Powerful from start to finish
591434
Just when you think Connelly couldn't get any better, he comes out with a book that just absolutely blows the others away. From beginning to end there was never a time when this story slowed down. This book has everything. Great detective work, plenty of action, and a tearful ending. For someone who has never read any of Michael Connelly's work and is looking for another author to try out, this would be a good book to start with even though it's his fifteenth Harry Bosch series. Trust me; you will be a Connelly fan forever.
4017339
This book is heavy hitting and powerful. Real life and not-hard-to-imagine illustrations are offered that will inevitably touch each reader's story in one way or another.

 At points it becomes somewhat redundant but that may just be Tripp's means of bringing home his principles.
4118341
I had heard about WHEN SHE WOKE for months before it came out. Even my mother had heard about the book through her book clubs and sources for information. And then what did I do? Well, I might have put off reading it... And put it off... And checked it out from the library... And put it off. Then I picked it up as my due date grew closer and closer. Once I started reading it, there was no stopping. By the end, this book flew onto my favorites shelf and I was desperate to tell the world about the amazingness I had just read.

WHEN SHE WOKE chronicles the story of a young woman in a dystopian near future that seems all too plausible - the rise of an extreme religious state that, instead of jailing offenders as we know it, colors their skin in a process called Melachroming. Our protagonist Hannah is a Red, convicted of the murder of the child she aborted after having an affair with a very powerful preacher. WHEN SHE WOKE is a powerful story about self exploration, emotional pain, physical suffering, and the pursuit of justice and understanding.

The story is powerful, with evocative prose and a gripping narrative that wraps you around its finger and refuses to let you go. As we move from Hannah's time as a public attraction in a cell for 30 days after her chroming to the halfway house run by sadistic evangelicals and beyond, there is not a dull moment. Hannah is a strong woman who has to come to grips with her faith and her reality. She is very nave, raised to be an obedient wife, not a woman who thinks for herself and acts.

In addition to the emotional trials Hannah suffers, we are taken on a trip through this dystopian world that is chilling. From the political environment created by Jordan to the new reality of America's almost-police state built around fundamentalist Protestantism, it feels all too possible. I think this is one of the strongest parts of the book - Hillary Jordan constructed a world that, while being a dystopic future, feels like it is real and possible. It's a world like ours, except the flaw is that religion consumed everything. There is even a Secretary of Faith in the government and the Trinity Party.

To sum up WHEN SHE WOKE on one word, I would pick heartbreaking. This book will break you into a thousand little pieces and then slowly knit you back - but not completely. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know, and definitely to you. Even if you just read YA, this book is worth a read. It's emotional, it's realistic, and it's powerful. Trust me. This book is amazing.

VERDICT: With a powerful premise that feels all too real and a narrator who forces you to feel pain, WHEN SHE WOKE is a book not to miss.
1937068
Incredibly powerful, beautifully written book.
140525
The Most Beautiful Thing is an incredibly powerful novel with in-depth characters and a very engrossing plot.  I found myself really identifying with Joe in a lot of ways and I was deeply moved by his story.  I read this novel well into the night when I should have been sleeping, but I just couldn't put it down.  And now that I have finished it, I still find myself thinking about it days later.  To me that says that this is a book not to be missed.
3187395
This is an enormously powerful book, among the most powerful written in the English language. To find its full equal in force, drama, and dark energy one must hark back to the greatest of Greek tragedies. Although a cruel death is at the center of this story, there is much in it about life, and why it is lived.  As Gage quotes from Andre Malraux's Man's Fate, "On the road to vengeance, one discovers life."
645004
Just to be upfront, I need to let you know that I downloaded a time-limited e-book copy of One Step Too Far from NetGalley.com.  That being said....WOW!!  Other reviewers have summarized the story line for you. But what I'd like to add is the very powerful style and tone of this novel.  The story is presented through different flashbacks and 'voices' of the major characters.  You find yourself absorbed in their different perspectives.  And none more than Emily/Cat, the protaganist.  You will cry, you will wonder, but you will NOT be able to put this book down!  I'm going to buy a copy...it's that good!!
3473543
Whoa. Wow. Dude. This book was deeeeeep. As other reviews have stated - this story is really about the human condition, the heart of man. It was as powerful and poignant as it was haunting. I finished the book at 1:45 this morning, and I'm still sitting here wondering how I could cry for the town drunk. And I think that's some masterful writing by Coffey to pull that off.

At first, I thought There Will Be Stars was simply "hard to get into." But it wasn't. It was dizzying--and that was intentional and planted me right in the heart/mind of Bobby Barnes. I sort of sensed the order to the chaos, so I hung with it. And when the story broke open, when Bobby started searching for answers and finding them, I felt them. I moved with him. I was moved by him.

This isn't a light, entertaining read. It's a powerful message about hope and change. And heroes. Non-traditional, everyday heroes. Well done, Billy Coffey. There's a reason I admire your writing and your ability to conjure worlds and scare me without SCARING me. I'm giving it five stars because it was masterfully written and executed.
1941033
This is the most powerful novel I've ever read for so many reasons. I'm breathtaken by the undertaking that Kingslover triumphantly shouldered in making this book. Having spent much time in Africa myself, the descriptions and the history was unprecedented in magnitude, but even more impressive to me was the intangible feeling of Africa she was able to portray so impeccably; at times I felt as if the pages were humid with the Congolese air.

The characters in this story are unrivaled. Particularly with Adah, I gaped at the mind that could imagine her brilliance.

This novel had everything for me, and I regard it with a sense of sacred reverence I only hold towards spiritual books. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
2275475
Wow. This book had my heart pounding even after I was finished.  This was really a powerful and emotional book. I had to force myself to put it down for a few minutes just to get my emotions back under control.  Nice work.
2450741
Couldn't put this book down.  I finished it about two weeks ago and still find myself thinking about it.  I read so many books I often forget almost immediately. This is one I will remember and recommend to friends.  Powerful, moving, emotional, and the powerful (awful) grace of God that is ever present in all of our lives which enables us to survive the unthinkable.
3323493
Wow, what a powerful book! At first I found myself so angry while Ned was treated very poorly by these wizards and I had to put the book down often just  to get my head put on straight.  I find it  very telling when an author can pull you into  a story and invoke such strong emotions. But as I kept reading I became so involved I couldn't put it down. What happens to Ned when he is sent on a mission to the mountains in search of a woman much like him. Will he come into his own when he meets her family and everything he's always wished for? Can they all put their differences aside to help save the Earth from evil?  So many different scenarios happening at once to come together to make a fast paced and engrossing tale.  Glad I didn't miss this one!
I received an ARC for an honest review.
365047
Powerfully real! So good I had to add  it to my library
4706635
Trauma is hard to over come, PTSD is even harder. Katherine has lived with the debilitating disease for years. Cowering in her home afraid of everything, nearly giving up and barely trying to move forward.
Nico, is jaded. He hates what his legacy stands for and abhors those that still try to live in the past to bring his future down. Drugs, infidelity and lies are what his father left them with, but he doesn't hate, no he is angry and bitter.
Trying to venture out Katherine finds herself in a situation that triggers her anxiety and send her spiraling, right into the arms of Nico the owner of Panic a club in Miami.
Okay, now that I have planted the seed, I can tell you that OMG Sydney has out done herself!!! This book, well all her books, in pure and beautiful and powerful. I mean she gripped me from the beginning. I felt for Katie and her suffering, rooting her Nico to understand and love her.
I understood where Nico was coming from and rooted him on as he to healed from a past that he was afraid tainted him. Both suffering, but knowing that Nico could not truly understand where Katie's pain and fear stem from.
Bringing, headline disasters into the story was even more powerful. I mean I literally had to close down my reader and take a pause as she brings a twist that would change Nico's perspective forever, and bring a real life horror into her story. It took me about five minutes to count down and breath and pray that history did not repeat itself in this beautiful book. I even had to talk it out with my daughter so that she could understand my anxiety. With her at my side I was able to read and get through it. That is how powerful this story is.
Sydney managed to bring PTSD to the forefront for me getting a glimpse into the fear that they suffer and try to overcome.
Amazing, Powerful and oh so beautiful. Pull Me Close, Nico and Katherine live in my heart!
3771893
There are some books you read all the way through because you want to finish what you started. There are others you read because you can't help otherwise. When characters like Halligan and Daley, Father Cheverus, even the confused boy who testifies and the girl who serves water become so finely etched in your mind that they morph into tangible thoughts, that I believe is the mark of a great book. White's writing is so precise and powerful that every shuffle, breath and moment of silence can be heard and seen with intense clarity from begining to end. It is not often that one comes across the written word so well executed.
259354
I loved this book.  The story was captivating and powerful, but even more than that, Julie Cantrell's nearly poetic prose painted a picture that engaged all of my senses and emotions and drew me in from the first pages.  I highly recommend this powerful, captivating and beautifully written book.
1809308
I had a hard time putting this book down, literally staying awake until my eyes were burning two nights in a row. I was just so stuck in the story and emotions, even though much of the content is difficult to experience through the eyes of the author... it really pulled me in and held me there, reliving the moments alongside him.  I choked up in the last chapter; it was just such a powerful revelation shared.  This book reminded me there can be hidden reasons beyond the moment in which people act or react the way they do.  A lifetime of unknown should be considered before making snap judgments, and true strength and compassion comes at the most unforeseeable times.  This intense journey ultimately provides a positive perspective and an enhanced clarity on life for those struggling with any multitude of challenges.  It is more than worth the read.