Helpful Score: 9
My dad got me this book for Christmas, so I was all excited to read it. From the back of the cover, it looks like some sort of Romance/Mystery. It really isn't either. The main character is basically a down-and-out guy looking to make some easy cash. So he takes a summer job watching this old lady. She's crazy. In a bad way. And one horrible thing after another that happens to this guy makes you feel nothing but sympathy for him. This guy is so unlucky and pitiful that depression seeps through this book's pages into you. I give this book a crappy rating because it was plotless and made me feel down in the dumps.
Helpful Score: 1
Finally a good engaging summer read with some sense. The characters were not as well developed as they could be; no matter, they were authentic and believable and fantastic. I have not read a book in a long time were I felt that the story stayed true to reality as this book did. If you are looking for a beach read that is about more than breezy days and lovers on the sand, then get this book!
I could not put this book down - really enjoyed it. A young man in his early 20s from Cleveland takes a summer job living with and looking after an elderly woman at her summer home in a small, exclusive community on the Maine coast. Her house overlooks the ocean and the writer does a good job of describing the beauty of the area and the lives of it's wealthy summer inhabitants. At times I wanted to slap some sense into this kid - but then I remembered how silly and irresponsible most of us were at that age. The elderly woman is also quite interesting - one is never quite certain how much she understands - maybe a lot more than she lets on. Anyway, I liked the ending and enjoyed the read - kept turning the pages to find out what would happen next. This is a subtle book and in the midst of all the adventure, a lot is going on with the humans (of all ages) that provide some surprises and interesting lessons.
This was a fun light summer read. An interesting yet exciting summer job in a costal community, companionship and a summer fling
Eh? Didn't really like this book. I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never did. My mother first started reading it and after about 15 pages she said she didn't like it. I should've done the same.
I probably wouldn't have finished it but the back cover made it sound like a mystery and I wanted to find out what happened to Ellen. Well there was no mystery and no real plot or story. Just an overall depressing book. A down and out 20 something guy is looking for a break from his dead end life so he takes a summer job caring for an elderly woman at the beach in Maine for the summer. She is a little more crazy than he knew in the beginning. Meets a girl but she is not as into him and cheats on him. Old lady ends up in the hospital. He gets beat up, no one in the town seems to really like him, and he almost drowns at the end. No real story, no real resolution of his issues from his mom's death or how to get his life together. Just depressing and nothing good happens anywhere in the book.
