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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting mystery but with some less than stellar issues, November 16, 2010
This review is from: Saving Max (Paperback)
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When I started Saving Max, I found the story of a desperate mother trying to find help for her sometimes-violent autistic teenager intriguing. However, during the first third or so of the book, my enjoyment of the story was substantially impacted (negatively) by the writing; so much so at times that I wasn't sure I was going to continue reading. Now that I have finished the book (and I'm very glad I kept reading, by the way) and look back to the beginning, it feels like two or three different people wrote it--or perhaps one person over several different periods of time.
In the first third or so, the author seemed to be working overtime throwing "25 cent words" into the story. I have a pretty good vocabulary and not only were there words used that I don't hear/read very often, there were words I could not remember having read before (tenebrous, nubilous, kilim, expiation and malefic just in the first 20 pages or so, and that's leaving out all the psychiatric terms). Not to say that boosting the reader's vocabulary is a bad thing at all--it just felt forced, like the author was parading her grand vocabulary for ego's sake.
There was also too much melodramatic description for my taste--"The darkness is voluptuous velvet.", "Her whisper is a feather in the wind." and "The air between them is dry powder hungry for the flame." to provide just a few examples on a SINGLE page. Not to say that similes, metaphors and analogies have no place in writing--of course they do!--for me, they just feel overused at times and/or too grandiose for the story being told.
In contrast, most of the final half of the book is an exciting mystery in which the writing did NOT detract from my enjoyment of the story. I generally only read for a short while at bedtime each night, so it can take me a few weeks to finish a book; I read the last half of this one (about 200 pages) in two nights because it was so suspenseful that I had a hard time putting it down!
It is not unusual for me to finish a book and be torn on what rating to give it. It IS pretty unusual, however, for me to feel so differently about one part of the book than I feel about another. So I'm left with deciding whether to give it 4 stars to encourage people to read it for the excellent last half, or to give it 3 stars because the first half almost discouraged me from finishing the book. In the end, I chose 3 stars, but I hoped that by including plenty of explanation about what I both liked and disliked about the book, you can make your own decision whether to read it based on YOUR likes and dislikes.
Finally, for those who are very sensitive to violence, especially involving children or mental illness, be forewarned--there are some fairly harrowing parts of the story, especially in the last half, that you would likely find disturbing.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
`To her there is only one Max', September 28, 2010
This review is from: Saving Max (Paperback)
Danielle Parkman is a single mother who has combined a successful career as an attorney with parenting her teenage son Max, who has Asperger's syndrome. As the story opens, Danielle's parenting skills are being tested by Max's violent outbursts and she is concerned for his emotional wellbeing because of his expression of suicidal thoughts and drug use. Danielle takes Max to a psychiatric hospital for assessment in the hope of finding treatment which will help to manage his volatile behaviour. The assessment leads to a recommendation is that Max requires in-patient treatment for more specialized psychiatric assistance and he is admitted to the Maitland Psychiatric Unit.
Thus begins a nightmare for Max and Danielle.
Max is found bloody and unconscious next to the bed of a murdered patient: a boy named Jonas. The circumstances mean that Max is the prime suspect, and Danielle herself becomes implicated in the crime. Danielle's fight to clear Max leads to an investigation involving a number of interesting characters and events as Danielle seeks to uncover the truth.
I enjoyed this novel although I found parts of it disturbing. On one level, this is suspenseful fiction. On another level, it raises a number of `What if?' questions about medical diagnosis and treatment. The characters, particularly Danielle and Max, are finely realised.
`To have a child who has friends, goes to school, has a future - these are the dreams of a race of people to whom she and this woman no longer belong.'
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Starts slowly, but picks up, October 5, 2010
This review is from: Saving Max (Paperback)
Danielle is a successful lawyer and the single mother of a bright teenage boy called Max. Max has Asperger's Syndrome as well as some other behavioral issues. Danielle takes Max to a highly regarded psychiatric facility for assessment, where they meet another mother and son called Marianne and Jonas. The experts conclude that Max has severe issues and is uncontrollably violent, which Danielle disagrees with. However before she can remove Max from the facility, she discovers Jonas stabbed to death and Max cowering in the corner of the room, covered in blood and clutching the murder weapon. Danielle's first impulse is to protect Max by trying to cover up his part in the murder, which leads to them both being charged (she is charged as an accessory to murder). Danielle remains convinced that Max is innocent and she is prepared to do whatever it takes to get him off.
The book starts slowly but once the murder takes place, it tears along from that point. I felt that a few sections were over-written but generally it was easy to read and quite engrossing. I had two main problems with it, hence the 3 star rating. One was that we never really get to know Max at the beginning, so I didn't particularly care about him or have any reason to doubt the official line about what had happened. Therefore Danielle's behaviour felt totally irrational and unlikely, particularly given that she was a lawyer. I felt like the story lost believability.
It's a credit to Antoinette van Heughten's writing that I remained glued to this book despite those problems. It's very readable. Be aware that Max's autism is not a key element in the story and it's not the book to read if you want to find out more about Asperger's Syndrome.
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