Helpful Score: 7
I just finished this book and was very dissappointed in the ending. Hoffman knows how to spin a tale for sure. I found myself not really liking any of the characters in this book yet I was having a hard time putting the book down.
Whil the story is quite unusual I found myself very interested. But, there is a point in the book where it fast-forwards about 10-15 years and then from that point the book goes downhill. It is almost like Hoffman got bored with the book and just gave up. The last half of the book could have been written by someone else because the style of writing is different and the ending makes no sense (at least to me).
I don't know what kind of recommendation to even give this book. I think it is worth the read as Hoffman is a very talented writer. But, I don't think this is her best book.
Whil the story is quite unusual I found myself very interested. But, there is a point in the book where it fast-forwards about 10-15 years and then from that point the book goes downhill. It is almost like Hoffman got bored with the book and just gave up. The last half of the book could have been written by someone else because the style of writing is different and the ending makes no sense (at least to me).
I don't know what kind of recommendation to even give this book. I think it is worth the read as Hoffman is a very talented writer. But, I don't think this is her best book.
Helpful Score: 4
I thoroughly enjoyed Skylight Confessions.
I think the characters were well developed and intriguing, and I had a difficult time setting the book down. I read the entire thing in two sittings and when it ended, I wrote the author's name down so I can pick up more books by her.
It has an interesting ending - not the one I predicted. Typically, I prefer a different sort of ending to a story but this was unique. The story was told from different points of view and I think that really helped make each of the characters easy to relate to.
It wasn't my favorite book in the world, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in stories that aren't typical and predictable. I would read it again.
I think the characters were well developed and intriguing, and I had a difficult time setting the book down. I read the entire thing in two sittings and when it ended, I wrote the author's name down so I can pick up more books by her.
It has an interesting ending - not the one I predicted. Typically, I prefer a different sort of ending to a story but this was unique. The story was told from different points of view and I think that really helped make each of the characters easy to relate to.
It wasn't my favorite book in the world, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in stories that aren't typical and predictable. I would read it again.
Helpful Score: 2
I have enjoyed almost all of the Alice Hoffman books, and this one is no exception. Arlyn is 17 when her father passes away. She tells herself the next man to walk down the street will become her lover and she will marry him. John is lost while driving to a party and stops at Arlyn's house to ask for directions. John tries to leaves three days later, and Arlyn follows him back to college. Eventually they do get married, but it is obvious that John really wants nothing to do with her. They have a son, whom John never interacts with. John is an architect that does a lot of travelling. Arlyn falls in love with the window washer that comes to wash the windows every week in their infamous glass house. She and the window washer, George, become lovers and a daughter is born from the connection. Arlyn breaks off the relationship. She then gets cancer and dies three months after the daughter is born. The son, Sam, is six and from then on is unreachable. John gets remarried but keeps seeing Arlyn wherever he goes. I have already gone into too much detail and hope not to spoil it. It was a really wonderful book that I read in an afternoon. I recommend this book to all Alice Hoffman fans.
Helpful Score: 2
I had never read anything by Alice Hoffman prior to this book. This was awesome! I could barely put it down.
Helpful Score: 1
This may be my favorite book by Alice Hoffman. As always, the story has an element of the supernatural. The characters are well-developed and believable. I couldn't put it down, wondering which of the characters would overcome their pain and find a way to move on with their lives.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a disappointment. It never seemed to take off.
Helpful Score: 1
Skylight Confessions follows several people within a damaged family. Hoffman uses a lot of symbolism and elaborate prose to relay the tale of Arlyn and her offspring. There are surprises amid the story, but I felt the entire book read like a complex literary assignment....I couldn't spend as much time enjoying the story because I was busy trying to sort out all of he symbolism. Still, entertaining enough and a quick read.
Helpful Score: 1
Initially didn't think this was a book that I would enjoy; however, I was not ready for it to end. Hoffman pulls you into a complex world of family and relationships. Writing is concise and very enjoyable!
Helpful Score: 1
Sad characters all around and the since of just moving through life without being part of life. I kept reading hoping that someone would find some joy. I did like the ending and wished I could of found out what happened to Will's child. M3
it started pretty interesting but after 2 chapters it began to look very boring and with no sense. the ending really blows.
I usually love Alice Hoffman's writing but for some reason this book just didnt hold my interest. It just didnt ever seem to engage me.
I liked this book. Easy read, good story.
Another wonderfually twisted book from Alice Hoffman. Loved the idea of the house in this book. Good read.
good read,
Plot from Amazon:
Hoffman works with her own private deck of tarot cards to create psychologically rich, mystical tales infused with a sexy form of magic realism sprung from the union of romance and tragedy. In her latest gothic fairy tale of doomed passion and indelible guilt, Arlyn, 17, is utterly alone in the world until, like a mermaid casting her spell over a lost sailor, she pulls John Moody into her orbit and refuses to let go. A student at Yale, he is the lackluster son of an architect famous for building a Connecticut house known as the Glass Slipper. In a sinister variation on the nursery rhyme about the woman who lived in a shoe, the mismatched couple dwell precariously in the comfortless glass mansion with their solemn son, Sam, and, later, a daughter, Blanca, who isn't even a year old when cancer claims Arlyn. But death doesn't dispel Arlyn's powers. As birds inexplicitly flock to the Glass Slipper, dishes break without being touched, and soot rains down, Sam, a promising artist, loses his way in a labyrinth of narcotics, even as help arrives in the form of a young woman also haunted by her dead. Hoffman's shimmering, multigenerational melodrama bewitches with supernatural imagery. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
My input:
This is a very interesting book. It is well-written and has many twists and turns. The book walks you through the story of a family that lives in a house made out of glass- there is a little bit of everything in this book- love, hate, passion and tragedy.
I found parts of the book a bit confusing, like the author was trying out too many ideas and couldn't settle on one or two of them. All in all though, it is a good read.
Hoffman works with her own private deck of tarot cards to create psychologically rich, mystical tales infused with a sexy form of magic realism sprung from the union of romance and tragedy. In her latest gothic fairy tale of doomed passion and indelible guilt, Arlyn, 17, is utterly alone in the world until, like a mermaid casting her spell over a lost sailor, she pulls John Moody into her orbit and refuses to let go. A student at Yale, he is the lackluster son of an architect famous for building a Connecticut house known as the Glass Slipper. In a sinister variation on the nursery rhyme about the woman who lived in a shoe, the mismatched couple dwell precariously in the comfortless glass mansion with their solemn son, Sam, and, later, a daughter, Blanca, who isn't even a year old when cancer claims Arlyn. But death doesn't dispel Arlyn's powers. As birds inexplicitly flock to the Glass Slipper, dishes break without being touched, and soot rains down, Sam, a promising artist, loses his way in a labyrinth of narcotics, even as help arrives in the form of a young woman also haunted by her dead. Hoffman's shimmering, multigenerational melodrama bewitches with supernatural imagery. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
My input:
This is a very interesting book. It is well-written and has many twists and turns. The book walks you through the story of a family that lives in a house made out of glass- there is a little bit of everything in this book- love, hate, passion and tragedy.
I found parts of the book a bit confusing, like the author was trying out too many ideas and couldn't settle on one or two of them. All in all though, it is a good read.
Another interesting story, with some magical events that add some whimsy to the sad lives encountered. Very timely with our current opiod crisis and its effects on families.
