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Oct 20, 2011

Jade rated it:

So my review of this novel is kind of like reviewing an old friend because I’ve been reading this book over the course of the last couple months for my Novel Writing class. Reading something over a couple months span I’ve realized has its pros. I feel like I have a really firm grasp on this novel and the characters because I’ve spent so much time with it. For my class, I had to break down the novel and really spend an adequate amount of time with the chapters analyzing plot, character, pacing et More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2011

Bruce rated it:

Last night I finished reading a book that for three-quarters of it I disliked. My dislike was exacerbated by the hoopla about it, including a nomination for a National Book Critics Circle award. Was I missing something, or many somethings, in my reading? How come many Amazon.com reviewers liked this book? I submitted a comment—no more reviews were permitted—in response to one of the reviewers. A woman who enjoyed the book answered me, in part, by encouraging me to finish the book. I did, and I'm More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 08, 2010

Constance rated it:

i really enjoyed this book as i was reading it and kept staying up really late to read more. the writing is good - it flows really well and does a good job following the feelings and internal narratives of the main character as she goes through a lot of different experiences.

but actually, the more i think about this book, the more i don't like it, which almost never happens. the plot seems more suitable for a short story, and i got restless in the middle. also, even though you feel More...

2 comments like

Aug 16, 2010

Lauren rated it:

This was another strange read for me; even though I knew this was a "three-star" book for me, I finished it. Here's why:

- Again, I liked the author's writing style. A lot. She rivals my favorite authors with her use of language and her descriptions.
- The plot was somewhat compelling... but in an almost trashy sort of way.

Given #1 (and also #2) it made sense for me to finish it. I also thought it was worthwhile to finish this book because I wanted to ex More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 13, 2010

Johnsergeant rated it:

Narrated by Hillary Huber

10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary
Patsy MacLemoore, a history professor in her late 20s, has a brand-new Ph.D. from Berkeley and a wild streak. She wakes up in jail after an epic alcoholic blackout. "Okay, what'd I do?" she asks her lawyer and jailers.

In fact, two Jehovah's Witnesses, a mother and daughter, are dead, run over in Patsy's driveway, and Patsy will spend the rest of her life trying to atone. She goes to More...

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Feb 22, 2010

Terry rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2009

AJ marked it as to-read

Recommendation from NPR

To show just what a mess of a woman Patsy McLemoore is, our first glimpse of her is through the eyes of a young family friend who's about to be subject to a rather raw ear piercing. But then it's Patsy's story, and our piercee has nothing on Patsy, who's about to go to prison for running over two Jehovah's Witnesses. The prison scenes are brutal and set the stage for what follows, which is a meditation on overcoming obstacles.

In her writing style, More...

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Sep 24, 2009

Jjanovyak rated it:

I'm sure I should reflect a bit before I post this, but I think I'll decline to control the impulse and just go with it. I enjoyed this novel thoroughly and I want to say so right now.

Huneven is a beautiful writer and I am off next to reserve her earlier titles at my local library. She moves this story unflinchingly through pain and betrayal, and doesn't cut anyone any slack. Yet she treats the characters kindly, and doesn't reduce anyone to a cartoon.

My vote for best quo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 27, 2011

switterbug (Betsey) rated it:

It's another morning in the county drunk tank for Patsy, who is sadly inured to this ritual. She wakes up in her vomit and her filth, with no recall of last night--she experiences frequent blackouts when she drinks. A young, talented, comely, and statuesque college professor, Patsy is nevertheless on a grease skid to oblivion due to untreated alcoholism. This time she is accused of running down and killing a mother and daughter in her driveway, and her life subsequently takes a turn to pri More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 31, 2009

Dennis D. rated it:

After a brief prelude to set the table, the story proper opens with Patsy MacLemoore awakening in jail. Or, more precisely, she comes to in jail. She’s a raging alcoholic, and has no idea how she wound up there, or what she’s 'in for', until she is led to an interrogation room with two cops, and her lawyer, Benny.

Was I driving again? Moi? Sans license?
The men gazed at the nicked and thinning oak veneer as if they were poring over a war map, as if she were not in the room.

More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

Christie rated it:

When a novel covers a large span of time without employing any back-and-forth-through-the-years storytelling structure, sometimes a strange and slightly otherworldly tone develops. It's as though whole lives were cast in miniature and placed under glass, or set within the swirl of a snow globe. "Blame," with its young protagonist apparently derailing her own life by striking and killing a mother and daughter while driving drunk, does that. The book traces Patsy's life from shortly b More...

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Jan 19, 2012

Jessa rated it:

Blame is a great quick read beach read or something to read on a lazy rainy day. Michelle Huneven creates an intricate and complex novel that explores the concepts of guilt, forgiveness, and most importantly self-acceptance. The plot centers around Patsy, who while a successful thirty-year-old college history professor, gets blacked-out drunk and apparently kills a mother and her daughter.

What follows is a two year stint in prison; however, when Patsy comes out her world is not the s More...

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Nov 19, 2010

Khaya rated it:

Once again, a great premise and decent writing, while important, are not sufficient conditions for a great book. Once again, an author takes a complex story idea with rich potential and cops out by having it degenerate into Harlequin-worthy romance and ordinary family tale. Sigh.

Imagine waking up from an alcohol-induced blackout to be informed that you’ve killed two innocent people by driving drunk and are now in jail, awaiting sentencing. You, leading a standard middle-class life More...

10 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2010

Laren rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Nov 16, 2009

Eileen rated it:

Here's a book I almost didn't finish because the first chapters did not invite my interest. But I kept going into the next 40 pages, and at last, the story caught fire.

The story opens with an odd episode of a lady's man, Brice; his niece, Joey; and his date-of-the-night, Patsy. Patsy is wasted on pills and booze, but Joey seems to be the focus of the novel. NOT.

Patsy, a history professor, wakes up in jail and finds herself charged with vehicular homicide. She is an al More...

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Nov 08, 2009

Melissa rated it:

This book had promise: Patsy, a woman in her twenties, a party girl with some DUIs in her past, wakes up in jail and learns that she killed a mother and daughter while driving drunk. It sounded like a great premise for a novel, but the author didn't do the story justice. Patsy is sent to prison for two years. Granted it's 1981 and the very stringent drinking and driving laws were only evolving, but only two years? The author spends very little time on Patsy's prison experience. She attends More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 30, 2010

Ryan rated it:

This book was given to by Goodreads First Reads Program. I have not received any sort of financial reimbursement for this review. The opinions expressed are of my own.
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The novel "Blame" by Michelle Huneven puts the spotlight on an on growing epidemic of drinking and driving in the United States. It also is a story about redemption and being able to move on from tragedy.

The story of " More...

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Jun 29, 2010

Jonathan rated it:

This book's cover promised that it combined thoughtful literature with the compelling plot of a page-turner.

It was a good deal more well-written and introspective than your average thriller--can you imagine a scene from a Stephen King novel in which female prisoners take great pleasure in swinging and throwing clots of weeds during community service, reveling in the distance and accuracy they can achieve, or Michael Crichton describing a therapist's voice as a "soft path through More...

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Mar 04, 2010

Candice rated it:

I was persuaded to read this after reading a review. I thought that the reviewer told too much, but that was a reason why I wanted to read it. So how do I review it? I am not going to include the information that gave away too much. Read enough reviews and you will get that picture.

It's the story of a young California college professor, Patsy MacLeemore who loves to party and drink. One morning she wakes up in jail, having no memory of the night before, and jokingly asks if she More...

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Feb 01, 2010

Barbok rated it:

Do not read the book jacket flap.

I don't read a lot of popular fiction. However, I couldn't stop reading this one--I read the entire book in one day.

Blame is about guilt, redemption, forgiveness, love, understanding oneself, and maturing. A young woman, Patsy, frequently drinks until she blacks out. You know she's headed for disaster before she finds herself in prison for killing two people while driving during one of her black outs.

I don't think I'm gi

More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2010

Meg rated it:

This was such a fantastic book. I deeply cared about multiple characters and think this author writes characters with incredible skill. Blame is the story of Patsy, a young history professor and alcoholic who, after a night of blackout drinking, is found guilty of killing two Jehovah's Witnesses, who were walking down her driveway, with her car (and on a suspended license). Having no real memory of that night, Patsy is terrorized by guilt and endures prison while resolved to change her life thr More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 16, 2010

Judith rated it:

A pretty, funny college professor gets drunk one night and runs over 2 Jehovah witnesses in her driveway, killing both the mother and daughter. Unfortunately, since she has a history of drinking and driving and was driving on a suspended license she ends up serving a 2 year prison term. But this is only the beginning of the story. I hate to say this is chick lit, but it would definitely appeal more to women than to men in my opinion. I enjoyed every minute of this book because it is so subtl More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2010

Annie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jan 13, 2010

Laura Stone rated it:

Vivacious history professor Pasty MacLemoore knows she has a drinking problem. She’s already had her license suspended and is familiar with the inside of a jail cell. But this time when she wakes from her blackout she learns that she’s being held for the homicide of two Jehovah’s Witnesses she’s run over in her own driveway. Michelle Huneven’s novel, “Blame,” follows Patsy as she lives her life with the knowledge that she’s committed the greatest crime of all. Through her stint in prison, he More...

1 comment like

Oct 23, 2009

Maren rated it:

I gave this book 3 stars and yet I would like to give it more. It made me content, which felt like a 3 star kind of review, but really content as I was reading it. I'm not sure that it's the kind of book that will stick with me over time, but it really did have many appealing elements. The protagonist is extremely easy to sympathize with, even though she's someone you aren't initially supposed to feel much sympathy for. I actually liked listening to it as an audiobook more than I probably would More...

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Sep 14, 2009

Susan rated it:

I liked this novel. It is a compelling story of a woman whose life takes an abrupt turn, forcing her (and us) to come to terms with accountability, culpability and forgiveness. It is well written and quietly surprising.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Susan rated it:

I vacillated between liking this novel and between feeling unsatisfied. "Blame" is the harrowing tale of Patsy MacLemoore , a brilliant out-of-control alcoholic college professor whose life is altered forever when she kills two people while driving drunk. Imprisoned for two years, she must rebuild her life, deal with her guilt, and seek redemption upon her release. There's much to ponder in this novel, including hope and redemption, AA, AIDS, friendship, family, and marriage.
More...

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 29, 2010

Ash rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Apr 09, 2010

Julie rated it:

First of all - DO NOT READ THE INSIDE FLAP! This will tell you too much about the plot, and surprises won't be surprises.

I will tell you what you need to know. Patsy is an alcoholic, and she's out of control. Something terrible happens, and Patsy is forced to make huge changes, and reevaluate everything she knows about herself & how she has lived her life so far.

_Blame_ has some very interesting characters, and I think a few of them make the book worthwhile reading al More...

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Mar 05, 2010

Sara added it

Michelle Huneven s Blame rides high on the strength of its narrator. Patsy is in her late 20s, a keenly intelligent history professor and self-proclaimed party girl. One night, in a blackout drunk, she hits a mother and daughter in her driveway, killing them both. On a technicality, she escapes a murder charge, but is sentenced to four years in prison for criminal negligence. Blame chronicles Patsy s time in prison, and her attempts to begin a new life in the years after her release. Now sober More...

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