Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2816 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-06
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Guardian, 7 June
'Stunning candour'

Company, July 2003
'A powerful, disturbing, but essential read'

Sunday Times, 1 June 2003
'Remarkable . . . Injustice and sheer malice are made vivid, and Sebold communicates the utter precariousness of one's personal safety'

Customer Reviews

A gripping read
I found the start of the book where Alice describes the rape quite disturbing but gripping at the same time. I wanted to keep reading to find out how someone could possibly recover from such an ordeal.

Like others have said I felt like the book lost momentum in the latter chapters. After her attacker was brought to justice and Alice left University it kind of felt like the story finished. I suppose this is inevitable as it was a true story and not a piece of fiction with drama right up until the end.

I think it's worth reading for anyone to gain an insight into how a victim of such a crime might be feeling.

Gripping but a bit disjointed
Like some other reviewers I found this book gripping, reading it in 1 sitting, and was full of admiration for her strength and courage, but found the later sections of the book of how her life drifted into drug use and general lack of direction very disjointed and without sufficient explanation - I think she should either have ended it sooner or kept it for a second volume.
I also initially did not like the way the book started just like the Lovely Bones i.e. with the awful event itself - a bit unoriginal I thought to myself at the time - but I suppose I can understand the logic of starting with the central event.

Disappointing
This book is quite different to the excellent lovely bones. Although this book is also very well written & hard to put down, I found it very hard to read as a person who has also been attacked. Alice Sebold let herself become a rape victim, rather than survivor. I thought this ruined the book for me a little, especially in the way she seems to have judged her friend & thus other girls who have suffered this hideous crime.