Helpful Score: 8
Moving story told beautifully. The relationships are believable, and I found myself relating easily to the characters and their complex emotions. I found that there was surprising depth to what seems to be a simple story in the beginning. Very simply, read this book.
Helpful Score: 6
Absolutely wonderful and engrossing novel about a woman dealing with a difficult, tragic childhood. Her memories become more vivid following a debilitating accident, after which she decides to find out truths that have been hidden from her. Lots of surprises.
Helpful Score: 6
I thought this was a beautifully written story about love and loss. It's emotional, sad, heartbreaking, yet so full of hope. It immediately grabbed me from the first line and it was hard to put down. It's full of endearing characters that will definitely stay with me for a long time. I highly recommend this book. It's one of the best I've read in a long time....
Helpful Score: 3
A mystery of suspense and surprise. A good read.
Helpful Score: 2
Lacked an interesting plot, with poor advancement in the story line, and incomplete conclusion.
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed every minute of this book. The characters are wonderfully described, so that I felt I knew each one of them personally. It is definitely a bittersweet tale, but one that was hard for me to put down.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book in 2006 when it came out, and here it is 2012 and I *still* remember the things I "saw" as I read that compelling, powerful story. I am going through my books to put more up to share, but still can't let go of this book. THAT'S how good it is!
Helpful Score: 1
What a great book about abandonment, guilt, broken hearts, relationships, love; I highly recommend it. The characters are so believable and you relly get to know and love them. I'm definitely going to read her other books now!
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book. Such a different concept for a story line. The people were easy to get to know and because the story was something other than the run of the mill stories it really held my interest. I would read this author again soon.
Helpful Score: 1
Sad but I really enjoyed it.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book! Its plot held surprising twists and turns, the characters were just beautifully drawn... It was an excellent book! I really loved reading it. It was so very beautiful. I really am looking forward to reading other books by Monica Wood!
I only gave it 3 stars because the story seemed to draaaagg on for me. I did, however, like the theme that family is what we make of it and those who love us make sacrifices that we may never be aware of.
Not unlike a soap opera. Good for a quick diversion, but hardly satisfying reading.
From Booklist
The victim of a hit-and-run accident, Lizzy Mitchell is left by the driver in the middle of the median, hurt and adrift. Later Lizzie comes to see the accident as indicative of her life up to that point. Raised by her uncle Mike, a Maine priest, Lizzy grows up surrounded by his devotion to ministry. But at age nine, her comfortable world crumbles when her uncle is accused of molestation. Lizzy, now a high-school counselor, is still trying to make sense of what happened to her uncle. Wood's characters, similar to those in Mary Lawson's Crow Lake (2002), show refreshing depth and complexity as they each grapple with the irrefutable power of the past. This emotional story is filled with crisp, rich details that linger in the memory much like the Moxie soda that Lizzy recalls from her Maine summers. Wood's stirring domestic drama is full of surprises as it explores the weighty themes of religion, perceived innocence, and the corrosive quality of best intentions. Misha Stone
The victim of a hit-and-run accident, Lizzy Mitchell is left by the driver in the middle of the median, hurt and adrift. Later Lizzie comes to see the accident as indicative of her life up to that point. Raised by her uncle Mike, a Maine priest, Lizzy grows up surrounded by his devotion to ministry. But at age nine, her comfortable world crumbles when her uncle is accused of molestation. Lizzy, now a high-school counselor, is still trying to make sense of what happened to her uncle. Wood's characters, similar to those in Mary Lawson's Crow Lake (2002), show refreshing depth and complexity as they each grapple with the irrefutable power of the past. This emotional story is filled with crisp, rich details that linger in the memory much like the Moxie soda that Lizzy recalls from her Maine summers. Wood's stirring domestic drama is full of surprises as it explores the weighty themes of religion, perceived innocence, and the corrosive quality of best intentions. Misha Stone
Excellent! Loved the author's way with words, and her characters. For those who only got half way through it, you really missed out! Just as it started to feel like it was starting to drag a little, there was a shocking twist, and how the characters worked through it was great. Loved it! D.
This really was a great book!! I got lost in it and couldn't put it down.
excellant book, didn't want to put it down. It had plenty of twists and turns and a bit of a mystery. Rumors, lies, assumptions, and relationships, time passes and life goes on.
A constant page-turner, twists in the plot continued to surprise me to the very end. Excellent.
I have never written a book review before but I had to on this one. This by far was one of the best books I have ever read. Her way with words is amazing and the story was too. If I had a way to get this made into I movie I would do it in a heartbeat. I just picked up the book at goodwill because they are so cheap and I am thrilled that I found it.
Wow this book has so many layers, where you end up is not where you start out, or where you think you'll end up. Lizzie, raised by her uncle, Father Mike, is taken from him, he dies, she grows up with out him. Years later she is in a horrible accident, and he comes to her in a dream. The ending keeps changing, things are revealed that you never saw coming. A haunting book, to say the least.
ANY BITTER THING was the January 2013 pick in my online book club, The Reading Cove. Unfortunately, apart from a few insightful lines in the opening narrative, I was bored stiff.
The writing style was awkward, and so was the relationship between the main character, Lizzy and the "bad samaritan" who came to her aid the night of her accident. There were also too many tragedies thrown into the mix and it wasn't handled in a very engaging way.
The more interesting story line dealing with Lizzy's childhood and her uncle the priest was told, rather than shown, in favor of taking the reader through the boring day-to-day thought process of Lizzy as an adult.
All in all, this was just a boring heap of tragic who cares. So if you tend to enjoy that sort of thing, ANY BITTER THING might just be for you.
I give this one a D+.
The writing style was awkward, and so was the relationship between the main character, Lizzy and the "bad samaritan" who came to her aid the night of her accident. There were also too many tragedies thrown into the mix and it wasn't handled in a very engaging way.
The more interesting story line dealing with Lizzy's childhood and her uncle the priest was told, rather than shown, in favor of taking the reader through the boring day-to-day thought process of Lizzy as an adult.
All in all, this was just a boring heap of tragic who cares. So if you tend to enjoy that sort of thing, ANY BITTER THING might just be for you.
I give this one a D+.
A story about a woman dealing with her childhood. After the death of her parents at a early age she is sent to live with her uncle who is a priest. She is taken from him when she is nine and doesn't understand why. She is told he is dead and mourns his death. After she has recovered from a near fatal accident when she was thirty she remembers seeing her beloved uncle at her bedside in the hospital. Was it a dream? She struggles to make sense of her memories and discover what happened to cause her to be separated from her uncle. A very good story, I found it hard to put down. Full of surprises.
I gave it a good try, but could only get half way through it. It did not hold my interest.
Beautifully written, wonderful story, heartfelt, kept me interested. If you read and enjoyed "The Kindness of Strangers" try this book.
