I just finished this book; it was a quick read, but really didn't capture my attention. If I hadn't finished it I wouldn't have missed not knowing the whole story.

I feel the characters were not fully developed. I didn't care that I didn't know the characters fully because they didn't interest me all that much. Though I did like Evelyn Edge-the woman that moved into Ruthie and Julia's house after they moved out.

It is an ok summer read-not a total waste of time, but if you don't get to finish it, you didn't miss much.

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I thought the story line was interesting and I liked how it spanned 20 years. However, the first third of the book, especially, seemed to draaaaggg on. It seemed the author had to explain every single reference she made and provide every detail ad nauseum. I doubt I will read any of her other books.

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I liked this book, but I had trouble paying attention most of the time. It didn't stir anything.

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Great story about sisters who face an awful tragedy at a young age and how it affects their lives. Quick read, hard to put down.

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This is the second book I have read by this author, and I thought A Place At the Table was much better.


The story begins in 1993 with Ruthie, 12 years old, and Julia, 16 years old, are close half-sisters whose lives are traumatized after their parents, Naomi and Phil Harrison, die in a small-plane crash over the Grand Canyon. As a result, Ruthie ends up living with Mimi (Phil's sister) and Robert in San Francisco while Julia winds up living with Matthew (her biological father) and her stepmother Peggy in Virden, Virginia. Ruthie happens to be the protagonist.

Unfortunately, the sisters deal with the death of their parents differently. Ruthie does well in school, receives therapy, and becomes friends with Dora while living with her rich aunt and uncle. Regrettably, Julia rebels and skips school, drinks, smokes, and takes drugs, thus forcing her father and stepmother to send her to a Fundamentalist rehab center.

The story continues on until 2009, relating the complex relationship between Ruthie and Julia.

I enjoyed that the author included the events of 9/11 in light of Julia living in New York at that time. Furthermore, Julia happens to be one of the passengers on the US Airways Flight 1549 that crash landed on-the-go Hudson River on January 15, 2009.

Anyway, I felt like this book had great potential, but the ending was quite strange. It felt like the author did not know how to end the story, so she just stopped writing. For example, Ruthie and Gabe, her husband, had an argument about children - he wanted them, but she did not. Also, Julia was planning on writing a memoir about her childhood, and Ruthie was still mad at her regarding her previous non-fiction novel. Julia had included information surrounding Ruthie's abortion without her knowledge.

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