Customer Reviews

The Good Children

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was introduced to Kate Wilhem through her Barbara Holloway books. I knew Ms. Wilhelm also writes Science Fiction which is not a genre I read, but I ran across "The Good Children" on the 'to be shelved' cart at the library and was intrigued by the premise. Once I started reading I just couldn't put it down. Normally well disciplined in putting a book away at bedtime, I was up until well past 2:00am finishing "The Good Children". The four siblings are so well written I felt like I knew each of them. Don't pay attention to those who complain about the implausible ending - the book has to wind down, it just couldn't go on forever. This is a GREAT book and I will, for sure, be checking out more Kate Wilhelm writings.

This is one of the bests books I have read... and that it saying a lot. Kate Wilhelm kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The plot is absolutely brilliant and the suspense is nerve-racking. A+

Family promises should never be broken. Never will you find a book that drives this point home any clearer. The characters in this book were some of the best and most complex I have seen in years. This is a must read. Once you stop, you won't want to put it down.

Kate Wilhelm's storytelling reaches out from the pages, grabs you by the collar, and won't let go. I read the first 20 pages or so and decided I really didn't want to continue a book that made me so uncomfortable. But I had to read the end. And then the middle. And then the whole thing all over again!

The four McNair siblings were used to seeing the world as they traveled to wherever their father was sent by his construction company. To the elation of the four kids (fifteen year old Kevin, thirteen year old Amy, eleven year old Liz, and six year old Brian), the McNairs are finally settling down in one place: just outside Portland, Oregon. However, their idyll world crashes when dad dies in an accident at work. Mother was not the same and made each child vow that they would not give her a religious burial filled with lies when her time comes. Soon afterward, mother dies.

The children honor their vow by burying mother in their yard by themselves. Being used to depending on one another, the four siblings pretend to the neighbors that mother still lives. However, Brian is suffering from anguish that threatens his mental stability and the united front is weakening as the will to stay together is being torn asunder by the big lie.

THE GOOD CHILDREN is a great modern day gothic tale that grips the reader from start to finish. The characters, especially the four children, seem so real, the audience will start looking closer at their neighbors for similarities. The story line is top rate due to the frightening feel of realism and normalcy. Kate Wilhelm demonstrates why she is a multi-award winning author with this knock-your-socks off psychological thriller.

Harriet Klausner

After spending their whole live on the move, the McNair family has finally settled down in an Oregon cabin and life is good--until both parents die. Afraid of being split apart in foster care, the four McNair children try to hold their family together themselves, but they are haunted by the memory of their mother. The Good Children has an intriguing, if cliché, premise, and it's easy to consume, but the writing is unremarkable and the book is entirely immemorable. There's no harm in reading it but don't go out of your way. Not recommended.

The premise of a family of orphaned children opens the door to guilty-pleasure tropes: us against the world, the desert island paradise. The Good Children delves immediately into both, and the children's struggles to remain safely isolated and rebuild their family create an interesting narrative. They run into enough difficulties to keep the reader engaged, and there's enough sentimentality--at least at the beginning--to make the story seem meaningful. Wilhelm is not a gifted or artistic writer (in this book, at least), but she is experienced; her prose moves swiftly and the book is a quick, simple read.

Unfortunately, while premise is interesting and the prose moves swiftly, neither is particularly good. Wilhelm never takes her premise to an extreme, and so it never becomes realistically difficult or, like other examples of similar premises (such as Flowers in the Attic), enjoyable enough to be a guilty pleasure. The characters become increasingly distant and unsympathetic, and the emotional appeal of the novel all but disappears. The bland prose convey the story well enough, but it's entirely unremarkable; the book reads so quickly that it feels insubstantial. The mother's lingering presence is an interesting twist, but it's never fully developed. All told, the premise is interesting and the story is readable, but The Good Children is unremarkable and forgettable. It's not bad for a weekend of mindless reading, but don't go out of your way to get it. There are more interesting and more worthwhile books out there.

Kate Wilhelm is one of my favorite authors, and I think this is one of her best books. It doesn't seem to have gotten that much attention, probably because it doesn't fit neatly into one genre. It's more of a coming of age story than a mystery, but it also has elements of a psychological study (and other genres which I won't list for fear of revealing too much about the plot). The characterizations are wonderful. I highly recommend it.

This is one of the best books I have ever read! Kate W. Did a great job of writting this book. It never got boring at parts and I thought she did a great job with expressing how the characters felt at times. I chose to read this book for one of my summer readings for school, and I am so happy that I did. I feel that anyone would have no problem reading this book, it was great.

Kate Wilhelm did an excellent job in putting this book together. The characters where describe well, and the book was suspensful. I read this book in 3 days. I really wish that my teachers would use books like these, instead of those boring books, for assigned reading. It makes reading much more enjoyable. As you go along you also find yourself trying to solve each problem. FANTASTIC!

Enjoyable enough to finish, but it was a little out there. The plot was ripped off from the old book "Where the Lilies Bloom" and the ending was totally unrealistic to the point of ludicrous. The conflicts in the book were too neat and dealt with too quickly. The author tried to cram too much action into to few pages. Still, the characters were flushed out fairly well and the story went down easily. Don't pay for the hardcover...buy paperback or find it at the library.