Customer Reviews

The Real Mother

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I have never written a review before. I am an avid reader and have read Judith Michaels books for years. This book is so bad I feel compelled to let other people know. I was so dissapointed in this book that I couldn't even finish it. The language was so foul. It is written so poorly and in such an immature fashion. This book has no depth. This book is offensive and a waste of time. It reads like they had to get a book out really fast to make a house payment or pay off some bills. I am so upset that I spent money on the hardcover version that I am going to try and find their website and let them know how offensive this book is. They have written such great stuff in the past and I was so happy when I saw a new book by them. I feel angry that they wrote such trash and had the nerve to actually put it in the book stores. No matter what you do, don't buy this book. It would be a waste of your hard earned money. I wish someone had warned me.

Thanks for listening.

I finished the book because I wanted to see how everything shook out in the end, but I skimmed large swaths of pages. As other reviewers have written, there were too many unanswered questions and too many plot points that just didn't make enough sense. And I was irritated by the irritating way Sara's irritable brother Mack spoke. (Yes, I'm parodying it in the previous sentence.) No one talks that way! And in this day and age, given its slang meaning, who would name a character "Pussy" in a work of mainstream fiction?

I wish I read these reviews before I wasted my money! Offensive and boring. I liked their books before but I guess they are going downhill. Save your money.

I agree with some of the other reviewers who didn't like this book. In fact, I didn't finish it and I only had about 75 pages left.

Too many things just didn't make sense. Why did Mack leave home? Why did his mother have the stroke? Did it have something to do with his leaving?

Abby didn't seem to have any consequences for her very bad choices. And how were they so stupid as to think that a 10 year old would have a gallery art show???? And Sara and Reuben just didn't seem to have any spark.

I wanted to like this book - after all, I paid good money for it but I just didn't. Save your money - if you want to read it, get it at the library and if you like it, write a review. The authors deserve to have every opinion (especially favorable) heard.

Sara Elliott is 27 years old, and single. She has been left in charge of her three younger siblings, Abby, Carrie, and Doug. There is very minimal explanation given about their current living arrangements. Little detail is given about their mother, Tess, and even less about their father. Why is it that Sara is the only one who can confidently communicate with their mother? Sara works as the City greeter of Chicago. She meets a very odd couple, Lew and Pussy Corcoran, he's as rude as can be, she's as helpless as can be. Sara also meets Reuben Lister. With very little explanation or reason, they quickly fall in love. Sara's half-brother Mack Hayden comes into their lives and turns everything upside down. Mack tries to unrealistically help Abby, Carrie, and Doug achieve their dreams. Mack loses his job and forgets all his talk about the importance of family. At the end, Sara and the kids realize what's important and seek to start over again. Corny dialogue, unlikely events, and an improbable stretch of the authors combined imagination.

What a waste of $7.99. This book is bad so bad I thought I lost my interest in reading. The characters are annoying and I never found the "hook" that is normally in the first couple of chapters fo the book that make you want to keep reading. I gave up after two chapters. I skimmed the final chapters to see if there was any hope...didn't find any and gave up.

Clearly this husband/wife duo reached their peak in their early books. Their later efforts are bad. It's too bad books are non-refundable.

I struggled to page 147 of this book and finally gave up. I hate to toss away a book without giving it a chance...but this was just not good. Lack of character profiles, lack of good storyline and no excitement made for very hard reading!

I have collected all of Judith Michael's books over the years and this one is the worst I have ever read. I was warned by a review in Amazon to try it first thru the library. My checkbook thanks whoever wrote that review. I checked it out and found myself actually skipping pages to jump to the next page of actual dialog. I am not a prude, but the language that was used by 13-20 year old kids was shocking. The story line got lost somewhere and young Doug only "shouted" everything, never just talked. It was absolutely the most disappointing book I have been exposed to in a long time. Will put them on the "skip" list in the future.

If this is the best these two can do, I suggest they quit writing. I've waited a long time to read another of their books, but the fowl language and unreal characters are horrible. Since when do firemen and policemen leave 3 kids after a fire has occurred at their home? GET REAL

This book was just awful. Like another reviewer, I could not finish this book. The totally pointless bad language turned me off. The story just seemed to meander all over the place and ended up going nowhere. Boring! This book was nothing like their other books and, if this is a new direction for them, count me out!