The Almost Moon

Author: Alice Sebold
By Picador
Average Customer Rating:

List Price: ~~£7.99~~
Our Price: £0.97

Customer Reviews

An accurate portrayal of mental illness, 2009-01-02
I feel compelled to add my views after reading the other comments here. I found this book a well-written account of the destructiveness of mental illness, not to the person suffering it, but to those close to them. The narrator, Helen, isn't a 'nice' or 'pleasant' person, but that is because of her up-bringing. This is a dark book, and, yes, it could be seen as depressing because of its subject matter, but there is some sense of absolution for Helen at the end. The first sentence should forewarn readers that this book is difficult going, but it is rewarding. If nothing else, it resonates with those who have some experience of living with mental illness, and tells them they are not alone.

Boring and down right depressing, 2008-12-09
Gosh what a miserable book. I struggled through it loathing the narrotor/ central character. I persisted and finished with some releif. Though in honesty I did hop, skip the pages and jump my way through the last quarter of the book.

I can't even finish it....., 2008-12-31
..... and that's a first for me. I read all the time and would usually see a book through to the end even if it's not my thing but I just can't bring myself to keep reading this one. I really enjoyed The Lovely Bones and Lucky so I was expecting to like this. In fact, I made the mistake of buying it on impulse rather than looking at the reviews first. Big mistake.

I found the premise gripping initially. For a woman who has cared for her mother for so long to end up murdering her there had to be an explanation. I wanted to care about Helen and understand what would have brought her to this but it just never happened. I wanted to find out more about what would happen after such an event but the book seemed to concentrate more and more on uninteresting anecdotes from the main character, Helen's past. There was nothing in the book that made me care about Helen or the other characters that she spoke of. I found the book increasingly boring. I ended up skimming through the pages, hoping to find some action or drama to keep reading for but couldn't find anything.

To sum up The Almost Moon in three words - boring, depressing and pointless.

What a waste, 2008-12-30
As always,I was looking for a recently published book that would provide our Book Group with some new insights and good discussion. I hadn't read 'Lovely Bones' but knew that it had provoked fury and enthusiasm in equal parts amongst friends. AS writes with great clarity which made the first few pages a pleasure to read. Then I realised she didn't know where to go with her initial idea and introduced new people and old situations in a disjointed way which failed to grow the character of Helen and her insights into what had influenced her life. Compare it with 'Notes from an Exhibition' by Patrick Gale - another book about living with a difficult mother - and you can see how a a sensitive and subtly planned book based on the mother's character can work.

Disappointing and dull, 2008-12-12
I bought this book looking for a detailed account of the experience of Dementia. Instead, it is more about what the narrator does in the aftermath of murdering her mother and the flashbacks of her childhood. I tried not to let this misconception cloud my judgement as it is still an interesting subject matter but I just found it boring and dull. At no point did the story come to life for me, nor did I care what happened next. Overall, extremely disappointed, especially after the success of The lovely bones.

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The Almost Moon