and I enjoyed most of the book until it got a little ...
580265
Entertaining, and I enjoyed most of the book until it got a little confusing trying to keep up with 2 and 3 of the "same" characters. I know it's sci-fi but when it was revealed what the "supreme being" was, I almost immediately lost all interest in the book. I'd love to reveal what the SP was but I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
4676899
I really enjoyed this book at the beginning.  I was drawn into Martie, Dusty and Skeet's world.  I kept asking "Why are they acting like this" and I truly wanted to know "How it was being done".  Since the answers to those questions came fairly early, I felt kind of let down by being drawn in circles through the middle of the story.  I really wanted Martie and Dusty to be able to get some answers as to why the villan did this to them and how he even got started in this, and how did he get the "higher authority" to allow him his "games" and protect him.
The ending was truly anti-climatic.  I wanted the main characters to have some kind of justice--and I won't say more than that so I don't ruin it for someone else.  It is a good book, up to the middle, but I think it could have been much better.  The ending seemed hastily done, kind of like an epilogue instead of an ending, with a bit of just wrapping up some ends of other story lines that were left dangling and jumping into the future.
4165507
This was a decent read and by the end of the book I came to like some of the characters, but many of the plot points were a stretch and caused me to almost stop reading early on. After the rough beginning, the book does get better I wasn't aggravated by characters saying "I shouldn't be doing this, but..." and was able to get wrapped up in the story.
3392100
I enjoyed the book for the most part, until I reached the end.  I read and enjoyed many of Stephen Frey's early financial thrillers and found this easy to read and exciting, but...

He became very politically preachy at times on both sides of the political spectrum.  Also, nothing annoys more when without warning the end of the book leaves a cliff hanger that is clearly trying to set up a sequel.  Very disappointing way to end what could have been a good read.
446125
While an interesting story, the book lost energy toward the end
4467533
Loved the first few chapters and the last couple chapters, but didn't have a lot of use for the middle chapters.
2917939
Up until 75% in this book, I was thoroughly enjoying it.  The characters were interesting, the plot kept me intrigued.  But then something weird was introduced and for the life of me, cannot understand the purpose.  I guess when you read the books that follow, all will reveal itself.  It was a great read.  It's' just that one section that almost seemed out of place.
2606070
I enjoyed this book for the most part. It kept me engaged enough to want to finish it and see what happened in the end and it actually caught my attention as soon as I read the first page, but I wasn't really feeling the ending; after the fiasco in the church between Yolanda, Andre, and Timothy the story kind of went downhill for me. It seems like the author didn't know where to go with the story. There were also way too many typos; one or two here and there don't usually bother me but this book had so many I started to get a little irritated with it. I think this author did well but there's a lot of room for growth.
4941633
I liked it for the most part put at the end i felt it was being dragged out. I believe there was too much stuffed into the book. I enjoyed the beginning of the book better than the end.
3421127
I enjoyed the book even though it got a little draggy in spots.
1765504
I really enjoyed the first 2/3. Interesting topics and I learnt some new things but the last part of the book seemed to lose it and a bit forced. Maybe that was the paranormal bit. I wanted to give it 3.5 stars but seems not able to. I intend to read it again when I have time as some of the concepts deserved a bit more thought.
4500097
I almost stopped reading the book after the first couple chapters because maybe it felt like reading a 14 year old's diary... which is just not that interesting to me.  It picked up in the middle, and most of the book was interesting to read.  And by the end I was really interested in finding out how everything would be resolved.  And then the book ended rather abruptly.  While the book did end in a good spot, with a significant resolution... the book itself just didn't convey the significance of the resolution very well-- so the reader is just left wanting the next book to answer the overarching issue.
138817
This starts off as a very good book, and slowly loses its intensity.  The first part of the book - the lettuce fields - was excellent.  I would have liked to have learned more about the mechanisms of picking lettuce.  But it was a good description despite that it focused a little too heavily on the physical pain one endures while picking.  The book seemed to lose some focus during the story of the chicken plant.  It was still good, but I got the impression that the author was less interested in the chicken plant than the lettuce fields.  The flower shop and restaurant stories seemed to be hurried and underdeveloped.  It would have been better to expand and improve the chicken plant story and to dump the remainder of the book.  And the conclusion did not seem at all related to the book.  The conclusion added almost nothing to the book.

Despite was sounds like a negative criticism of the book, I did like it, and I will recommend it to friends and family.
2153551
I really enjoyed 'Little Children', so I was excited to read Tom Perrotta's new book 'The Abstinence Teacher'.  I mostly enjoyed the book until the very end, when i felt like it was one chapter short of a full book.  But all in all a decent read.  It got a little too liberal preachy at times (and i'm pretty liberal) but it's still enjoyable.
3991561
This book started out amazing! I loved the first 3/4 of it. Strong plot, interesting characters, enough twists and turns to keep you on your feet. However, around the last fourth of the book it became just out-right weird. The sex scenes were more in detail, there was some explicit gore and just some parts that I didn't think should have been added in. However, I did enjoy the book for the most part and would recommend it, as long as the reader goes in a little more prepared than I was.
4782118
I used to read all the time, but since having kids, it's been some time since I've read a book (in its entirety) for pleasure. And I did that with "When I'm Gone". The book jumps right into the major conflict, but I had a hard time sticking with it for the first half of the book because the characterization was inconsistent. About halfway through the book, there were additional conflicts that engaged me and I really enjoyed the last half of the book. Even though there were some unbelievable circumstances midway to late in the book, I had bought into the plotline by that point and enjoyed it and finished it.
1897011
This is a mixed review for me. I started out really enjoying the book, the history of the family and the myths that are part of its facinating history. But the author seemed to lose focus, and went off-track with romantic subplots and some ugly violent episodes. Finally, the ending just seemed too rushed, all the conflicts resolved neatly.  First half of the book is a solid (4) stars, the second half barely (2) stars. It could have been so much better.