Book reviews written by Kristeen P

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Displaying 1-10 of 36 reviews

The Thirteenth Tale

by Diane Setterfield
- Rated 3 stars
“I really, really liked it; until the ending. I'm fine with strange and confusing, but it really; just plain and simply, made no sense. Maybe something is wrong with me because it seems every reviewer in the world thought the twist ending was beautifully plausible: I kind of think it was ridiculous (cue: Marlena w/ the devil mask on Days of Our Lives). I would give 4 stars to the the first 3/4 of the book and 1 star to the last 1/4. I'm almost bitter about it...therefore, it gets 3 stars.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Tuesday, September 22 2009. ( reply | permalink )
East of Eden

by John Steinbeck
- Rated 5 stars
“Awesome and "grand" epic novel covering three generations; great life lessons (reminders of what is important). Slow to start - but moves at a pretty good pace after 50 pages or so. Complex characters and relationships - history repeating itself throughout the story. Great read.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Wednesday, September 16 2009. ( reply | permalink )
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky
- Rated 5 stars
“Borrowed from my teenage daughter - this is a great read; reminds me a bit of Catcher in the Rye which is actually mentioned in this book. Great ending; couldn't put down!”

Kristeen P wrote this review Wednesday, August 19 2009. ( reply | permalink )
Housekeeping

by Marilynne Robinson
- Rated 2 stars
“Oh, I recommended this for our work book club because I was romanced by the reviews of the descriptive, flowing writing...but found this was a bit of a chore. Too much description, so very little action and dialogue. Granted, a lot of the drama and interaction of character is assumed, leaves a lot to the imagination, it became repetitive in the "oh right, I get it, she's crazy". The ending was a big question mark - fuzzy, unclear and unsettling. Not horrible, but did not hit it's mark with me.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Thursday, September 3 2009. ( reply | permalink )
Galway Bay

by Mary Pat Kelly
- Rated 4 stars
“I really liked this book - interweaves a ton of Irish history in an interesting plot; reminded me a lot of Maeve Binchy who is one of my favorite authors. A rich and touching narrative with an admirable heroine. A couple of hoakey moments, but overall a wonderful story.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Monday, July 27 2009. ( reply | permalink )
A Great and Terrible Beauty

by Libba Bray
- Rated 3 stars
“Pretty good - a mix of The Golden Compass, Twilight, and Harry Potter - all rolled into one. Kept my interest but the end was a bit disappointing: confusing and a bit trite...and a big obvious opening to the next book in the trilogy.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Sunday, June 7 2009. ( reply | permalink )
The Other Boleyn Girl

by Philippa Gregory
- Rated 5 stars
“Awesome book - loved it!”

Kristeen P wrote this review Sunday, June 7 2009. ( reply | permalink )
One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Rated 5 stars
“What can I say about this, but I loved it. My gosh this epic novel of generations of the Buendia family in fantastic. I'm not one for sci-fi or anything unrealistic...but it's something about Marquez; the magical realism that was so beautiful, so poignant, that I was sold on it. My mind told me it couldn't happen, but I didn't really care. Okay, so the repeated naming and re-naming of generations with the SAME names was confusing (I admit to writing in the book cover names of people and their attributes to keep track), but this is a gorgeous novel. Will read again and again.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Monday, April 13 2009. ( reply | permalink )
She's Come Undone

by Wally Lamb
- Rated 4 stars
“Reminds me of a culmination of many books I've read: Middlesex, Summer Sisters, Icy Sparks, White Oleander - this mixed-up and somewhat graphic coming-of age novel. Crazy at times, hard to stomach at others, but impossible to put down.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Monday, April 13 2009. ( reply | permalink )
Eat, Pray, Love

by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Rated 4 stars
“Really good read, I'm amazed how many women (myself included) that identify with her. Significant for me, were multiple "laugh out loud" moments that made this totally worth the effort. I'm not planning any foreign "find myself" trips in the near future, but can appreciate how and why she got there.”

Kristeen P wrote this review Monday, April 13 2009. ( reply | permalink )