Customer Reviews

The Geometry of Sisters

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Who knew that math would make a good idea for a great read! Combine the math with the close relationships of two generations of sisters and Luanne Rice rates an A plus in my book! As we follow grieving mom Maura Shaw moving her two children Beck and Travis from Ohio to Newport, RI, we learn more about the death of her husband and what caused her oldest daughter Carrie to run away. The sister plot thickens as there is also a deep rift between Maura and her own sister Katherine, some sister ghosts at the academy, and two other rich sisters at the academy. Although I've never had a love for math, this book made me appreciate the different angles, circles, triangles that love and life can take! I also immediately called my sister after finishing "The Geometry of Sisters" - time for bonding and a girl's weekend! Luanne Rice doesn't disappoint again - I love her books!

Although Ms. Rice can write and makes her books very compelling this one was flat. I never felt I knew any of the characters well and the ending was rushed just ready to be over. None of the characters you really knew or cared about. It is an easy read and takes very little time to get through but this is not her best work. I thought the math part of the story was just boring.

As a fan of Beach Girls, I couldn't wait to read this book, but it didn't take long to realize that this book was poorly conceived and poorly written. If Luann Rice is to be judged based on this book, I can honestly say that I will never pick up another of her books.

When Ally comes to visit Travis and they go out to the club. Ally is described as wearing a blue strapless dress. A mere seven pages later, Ally and Travis leave the club and they are making out in the car, when somehow Travis manages to "slip her straps off of her shoulders". Seriously??? WHAT straps?

From leaves that call out Carrie's name to her sister, to a mother who casually misplaces a notebook that contains clues to the whereabouts of her missing daughter, to a young mother who cannot wait another minute to venture out on foot with her baby even though there is a serious snow storm in progress. Plausablity is stretched beyond any reasonble limit.

Unrealistic plot lines, ridiculous characters, and flawed writing make this one of the worst books that I have ever read...and I read a lot of books. I strongly suggest that Ms. Rice take more time to iron out obvious defects in storyline, and character development and write fewer books.

If you like Luanne Rice's books and style in general, you will love this book. The focus is very much on family relationships, particularly those between sisters. After the death of her husband, Maura returns home from Ohio to Newport after 18 years away, during which she has been estranged from her sister Katharine. Her daughter, Carrie, ran away from home in the wake of her father's death and has missing for a year. This is incredibly painful for the entire family, but particularly hard on Beck, Carrie's younger sister. Maura tries to rebuild her life in Newport, including continuing her search for Carrie. As she reconnects not only with her sister but with a lost love from years before, the pieces of her shattered life begin to mend. Although a little unrealistic in terms of plot development, this was extremely moving and the characters were compelling.

While I thought the beginning of the book was slow, Luanne Rice develops wonderful characters that you pull for over time... The story opens with the remnants of a family... and over the course of the story, you slowly watch them build their lives from the ashes of their old family. As any family knows whose been through tragedy, you are never the same. I was captivated by their family and how they struggled to move on. This was a great read, if you love Light of the Moon or Dance with Me... you will love this book. I can't wait for Deep Blue Sea for Beginners.

I loved this story and will look into more books by this author. While reading, I was so deeply reminded of the love I had for my sister and how much I miss her. It was a wonderful reminder of the love that only sisters can share.
I "read" the audiobook version and it was delightful. The readers gave excellent voice to each character. This is most definitely a book that I will recommend to my friends.
JMHO

Maura Shaw has returned to Newport, Rhode Island, with two of her three children. Her elder daughter, Carrie, disappeared from the hospital where she was taken following a boating accident in which her father drowned. Maura's sister, Katharine, an artist, lives in RI. Maura is to be a teacher at the prestigious Newport Academy and daughter Beck and son Travis will attend as students. A new start is what this family needs to mend. Elder sisters Maura and Katharine need to find their way back to each other and Beck, who is seeking life's answers in the world of mathematics, needs for her sister Carrie to find her way home. This was a very satisfying story of family, sisters, and friends in an examination of how the past can influence the future.

I think Luanne Rice gets better and better with each book. And since I think all of her earlier books are wonderful too, it's amazing to me. She can weave a complicated story so that you don't want to put the book down until you are finished. Having a sister myself, this story brought tears to my eyes several times! Can't wait for her next book to come out.

When tragedy strikes, we instinctively turn to those who mean the most to us. Women often rely on "sisters" to lend support. It's this support that ensures emotional well-being and provides a sense of normalcy and comfort. When this sisterhood bond is broken, the toll can be heart breaking.

Luanne Rice in her book The Geometry of Sisters explores the powerful emotional relationship between sisters - sisters by birth and sisters of the heart. This book allows the reader to explore the powerful bond between three sets of sisters and how this bond can be not only comforting but also heartbreaking.

This is the story of a family coping with death - the death of a father and husband and also the death of relationships between sisters. I've found from personal experience, when a death occurs it seems to either bring a family closer or has the potential of tearing it apart. That's what happened to the Shaw family. Death and tragedy had the power to uncover some deeply buried secrets. These life-changing secrets drove one of the Shaw sisters to run away when she needed her family most and the other to retreat into emotional turmoil.

The theme of this book seems to revolve around making peace with the past and the how the past plays a pivotal role in the present. How well the sisters are able to cope with the heartbreak of the past controls how well they are able to live their lives in the present.

The Shaw family is having a difficult time making peace with the past and accepting their new life in the present. Living in the present and making peace with the past, becomes the premise of The Geometry of Sisters.

After the death of their father, the Shaw children begin to grieve and cope in their own unique ways - Travis excels at sports to honor the memory of his dead father, Beck turns to the safety and structure of mathematics and the oldest sister Carrie runs away from home.

The mother, Maura, moves the family from Ohio to Rhode Island to begin a teaching job at a private academy. This academy just happens to be near her estranged sister. As the book unfolds, the emotional bond between sisters proves to be more powerful than past choices, old wounds or hurt feelings.

Some of the story proved to be predictable but the overall book was more about relationships then plot. The power of love is the power to take tragedy and turn it into life-long bonds that cannot be broken. Sisters, we also learn are not just by birth but also of the heart.

You'll want to leave some quiet time to pour a cup or glass of your favorite beverage, sit back, relax and enjoy this book about family, sisters and healing a broken heart.

This is my second time reading Luanne Rice. The first encounter I had with this author was listening to The Edge of Winter on CD. And to be perfectly honest, I wasn't that thrilled with it. The story was fine, but the narrator irritated me to death. But I'm not going to hold that against Luanne and when I saw the blurb about her newest book, it sounded interesting so I requested it from my library. I'm glad that I decided to 'read' the book this time instead of listening to it. I enjoyed her wri...more This is my second time reading Luanne Rice. The first encounter I had with this author was listening to The Edge of Winter on CD. And to be perfectly honest, I wasn't that thrilled with it. The story was fine, but the narrator irritated me to death. But I'm not going to hold that against Luanne and when I saw the blurb about her newest book, it sounded interesting so I requested it from my library. I'm glad that I decided to 'read' the book this time instead of listening to it. I enjoyed her writing so much more this time around. I'm always drawn to stories about families in some sort of crises and this one has that, plus a little bit more. There wasn't really any surprises, but that was o.k. because I was just enjoying these characters and seeing what kind of choices they were going to make. I guess you could say that it was a predictable read. Which for me, every once in awhile, is just fine. I would recommend this as a fun, easy summer read. Or one of those books that you need to read to decompress after experiencing a really emotional or harrowing book earlier. I'm glad that I gave Rice a second chance and I'm sure that I'll pick up another one of her books in the future. Because in the end....I was satisfied