Realistic, well-written
342564
An interesting. realistic storyline.  I like that this is a complete novel.  Characters were believable and lots of information about solar flares and how people react when everything they've known and relied upon disappears in an instant.  A bit technical in parts but overall well-written and we will hopefully see more from this author.
2823776
This is a well-written book, with a plot that moves at a good pace, and believable characters.  The descriptions are very detailed too; perhaps a bit too detailed for some people in places, though understandably so considering the events of the story.  A great book all in all, though not one for the sensative stomached.
4237215
This is the first book I've read from this author, and I enjoyed it. The writing was seamless and generally had me smelling, seeing and feeling whatever was written about. The characters were realistic, seeming like descriptions of real people.  As an added bonus, there are lots of recipes!
3022408
The author did a good job (again) being realistic about people's reactions to difficult situations. It's nice to show that people aren't just hateful or nice, and that they have the possibility of making mistakes and feeling conflicting emotions about them.
3508537
What I enjoyed most about this novel was its realism.

This is not your typical teaching story that ends with a generic happy ending (think "Dangerous Minds," "Freedom Writers Diary," or "Good Will Hunting".) The main character in the novel is likable and I felt empathy for him; I definitely wanted some miracle to happen by the end of the novel to transform his journey as a teacher. Rather, the internal changes and growth he personally experiences is the focus at the end of the novel- not fixing a failing school system. As a teacher, I find this extremely realistic and relatable.

This novel gives great insight into the flawed school system we have in many cities across the nation- as well as an inkling of what teachers endure as the "first responders" in the classroom. The author genuinely depicts the intense range of feelings any teacher would feel in the given situation- extreme stress, fear, helplessness, worry, hatred, love, and often, apathy.

I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in the real truth behind teaching.
472791
One of the questions I always ask myself when reading a book is, "would real characters in this situation think, feel, and act this way?" In many books, it is hard to say that they would, but in this book they do.

The characters are real and three dimensional.

The situations are cut from the day's headlines.

But this is also a "behind the headlines" novel that shows what life is really like in a small town in the North in today's Israel.

This is a very engaging story, written in a beautifully straightforward way, without artifice. A great read!
1359540
Mostly I read romantic suspense novels and don't usually read other genres. When I started to read this book, I had no preconceived notions on how good or not good it would be--but I wasn't sure how I would enjoy reading an "end of days" novel. Let me just say that I was pleasantly surprised and if I can find other books in this genre, which are just as well-written, I may start reading them.

One thing that stood out to me as I read was that from the very first page, the author caught my attention and held it for the entire book. This book was very realistic in the story line and that was actually quite frightening. It related so well to current events and how things could go from bad to worse in one second that Bryan K. Johnson's writing brought this scenario close to home. Anyone who reads this book will definitely be given pause for thought. As the horrific scenario of a potential third world war played out in the book, I clearly imagined myself, my family, friends, neighbors and everyone in our free world--potentially dealing with this real-world scenario in real life. When the traumatic events happened, it was interesting to see how the majority of the people in the book panicked and human decency vanished and it was every man for himself.

The book was well-written, with highly descriptive scenes, drawing the reader deeply into the dramatic story. Each action scene was believable and the characters were well-developed and pulled the reader into their lives--in such a way that by the end of the book, the reader can't wait to find out what will happen to them next. The writing had just the right amount of details, yet not too technical to overwhelm the readers.

I highly recommend this book and am eagerly looking forward to reading Book Two in this series.
1026019
Well-written and realistic. The story plays to your human side while the survivors experience the awful post apocalyptic world. My only complaint is that I wished it was longer.
3688535
You can tell by reading this book that the author knows his material very well, and that the characters have been very well created, one would say from real life.  This is a very believable novel, with strong characters with deep, complicated personalities.  The struggle against a large institution and the attempts to address this is something I can relate to.  This book is worth reading and rereading.
2278340
I enjoyed this book. The characters were real and believable without seeming forced and the story was written in such a way that the reader was able to start putting the pieces together before the main characters. That created a sense of tension as you are waiting for the characters to choose the right path to get them to the answer. The ending did have a couple of twists that I didn't see coming, so that was a nice benefit.
It was a quick read in that I was able to finish it in ~4 hours on a couple of airplane rides.
419001
This was an enjoyable book, set in an uncommon setting and told from an uncommon perspective.  It's unabashedly a "Christian" book and there's nothing subtle about it.  It's a fictional novel, but I felt like most of the events and plot details were quite realistic; they weren't necessarily chosen to further the author's goals, but also chosen because that's likely what would happen in that situation and with those sort of characters.  It's clear that the author has a good bit of experience with "primitive" agricultural tribes in that area, and the details of daily life and concerns for that tribal group are fairly rich and come mostly from an "insider's" perspective.

The writing quality wasn't spectacular and there were some funny (i.e. very out of place or cheesy) lines from time to time, but the plot was well constructed, and the straightforward writing of the details was enough to keep it moving along well.  The only exception was that I felt the opening few chapters of the book were a good bit too unbelievable.  As someone personally experienced in several cross-cultural settings among rural tribes (in Africa), and also someone educated and skilled in the cross-cultural adaptation process, I felt like there was no way the main character could've responded as she did immediately after she was kidnapped by this tribe.  I'm no psychiatrist, but it's incredibly unlikely she would've jumped right into the new language acquisition process and felt comfortable doing new chores/lifestyle, all the while she's been kidnapped and saw her husband killed and her baby was just taken from her arms and disappeared.  Surely she would've had a breakdown and been almost completely non-functioning for weeks.  Many first-time cross-cultural participants (as she was) have a breakdown in much much easier circumstances and with no stress of kidnapping/murder to go along with it.  Instead of a breakdown, the main character of this book jumped right in to new language learning, new (tough) chores, and meeting her new neighbors, apparently not even wondering where her baby was hauled off to.  So that was totally unbelievable, as far as I'm concerned, but thankfully within a few more chapters, enough time has passed by that the main character's lifestyle/efforts can then be taken for granted.  Later on, the author sort of excused the implausibly easy early adaptation of the main character by saying God did it for her.  That well could be true, but I still doubt she could've had the right mental/emotional frame of mind to engage at all at that point.

In the overall plot of the book, there's some adventure within it, but mostly it's about relationship, primarily how one responds to God when circumstances are far beyond control and all expectation... when things keep going from bad to worse.  It tells a story of submitting to God's will, choosing to trust in him, even to yield oneself "captive" (either to God's will or to the kidnapping tribe, I think the author is saying that both are true), and of God's power to both overcome incredibly difficult circumstances, and to make himself known through them. It's preachy at times, but mostly I felt it handled the tougher ideas and topics that are at its core with much more balance and nuance than is common in many American Christian circles.  As a Christian myself, I found the plot and details of the story to be rewarding and sometimes encouraging, while also helping me think about some very tough (and still quite possible) situations.  However, a non-Christian reading this book might have a hard time getting past the basic assumptions of the main characters, maybe wondering why they take the details of their faith for granted even in the midst of so much difficulty.  But anyone who really knows Jesus knows that he's not to be taken for granted, and when it comes down to it, he's the one unyielding detail in our lives.
2470386
I don't give 5 star reviews easily, but the writing went beyond my expectation. The main characters were mature, relatable people, not one-dimensional, caricatures of what's "trendy".  Thank you Samanthe Beck! Supporting characters were fleshed-out with depth and honesty, too. The highlights were believable modern characters, realistic small-town setting, descriptive writing style with well-thought out plot, and characters that are intelligent, yet have faults that they recognize and try to change, or deal with and accept as who they are (pertaining to both main characters: Ellie and Tyler). I would have changed only one part of the story in a minor way using the humor that Ms. Beck already established to deal with the "reveal" scene in the book. I do appreciate Ms. Beck's medical research to appropriately cover the details in the book lending to the believability.
The cover and title may lead readers to believe it's all about gratuitous sex, but it's so much more than the sex scenes (yes, there are sexy times, and NO they're not skip-worthy repetitive like in a lot of the genre). I will be following this author to see her literary growth!
4280542
I like the way the author confronted real issues while telling her story. The plot was well-conceptualized, and I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series.
1361209
I really enjoyed this book and it was well worth the read.  Knausgaard's writing is just so vivid and real.  Refreshingly real.  So much out there is shamelessly over the top traumatic or dramatic.  So much out there is full of blame, negativity, loathing and pity.  I did not experience any of that reading this book, I felt only authenticity with not only this book but his other books as well.  I came about this author by chance - his book "My Struggle" was on the shelf.  I didn't give much thought to him until I picked up the book at a later date and I'm glad I did.  His insights into the human condition are cogent and seamlessly woven together.  Even though I'm living several thousand miles away and have an entirely different situation, one free of much of the difficulty he faces, what he vividly describes is similar to my life with two small children.  I also liked his treatment of time and his description of changes that the passage of time has brought.
3664366
Ideal High is well written, suspenseful without being stressful, and a clean, enjoyable read that was hard to put down.
The characters were all so real, none over the top, and issues were true to life and handled in a realistic way. This showed many of the struggles kids often face in high school. Like any typical teenager, Taryn tries hard but doesn't handle everything perfectly. At times she gets discouraged but picks herself up and keeps on trying to do what she thinks needs to be done, even when others try to tear her apart.
I kept imagining this taking place in my high school--a place I haven't revisited in years! It had me mentally walking through the not-so-hallowed halls of my alma mater, picturing the same sorts of students of my day.
I'm not always a fan of issue books, but this is worth the time it takes to read.
2736873
Great book... Complex characters, a realistically-developed plot and some well-thought out world-building... The world's not this way yet, but it's frighteningly plausible.  I'm picky about good writing, and this was good writing.  I couldn't put it down.  Also, I liked the way the author shows God's hand in events - subtle, but discernible.  Faith-friendly but not preachy.  Highly recommended.  Just don't start it on your lunch break because you will not want to go back to work!
3048094
After Laurel Meisner's family is killed in a car accident while going for ice cream after the Passover seder, Laurel must deal with the aftermath and the what ifs.  What if she hadn't decided to go home to study, rather than go for ice cream, would her family have gone in their own car and survived?  What if someone had asked if Mr. Kaufman was fit to drive?  What if they hadn't gone to the seder at all?

Laurel works through her grief, and tries to reintegrate herself into her school and social life, with limited success.  Everyone looks at her differently, and treats her with kid gloves trying not to upset the girl who lost her family.  The only one who has an idea about how Laurel is feeling is David, the son of the man who was driving the night of the accident.  David lost his mother, and his father is in a coma.

How Laurel moves on with her life, and the decisions she makes in an attempt to satisfy both herself and what she believes were her parents' goals for her is the meat of the novel.  Laurel's passage through the stages of grief are realistic and believable, and Ms. Castle doesn't hit a single wrong note.  The writing is polished, the characterizations are well-rounded (particularly for a first novel), and the storyline is strong.  I am very interested in reading more by Jennifer Castle in the future.