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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Necessary Healing,
By
This review is from: Critical Injuries (Hardcover)
Simple pleasures lead to dangerous results in Barfoot's deeply compelling and emotional novel Critical Injuries. Isla, a middle aged women goes with her husband Lyle to get an ice cream cone as a small reward. This innocent act turns to tragedy when Isla finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Roddy is a teenage boy who makes a foolhardy plan with his close friend Mike to make some quick money in an attempt to escape the monotony of their small town. A thoughtless action at the dairy bar sparks a chain of events that will alter their lives forever. Gradually, as the heart wrenching struggles of the present unfold, the pasts of Isla and Roddy are related to give an unprejudiced view of their development. Each has had to deal with unexpected loss, disappointment and terrifying challenges. Extraordinary decisions need to be made by ordinary people. This novel is a tribute to that struggle. Slowly we are given a detailed picture of the nature of recovery and forgiveness. The brutal honesty of the ending creates a resounding impression.The tremendous strength of this novel is in the power of Barfoot's prose to create a sense of immediacy. She does this through establishing powerful voices for her characters that comment upon situations as they occur letting their thoughts and memories leak out into the present moment. Her portrait of each character is deeply sympathetic to their struggle to live happily and thus the reader feels a strong connection to them. It is as if, through a slight alteration of fate, these moving characters could be us and their harrowing events might be ours. Each character is neither perfect nor evil. The author depicts with elegantly constructed prose the flaws of human nature using accuracy and profound wit. The intellectual conflicts the characters face are presented with emotionally rounded pictures lending depth and wisdom to their struggle. The novel makes a powerful impression.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!,
By
This review is from: Critical Injuries (Hardcover)
One incredible, devastating crime that happens in the blink of an eye, and two lives are changed forever. This novel speaks for both the perpetrator and the victim and blurs the lines of right and wrong, love and hate, forgiveness and anger. Joan Barfoot's writing is skilled and mature with an amazing level of introspection. Beautiful.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Barfoot not at her best,
This review is from: Critical Injuries (Hardcover)
When a young man (17 years old) shoots and wounds a woman who entered a store he was attempting to rob, both their lives are turned upside down. The story told alternately by each of the main characters reveals their individual terror and struggle; the woman with her paralysis and sudden change of fortune is compared to the boys sudden realization that he has made a mistake that will last him the rest of his life. Their struggle is for forgiveness for each other and for those who have peopled their lives. There are some beautiful poignant moments when each of the main characters realize how influential family have been and how little they meant at the time. The first person narrative becomes a bit boring at times but otherwise the story is well told and maintains interest.
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