Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It’s a place where neighbors keep an eye on on... read full description
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Jan 04, 2011
Dina
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I needed to read a book by an author whose name (first or last) starts with the letter "U" in order to finish RRRC's 2010 A-Z Author Challenge, and that's how I "discovered" Lisa Unger. I didn't know anything about her and her books when I started to read Fragile, so I had no expectations. Now I wish I had known what to expect, because I wasn't in the right mood to read a "depressing" book.
This story takes place in a small town called The Hollows, where ev More...
This story takes place in a small town called The Hollows, where ev More...
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Jan 10, 2012
Jennifer
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From My Blog (4.5 stars)...
Complex, multilayered and suspenseful, Fragile by Lisa Unger tells not only the story of one missing girl, but two separated by decades and the secrets kept by the inhabitants of The Hollows, New York. Charlene leaves home and everyone assumes she is a runaway, yet the adults remember another time, back when they were Charlene's age and Sarah Meyer went missing. Are the cases as similar as they appear and if so, will anyone be willing to bring up the secr More...
Complex, multilayered and suspenseful, Fragile by Lisa Unger tells not only the story of one missing girl, but two separated by decades and the secrets kept by the inhabitants of The Hollows, New York. Charlene leaves home and everyone assumes she is a runaway, yet the adults remember another time, back when they were Charlene's age and Sarah Meyer went missing. Are the cases as similar as they appear and if so, will anyone be willing to bring up the secr More...
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Oct 03, 2011
Lauren
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i know. i promised myself i'd never unger again.
i lied.
let's just face it. an unger novel is perfect for those pre-bedtime creepouts. she weaves convoluted plots that feel simultaneously unbelievable and close-to-home. here, it's the tale of two dead girls, separated by decades, and the question of what would you do to protect the ones you love.
jonesin':
1. for once, unger's multi-perspective drama didn't feel uber-contrived to me. i got into the rh More...
i lied.
let's just face it. an unger novel is perfect for those pre-bedtime creepouts. she weaves convoluted plots that feel simultaneously unbelievable and close-to-home. here, it's the tale of two dead girls, separated by decades, and the question of what would you do to protect the ones you love.
jonesin':
1. for once, unger's multi-perspective drama didn't feel uber-contrived to me. i got into the rh More...
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Feb 06, 2012
Fragile, by Lisa Unger, a-minus, narrated by Nancy Linari, produced by Random House Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It's a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another's kids,
where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high-school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten.As a child, Maggie found living under the
microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a More...
Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It's a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another's kids,
where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high-school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten.As a child, Maggie found living under the
microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a More...
Nov 25, 2011
Kat
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 12, 2011
Katherine
rated it: 
This book, along with a copy of The Night Strangers, was sent to me by the marketing manager of Crown Publishing. I had won the Goodreads giveaway for Before Versailles and after almost two months I had not received it. It was a pleasant surprise and a very generous gesture, especially since the original giveaway book arrived shortly thereafter. Theoretically, then, it probably isn't necessary to review the book but feel it is appropriate.
I faithfully read page by page to Ch 19, pag More...
I faithfully read page by page to Ch 19, pag More...
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Aug 25, 2011
Mathew
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The book starts off strong (I picked it up randomly and kept reading because I liked the first few pages) and turns into somewhat of a page turner, but then crimes are committed (one past, one present, a couple of others alluded to) and, like so many similar books, it falls apart. My theory is that so many books fall apart when crimes are committed for a couple of reasons. One: the tree of possible consequences branches wildly at such moments and, Two: authors rarely have first hand experience w
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Aug 21, 2011
April
rated it:
A book that explores the complexity of secrets, families, and small towns. Sometimes the secrets meant to protect loved ones can end up doing more harm than the reality of the truth. In a rare case, I felt as though this book was too long. It ended for me about fifty pages before I closed the back cover. There was an attempt to tie up all the lose ends, make sense of things, and that to me, dragged on and on.
I did, however, find the storyline about the agony and anxiety of teenagers More...
I did, however, find the storyline about the agony and anxiety of teenagers More...
Jul 28, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
I suppose one could call this a thriller - there is suspense, and even a bit of action. But I liked it for its great insight into parenting, and especially being the parent of adults - all-the-way-grown adults and just-about-legally-adult. Maggie's son is nearly 18, will be heading for college and she is dealing with accepting how her role in his life has changed. At best, we barely keep up with our kids - they are changing at the speed of light, we plod along behind. I'm convinced that they get
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Mar 28, 2011
Laura
rated it:
The Hollows is the small town where everyone knows everyone. The knowledge spans generations, with high school rivalries and conflict passed down to children, with people longing to leave and yet unable to, drawn back by family or memories that they cannot escape.
So when a young woman disappears, the town remembers the disappearance and murder of another teenage girl many years before. Those who know what happened the night Sarah died are also those closest to the young woman now mis More...
So when a young woman disappears, the town remembers the disappearance and murder of another teenage girl many years before. Those who know what happened the night Sarah died are also those closest to the young woman now mis More...
Nov 14, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
A teenage girl goes missing in a small town where bad things aren't supposed to happen. Years earlier, another girl disappeared and was found murdered. Is there a connection? This book reminds me a bit of Tana French's Faithful Place. It's a mystery where you figure out what happened about half way through, and the focus is actually on the relationships between the main characters.
This would have been a great book, except for a few things:
1) There are way too many narrators. More...
This would have been a great book, except for a few things:
1) There are way too many narrators. More...
Aug 13, 2010
Michelle
rated it:
The storyline of FRAGILE involves a small town's reaction to the disappearance of a high school girl named Charlene. Much of what we learn is viewed through the lens of the Cooper family (mom Maggie; dad/Police Detective Jones; son Rick). Rick is friends with the missing girl and his dad's broken relationship with him sends suspicions in Rick's direction. We also learn, however, that Jones has some baggage from his own childhood in The Hollows which is informing much of those suspicions. Tha
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Sep 26, 2010
Keri
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 06, 2011
Michelle
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This is a multi-viewpoint (literary?) thriller that takes place in a small New York town. Maggie, local-kid-turned-therapist is billed as the protagonist but she is only one of the many narrators of this quick, engaging book. There isn’t a lot to say other than I enjoyed this, it’s very plotty but a notch up from most thrillers as the characters are well-developed and their relationships as important as the plot itself. I did think Jones was portrayed a little too asshole-like in the beginning,
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Nov 08, 2010
Karen
rated it:
I feel a little uncharitable giving this only two stars, especially since I could be accused of going overboard with the stars on other occasions. Somehow this just didnt come together for me, a shame since it started with such promise. Good points are these: the writing is extremly smooth. Unger is undoubtedly a deft writer. I flew from one page to the next. Missing teenage girls is a premise I keep seeing over and and over again--in fact it's beginning to grow tiresome--but this seemed to o
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Jan 10, 2012
Jody
rated it: 
I listened to this on audiobook.
The only reason I listened to this entire thing was because I kept being stuck at the gym or on my commute and having this as the only audiobook available.
Story about a girl who goes missing, it brings back memories of another girl who went missing 20 or so years ago and a bunch of secrets are revealed. Slowly. And repetitively.
I don't know if it was the writing or the narration, but I kept imagining characters giving each ot More...
The only reason I listened to this entire thing was because I kept being stuck at the gym or on my commute and having this as the only audiobook available.
Story about a girl who goes missing, it brings back memories of another girl who went missing 20 or so years ago and a bunch of secrets are revealed. Slowly. And repetitively.
I don't know if it was the writing or the narration, but I kept imagining characters giving each ot More...
Dec 23, 2011
John
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 01, 2011
Lora
rated it:
The book started with promise for me. The first part of the book started with introducing the different characters and a little about their life but somewhere toward the middle of the book it got a little confusing trying to keep them all straight. I also didn't like the way the book vacillated back and forth between past and present with each character, sometimes I was so confused in the start of a chapter that I had to stop and think "where am I at?" If I had sat down and read this b
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Feb 15, 2011
Janene
rated it:
This book was frustrating.
I didn't like how it flipped from past to present to past to present with no warning whatsoever. I also didn't like that I was always trying to remember who someone was in relation to someone else. I understand that we were suppose to be getting the idea that it was a small town and everyone is connected but it was REALLY confusing. I live in the small town that I was born into and I do know a lot of people who know a lot of the same people I do. It's tr More...
I didn't like how it flipped from past to present to past to present with no warning whatsoever. I also didn't like that I was always trying to remember who someone was in relation to someone else. I understand that we were suppose to be getting the idea that it was a small town and everyone is connected but it was REALLY confusing. I live in the small town that I was born into and I do know a lot of people who know a lot of the same people I do. It's tr More...
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Aug 30, 2010
Lisa
rated it: 
Sometimes you open a book and it grabs you right from the very first chapter, and doesn't let go till the very end. Of the hundreds of books I have read, there have been a few like that. Books that even after you close them and put them back on the shelf, stay with you for a very long time. Lisa Unger's Fragile is one such book.
I could say that Fragile is the story of a young girl's disappearance. That it is about small town secrets, or families cracking apart . I could say that because i More...
I could say that Fragile is the story of a young girl's disappearance. That it is about small town secrets, or families cracking apart . I could say that because i More...
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Sep 14, 2010
Cara
rated it:
What a riveting story. I bought this on my Kindle and I could not put it down! In fact, I was so hooked that I was up past 3 am. Well done, Lisa Unger!
Maggie is a normal (and endearing) mother and wife in a normal small town. Growing up in a small town myself, I connected with this novel on so many levels. Maggie's woes are similar to the woes of any mom with a teenage son and a cop for a husband -- until a patient turns creepy her son's girlfriend disappears.
What unfolds a More...
Maggie is a normal (and endearing) mother and wife in a normal small town. Growing up in a small town myself, I connected with this novel on so many levels. Maggie's woes are similar to the woes of any mom with a teenage son and a cop for a husband -- until a patient turns creepy her son's girlfriend disappears.
What unfolds a More...
Sep 19, 2011
Kristy (DreamingByDay)
rated it:
This is the first novel I have read by Lisa Unger and I thought it was good, but not great. It follows the story of detective Jones Cooper and his wife Maggie who is a psychologist. Trouble begins when their son's girlfriend goes missing. While searching for the missing girl, the past gets pieced together, little by little. The past and present intermingle in this story of tragedy and secrets.
I think Unger does have a talent for writing suspense. The main thing that was problemati More...
I think Unger does have a talent for writing suspense. The main thing that was problemati More...
Aug 18, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Two things resonate with me within this book: first, high school never ends in a small town; who you once were will always follow you regardless of if you did in fact change, and secondly, no secret shared between two (or more) people is ever really a secret regardless of what you do to try to keep it that way. That aside, Lisa Unger creates a mythical town in which her unbelievably realistic characters live in NJ. We all know these people, they are our friends and neighbors, family members, and
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Nov 01, 2010
Jessica at Book Sake
rated it:
This story is at first confusing because of the intertwined lives of the people who live in a small town outside of New York City. However the author, Lisa Unger develops an intricate description of each character, covering not only their past secret lives as well as their present lives. It is surprising as to how the past secrets of Jones Cooper, the town detective, have a direct effect on his method of investigation in the recent disappearance of a local girl, Charlene. The fact that Lisa Unge
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Aug 24, 2010
Diane
rated it:
Fragile is Lisa Unger's 5th novel, and it is not part of a series. Her latest book takes place in a quaint town known as The Hollows, about 100 miles outside of New York City. It's the type of town where everyone knows everybody and dirty little secrets don't stay secrets for long in this town. Maggie Cooper and her husband Jones grew up in this town, and even though they found it somewhat suffocating growing up, as adults they chose to raise their only son Ricky here.
Maggie i More...
Aug 17, 2011
Doreen
rated it:
I didn't think I would like this book. I was wrong. Unger weaves an honestly written story of a missing girl, and all the small-town activity that occurs in trying to find her. The main female character is a mental-health professional, whose teenage son is closely connected to the missing girl. The husband is a member of the police force, so both are on the front lines of the search. This is a small town. Most residents have spent their entire lives here, so there is the history of another
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Nov 03, 2010
Heather
rated it:
Peering in from the outside, life seems idyllic in The Hollows. Psychologist Dr. Maggie Cooper and her husband Police Detective Jones Cooper are awaiting their son Ricky's graduation from high school.
This is all turned on end when Charlene, Ricky's girlfriend disappears. Rumours swirl that she has run away to New York City as she has often threatened to do. A Facebook message that she posts supports that claim; but Ricky feels that it wasn't written by Charlene.
Whil More...
This is all turned on end when Charlene, Ricky's girlfriend disappears. Rumours swirl that she has run away to New York City as she has often threatened to do. A Facebook message that she posts supports that claim; but Ricky feels that it wasn't written by Charlene.
Whil More...
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Nov 12, 2010
Sera
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"People who stay in the same town with the same friends for their entire lives never get a chance to find out who they can really be, because they will always be considered as who they were." - Fragile by Lisa Unger.
<happy sigh> I really enjoyed this book on audio. Once again, the newer writers in this genre continue to wow me with their thoughfulness and insight into human nature. Unger clearly belongs in the same league with Chevy Stevens and Teresa Schwegal. Th More...
<happy sigh> I really enjoyed this book on audio. Once again, the newer writers in this genre continue to wow me with their thoughfulness and insight into human nature. Unger clearly belongs in the same league with Chevy Stevens and Teresa Schwegal. Th More...
Sep 29, 2010
Belinda
rated it:
I normally like books that are written from multiple points of view, but this one just took that concept into overkill territory. There are too many stories, which go on for far too long. I WAS invested in the characters, though, so it's tough for me to just pan this one. I cared about pretty much everyone, and that's something. It's the story of a small town whose inhabitants all appear to have secrets--some shared, some not, but all somehow connected. The "mystery" is teased out
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Feb 13, 2012
Trish Lata
rated it:
I just started reading this novelist. I was in Barnes and Noble and this one stood out from the shelf because of the haunting art work on the cover. The first chapter was very gripping and I just kept on reading. I am looking forward to discovering this new author and will hopefully complete the book within a few days.
It has been day 2 and I have finished this book and i have to say that I am hooked. The story comes together quite well, there is a nice mystery and wonderfully comple More...
It has been day 2 and I have finished this book and i have to say that I am hooked. The story comes together quite well, there is a nice mystery and wonderfully comple More...
