Does not follow the story
584192
The book was better.  I'm not one to spoil but the story was totally changed from the story of the book I was very disappointed.
3321819
I found the story to be inconstant.  Parts of the book grabbed me and then I waited through boring parts to wait for something interesting again, philosophical or via action.  Had the author delved deeper into the "old man", we could have learned much more about what made him "tick".  Instead, we only have an in depth background about the child that the old man eventually takes in.  This could have been a fantastic read and a great story with more effort from the author.  Perhaps even a great movie.  It seems that even the author isn't too interested in what she is writing.
3303109
The story and concept are great but the way it's told is not. The storytelling jumps over details too frequently. I felt like I was reading someone's outline instead of a story.
3605147
Really?  The story is about a school reunion years after a mass shooting.  The storyline works, but I felt like so much of the story was missing.  This is not how a reunion is put together as it takes a lot more effort.  These people come together as a reunion committee and immediately have the reunion?  No one else shows up except the whole town?  And no one else in the town is a victim, except . . . .

The book would have been a better read had the story been assembled more realistically.  The book, like most movies, skips over inconsistencies in order to get to the desired conclusion.  The author is a good writer, but needs to develop the story-lines better.
4620820
A hard story to follow and the ending......... Weird
2079870
This book which is to be the first book in a series does not start off well. First couple of chapters of the main character retelling her history. For one, it is not believable that the character herself would know all of those details as she was very young at the time and later didn't recall those same details. Those chapters pushed well beyond the limits of believability. As the story continued, the author continued to defy the rule that story tellers live by--show, don't tell. The main character continued to tell the readers who she was. This clouded the story line, distorting the fact that very little actually happened within these pages. The first few chapters of the character's dubious memory were more exciting than the rest of the book which was a let down because the story itself was interesting and new. Then, just when you get to the middle of this book when there is actual conflict propelling the main character into acting instead of telling, the book ends. I would recommend that the author, C. Greenwood, review his or her storytelling style. Less telling, more showing the world he or she created and please review the structure of the book. Just because it's the first in a series does not mean that it can't be a story in itself.
2285165
This probably is a good book, but after almost 2 hours of the story flipping back and forth describing almost the same scenarios over and over, I just couldn't follow it.  I STILL don't know what the story is supposed to be about other than 2 worlds fighting, and it really doesn't say why.  I usually don't give low ratings, and I rarely give up on a book, but this story was just too repetitive and hard to follow.  Sorry!
3872235
story is too slow moving, and the level of detail is too much. particularly so when its not really relevant to the story.
3344494
The story line changed right at the end and did not make any sense.  It was rather disappointing to have the story change so abruptly and not follow what had previously been happening.  Maybe some chapters are missing..
1376779
I didn't enjoy this book. Mostly because the events in the story don't match the true historical events. Plus, I thought the pace was slow and boring and I didn't care for Katherine's anecdotes in the story.
3563929
To slow and much to much historical that has nothing to do with the story. Very detailed, but gets the reader lost.
878095
It is difficult to follow the line of the story....movie is only based on visual effects. Not relevant to my taste.
4624990
The narrator is English which makes it hard to understand, and she doesn't use different tones to distinguish between the characters which sometimes makes dialogue hard to follow.  In addition, it seems an important story line was not included but is referenced to in the last track, which is somewhat confusing.  Before you buy this, borrow it from your local library!
1686233
The problem is not with the information. I found the book very hard to follow. It skips all around with no regard to the when.
3484523
as is the case with all bio's unless written by the main character of the book; true events and facts are speculated and elaborated on to make a story.  while most factual accounts are true in this book, its not what I was looking for.  I would not recommend this book to a friend.
2566479
An unfinished story.  There are too many questions unanswered.  Only tells part of the story.
18572
The story itself is not the problem here, rather it is how the story is decorated that fails. It seems to me that the author has read too much of the pantheon of disaffected preppy authors: Irving, Cheever, and Auchincloss (as have I). Unfortunately she seems to miss the subtlety of these stories in this, I assume, her ode to them. As one reviewer correctly pointed out, the characters in the story live on the Vineyard, but they are certainly not island folk. In fact much of the settings (Exeter, Brown, Groton, Martha's Vineyard, etc..) seem more like an exercise in name dropping rather than important elements in plot development. This story could have been set anywhere and told the same story. If your hoping for a better understanding of the noblesse malaise then this is not the book for you.