Helpful Score: 29
This book was so intense that I had to take breaks from reading it due to the realness of the subject matter. I can't imagine having gone through what Alice went through and then being OK psychologically. As it turned out, Alice wasn't as OK as she thought she was, as evidenced by her later drug use and other behaviors. I read the NPR transcript of her conversation with Terry Gross on 'Fresh Air' at the end of the novel and I liked what she had to say about therapeutic writing, that writing can be therapeutic, but that therapeutic writing shouldn't be published. I think I agree with that statement. I'm sure many memoirs are written as a form of therapy, but in Alice's case, her memoir came to be after she reached a point where she was OK. As she stated, reading her journals about how she felt after the rape after all those years was "mind-blowing" and made her realize that she "did OK." I also liked what she had to say about being able to find compassion for the man that raped her, that just because you can't forgive someone for what they've done to you, doesn't mean you can't find compassion for them.
Helpful Score: 17
I read The Lovely Bones and it is a favorite of mine. This book is a totally frank account of how the author's rape impacted her life. I think it was a courageous book for her to write and share her story with us.I am going to insist my 19 yr old college freshman read this.
Helpful Score: 17
A personal tale of the author's personal hell. Written by the author of The Lovely Bones, this book gives the chilling real life story of the author's survival...physically, mentally, and emotionally...of a brutal rape. Difficult to read at times...not because of the quality of Ms. Sebold's writing...it is superb... but because it is shocking in its truth and honesty. I lived in Syracuse, NY during my college years, so many of the places described are very real to me...a little too real for comfort at times.
I hope to read more from Alice Sebold in the future. She is indeed a gifted writer. Perhaps her literary talents have helped her to survive this ordeal. I highly recommend this book!
I hope to read more from Alice Sebold in the future. She is indeed a gifted writer. Perhaps her literary talents have helped her to survive this ordeal. I highly recommend this book!
Helpful Score: 12
Riveting true account of the author's experience after being raped at 18. Truthful and compelling, it is difficult to imagine how she was able to write it down.
Helpful Score: 10
An absolutely brilliant account of surviving rape, an indictment of the efficient legal system, and a critical look at the work of advocates that are part of Rape Crisis programs.
Helpful Score: 9
Alice Sebold is very brave and courageous to write something so personal. A brilliant book about how she survived rape and the pursuit of justice. I couldn't put it down.
Helpful Score: 7
Very powerful book. Alice Sebold takes you through her trauma of being raped, prosecuting her attacker and the aftermath that follows. This book really grabs you but is not for the faint of heart! However, all of Alice's books seem to have that theme to them. It definitely shows her strong character to overcome such a horrible experience and still come out on top.
Helpful Score: 7
A sad and harrowing tale of the author's rape and ensuing trial. Very honest and upfront.
Helpful Score: 6
This is the most powerful book I've ever read. She conveyed the rawness of her ordeal in such an unflinching way, that it sent chills down my spine. She is an AMAZING writer and a courageous woman!!
Helpful Score: 5
emotionally charged yet an ingrossing read. Well worth reading even with the difficulty of the subject matter.
Helpful Score: 5
Wonderful read! Great honest story of a terriable event in her life that turned into years of trying in understand. I read her novel first and loved it "Lovely Bones". The Memoir was very well writen it allows you to feel with her. Highly recommened!
This book captured my interest from the first page. I read it only 2 short days finding the time with my 18 month old daugther to do so at naps and bedtime. I could not put the book down. I was able to relate to the characters and follow along at a quick pace. I was not expected the book to be quite as graphic and detailed as it was, so as long as you are not squeemish at the gruesome facts of rape, you will also be captivated as to how a rape victim was able to survive life and learn not how to allow being a victim define the person she became. Though many hardships and struggles were presented to the character along the way, above all, she was able to overcome.
Helpful Score: 4
After devouring The Lovely Bones, and still drying lingering tears from my face, I just as quickly read Lucky, hungry for more of Sebold's insight & quiet, healthy rage. A more balanced woman you would be hard to find. Especially helpful for any victim of rape or assault.
Helpful Score: 3
If you can get through the first part - a very graphic recollection by Sebold of her rape - this is really an amazing book. Her actions, feelings, perceptions, and reactions all feel so real to me. I was riveted by her description of the various forms her life took on after the rape. It is all the more compelling because she actually found the guts to write something so true to herself, and not a "rah, rah!" story. Highly recommend.
Helpful Score: 3
Lucky is an extremely powerful memoir of Alice Sebolds rape as a freshman at Syracuse university. Im drawn to this primarily because Ive got a boatload of daughters, but grew up in a house of boys, and I suspect my understanding of the dangers of the world that confronts women is woefully understated, and fear that Im raising them to be far more trusting of the world than they really should be.
Its a powerful tale. Gripping. A book thats very easy to dive into and not come out until youre finished with it. Its been written with the feeling of a dispassionate reporter mixed in with a deep connection with emotion. And I do feel more aware, and more educated after having read it. A good feeling; one that I hope to keep with me.
4 of 5 stars.
Its a powerful tale. Gripping. A book thats very easy to dive into and not come out until youre finished with it. Its been written with the feeling of a dispassionate reporter mixed in with a deep connection with emotion. And I do feel more aware, and more educated after having read it. A good feeling; one that I hope to keep with me.
4 of 5 stars.
Helpful Score: 3
Literally couldn't put the book down, reads like a thriller. What Sebold went through and the guts she needed to pratically catch and prosecute her own rapist was incredible.
Helpful Score: 3
A look at a very strong woman who fought back against her rapist, learned to be herself in a new way, and was there for others in their times of trial.
Helpful Score: 3
Not for the faint of heart but very well done. Was glad I read it prior to reading Lovely Bones. It added all the more to the second story.
Helpful Score: 3
Memoir from the author of Lovely Bones...very honest and chilling. Sebold spares no detail in this account of her rape and subsequent fight to see her attacker arrested and convicted.
Helpful Score: 3
A heart-gripping tale of a college woman's rape and the ensuing trial against the criminal. Sebold is funny at times, brining tears at other times. Her writing is reminiscient of Anne Lamott.
Helpful Score: 3
A disturbing account of the author\'s rape and beating in college. Harrowing, but well written.
Helpful Score: 2
A very powerful memoir of a woman who is brutally raped as an 18 year old college freshman who triumphs over her rapist as he is convicted and sentenced to prison. It is disturbing, thrilling and inspiring all at the same time. A line from the back of the books says "Alice Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won." So very accurate. Definitely worth a read.
Helpful Score: 2
This book was hailed as a great read. While I disliked the book, it is an important journey that the author, Sebold, undertook with the telling of the rape she endured and the prosecution and conviction of the man who raped her.
Helpful Score: 2
A haunting memoir about a woman who was raped and how it defined the person she became. Great reading... really hits home.
Helpful Score: 2
Gripping, yes. Difficult, yes. Worth reading, YES.
Helpful Score: 2
Very real, personal account of Sebold's tragedy. Read it in less than a day...
Helpful Score: 2
I waited years - probably a decade...to read this book. I didn't think I could handle, as a young woman, the atrocities that this author survived. Sadly, her book was not a good read for me. It lacked a strong voice. It was not difficult to read - it didn't connect with me.
The Lovely Bones is one of my favorite!
The Lovely Bones is one of my favorite!
Helpful Score: 2
Even though it might be described as disturbing, Alice Sebold's memoir of her rape and loss of her innocence is a true account and something I'm sure some women out there could relate to. I have also read her book, The Lovely Bones, and I find she is a great author. She really stirred something within me. I hurt for her and was encouraged by her as well. I highly recommend this!
Helpful Score: 2
An account of the author's rape as a college student, and the aftermath of it. Sad, maddening, darkly humorous and sometimes hard to read, but I recommend it to all women - and to the men who seek to understand what rape does to a woman.
Helpful Score: 2
Second book from this author following her bestselling novel, Lovely Bones. This book is a memoir of a young woman who during college, suffered through a horrible rape. An excellent book that pulls you in. Just as good as Lovely Bones! A must read!
Helpful Score: 1
I am an volunteer for a rape crisis center and, I found this book to be an accurate portrayal of rape and all of the circumstances that surround sexual assault. Hearing about reactions from friends and family, the judicial system, how the life of a victim changes, and Sebold's future as a survivor was very real. I could hardly put the book down.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a true story about how the author was raped and how her whole life was now broken down in to two catagories. Before the rape and after.
Helpful Score: 1
I was surprised that I liked this book, as a man, that is. It was chosen for a book club that I am in and I had read "The Lovely Bones" and liked that book, so I was okay with this choice. The book gave a victim angle that I enjoyed reading...it also took place in Syracuse, New York, which is near where I grew up! It is a good read.
Helpful Score: 1
Horrific true story of the author's rape and quest to find revenge!
Helpful Score: 1
This was a pretty intense, yet moving memoir. You can see connections from Alice Sebold's life to her other book, The Lovely Bones.
Helpful Score: 1
Very Shocking and real. Alice Sebold has a way with words. You actually feel that you were there, watching from the sidelines, wanting to help, but can't. A wonderful book
Helpful Score: 1
This woman can really write. This book is a memoir of the author's rape when she was just a Freshman in college. This autobiography shines in the face of a terrible adversity. Sebold's style of writing takes you through the events actually bringing you along with her but without the sentimentality that many writers would bring to a memoir such as this. I found it to be brilliantly written and wish that I had read The Lovely Bones before reading this but I know that anything written by this author will be a mind blower! I highly recommend this book and rated it a 5.
Helpful Score: 1
Very Excellent. Gripping. Sometimes hard to read for it's honesty on the subject of rape.
Helpful Score: 1
definitely a good, honest read. i think every woman, and more importantly every man, should read this book. itss a startling account of the authors rape in her freshman year of college. she is beaten physically and emotionally and tells the tale that no woman should ever have to tell. and she tells it amazingly well. the only part that i was unimpressed with was the final chapter 'aftermath'. she spent the first 95% of the book detailing every painful moment, every conversation and emotion, but somehow flew through 10 years in 10 pages in the end. aside from that, i loved it. the experience itself is powerful enough to stand alone, but her writing style creates such a powerful story of her struggle and triumph.
Helpful Score: 1
Be warned, this book tells a graphic account of her rape. I almost didn't want to continue reading it. However, by the end of her story, you feel such strong emotions towards her that she leaves you yearning for more of her life story. She leaves so many unanswered questions about her life that the end of the book kind of fell apart.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a bit drawn out but kept me on my toes most of the time.
Helpful Score: 1
A poignant tale about a rape victim and the struggles she goes through after the rape. Like the main character, I'm about to start college. This book touched me deeply being a young woman.
Helpful Score: 1
I'm glad I finally requested this book. It's a really good story on a young girls rape and how she survives it. A must read!
Helpful Score: 1
I so treasure Alice's honesty in telling her story. It is an real, vivid and painful. Because of that, I feel bad saying that I was disappointed in this read. I feel awful saying that and it doesn't take away from her bravery, however this wasn't my favorite of her writings...
Helpful Score: 1
An excellent read, the author candidly takes you through her rape and the process which followed. Sebold is honest and is able to communicate the ramifications of this life changing event, even with the appropriate ironic humor.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought Sebold's writing was honest and eye opening. She doesn't censor herself and explores the feelings and reactions to a rape. I would recommend this book to anyone who may be dealing with this in their own life, whether you are the victim or know someone who is.
Helpful Score: 1
Lucky was a very well written, true account of the author's feelings about being raped. Ms. Sebold described the horrible incident in detail as well as the after-affect: Her negative feelings towards herself. She bravely fought to seek justice for the man who ruined so much of her life.
Helpful Score: 1
Once again, Alice Sebold knocks another one out of the park. Great book, and a must read. For a victim of a violent crime, she tells her story with such grace and poise. Amazing.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was unsettling because it was real, but I'm glad I read it. The author doesn't just describe the rape- you learn about the aftermath, how it affects her friendships and family relaionships and how difficult her pursuit for justice was. What she went through during the lineup situation was horrible. I would recommend this book to high school and college age girls, it's a real eye opener.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was disturbing but quite eye-opening! I love the way she writes. I also read her book Lovely Bones and loved it also.
Helpful Score: 1
This book comes straight from the author's heart, and it shows. i think that anyone who has experienced a traumatic life event (not just rape) can identify with the wide range of emotions that Sebold describes.
A must read, especially for families and friends of survivors.
A must read, especially for families and friends of survivors.
Helpful Score: 1
Very gripping... Can get long and drawn out during the courtroom scenes...
Helpful Score: 1
Lucky was a very good novel. It gives you some idea of
what victims of violent crime go through.I reccomend it to readers
especially those of memoirs.Its a page turner it is frightening though.
This woman was brave and is a survivor.
claire janicki
what victims of violent crime go through.I reccomend it to readers
especially those of memoirs.Its a page turner it is frightening though.
This woman was brave and is a survivor.
claire janicki
Helpful Score: 1
After reading Lovely Bones I had to get this. It is sobering, but well done!
Helpful Score: 1
Amazingly riveting account of the authors own true experience with rape and coping with the circumstances of it.
Well written and captivating. I recommend to anyone who enjoys a well written book.
Well written and captivating. I recommend to anyone who enjoys a well written book.
Helpful Score: 1
Read most of this at one sitting. Graphic yet fascinating.
Helpful Score: 1
Lucky is a very powerful memoir that gives the reader an important and valuable perspective of what a rape victim has to go through in order to seek justice against her perpetrator. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone.
Helpful Score: 1
Incredible. Her story is so honest. But what is extraordinary is how she ties her emotional development through out the story. Highly recommend.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is disturbing, but a good read. Alice Sebold makes her story very real. I asked my husband to read this book. I wanted to feel I could do something different - yet if powerless, learn to live with the reality. Made an imprint on me.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent First hand account of author's rape. This is a true story. The author tells it well and I admire her for her bravery and resiliance. Great for college students.
I highly recommend it.
I highly recommend it.
Helpful Score: 1
Very deep, introspective memoir by the author of "The Lovely Bones," detailing the effects and aftermath of her rape when she was just 18 years old. I was highly engaged by this book and think it's amazing that the author was able to detail such an awful event with so much soul.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book in about 4 hours. I could not put it down. It was rivetting, thought provoking, and sad. Sebold's experiences show us the full spectrum of reactions to the brutal crime of rape, and show us where our own prejudices lie. A fabulous book!
Helpful Score: 1
Someone gave me this book after my daughter was assaulted. It didn't help at first, but as time passed, it was helpful to know how it was for another woman.
Helpful Score: 1
By the author of "The Lovely Bones," this is an excruciatingly honest memoir based on recovery from a brutal rape and beating. The triumph of the human spirit after such a tragedy is always a story worth reading, but this one is Literature, with a Capital L besides. Extremely moving and sharp-witted. Well worth the read.
Helpful Score: 1
This book should be required for social workers! Well-written, insightful and able to provide insight for those of us fortunate enough not to have had a similar experience but who need to be more aware of where the victim is!
Helpful Score: 1
It was slow. I was very dispointed. I really liked 'The Lovely Bones' this one.... I couldn't even finish :(.
Helpful Score: 1
"Lucky" is upsetting, disturbing, and at one point left me so shaken that I forced myself to quit reading and go do something else. There is a twist toward the end of the book that is so unbelievably awful that if this book were fiction, it would seem too far-fetched to accept. Still, I found the book to be a real page-turner and couldn't totally put it aside until I'd finished it.
Helpful Score: 1
First book I've read by her. It is a memoir of her. Could of ended earlier, seemed like she was trying to make it longer. But it was good. Makes you think you can survive anything. Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when as an eighteen year old freshman she was burtally raped and beaten in a park near campus.
pretty graphic, detailed. but tells of how she brought him to justice, how she handled it hprk,4ett
pretty graphic, detailed. but tells of how she brought him to justice, how she handled it hprk,4ett
Helpful Score: 1
A wonderfully written, yet sad and true accounting of a rape victim and her life. Alice Sebold doesn't hold back any punches and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. She's a troubled, yet strong woman who gives insite into her life before, during, and after her rape in college. She bravely gives details of her family and friends, as well as their reactions and coping to the violence. This author truely writes from the heart and isn't to be missed.
Helpful Score: 1
"This book was beautifully written. The author uses the audiences attention by starting with the story first and then recapturing the events that took place afterword. She keeps the reader on their toes by her amazing description of events.
Alice Sebold shows how she overcame her rape and was able to survive it. She told what happened to her and how it effected the lives around her. She overcame what everyone else tried to forget. She got revenge and lost some friends for it and gained some new ones. She was handed lemons and made lemonade." amazon review
Alice Sebold shows how she overcame her rape and was able to survive it. She told what happened to her and how it effected the lives around her. She overcame what everyone else tried to forget. She got revenge and lost some friends for it and gained some new ones. She was handed lemons and made lemonade." amazon review
Helpful Score: 1
Amazing details in this story. The author recounts both the incidents and the emotions that went along with them. I came away from this book in awe...and in wonderment--if this had been me--could I have been as strong?
Helpful Score: 1
Great book, quick read. If you liked Lovely Bones, you will like this one as well. Unfortunately, good insight to what a rape victim must go through.
Helpful Score: 1
This memoir shows incredible courage and strength along with bitter pain. Sebold is a fantastic writer of both fiction and non-fiction.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this was an amazing memoir of a girl changed by a rape in her life. It challenges her to be strong throughout the process of her rapist's arrest and convictions. The emotions are finely detailed. The cast of characters around her are rich and focused. A truly fine book by an amazing writer. I would definitely read her other novel, "The Lovely Bones."
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent book! True story, very honest and detailed about her experience.
Helpful Score: 1
Alice Sebold was subjected to the most violent physical behavior of a deranged man, yet she seems to know even as a teenager that "life goes on". Her feelings and reactions to this violence are misinterpreted and misunderstood by everyone, even those who love her most.In this touching story she is speaking to millions of women who have also been victimized.
Helpful Score: 1
A memoir by the author of the novel The Lovely Bones. It is the story of being beaten and raped when she was eighteen near the campus of Syracuse University, where she was a freshman. Fantastic.
Helpful Score: 1
if you like this , read Lovely Bones, I couldnt put either down until i had read it all....very intense! Great Author!!!!
Helpful Score: 1
This isn't a light read but it was a page turner. It was a great insight into the mind of a person who has seen the ugliest part of the human race.
I didn't like this book. It didn't feel well written to me, and I didn't like how she finished the the book, it was like she just wanted to get the story over with so she flew through the later part of her life.
A very well written memoir of the author's rape. Can't imagine how hard it was to write it all down and share with the world!
This book had so many typos and the English was so bad I couldn't get through it. I think after 2 chapters I put it down and then got rid of it.
If it doesn't bother you that the words don't flow, by all means read it but I can't enjoy something that I have to read several lines over and over just to try to understand what she's trying to say. Hopefully she has an editor now and they've republished the book so it makes sense.
If it doesn't bother you that the words don't flow, by all means read it but I can't enjoy something that I have to read several lines over and over just to try to understand what she's trying to say. Hopefully she has an editor now and they've republished the book so it makes sense.
I have read all of Seabold's book and this is the best one. I am surprised that the book that follows her own turmoil sheds a bright light of hope to its reader because her fiction's theme surround woman who lost hope and positivity.
This was such a great book...so much different than "Lovely Bones". I would recommend EVERY female read this book. It is an eye opener. Alice has such strength and shows it thoughtout the whole book.
This book gets pretty technical so I found myself skipping over pages and actually, I didn't finsih the book. Just wasn't really "up my alley".
After reading this book I am at a loss for words. It's a very important story to be told and I appreciate it, but the actual writing itself did not impress me.I agree with the other readers that Ms. Seabold is very brave to have written this and I first read the Lovely Bones last year. I enjoyed reading this and read through the last two thirds of the book today and I would definetly recommend it to my peers, but it's not a book I would like to keep on my shelf.
Partly terrifying, partly mystery, partly sad story of a young girl who is raped, and the aftermath of such a crime,
This was tough to read, but well-written and thought-provoking.
This true story of the author's rape is well written and very graphic. After awhile, the topic in book form was a bit much for me. I would not read it a second time. D.
I am impressed with Alice's ability to write so candidly about her own rape.
"In the tunnel where I was raped, a tunnel that was once an underground entry to an ampitheater, a place where actors burst forth from underneath the seats of a crowd, a girl had been murdered and dismembered. I was told this story by the police.
In comparison, they said, I was Lucky."
In comparison, they said, I was Lucky."
Very good book. Author tells her story of rape.
Very well written -
Deep subject, a little hard for me to get into this.
Loved this book! It makes me want to know more about the author--she is an amazingly strong woman!
This is a well written book. I liked the story a lot. I feel that the author did a great job of sticking to the story w/o creating unnecessary pages. This is a very quick read, but I did not find it all that engaging. Def. something I would get from the library.
Lucky is a 1999 memoir by American novelist Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones. The memoir describes her experiences of being raped and how the experience shaped the rest of her life
I thought this book was very objective yet touching narrative of a traumatic event from the victim's perspective. It left me wondering and wanting more.
I found it interesting how her actual past morphed into The Lovely Bones, you can see where she got a lot of the story. I found it a little more on the clinical side too, as if she is almost detached from what happened.
I could barely put this book down. The inside story on what can (and often does) happen in a case like this. I appreciated the frankness of the main story, as well as the layers of relationships around Alice.
When I ordered this book, I was expecting to read a story that would tug at my soul. This book was not it. I had read reviews that the book was "powerful", "intense" and many other things. I personally did not get any of that. In fact, when I read the rape scene, it seemed very cold, almost clinical. I didn't feel any emotion in it at all, and felt it was a very removed description of the event - not one I would have expected from a rape victim who had gone through a horrific experience. What I did enjoy about the book was learning what a multi-dimensional character Alice is, and reading about her struggles to deal with the after effects of the ordeal. There were many lessons to be learned by watching her struggles and triumphs to adjust to her new life after the event.
Very intriguing book.
I tried reading this three times and just can't get past the brutal first scene. It takes guts to write a book like this--I wish I had enough to finish it.
Alice Sebold is an awesome author!!! This book was amazing!!! Great Book! I would HIGHLY recommend it!
This book was truly amazing...raw...emotional...heartbreaking...I couldn't put it down.
I liked this book. Sebold is a rare author who can take a really reprehensible subject and turn it into a page turner.
I really enjoyed this book. I was a litle afraid to read about the author's experience of being raped as a teenager but it was written with such skill that it was horrifying without being terrifying. It was fascinating to learn about how she manuevered her way through the stages of acceptance and came out on the other end, finally. Very well written. I would highly recommend it.
I loved Lovely Bones, but Lucky is even better. Sebold's ability to tell her own story and in such a way that you feel you were not only there, but were there as her biggest supporter makes Lucky an emotionally challenging and inspiring read. Kudos Sebold for the person you are and the insight you bring to the world.
Reading these memoirs remind us how difficult some people's lives are and also how fortunate we have been.
From the time I received this book in the mail to when I finished was about 12 hours. I couldn't put it down! I didn't love it quite as much as 'the Lovely Bones' but I still really liked it.
Alice Sebold is an excellent writer, I recommend all of her books.
This book is about how being raped when she was in college affected her and her family. As with all of her books it is well written. This book isn't written to make you feel sorry for her and she doesn't feel sorry for herself. It is hard to write a review of the book and tell how well done it is because it just seems wrong to write how great a story is when it is the true story of rape.
Alice Sebolds is so gifted I am glad she shared this very personal story with us.
This book is about how being raped when she was in college affected her and her family. As with all of her books it is well written. This book isn't written to make you feel sorry for her and she doesn't feel sorry for herself. It is hard to write a review of the book and tell how well done it is because it just seems wrong to write how great a story is when it is the true story of rape.
Alice Sebolds is so gifted I am glad she shared this very personal story with us.
This is a hard book to read. The author tells her true story about rape. The subject is difficult, but she does a great job of helping us understand the feelings associated with this. This was a book that you will have a hard time putting down.
Great book! couldn't put it down...read it in about 2 days. Good memoir of her rape and drug/liquor abuse. Great read!!
I really enjoyed this book. The contents were inspirational. I will warn that the book at points was very graphic though.
I like this book because it was interesting to see how the author's life developed from a young girl, surviving a horrible tragedy and the continuing struggles from that tragedy. If you like her other books, this is a good read.
I got the impression that Sebold still hadn't tackled her intimacy issues at the time she wrote this book. We know by reading her brief bio that she's married, but she made such a statement about her virginity and how the rape impacted her sexual relationships from that point forward and then suddenly, she kept glossing over her "boyfriends" right up to the very end of the book. After reading "The Lovely Bones" I felt disappointed, continually hoping that we'd get a deeper look into the emotional toll the rape and subsequent trial had on her. But the quick, cool tone continued through to the end and I never felt the connection between the Alice in the book and the celebrity writer other than the literary name dropping. Ultimately, it seemed that "Lucky" was a reporter's take on the story and "The Lovely Bones" was the true emotional outlet. There is talented writing and bravery in having achieved both.
This book was very gripping........i couldn't put it down! I give Alice Sebold alot of credit for what she did and for seeing justice through...... This was a great book!
The only book I have read in many years, that I could not put down, but could not wait to be over...I unintentionally read this ,after I had already read The Lovely Bones years ago, glad I read them in that order, this memoir is riveting, and saddening at the same time. I would definately reccomend it if you are a Sebold fan.
This was clearly her inspiration for The Lovely Bones. It was hard for me to get through sometimes, realizing that it was a narrative. I am glad I did though. Great story about a brave young woman.
Good Book. Excellent read. If you can get past the first chapter, it is very compelling.
This is a wonderfully written account of Sebold's rape and its aftermath. Touching, harrowing, and surprisingly funny at times, this book takes the reader through all of the emotions felt by Sebold, her friends and family, and of all rape victims.
A memoir of a young girl who endured being raped as a college freshman.
Could not get into this book at all. I don't think it is very well written.
A riveting account of a the author's own rape as an eighteen year old that makes you laugh and cry - filled with both courage and fear. Couldn't put it down!
I found this especially interesting after my Women and Violence class last term. A very stirring account of what Sebold went through as a freshman in college after she was raped walking through a campus park. Having written two books about rape, I wonder if Sebold will ever produce anything that is truly fiction (since The Lovely Bones is fiction in some ways, and memoir in others.) Here's hoping she has more things to say!
I read this book in record time. Intense, real,eye opening.
I could not put down. I had to know the whole story.
I could not put down. I had to know the whole story.
Alice Sebold's memoir of her brutal rape and beating when she was an 18 year old student. Follows through the arrest and conviction of her attacker.
I did not enjoy The Lovely Bones but I am so glad that I gave Lucky a shot. I was pleasently surprised!
a wonderful account of a terrifying event. exhilarating to read!
A big disappointment, especially after reading "The Lovely Bones" last year, which I would rate a 9. I did not care for the choppiness of this book at all: Alice's flashbacks to her college experiences and her youth - nothing flowed and she told these in such a segmented way, I felt myself saying "...and then what?" all too often. I found Sebold's tone throughout pretentious. The trial was told as mainly a transcript. Borderline 2-3 rating, but I'll lean toward the 3 since the rape experience was well told and I liked Alice's poem.
In a memoir hailed for its searing candor and wit. Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What propels this chronicle of her recovery is Sebold's indomitaable spirit-as she struggles for understanding ("After telling the hard facts to anyone, from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes"); as her dazed family and friends sometimes bungle their efforts to provide comfort and support; and as, ultimately, she triumphs, managing through grit and coincidence to help secure her attacker's arrest and conviction. In a narrative by turns disturbing, thrilling, and inspiring, Alice Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won: "You save yourself or you remain unsaved."
This was an amazingly good read, I loved it! She took a very difficult subject and handled the storytelling of it beautifully.
Excellent book! Told with honesty & courage.
Moving, painful true story of a woman's coping with her brutal rape and conviction of her attacker.
An intense and moving memoir about the author's rape and beating when she was eighteen.
Sebold tells the ugly story of her rape beautifully. This book is on my all time favorites list.
I know a lot of people left really good reviews aboutt this book but I really didn't like it at all. I thought it was very boring and there was a lot of stuff in there that was senseless and I felt like didn't need to be in it which made it drag on. I won't be reading anything else by this author again.
Very compelling and disturbing account of Sebold's rape. She walks you through the rape as well as her feelings, the trial, and her life in the aftermath. Great read!
Harrowing but beautiful. I thought about this for days after I read it--especially about her statement, "You save yourself or you remain unsaved."
Interesting account of a young woman's rape and conviction of the rapist.
by the author of LOVELY BONES.
THE AUTHOR TELLS OF HER RAPE AS A COLLEGE STUDENT AND HANDLES HER SUBJECT WITH THE INTEGRITY OF A JOURNALIST AND THE CARE OF A SURVIVOR.
THE AUTHOR TELLS OF HER RAPE AS A COLLEGE STUDENT AND HANDLES HER SUBJECT WITH THE INTEGRITY OF A JOURNALIST AND THE CARE OF A SURVIVOR.
Painfully detailed - emotionally hard to read for the subject matter but well written.
A powerful story of a young woman coping from the emotional, legal and social fall out of rape. Compassionate portrayal.
true story about a rape victim , intense read!
A dark and often humourous look at a woman's true account of being a rape victim. An insightful look at what one woman goes through from the rape to the conviction of her rapist.
Although I commend Alice Sebold for telling her story so honestly, I found the book itself a little hard to follow.
Difficult subject but well written with honesty and bluntness.
A very good book! I thoroughly enjoyed Sebold's writing. If you haven't read any of her work yet, you absolutely must!
The synopsis of the book - and the several pages I did read - were a little too dark for me.
I have read both The Lovely Bones and Lucky and I will be looking for more of Alice Sebold in the future. Both books were intense and kept my interest all the way through. I could hardly wait to get back to the story after I had to put the book down to take care of life. Great book, great author!
Very interesting and descriptive story of rape.
Good book on a difficult subject.
Unforgettable book. But a good read.
Wonderful read, couldn't put it down.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
This book is Alice Sebold's memoir... an emotional and suspenseful reading. This book was hard to put down.
Well it is no secret that I love Alice Sebold. Was unsure how a true account of her damaging experience would be versus her wonderful fiction but was so surprised that Lucky surpassed anything I have ever read by her! It was an extra special treat to hear of her accounts in her own voice...book on tape got me thru a long road trip...and I fell in love with her sweet, soft voice. Thank you, Alice, for sharing what was s horrible life-shaping past. You are my hero!
An incredible read about a horrifying experience. A very powerful book.
In a memoir hailed for its searing candor and wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What propels this chronicle of her recovery is Sebold's indomitable spirit-as she struggles for understanding ("After telling the hard facts to anyone, from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes"); as her dazed family and friends sometimes bungle their efforts to provide comfort and support;and as, ulitmately, she triumphs, managing through grit and coincidence to help secure her attacker's arrest and conviction. In a narrative by turns disturbing, thrilling, and inspiring, Alice Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won:"You save yourself or you remain unsaved".
Worth reading if you liked Lovely Bones.
Book was an excellent read especially after reading Lovely Bones by the same author. Both books will not be reposted as they were gifts to another person.
Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. In a narrative by turns disturbing, thrilling, and inspiring, she illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won: "You save yourself or you remain unsaved."
I loved this book. Once I started reading, it was hard to put down.
I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow. Powerful, powerful, powerful. A must read for every human service professional, every woman, and every survivor.
The true story of the author's rape. The author also wrote The Lovely Bones. A great read.
In a word, stunning.
great book - very fast read, compelling - I did not put it down
From the author of The Lovely Bones....her memoir about how she survived being raped in college.
Great reading that kept me totally wanting to turn the page.
Interesting. Not the best I've read, but I'll keep it.
A great book...very moving!
Gruesome and strangely enchanting...A controlled and meticulous account...THe quiet achievement of Sebold's memoir of her rape as a college freshman is that she handles her subject with the integrity of a journalist and the care of a survivor-Newsday
I read Sebold's Lovely Bones and wanted to read this too. I found the book interesting and well written.
Absolutely thrilling to read.
Sad story of a rape victim. Very well written.
really good read, well written.
WOW...very moving!
A riveting true story that will make your spine tingle!
Good book.
Alice Sebold's memoir. Excellent book.
Alice shares a very personal part of her journey through life. She is an excellent writer. I always have a hard time putting her books down once i get started on them.
This is a pretty emotional read and deals with kidnapping, murder and rape of a young girl.
very interesting biography
I loved this book. Want to read others from this author.
Do not read this and expect a book like Lovely Bones. This is good but not as good as Lovely Bones.
very good book!
Sebold is great!
A great book
