Kelly's Reviews > White Oleander

Haha, this review made me laugh.
I felt that Fitch spent way too much time trying too hard to make the writing "poetic."

why should their be a 'pay off.' people who want pay offs are the people who have RUINED the publishing and film industry

Ha ha. '...the book that made me give up reading altogether.' The all time greatest dis.

LOL! I agree...man could it have gotten any more depressing????

Actually, the depression, page after page is what made the story perfect.

Best book that (to my knowledge- not a member) has ever been an Oprah Book Club pick: 100 Years of Solitude :-) I read it before it was picked and was pleased that it was, after which I started occasionally looking up Oprah's bookness.

This book is one of the best books that I have read in a while. Ya it was depressing at parts but it was so good.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but no one forced you to keep at this book. Or was it on the last page that you discovered your loathe for this read...hmm?

Actually, the seductive, dark, and poignant-ness IS the book. It's like saying, for example, (not talking about White Oleander), "This fantasy book had a lot of fantasy I hate fantasy!!"

No shit Sherlock.

Maybe your first mistake was trusting Oprahs book club picks? That's something that I usually stay far away from!

This is not constructive criticism, nor is this a "review". A person can dislike a book and still give a thoughtful review.
This post is just plain hate, my darling. Author-Bully behavior to the extreme.
You speak as if someone FORCED you to read it through ("it almost caused me to stop reading altogether" - I mean REALLY?!). If I despised a book so much it became traumatic for me, to the point where it caused me to have a literary breakdown, I would stop reading it. Simple.
Furthermore, you never actually list anything other than "it is depressing," to explain your disgust with it. If you don't like depressing writes, don't read them - I don't see what the issue is? Christ.

first off, an author isn't forced to give you "pay-off", but honestly in this case, there was pay off. she was away from her mother, living in berlin with someone who truly loved her, and making art of all the things that had happened to her. she let herself become an artist, not a writer like her mother. it's truly the most satisfying ending for the novel and it makes sense for her journey.
secondly, i don't know how you made it through this entire novel when you clearly hate it so much. yes, it is depressing that a young woman would go through this much pain; but how did you read about her being starved, or molested by her foster dad, or growing close to claire then finding her dead and not just put down the book?

While I was let down, felt deprived, by the ending it was still a great book. A better ending would’ve made it 5 star, not taken it down to negatives. Sometimes books leave us wondering what happened. Personally, I prefer it to be wrapped up - good or bad - but it doesn’t kill the book for me.