Customer Reviews

Pieces of My Sister's Life

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

"Pieces of My Sister's Life" appears to be a summer romance novel, but it is so much more. Beautifully written, it tells a story of abandonment, self-sufficiency, betrayal, responsibility and love. You will come to care for the main characters in the first few chapters, and find yourself torn by which sister to cheer for on any given page.

I could almost feel the ocean breezes, smell the saltiness in the air, see the emotions the girls wear on their faces and hear the shifts of inflection in the voices of the characters. The taste of tears, for joy and sadness, is tucked away in the pages as well. Elizabeth Joy Arnold, using all five senses, shows the differences between love as a child, and the sometimes harsh reality of love as an adult.

I am an avid reader but only once or twice several years ago have I been so moved by a book that I had to sit down the minute I turned the last page and write to the author!! Elizabeth Joy Arnolds " Pieces of my sister" will go down as one of my all time favorites! I cant stop thinking about Kerry, Eve and Justin and their unbelievable journey. Every beautifully written word in this novel gripped me like a vice. I sent an e-mail out to all of my friends who love reading as much as I do and told them to PUT DOWN whatever they were reading and start this book. I know they will all love it as much as I did. So now I'm telling you, stop what your doing and pick up this book. You will not be sorry!!!

I am a fond reader of Anita Shreve and I am deeply moved by Shreve's competent portraits of conflicts and desires on a relatively closed circle. When I first read reviews of Elizabeth Joy Arnold's "Pieces of My Sister's Life", I was at best skeptical as to whether this debut novel would live up to the standards set, among others, by Anita Shreve. After reading the book, I am thrilled to see that the themes of conflict, desire, the inevitability of death were beautifully and movingly expressed without any emphasis on the backgound developments as the novel is set on an island.

I read an average of 5 books a week, and have for some 45 years, and this will be one of my all time favorites. I almost didn't buy it, expecting a book written by a woman to be some silly romance. I'm so glad I changed my mind. The characters were so real, it was as if I were living with them for two days. The twins reminded me a lot of my two youngest daughters growing up. A good friend is in the final stages of cancer so I guess that part hit home too, it was all very believable. I had to go to the front of the book and find the "this is a work of fiction etc." statement to convince myself that it was fiction. It felt a little like "The Prince of Tides", a little like "Terms of Endearment", but on the whole it was completley original.

As an overly busy widowed mother of an autistic son, my time to myself is rare. I read an average of 5 books a month, and picked this book up due to the positive review by Luanne Rice, an author I have read and admired for years. However, once I began "Pieces of My Sister's Life", I could not put it down. When I finished it, it was with that sad feeling that goes along with having to say goodbye to an extremely well written book, they kind that the characters linger in your head long after you have finished reading it. Read this book and tell your friends who read as well, it is time very well spent. Congratualtions Elizabeth Joy Arnold, looking forward to your next book !!!!

The story, of sisters Kerry and Eve, will grab you from page one and gently tug at your heartstrings throughout this eloquently written novel. Charged with emotional complexities it is one part love story, one part mystery and filled with plenty of family dynamics, sibling rivalry, and even a quiet sort of wisdom. In someone else's hands the theme itself could have become cliché but the author writes with such authenticity that everything is fresh and believable. In fact it's so well written that it's hard to believe it's a first novel. The prose is clear and concise with just the right amount of description in all the right places. The rhythm is perfect and the sequence of events flows easily back and forth between past and present slowly exposing the family secrets. The characters are superb and the suspense is terrific. I couldn't put this book down! Best of all, the story is truly moving. I cried my eyes out through the last one hundred pages (in both the happy and the sad parts). The ending is fantastic, not at all what I expected, but the absolutely best way it could have ended. I'm adding this book to my list of all-time favorites and recommending it to everyone I know.

It's not just "chick" lit...

I'm a man, and I loved this story. I found myself remembering my own small town upbringing and first loves and heartbreaks.

You will become emotionally invested in the characters, laugh when they laugh, hurt when they hurt.

A first-novel success. I can't wait for the next one!!!

Go get this book.

After reading the glowing reviews from others, I was really looking forward to this book -- it seemed like just the kind of story I enjoy most -- but I was really disappointed. For me, it's always about the characters, and I couldn't buy into Eve, Kerry, and Justin. They seemed overblown, overly dramatic, and unlike any real people I've ever known or wish to know. I didn't like them. I especially didn't like Justin. Why two beautiful sisters would fall in love with him to the point one betrays the other and the other wants to kill her for it and goes so far as to mix poison to do so is beyond me. Arnold writes beautifully; she's obviously a talented writer who's going places, but this novel just didn't do it for me. I finished it, but I was frowning a lot of the time. I was also disappointed in never feeling a sense of place. I wish I could rate this book higher; I dislike doing reviews that are mostly negative, yet I couldn't not review this book. I felt that strongly about it.

I loved this book!!! I am so excited that this is a new author and can't wait for her next book. If you want to read a book that you literally will not be able to put down, then this is the book for you.

I read the book cover to cover, tapped on my desk four times and then I read it all over again. I absolutely loved the characters and the story line. I am anxiously awaiting Elizabeth's next book . . ..