Helpful Score: 15
The hype by critics on the back cover of this book do it a great disservice. The writing is good, the character development solid, and the pacing okay. However, to read the back cover one would imagine the contents to be more exciting, more intense, and more hair-raising than they actually turn out to be. If you like to read slow-paced, character driven fiction and/or enjoy the "chick-flick" genre then you will like this book. However, you will not find an "astonishing end," or "a wild, dark place," or anything "creepy or fascinating" about the book (all things promised on the dust jacket). What you will find is a mix of death, psychic visions/readings, and abused women all combined in a seacoast town known for the eccentricities of its people.
Helpful Score: 14
I finished this book last night and I am still having trouble putting into words what I think of it. There are parts of the book I like and it seems to want to take off to be a good book, then there are other parts it drags so much I was beginning to give up. I stuck it out though and all I can say is this, I am not sure what the hype is about this book, to me you could take all the good parts that really mean something to the story and have about 70 pages the rest is filler.
Helpful Score: 13
This is a VERY good book! While I did have trouble relating to the characters early on, that was resolved relatively soon, and I felt deeply connected with them as I continued to read this unique and interesting story. Well written, with an intriguing plot, I highly recommend this book.
Helpful Score: 5
"The Lace Reader" is a story of a woman named Towner who is faced with her great-aunt's disappearance, her mother's insanity, and her brother's wedding. Out of all of this comes a story that is laced with mystery, deception, discovery, death, and life.
Barry weaves the story together though the eyes of Towner, but also through the townspeople of Salem, Mass where the story takes place. "The Lace Reader" certainly does an excellent job of promoting tourism to Salem. It is a place I've always wanted to go, but now I want to go even more.
"The Lace Reader" is a fiction novel that brings a bit of the mystery novel into it as well. There is definitely a surprising revelation at the end that causes you to re-think the whole book. The reason I did not rate "The Lace Reader" higher is because I never got that feeling of I-can't-put-the-book-down. I was curious, but never felt so into the story that I couldn't put it down if the phone or doorbell rang.
"The Lace Reader" will be released on July 29, 2008. I recommend that you check it out. It is an enjoyable read.
But, I will admit, that even months after I read it, I still think about it sometimes, and wonder about the plot twists.
Barry weaves the story together though the eyes of Towner, but also through the townspeople of Salem, Mass where the story takes place. "The Lace Reader" certainly does an excellent job of promoting tourism to Salem. It is a place I've always wanted to go, but now I want to go even more.
"The Lace Reader" is a fiction novel that brings a bit of the mystery novel into it as well. There is definitely a surprising revelation at the end that causes you to re-think the whole book. The reason I did not rate "The Lace Reader" higher is because I never got that feeling of I-can't-put-the-book-down. I was curious, but never felt so into the story that I couldn't put it down if the phone or doorbell rang.
"The Lace Reader" will be released on July 29, 2008. I recommend that you check it out. It is an enjoyable read.
But, I will admit, that even months after I read it, I still think about it sometimes, and wonder about the plot twists.
Vivian Q. (bellasgranny) -
Helpful Score: 5
I hadn't read any reviews of this book, so I didn't know what to expect. I didn't expect to love this book. It's a rare occasion when I read a book that I hate to put down and fills my mind until I can get back to it. I didn't expect to cry at the end and I didn't expect to feel like I had been knocked off my feet. I know that I will go back and read it again sometime soon. An unexpected treasure - I highly recommend.
