Customer Reviews

Peeling the Onion

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

My sister was reading this book, and the strange title perked my interest. It was the kind of thing were I read the back, investigated the cover, scanned the first page, and was completely engulfed for the rest of the day.

The story begins in the hospital. It is written in first person, occasionally flashing to third person. It flashes from the story, to Anna's thoughts, to conversation, to flashbacks. It's not confusing, because it follows an obvious line of thought. The way it's written is an intreiging look into the head of a 17 year-old girl.

The story follows Anna from the hospital home. It describes the mental and physical effects of the accident as it affects Anna, her friends, her family. The characters are so realistic psychologically, it's facinating.

I love reading, and I loved this book. My sister hates reading, and she's enjoying it. I read it in a day and couldn't put it down. She pulling through the first few chapters after a week, and isn't giving up. I'm excited about this book because it's so true, so painfully real. There's no miracle, no happy ending. When things get better, then can get worse, and in such a pathos (my english teacher would kill me if i called it a tragedy) nobody ever comes out perfectly.

This book deals with relationships, romantic, friend, and family relationships. It deals with self-image, self-worth, with self. It's philosophical as well and factual and real. The author knows what she's talking about, she was a psychologist before her near-fatal car accident...

I enjoyed this book very much. It's a real, honest dose of life, it all it's pain and ugliness as well as beauty. Young readers will relate to the main character, and readers of all ages will gain a new perception of their world.

Really, read this book. As Anna grows into a real person, you will grow too. I guarentee you will come out of this book looking at the world in a different light.

TITLE: PEELING THE ONION This is a book about a popular, funny, pretty girl named Anna Lockwood. That is, before her accident. After a car accident with her boyfriend, Anna finds that nothing will ever be the same again. As she sinks into a deep depression, Anna feels that she has no purpose in this life at all. Well, now that Luke has entered her life, she must face who she is and what she wants to do in life and that scares her... I loved this book! I have never read a book that is so emotional and so real. I know I could identify with Anna, and so could many others. She takes on the characteristics of any everyday teenager now. I would recommend this to anyone willing to read.

Anna Duncan is 17 years old, wonderful at karate, and is kindling a new romance. Riding home from a karate tournament, that she has just won, with Hayden, her "boyfriend" a car doesn't stop at a stop sign and Hayden slams into it. Anna breaks her neck and thumb, and sprains her ankles. She thinks her life is over after a year of fighting this. She can no longer take karate, she walks with a cane, and one of her closest friends deserts her. Then she begins "peeling the onion". She falls in love with a 20-year-old named Luke ho is helping her mom out at the nursery, she finds her true best friend, and she understands who she is. This book is a good book, but I don't recommend it for people who enjoy things that aren't suspenseful. I would read it again, if I was ever feeling really low, down, and out to cheer me up

In 1996, an "experienced" author wrote a very dramatic book, Peeling The Onion. The author brilliantly crafted the twisted story of what she went through in the past. The main character, a seventeen-year-old girl named Anna is in a major car crash which changes her life forever. The physical pain that Anna feels is palpable but the idea that her life is ruined forever, insidious. The title suitably describes Anna's tragedy and dissociation from her former self, but is also indicative of the book's startling complexity and deep emotion.

Before the accident, Anna knew who she was and what she looked like. Now everything has changed, she is a stranger to her family, her friends, and most of all herself. She is no longer the pretty, popular girl who loves karate. Her body betrays her and she knows it will never be the same. The physical pain is an excruciating vortex that sucks the life out of Anna, but it is only half as bad as her emotions and feelings. All the layers that made up the old Anna - her looks, her friends, her sport - have been peeled away, leaving her to face the question of who she really is, and who she wants to be.

Peeling The Onion is a captivating book of gritty survival. Anna's pain, fear, and trauma are rendered convincingly enough that the reader believes that the story is all real and really happening while it's being read. No wonder it is An ALA Best Book for Young Adults and A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age! My favorite part was when Anna realized that it's not all over, that there is hope after all. I would give this extraordinary book a perfect 10 and recommend it to anyone and everyone.

When It comes to reading, I have always liked reading books which themes relate to seeking the real identity of one self. The questions of "who am I really" and "who do I want to be" or what is more important to me and society, the inner beauty or external beauty. Peeling The Onion by Wendy Orr is abook which describes the changes in the life of Anna after a terrible car accident, how she faces the uncertainty of not knowing who she really is without her physical beauty, her health and her ability to do what she loves most in life, karate. I Love this book because I learned that the things mentioned above don't define who you really are, that is just part of the external beauty. The author does a very good job in making clear what peeling the onion means, the number of layers that hide the real self. I put myself in the place of Anna and try to figure out what comes to be my real identity after taking away my looks, my friends, and my sports. In a way the book helps me find my true self and how do I view myself in society. I think the book is insightful because it also brings up a very philosophical issue about the the existance of God and his justice upon belivers.

In 1996, an "experienced" author wrote a very dramatic book, Peeling The Onion. The author brilliantly crafted the twisted story of what she went through in the past. The main character, a seventeen-year-old girl named Anna is in a major car crash which changes her life forever. The physical pain that Anna feels is palpable but the idea that her life is ruined forever, insidious. The title suitably describes Anna's tragedy and dissociation from her former self, but is also indicative of the book's startling complexity and deep emotion.

Before the accident, Anna knew who she was and what she looked like. Now everything has changed, she is a stranger to her family, her friends, and most of all herself. She is no longer the pretty, popular girl who loves karate. Her body betrays her and she knows it will never be the same. The physical pain is an excruciating vortex that sucks the life out of Anna, but it is only half as bad as her emotions and feelings. All the layers that made up the old Anna - her looks, her friends, her sport - have been peeled away, leaving her to face the question of who she really is, and who she wants to be.

Peeling The Onion is a captivating book of gritty survival. Anna's pain, fear, and trauma are rendered convincingly enough that the reader believes that the story is all real and really happening while it's being read. No wonder it is An ALA Best Book for Young Adults and A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age! My favorite part was when Anna realized that it's not all over, that there is hope after all. I would give this extraordinary book a perfect 10 and recommend it to anyone and everyone.

This book was great. It hooked me in from the first page. The things that Anna went through, she had to give up her dream of being a Phys. Ed teacher because of the accident. She had to choose between two boys that she loved. The experiences that she went through are realistic, I can relate to them. In some bits it made me cry because I really felt for her. I love this book, I would definantely recommend it.

After I was in a car accident 3 weeks after I turned 17, I read this book. This book is about Anna Lockwood, who, much like me, knew all about herself until she is in a car accident. This book describes the emotional and physical hardships she goes through and realizing she doesn't know herself anymore.
It deals with finding that true person inside yourself. After reading one very, ummm...self-centered review ("i (...) have recently recieved australian young writer of the year. and beleive that orr's writing is put to shame by my own brilliance!"), i knew this book was better than that.By the way, any person that reads a book all the way through without realizing they didn't enjoy it is just asking for ways to make the book seem bad. If you enjoy emotional books that help people "discover who they are", you'll enjoy Peeling the Onion.

When I read this book I was moved by the author's writing, it made me feel like I was a part of the story. Although the debilitating effects of the car crash are similar in occurance to Cynthia Voigt's Izzy Willy Nilly, I felt this book took a deeper look at the relationships that were affected due to the accident. It took you through the emotional rollercoster unlike Voigt's book to which I had less of a personal reaction. I would like to reccommend this book to everybody.

PEELING THE ONION's theme is important to readers of every age--what are we and who are we when injury changes our lives, when our ordinary trappings are stripped way? More than once, recollections of Orr's story have helped me face family traumas with understanding of the essence of self.