Customer Reviews

Rundown

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

 

 

I enjoyed the beginning of the book and was intrigued by Jennifer's staged crime. She seems to gain the attention she wanted but guilt soon consumes her. Most of the book after that seems to drag on. Several supporting characters offer sympathy to Jennifer, but not much happens to let us get to know these people very well. I agree with Horn Book's review that the characters are too sketchily drawn to care much about them or their motivations. I was hoping for a more emotionally charged novel but it seems to go flat in the middle and gets annoying at the end. What should have been an emotionally suspenseful ending just didn't tug at my emotions. I give Rundown three stars for it's strong beginning and interesting conflict, but it it got tired quickly. Needs Wheaties.

The writer is really out of touch with what it means to be a girl. Many unimaginative writers fall in the trap of using rape as a plot device because they can't imagine anything more dramatic happening in a girl's life. In this case, it's a false rape. I can't think of anything less creative nor less realistic. It's ironic that the cover depicts a healthy, strong, & athletic girl when the book depicts girls as needy, weak, & selfish.

There were times when I really loved this book, and there were other where it was just too boring. Rundown is an ok book with a great premise behind it. If more if it appealed to me, I'd rate it higher. Also, the ending was terrible. Its still something that doesn't set right with me. It makes no sense.

This one had the chance to be amazing...but it just didn't work out.

This is one of the most poorly written books I have ever read. The language is simply awful! Meaningless similes, a barrage of pointless details, downright lame analogies, and a web of subplots that are never fully (or even partially) developed. One of the first rules of writing is to create a believable character, and I had a hard time believing that Jennifer would do anything but sulk and get in slapping matches with her equally 2-dimensional sister. She seemed incapable of having any emotion deeper than "feeling like a rhino." The ending is completely unsupported by the rest of the book, and just comes off as nowhere else to go. I thought the premise was fantastic--a fresh approach to the subject of rape in a generation where one word from a disgruntled kid is enough to wreck someone's life forever, but as a previous reviewer said, it runs out of steam before it even has a chance to take off.

The beginning of this book was very well written in my opinion, as were the descriptions used throughout the story. However, I wasn't impressed with the character development throughout the story. The end was abrupt, and really turned me off. I probably would try reading some of the author's other books, but I just didn't care for this one.

The concept of this book was interesting, and the beginning of it had potential, but towards the middle and definitely the end were disappointing. The ending made no sense, and the middle had little to do with the beginning and was uninteresting. The plot was unusual and could have been a much better story if written differently.

another book that was on my required reading list for school. it centers around jennifer thayer, daughter of two newly well-off parents who seem to care alot....about jennifer's older "perfect" sister. to get attention, jennifer fakes being assaulted, which brings on many more emotions then jennifer counted on. at first, i found the fast-moving action exciting, and the set-up promising. i even could identify with jennifer at some points. then, however, the story hit a point where i just didn't care anymore. to many side-plots that went nowhere were annoying. not the best book i've read, but not the worst.

I thought that this book was very entertaining. The book was very detailed and was very easy to follow. Though the book did have a mis-leading ending, I will give it 5 stars because I thought that it was ver well written. (results not typical)