Lilac

Narration completely wrong for this

Reviewed: 05-13-24

The narration was completely off the mark for the story. I don’t know these narrators but, for example, they would read a line as if the character were furious when the author specifically stated that the character was sounding “small and terrified“. Plus the whole book, and I mean the whole book was read with this kind of cutesy, campy point of view… I felt like the entire thing was a Scooby Doo episode. For the most part, I hated it. I have about a half hour left and I’m going to finish it just because I’ve invested so many hours. But no. Just no. Unless you’re a teenage girl, personally, I would skip this one.

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A slap in the face of the USA

Reviewed: 12-01-21

I am finally abandoning this book with just over one hour to go. I almost bailed several times but decided to stick with it. Now I’m just done. Apparently Miss Hyde believes that the world is literally full of bigoted patriots and that we here in the US live in a country that is hated, not because it is free, but because we are the bullies of the world. This takes place just after 911 and the main character implies that he can kind of understand why we got attacked. Ironically that point in time was probably the closest we’ve ever come to experiencing how bad life can be and how bad it actually is in other countries. Countries without a democracy, without our judicial system, without actual freedom, tyranny reins. Our country and judicial is not perfect but it is the best in the world.

Spoiler Alert:

What happened in this story is appalling and ridiculous. Whole groups of people are painted with one giant brush especially anybody who’s patriotic – they are just narrow minded and bigoted. And apparently in her mind, we live in a country where innocent people are just thrown in jail regardless of history, regardless of circumstance. Such an insult. I’m not saying it can never happen but the main character was not even surprised (and by that point in the book I wasn’t surprised either) It’s just a matter of course. Try committing a crime in China. In Russia. See how that goes compared to what we have here. The ironic part is that we live in a country where you’re free to have your insulting perspective. People like myself can disagree with you and that’s really the only consequence. You can have it, talk about it, and even publish it, no problem. People may not like it but you’re still FREE to do it. In other countries you have no such “right“. You’re welcome!

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Refreshing

Reviewed: 03-04-21

Wonderful true story of gratitude and genuine hard work. Those of us who have travelled all over the world know something about what it means to live in this great country. The lefts hatred of our country and the brainwashing of even our own athletes, who now refuse to stand for the flag before returning home to their ten million dollar mansions, is despicable. To the left, you’re not somebody unless you’re complaining about how much more your owed. The truth is, you know NOTHING.

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A difficult listen

Reviewed: 10-07-20

Depressing to listen to a book depicting Republicans as hateful and ignorant people who of course instantly hate someone of color-based on nothing but the color of their skin. I wonder if the authors even realize the irony of that. Made it hard to listen to.

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This book surprised me

Reviewed: 07-29-19

I purchased this book not knowing that it was a YA novel. I figured that out in the first few minutes and considered abandoning it completely. But I decided to at least give it a try and I’m very glad I did. Yes it is a coming-of-age story but the writers use of words gave the book an eloquence and insight that make the book something more. I read a review that had argued that no teenager has a vocabulary like that… And while that maybe true of most, there are some sophisticated, studious, and thoughtful young people out there as well. Not many books impressed me like this one did.

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Terrible!

Reviewed: 12-05-17

I thought the content might be interesting as a business owner, helping me when speaking to clients and/or interviewing potential employees. Wrong. An offshoot of CNN itself. Same garbage we see in the media every day, and I don’t need it during my personal time as well.

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7 people found this helpful

Well done

Reviewed: 02-06-16

I lost my father to ALS as well. In fact, he was diagnosed exactly one year after Dan's father died. My father passed away in 2011, so reading this was a revisit to a really dreadful time. But Dan had it right – how this impacts a family, the home healthcare, the BiPAP machine--all of it. The slow transformation of your world as it is completely turned upside down. Getting through the end of this book was almost too much to bear. Dan's description of his father sounds so much like my own. My father was also a marathon runner, we also used to live in Salt Lake City, my parents also had an elevator in their home, etc.… Crazy. This disease is so rare, it's really something not many can relate to. My first thought was "how can anyone find humor in a situation like this"? But Dan Marshall managed to do just that, while also being brutally honest about the devastation ALS brings as well. Great job. Great book.

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