The Help in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jan 19, 2017 Nancy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: america, race, still-owned

OK, you're right. Everyone. This is truly a great book, and the audio edition of it is superlative. The anger I felt at how petty and bitchy the white women of this book were, the sadness and admiration I felt for the black maids, the heartache for and pride in Skeeter I felt - they were physical. This is without a doubt a 5 star book although I almost didn't give it full marks because I was just a little disappointed by the ending. But having only finished it a couple of hours ago, and not real ...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Martha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, the-south, 2012, popularity-contest-books

Loved, loved, loved this book!!!! I so enjoyed all the characters ... even the very unlikable ones!

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Mar 30, 2013 Krysta rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books

* Review also posted at Born a Booklover. *

My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Date Finished: September 24th, 2015

I listened to the audio book version of The Help, and so my review is a combination of Kathryn Stockett's writing, paired with the narrations of Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Cassandra Campbell, and Octavia Spencer.

This was another book that I really wanted to live up to the hype, but it just fell short for me.

Kathryn Stockett did a great job at creating a unique personality for each of here characters * Review also posted at Born a Booklover. *

My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Date Finished: September 24th, 2015

I listened to the audio book version of The Help, and so my review is a combination of Kathryn Stockett's writing, paired with the narrations of Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Cassandra Campbell, and Octavia Spencer.

This was another book that I really wanted to live up to the hype, but it just fell short for me.

Kathryn Stockett did a great job at creating a unique personality for each of here characters, even if they had not been addressed at each character shift. The characters were consistent, even when seen from a different person's perspective, which I really appreciated and admired. I'm sure that reading the actual book would have solved this problem, but I wish that the character's voices had remained the same, even when a different narrator was reading her portion. Kathryn's consistency helped, but I didn't like Aibileen having three different voices, and wish that the same narrator that read her sections could have read her lines in the other sections as well. I realize that sounds like a lot to ask, but I think it would have sounded better overall.

The story felt rather dragged out to me, and I think that it took too long to establish what an awful situation the characters were in. I've seen that other people feel that there was too much stereotyping going on, and while it did sound more stereotypical, it didn't feel that it was over the top, but rather setting the stage for the rest of the novel.
While the first half of the book wasn't boring, and gave readers a chance to really meet the characters and get to know their voices and personalities, I think that there were many scenes that were drawn out, and some that were all together unnecessary.

I also felt bittersweet about the ending, because while I wanted more from Minny's story, I think that Aibileen and Skeeter's stories ended in just the right places.

Overall, this will not make my favorites shelf, but I do not regret reading it either. Considering my preferred genre is paranormal/fantasy/supernatural, I enjoyed this contemporary fiction, and think others that enjoy the genre more than me would appreciate The Help more than I do. ...more

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Dec 06, 2016 Kate rated it it was amazing

Wow. Wow. I watched the movie. I don't know why it took me so long to read it. This was so good. Amazing! I nearly cried the entire time I was reading it. ...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Kayla rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: x-2013

I absolutely loved this book... it was beautifully written. The only thing I wish is that Skeeter and Stuart got married or at least stayed together. I'm also so glad that the world has changed so much from that point. ...more

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