Helpful Score: 5
This was the March 2012 pick in my online book club, The Reading Cove. Be forewarned: depressing, depressing, depressing.
The tone of this book could make you want to slit your wrists! If you've got high energy and are in a good mood, stay away from this book. It will knock you right down.
It's narrated by Helena, a veterinarian who died of breast cancer and left behind a house full of animals for her husband, David, to carry on with. And it's just layer after layer of dreary tragedy; but just not uplifting enough in the end to be justified.
It felt like the main thrust was a commentary about the multi-faceted bond between animals and humans, with a trial that, in the end, was just overly dramatic at times, a playground for the theatrics of a heavy-handed message.
I also think this is a rather macabre premise for the author, who modeled the main characters after his own life, with one exception: his vet wife isn't dead. Interesting that he'd want to explore the idea in this way...
Overall, I give it a generous C for some thoughtful lines and touching moments.
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×
The tone of this book could make you want to slit your wrists! If you've got high energy and are in a good mood, stay away from this book. It will knock you right down.
It's narrated by Helena, a veterinarian who died of breast cancer and left behind a house full of animals for her husband, David, to carry on with. And it's just layer after layer of dreary tragedy; but just not uplifting enough in the end to be justified.
It felt like the main thrust was a commentary about the multi-faceted bond between animals and humans, with a trial that, in the end, was just overly dramatic at times, a playground for the theatrics of a heavy-handed message.
I also think this is a rather macabre premise for the author, who modeled the main characters after his own life, with one exception: his vet wife isn't dead. Interesting that he'd want to explore the idea in this way...
Overall, I give it a generous C for some thoughtful lines and touching moments.
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×
Helpful Score: 5
An absolute wonderful read! You'll laugh and cry throughout this beautifully written novel. I've never read a book that made me cry as much....have those tissues close by. A surprise ending. Animal lovers will especially love this book. Those who aren't animal lovers will do the same. Don't miss this one.
Helpful Score: 3
It is difficult to decide how I feel about this book. I loved it right up until about the last 20 pages. It was wonderful reading and I thought it was set up to end beautifully, but it went in a sadder direction. Still, there were some good things in the end. I would recommend it if you can take some heartbreak, but if not, this may be one to skip.
Helpful Score: 3
My son bought this for me because it had a dog on the cover. Good start, but I don't think I would have chosen it for myself. Without giving away the story line to much, I'll say, it is sort of depressing. I'm told the arts either provide education or entertainment.... there was some education here, but the education factor just made me sad.
Helpful Score: 2
This book is narrated by the deceased. She was a wife, a vet and a friend. How her death impacts those she left behind as well, as how she feels about how she lived her life, is explored.
This is not only a book about people. The animals and their impact on their owners lives are a strong secondary storyline. Sometimes it is the main focus.
A riveting story.
This is not only a book about people. The animals and their impact on their owners lives are a strong secondary storyline. Sometimes it is the main focus.
A riveting story.
It's 1:00 a.m. and I just finished this book. I'm lying in bed with my husband and (even more comforting) two cats. I think any animal lover would enjoy this book.
The story is very moving, as I expected from the subject matter. Hard to say how I really feel without giving away too much.
I'll just say that, at various times, it made me cry and it made me smile. Mostly it made me grateful to have my little furry friends in my life.
Highly recommended.
The story is very moving, as I expected from the subject matter. Hard to say how I really feel without giving away too much.
I'll just say that, at various times, it made me cry and it made me smile. Mostly it made me grateful to have my little furry friends in my life.
Highly recommended.
Helpful Score: 1
One of the best books I've ever read! I read this in early June and I'm still thinking about it every day. My full review is on goodreads.com. This is a don't miss!
Helpful Score: 1
What an amazing book and talented author! I read this in two days and was left sleep deprived as a result! So well written and thought provoking. Even if you are not passionate about animals, you cannot help but fall in love with this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED@
A moving story told by Helena, a deceased veterinarian. Helena watches over her husband David as he struggles with his grief and his attempts at tending to the animals that Helena once cared for. Helena moves between David and other significant people and animals in her life that are all intertwined by past circumstances. As David tries to come to peace with his grief, he learns who Helena really was and Helena learns that her past has shaped the lives of those still living and that every life matters.
A heart warming and heart wrenching story, any animal lover will enjoy.
A heart warming and heart wrenching story, any animal lover will enjoy.
This book was a joy to read! If you are an animal lover, as I am, you will be crying, rooting for Cindy, angry, urging Skippy to fight, and thrilled you have read this book at the end. Have a large hanky box near.
This is an emotionally charged book that illustrates the healing powers between animals and humans. Enjoyed it very much
I am in agreement with another reviewer that this book is not the most uplifting. It is narrated by Helena, the deceased wife of the main character, who is a lawyer just like the author. Not more than a few pages can be read without the reminder that she is dead and speaking from the "other side". Meanwhile, her major concerns are for her animals that she left behind and how her grieving husband relates to them. To really get to the crux of the plot - a trial to free a chimpanzee - takes more than 200 pages. OK for a first attempt...maybe his next book will be better. D.
Some books are so difficult to put aside. This was one. The empathy and emotion with which the author writes is rare. Beautiful, tender, and heart rending. AsI became acquainted with the characters I found that their tender hearts determined and guided their actions with both positive and negative results/
The narrator is a woman who died. She observes the lives of her grieving lawyer husband, her friends and acqaintances. A veteranian whose compassionate practice endeared her to those who brought their furry friends to her office, she provided the stability and tenderness her husband needed. There is an autistic child and his divorced mother, a veteranian who contemplates closing his practice, and a lawyer whose key concern is the firm he drives toward always toward making money.
I find it difficult to discuss how I genuinely felt about this book. Returning to passage after passage, I found so much heartache. Fortunately, in this novel many can heal, each in their own way. It's a wonderful, wonderful read and while I keep few books this one may remain on my shelf for a long time after, of course, I share it with those I think will understand the story and reflect on its messages.
The narrator is a woman who died. She observes the lives of her grieving lawyer husband, her friends and acqaintances. A veteranian whose compassionate practice endeared her to those who brought their furry friends to her office, she provided the stability and tenderness her husband needed. There is an autistic child and his divorced mother, a veteranian who contemplates closing his practice, and a lawyer whose key concern is the firm he drives toward always toward making money.
I find it difficult to discuss how I genuinely felt about this book. Returning to passage after passage, I found so much heartache. Fortunately, in this novel many can heal, each in their own way. It's a wonderful, wonderful read and while I keep few books this one may remain on my shelf for a long time after, of course, I share it with those I think will understand the story and reflect on its messages.
Trigger Warning: This book deals with the illness and death of several animals, as well as descriptions of medical testing on animal subjects.
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'Unsaid' joins that small niche of novels narrated by a ghost. Or, at any rate, by a soul seeking her ultimate rest by overseeing the actions of those she has left behind as she continues to question the actions she took while living and wondering how those actions are going to affect her afterlife.
Along the way, she oversees her grieving husband, the often-contrary animals she has left with him, and the desperate actions of a fellow animal researcher attempting to save the life of one of their subjects.
Along the way, Abramson takes a look at inter-species communication, conflicts within the scientific research community, and the responsibility of both veterinarians and owners when pet euthanasia is being considered. And bubbling just under the surface the story of a couple whose time together was cut short, and with their memories, both good and bad, of lives lived and truths told. Or not.
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'Unsaid' joins that small niche of novels narrated by a ghost. Or, at any rate, by a soul seeking her ultimate rest by overseeing the actions of those she has left behind as she continues to question the actions she took while living and wondering how those actions are going to affect her afterlife.
Along the way, she oversees her grieving husband, the often-contrary animals she has left with him, and the desperate actions of a fellow animal researcher attempting to save the life of one of their subjects.
Along the way, Abramson takes a look at inter-species communication, conflicts within the scientific research community, and the responsibility of both veterinarians and owners when pet euthanasia is being considered. And bubbling just under the surface the story of a couple whose time together was cut short, and with their memories, both good and bad, of lives lived and truths told. Or not.
This was a most unusual book about a 30 something year old lady veterinarian who dies and then is able to observe her loved ones as they deal with her death. It was well written, except I couldn't seem to follow any driving plot line...it seemed to wander around different issues and it actually lost my interest about halfway through, but I kept reading, and the ending was a good closure for this wandering story. If you love animals, it is surely heart rending in that regard.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There were many sentences in it that rang true when describing people's feelings about each other and about animals.
Hard to describe it but if you "got" the premise of "The Lovely Bones" format of a dead person getting to observe the life of loved ones, both human and animal, after their death, then you will like this one.
Hard to describe it but if you "got" the premise of "The Lovely Bones" format of a dead person getting to observe the life of loved ones, both human and animal, after their death, then you will like this one.
Told from the perspective of a deceased, thirtysomething veterinarian, UNSAID is an emotionally wrought story about the lives of the people and animals she has left behind. Issues explored include grief, the bond between people and animals, and the different ways beings can communicate with each other.
One of the best books I've read in a long time!
Heartwarming.
Heartwarming.
