Helpful Score: 13
I'll tell you up front: I did not finish reading this book. I stopped a little more than halfway through it.
The story is constantly changing viewpoints, sometimes maybe 3 or all 4 in a single chapter. Keeping track of who's who, what their emotions are, what they're thinking, not to mention the other characters in the story who do not give their viewpoints, it made for a confusing book. It might make for an interesting concept, to tell the story at the same time from the 4 main characters' points of view, but it did not do well in execution, imo.
I have a young son, and I can't just sit down and read a book straight through anymore. Because of this, The Memory of Water was never a fresh enough memory in my mind for me to keep up with it.
Her writing style is a little similar to Anne Rivers Siddons, and the story is set in the Carolina Lowcountry, just like a couple of Siddons' novels. White writes with great detail, you really feel like you can smell the air and the water and the mud. I love ARS, so I thought I'd love this book as well.
Others will probably love this book; it just was not for me.
The story is constantly changing viewpoints, sometimes maybe 3 or all 4 in a single chapter. Keeping track of who's who, what their emotions are, what they're thinking, not to mention the other characters in the story who do not give their viewpoints, it made for a confusing book. It might make for an interesting concept, to tell the story at the same time from the 4 main characters' points of view, but it did not do well in execution, imo.
I have a young son, and I can't just sit down and read a book straight through anymore. Because of this, The Memory of Water was never a fresh enough memory in my mind for me to keep up with it.
Her writing style is a little similar to Anne Rivers Siddons, and the story is set in the Carolina Lowcountry, just like a couple of Siddons' novels. White writes with great detail, you really feel like you can smell the air and the water and the mud. I love ARS, so I thought I'd love this book as well.
Others will probably love this book; it just was not for me.
Helpful Score: 7
I found the book to be incredibly boring and a little weird. Aside from the ever-changing point of view, the story itself was confusing at times. It has great promise, but I found that actually reading the novel fell far short of what I expected. I also found the "big surprise" at the end to be rather drab and predictable. I hope someone else can get the joy out of this book that I originally hoped for.
Helpful Score: 4
I love books which are set in the Lowcountry and/or along a beachfront. However, I didn't love this book (I love Luanne Rice's books). I was put off by the cheesy, repetitive descriptions (stormy eyes...repeated so many times that it became stale and meaningless). There was this big mysterious past event that the author tried to build up, but it was so obvious what had happened that the build-up was silly and melodramatic.
If you're drawn to stories of family turmoil, you may enjoy this book. For me, it was just mediocre.
If you're drawn to stories of family turmoil, you may enjoy this book. For me, it was just mediocre.
Helpful Score: 3
This book to me was awfully hard to read. I usually love anything by Karen White, but this one was just too hard to follow. I had to constantly go back to see "who" I was supposed to be reading in that chapter. I have only about 10 pages to finish it, and I will finish, but I will be careful in getting any more of her books.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a pretty lousy book. Poorly written and poorly researched.
The basic plot is about sisters separated for years after a traumatic boat accident kills their mother and almost kills them. The younger sister returns to their childhood home to help with her nephew, who has gone mute after another sailing accident almost kills him and his mother, the elder sister.
The entire book is first person, jumping around between the characters, including a young boy who has become mute after a trauma. There was little discernible difference in the voices of the vastly different characters - the thought processes of the young boy seemed identical to that of his mother or aunt or father, who were similarly interchangeable.
The big secrets - like what happened the night of the two sailing accidents that set the plot in motion - are obvious to the reader from the get go.
The characters are inconsistent in their likes/dislikes and characterizations - for instance, the mother alternately loves sailing, hates sailing, is good at it, is terrible at it.
Plus, the sailing details were just bad. If the author doesn't know how to sail herself, she shouldn't have written a book that pivoted on sailing.
The basic plot is about sisters separated for years after a traumatic boat accident kills their mother and almost kills them. The younger sister returns to their childhood home to help with her nephew, who has gone mute after another sailing accident almost kills him and his mother, the elder sister.
The entire book is first person, jumping around between the characters, including a young boy who has become mute after a trauma. There was little discernible difference in the voices of the vastly different characters - the thought processes of the young boy seemed identical to that of his mother or aunt or father, who were similarly interchangeable.
The big secrets - like what happened the night of the two sailing accidents that set the plot in motion - are obvious to the reader from the get go.
The characters are inconsistent in their likes/dislikes and characterizations - for instance, the mother alternately loves sailing, hates sailing, is good at it, is terrible at it.
Plus, the sailing details were just bad. If the author doesn't know how to sail herself, she shouldn't have written a book that pivoted on sailing.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an excellent story about people with past trauma and the way they end up dealing with it instead of suppressing it as they have done in the past. The family group was shattered by trauma but the story progresses with the hatreds and fears that must be overcome whether they want to do so or not.
I recommend this to all Karen White fans as one of her best. I also recommend it to those who haven't read her books yet. There's lessons to be learned from this story.
Two thumbs up!!!
I recommend this to all Karen White fans as one of her best. I also recommend it to those who haven't read her books yet. There's lessons to be learned from this story.
Two thumbs up!!!
Helpful Score: 1
I just could not get into this book. It, to me, was very boring. I ended up not even finishing it. I hope that there are others who read this book and will really enjoy it.
An interesting book for those who like to read about healing from psychological family trauma with some romance development thrown in. Good detail about living and sailing in the Low Country. Easy reading that pulls you in.
I enjoyed reading this book I could not put it down I read it in 2 days. I like the characters and felt like I knew them
i found this book really slow and a bit boring not a page turner. Funny because I really like Karen White's books and will read her again.
I love the aunt/nephew relationship and this was overall a good story with a fair bit of suspense. However, the end seemed a little anticlimactic and I couldn't "get into" the romance between the main character and her sister's husband.
I love all of her books , this one was a standout !
As always Karen White makes it impossible not to lose yourself in her characters....
Karen White's characters seem to be real people and the situations they face seem real also. She made me feel that I was at the ocean with her descriptions. I had trouble putting the book down. I recommend it!
I totally agree with many of the reviewers.....book was so hard to follow and I was extremely disappointed in so many contradicting points in the story! Had to force my way to the end.
The Maitland family has been cursed for over 100 years with what the family now knows was bipolar disorder. Marnie and Diana lost their mother and their innocents in a boating accident. 16 years later Marnie is called home to help her nephew who has not spoken since he and his bipolar mother, Diana, were involved in a very similar boating accident. As Marnie and Diana's sibling rivalry comes to a peek, their lost love for each other starts to surface. This is a great story with good characters about family fears, lost love and love found.
This book was really good. It was my first read book by this author. I enjoyed the story and the ending blew me away. The writing style of the author was really amazing. Her use of words was very vivid and made me feel that I was watching the story unfold in front of me. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Beautifully written! I loved this book.
This is wonderful a book. Lots of emotion through out the entire book from beginning to end.
Really enjoyed this book. The setting was great. The characters were well constructed and flawed. Story will stick with you.
Great reading and loved the dynamics between sisters.
Not her best, but not as bad as some of these reviews! The changing viewpoints was a little irritating in this book, and the story was predictable, but I was interested enough to finish it, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to a friend.
After reading a few of the reviews, I almost decided against reading it. Glad that I did,it was wonderful. The characters were wounded, real and believable. It was heartwarming and somtimes diffuclt but always worth it. Definately recommend it.
