Marcia

Ms. Farrow's memoir is interesting and honest. Although she narrates as if she is "standing at the head of the classroom and simply reading a book to her peers), the contents of the book keep you listening.

She is very forthcoming about her marriages, how love effected her life and decisions and her devotion to her children. I especially appreciated her candor at writing and acknowledging the judge's observation that she showed dubious parenting ability when she did not leave Woody Allen and distance herself and her children from him, as soon as she realized what a danger he was to her children and his sexual overtures to her daughter. I began to feel she did not have a strong character, however she did finally do what needed to be done and it is apparent she does love her children very much. She is not a woman who would put a man before her kids! Commendable and honest!

The final chapters are far more captivating and flow with excitement as she discribes all she went through to get where she is today.

I recommend the book highly if readers enjoy a true account that does not withhold the bad and only highlight the good. She tells it all to the best of her ability!

It is unfortunate that the author, Dan Brown feels he can manipulate his audience into finding any merit in a book that reads exactly like the one before?? I mean does he think all of his readers are gullible? I think he must because this book is the same as the De Vinci Code except with a few plot variations towards the end.

Oh well, this was a waste of money for me, yet I hope this review and some of the others will assist people in finding something more entertaining to read.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this book. I had higher expectations and waited and waited in vain for it to get better and it did not. The narrator was pleasant enough however I just could not get anything out of the story itself. The book is basically conversations that just seem to go on and on and on, at least to me this is the way it read, a young author, a bit obsessed with sex and this is natural, but for the more mature reader whose been there and done that, this was a monotenous(sp) story that never made it or never made any clear point to reflect on. . .

Here's the thing... I enjoyed the book and always enjoy hearing Jenna Lamia narrate, however there are some things about the book that stick out to me as an african american who can tell when it is a white perspective of "black folks"! Why is it that white authors always feel the need to describe a black person's skin tones, color hues if you will, but never the color hues of the white counterpart or characters in their novels? This is a phenomenon in the black community and something I would love to get an answer to!

Don't get me wrong, the story is interesting yet there are unbelievable scenarios that are difficult for me to digest. One, when Ms. Celie has her miscarrige, the "helper", Millie, with all her children would not have responded the way she did, by acting as if she did not know what to do and that the unborn baby was somehow not human, unclean. This scenario is unbelievable for someone with children. Second Millie also would not have done something so hateful as what was written in the climatic ending. This to me is almost a sub-conscious method of the author insinuating, african-american's are pretty disgusting individuals...

Overall, I did enjoy the story line, I just could not swallow some of the areas that I knew were just too unrealistic.

Better luck next time..

Sun

I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but, this book was AWFUL, TERRIBLE and the narration made me cringe! It is sad really that you can't get your money back when a book is this bad. I primarily had a problem with the narration though and how the story was all over the place. Never a cohesive thought was presented in my opinion. I started this audio over about 7 times before I gave up and knew I would never finish it because it just was not interesting enough. The narrator really did not help this book at all. His voice as a woman, any woman drove me crazy! Oh, well better luck next time.

I honestly think it may have been the narrator who destroyed this read for me. Even though she has a pleasant voice, a pleasant voice does not a narrator make! The story drolled on and on and on and got absolutely nowhere! I tried to get into it several times and finally realized, I had just wasted my money. The writing is superficial, predictable and just plain boring. Maybe it would have been better if a different narrator had verbalized one of the three stories, anything to break up the monotony. I had hoped after the first story, the second might be better and it was actually worse. Again though, I think it was the narrator. I was so annoyed with her tone that did not change, I would forward to another audible book until I felt I could go back and try again. I Hope the next book will be better and/or a more talented narrator is used.

I truly enjoyed this story and have, since reading it, seen the movie. The beautiful thing in the book is two-fold.. One, Ms. Monk reminds me of Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty and Zora Neale Hurston and all of the other wonderful writers of the south who always could weave a story and make you feel as if you were there, in the sunshine and heat of the south, drinking lemonade and watching the sun go down.

The second fantastic aspect of this audible read is of course the narrator. Oh my goodness!! This is the first time I have listened to this young lady and she is amazing... She makes the story so believable with her voice and she takes you through the story with ease and wonder.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope there is more to come from this author and the story teller/reader.

This story is excellently written and very intriguing. I agree with Maureens review completely. I was taken with the story from the beginning and after listening once, I had to listen to it again. I enjoyed it more the second time!

The narrator is perfect for the story line. His voice uses just the right amount of inflection in all situations. This book should be made into a movie. The characters become real and as you listen, you can see them and you feel like you know them. I can see Benicio Del Toro as Edgar and Nicole Kidman as Stella! Add Hugh Grant as Max and you would have the beginning of a very intriguing cast ready to bring to life an amazing story of love, selfishness, insanity and misery!

I was particularly captivated by the way the author described how Stella felt when she was with her lover. He really understands the various emotions a woman goes through when in love with a not so savory but magnetic man.

I can not wait until his next book is written! I recommend this book to all who enjoy a good love story with tragic running through the theme.

E. Lynn Harris has a formula for writing that always seems to work and is fairly predictable! I suppose he sticks to the adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

It is a story of a young man, his mother's love and her secrets, a deceitful woman, and a number of good men! As predicted, the book will make you laugh, sigh, think and remember (if you ever were in college).

The story is told with 3 narrators, 2 are women and the only down side for me, was the male narrator who attempted to produce a southern male voice. At the beginning, his interpretation was awful! The male narrator sounded more like a antebellum southern slave, who makes attempts to speak like a 1870's white southerner! It was quite obviously fake and this made it quite annoying. I wondered why the producer of the audio did not find an authentic southern male narrator instead of selecting someone who did not have a natural southern accent. I almost gave up on the book within the first couple of chapters. However, eventually the male narrator gave up the pretense and used a more natural college aged male voice and it flowed much better, was more believable.

The story itself has enough twists to keep you listening and reacting as a good story book should. All in all, not Mr. Harris' best, but not his worst either!

I found this account of promiscuity a bit faulty in that the writer must have excluded many accounts of what she would have went through in school. It would seem her name would have been run through the mud and she would have been extremely unpopular in her high school as well as college. Typically during those formative years, once labeled a girl who "sleeps around", it is like wearing a brand on your forehead and a misery.

She seems to go through the years unscathed and she still manages to get what she wants. Also, the narrators voice began as a very provocative young woman and that was fine, however as she aged and matured, it would have been nice if the narrator could have inflected that new found maturity. Instead the same sexual undertones are used through out the book to the end. I found this annoying and hence unbelievable...

Book is okay, however it could have been better. I did not buy the growth that was written about, maybe this one is better enjoyed if read in the traditional manner and not as a listen!