“This book was painful to force myself to finish reading. I don't think the characters were complicated at all. I think the daughter was merely tired of dealing with a psychologically sick mother. She was flat and boring. Her reaction to everything was one dimensional and unrealistic. I don't agree that if you can't put yourself in her shoes you can't call her actions unrealistic. I think many people felt initially how she felt about what to do about her mother, but her actions after the fact are what become completely ridiculous. I did not feel sorry for her, I was disgusted by her. She chose at one point to change her life, but then just did nothing. While the writing itself was fine, the story was disappointing. I think that Sebold tried to take another delicate subject and attempted to turn it into a good story as she did with Lucky and Lovely Bones but failed miserably.”
“This book was a little hard to read for me, but not because I didn't like it. It was hard because what she did was ridiculous but at the same time I have seen so many family members struggle to care for the elderly parents. While a reaction like hers was a stretch for me to believe it puts a needed focus on the strain caregivers deal with, which is a theme I took from the book.”
