A Totally Depressing Finis
934273
I think the script did not need to have CJ die. A fine man had come to love her, he wound could have been superficial instead of killing her and the baby. Whether or nor the totally greedy mother who left her infant behind got away with the drug hall is another matter. If she had been stopped and the drugs available to turn in to the police, all could have been well. O.K. rewriting the story seems like great hubris, but the given ending was so utterly tragic and such a total downer, something needed to be done.
3030721
I can't say that I like this book. It is morose, defeated, grey and down-right depressing. It is well-written, but the world that is created is so awful that I couldn't really place myself there.
2942357
The gist of this book is that teens can be "infected" with depression. And so many of them are being "infected" that they are committing suicide in droves. I think it said 1 in 3 teens committed suicide. That sounds like a really cool premise, except that... I didn't buy it.

The world of this book is SO DEPRESSING. All adults are so paranoid about the kids getting depressed that the teens can't display any emotion (even extreme happiness is frowned upon), can't disagree with anyone, and essentially they don't have any individualism. Who wouldn't be depressed in a world like that? If I had to keep such a tight leash on myself all the time I can actually see why suicide might seem like a viable option.

My best friend suffers from depression. And she's told me before that she knew she didn't have anything to be sad about, but she was still sad. Perhaps if the author had started earlier in the "epidemic" history. If we had seen teens who really did have nothing "wrong" with their lives get depressed and commit suicide in large amounts. But that's not what I saw. I saw teens in a crappy world with only one way out.

Because of this, everything else that happened in the book just seemed like a contemporary story. This was another one of those books where a good portion of it was told in flashbacks, and those flashbacks didn't have anything sci-fi or dystopian about them. I don't like contemporary romance. I find it dull. And yet when we would come out of the flashbacks we would get just enough of a glimpse into the sci-fi aspects of the book that I kept reading.

I didn't hate this book, but I was far from loving it. If there are more in the series I will not be reading them because I feel like there isn't enough sci-fi stuff to carry the story, and I don't care about the romance.
4242641
This is a collection of unconnected very short vignettes, so short that you hardly get to know the characters at all. The gloom is unremitting. You open the next one, hoping for a glimmer of hope, gladness or success, but are invariably disappointed. Sorrentino's sneering at the New Yorker stories takes the cake; clearly he got turned down by the New Yorker. It is hard for me to think of a good reason why one would want to read this. Don't read it when you're happy; it will make you sad and hopeless. Don't read it when you are sad; it will make you worse. So what is a good time to read it?
2395769
There is absolutely nothing likable about these characters.  The writer does a very good job describing two very shallow yet brilliant, beautiful people and their pathological relationship but it is hard to feel more than disgust and pity.
The set-up of the story is well-done, about the first 20% of the book.  Then it becomes tedious.  I almost couldn't read to the end.  Much better material out there.  You don't have to look very hard.
4937500
I'm giving this 2 stars only because the first half of the book held my interest, but then it took an awful, depressing turn. I kept reading, hoping for some kind of redemption, but there was none. All of the main characters except the Grandfather turned out to be terrible people or total weaklings. I hated the end. This is probably the only time I wish I had read a review with spoilers. The main character, who I was rooting for, turns out to be a pathetic weakling with no gumption at all. I know that life isn't always fair and the good guys don't always win, but if that's what I wanted for entertainment I'd watch the nightly news. The entire end of the book was disappointing and depressing
1159203
This story was entirely too depressing. Georgina and Adam get about 20 pages of happiness together. The rest of the story is dark and highlights the worst of humanity. I read to escape to a happy place in romance. No thanks!
2947799
This was the most depressing book I have ever read.  I was excited to read another JK Rowling novel, but next time I will take there views more seriously...
1751361
I adore Alice Hoffman, but not this time.  This book is completely depressing, the characters so needy and selfish that you want to slap them silly, and the ending was bizarre.  Granted I'm from the south and never could understand the so-called New England stoicism that alienates others and just causes more damage to the individual feeling the pain, let alone the others surrounding her.
  I have three words for the women in this story: "Get a Life!"
203163
Bleh! I feel worse for having read this book. Plot spoiler alert: if a character has blonde hair (male or female) they are BAD. If they have dark hair they are good. It's as simple as that in Ms. Ragen's book. I kept reading as bad as it was to see if there was a moment of enlightenment at the end. There is not.
I have never read a book like this where there was not one character that was likeable. Even the nice ones (Mrs. holier than thou Rivkie) were not so nice after all.
If you want dysfunction write a book about a condo association in Boca and make it funny. This was just mean spirited and sad.
4912790
I find it difficult to express how truly depressing, disappointing and oft times repetitious and boring I found Iris Johansens latest Eve Duncan book (first of a trilogy  but the last for me).  The characters range from wonderfully spiritual and saintly to overbearing and macho, ending at despicable and fiendishly evil.  Kevin and his father have to be two of the most diabolically evil characters to ever walk off a page while Eve fluctuates between vindictive and winey to crafty and settling at just plain annoying.

Joe Quinn continues on his kick ass and take names trajectory when dealing with everyone he feels stands in his way, including CIA agent Veneble, as he tracks Eve and Jane continues to be pursued by Seth Caleb (a guy whos a literal heart stopper) and Mark Trevor (whose actions could qualify him as a stalker).

Probably the most likeable character in this tome was Toby the dog, who was unconscious and near deaths door for a good portion of the book. As for Margaret  the dog whisperer  my feelings vacillated between awed admiration and really now, give me a break.  The visits and displays of power by those who had crossed over were a little over the top.  The Long Island Medium's head would probably explode if she were receiving messages from Bonnie and Kevin!

I realize that there are plenty of sickos in the world but I get enough of their grisly deeds in my daily paper and on the nightly news without slogging through the chronology of a killer pedophile and his enabler.  When it comes to reading this trilogy, I would opt for Doane's carnation scented gas as a viable alternative to reading parts two and three of this shock value piece.
3223563
This is a very depressing book.  Ms. Bryan has done a commendable job of research, but the sum total falls way short of its goal. As someone once wrote, "History is a foreign country.  They do things differently there."  This author plows diligently ahead, ignoring the fact that moral or ethical comparisons with persons who lived centuries ago with the mores of modern times makes a rather uncomfortable fit. Calling George Washington "a good ole boy" may be a clever way of saying he was an ignorant bumpkin, but not too many educated people are willing to view Washington's complex character through such a narrow prism. And why the almost pathological focus on slavery? Does Ms. Bryan, born a Virginian, suffer some type of guilt complex?  The 18th century was different from modern times in so many ways, you easily could write a book on that subject alone.  I just don't see the point in trying to assassinate history while attempting to write about figures who dwell there.  The truly great history writers have all had a certain reverence for history itself and a sympathy for the heroes and villains who occupy it. Ms. Bryan seems only to have a single minded politically correct version which she has written with the coldly calculating mind which only a lawyer could bring to bear.
74196
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS was well written, but what a terribly depressing story!  One character viciously cruel, another overly submissive.
957841
The final installment in the Dollanganger saga is just plain depressing. Nothing went right for anybody in this book: Cathy was still haunted by her days in captivity in the attic, Chris was as incestuously lustful as ever, Jory was seriously injured and forced to end his dancing days, Melodie was mentally unstable and left him after their children were born, Bart was obsessive and manipulative, Cindy was a strumpet...nobody was happy and little, if any, good happened.
I gave two starts because it's important to read this book if you want to learn how the series ends.
3255669
This book was not only boring, but horribly depressing.  None of the characters are the least bit sympathetic.  I kept reading thinking it HAD to get better, but it never did.  If this is award-worthy, give me the stuff off the sale rack any day!
2981647
The main characters in the book were so sad...I kept reading hoping that things would get better for them somehow.  Then it just ended!  This book should not be read by anyone who is already depressed.
2617819
This film was a complete let down. Overrated, depressing and mediocre, makes one really wonder how it ever could won an Academy Award. It seems nowadays that making films about the Jewish suffering in Word War II is a guarantee for winning the best prizes of cinematography regardless of the quality of acting or directing. Albeit, we are fed up and we simply can't digest more of the same. Ida's aunt, a brave but self-destructing judge in communist Poland played by Agata Kulezsa, is the only bright spot in this film with her fine acting.