finished this book, I felt like I had just come from battle. I kept thinking, maybe the book will redeem itself. Maybe I'll grow to like this writing style, somewhere along the way I'll see its beauty and its merits. Maybe the ending will be worth muddling through the elementary prose. It didn't, I didn't, and it wasn't. Saltines, anyone?
Rating:
Summary: Tedious [copy] of "Wuthering Heights"disappoints
Review: The story seemed very familiar to something I had read before...oh, that's right, Wuthering Heights. (Emily Bronte) The author has admitted to basing "here on earth" on Wuthering heights and no, this isn't a 'crime' of any sort. The fact she so cheaply based it on a beautiful, haunting love story about a weak man and a manipulative girl (Classic) and ripped the plot twists to oomph up her fickle story is [weak]. The characters are so NOT Heathcliff and Catherine...if you're going to copy an old novel (Bridget Jones did it terrifically with Pride and Prejudice...and dare I say Clueless the movie with Emma) then at least make the character of the same bloody characteristics. Heathcliff was not a soulless monster; Kathy wasn't some pushover who lived for Heathcliff. It's criminal. Hollis is a horrible man and March is a stupid woman who actually abandons her daughter. Who cares if it's 'haunting' and set in New England and has phrases like, 'the moon was full' and the plot is Wuthering Heights: 2000? It's awful! I give it two stars because it is well written, but I don't think I've ever been so disgusted by a novel which has so blatantly ripped off a classic.
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