Customer Reviews

By the Time You Read This

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

 

 

Kevin Bates has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides to leave his five year old daughter, Lois a gift of his thoughts and advice about life in a journal he entitles, The Manual. Seven years later, Lois receives The Manual. She's excited about her gift and especially values that it's from her father. When she begins reading, she learns her father has set a few rules. She can only read entries every year on her birthday, she's not able to read future entries and she can only refer to entries that have already been read. Year after year, Lois reads the new entries and she learns and cherishes the lessons her father has left her.

BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS is the debut novel by Lola Jaye. She spins an emotional story about an unconventional relationship between father and daughter. The character's thoughts were brought to life with depth and reality. A read that will have you wondering what you would do if you were in the same situation.

Reviewed by Jaime L. Lincoln
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

This book was great. It captures the amazing connection between father and daughter in a tender and believable way. The characters are well developed and the storyline is clear and easy to follow. I cried many times while reading this but they were happy tears because I felt such a connection to the characters. A+ recommendation.

When 30 year old Kevin Bates is diagnosed with a terminal illness he decides to write some advice for his then 5 year old daughter, Lola, to be given to her when she turns 12 covering the years until the year she turns 30, coined The Manual. The Manual is given to Lola when she is 12 and she couldn't be more excited to have something from her dad. The Manual comes with rules: Lola is to only read one chapter a year on her birthday; she cannot read ahead. She can refer back to previously read chapters at any point. There are many miscellaneous advice sections that she can read at any time that the topic is brought up in her life.

The books follows Lola from the day she gets her Manual until her 30th birthday and last entry her father has written her. It sounds like it could be pretty emotional right?? Well, I hate to tell you this, but it didn't tug at my heartstrings. Yes I liked the story and seeing Lola grow up and mature with the help of her father's advice. However, Lola wasn't a very likeable character for me. She was OBSESSED with the manual. It was actually kind of creepy. I could also see where her obsession with the Manual and her dad's advice was having bad effects on her life. There wasn't a man alive who could be as perfect as her dad, so she self-destructed any relationship she was in. No man could stand anywhere close to the pedestal she had her dad on in her mind. Lola was very closed off with very few friends. Only 1 close friend, Carla, who grew up next door to her stuck with her the entire story. She took his advice to the extreme which, like I said, had adverse effects on her life. She was extremely distant from her mother when she remarried and then had a baby. I was very annoyed when Lola never mentioned the name of her stepfather or sister until the end. Throughout the story she referred to him as Bingo Caller and to her sister as The Sprog. What the hell? She was even told in the Manual to accept if her mom got remarried and to accept and love any new siblings. She was just plain selfish. When she finally got to the last chapter, I found myself kind of happy that this was it and maybe she could finally learn to be her own woman and change her ways. One other thing that annoyed me was her friend Corey constantly calling her "Lo-Bag". That was the main reason that I tagged this as young adult. It was just so immature and he continued calling her this into adulthood.

But I have to say that I struggled to finish. It wasn't painful and I didn't find myself wishing it were just over, other than the Manual to be over. I mainly found myself annoyed at her selfish and self-destructive behavior. I am only going to give this 2 stars because it really isn't a great story and the writing is very simple and plain.

Extra- In my review I said I gave it 2 stars, but that review was also written for Goodreads.com. There a 2 star review is "it's ok". On Amazon a 2 star review is "didn't like it". So on Amazon I upped my review to 3 stars because I do think the book was ok and I don't want to go so far as to say I didn't like it. It was really just ok.

I bought this book thinking it would be touching and really pull at my heartstrings because my husband died when my daughter was about four years old, right around the same age as the main character when her father died. I felt very wistful and wished my daughter could have a manual filled with wisdom shared from her father, just like the character from the book. Unfortunately, the book was rather boring and I had to really push myself to finish it. The idea of the novel was excellent, but reading the back cover would have been sufficient for me. I forced myself to finish the book, which was just torture as I kept waiting for it to pick up and get better. It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't very interesting or touching which was a huge disappointment for me. I also didn't really like Lois, the main character. I thought she was rather self-centered which made it difficult to care about her. Oh, and the way her friend, Corey, kept calling her `Lo bag' as a nickname was really annoying. I felt like I was reading a children's book and not a very well-written one.

In 1983, thirty year old Kevin Bates is stunned with the medical diagnosis. He has six months to live at best and no time to wallow in self pity or what if drills. Instead he wants to leave a legacy of fatherly guidance to his five years old daughter Lois. Thus he goes into hiding to write The Manual; an advice guide for his beloved child to use to help her navigate life starting when she turns twelve.

Seven years later, Lois still grieves the loss of her daddy. She is angry at her mom who is about to marry some creep; as if she forgot her late husband. Lois struggles when she first tries to read her dad's advice to finding happiness and letting go pain, but over the years the Manual becomes her bible as she navigates through life until she finally meets her "one".

This is an engaging look at the loss of a loved one from the perspective of a daughter who grieves her daddy until she begins to obtain solace in his last words. The story line follows Lois' reading the Manual and incorporating the words of wisdom in her daily life. Although Kevin seems too perfect sort of like Kahil Gibran's Prophet rather than a dying young man knowing he leaves behind a wife and little daughter, fans will relish this five tissue box tearjerker.

Harriet Klausner

This book caught my attention at first but then I felt myself just counting the number of chapters before i could be done with the book. I so longed more to hear from Lois's dad, who writes the manual to her, but instead I heard so much of Lois and her sexuality (along with her best friends). It wasn't the most wholesome book I have ever read and definitely didnt match up with my values. Nonetheless, it was an entertaining read.

I purchased this novel after very quickly scanning the description on the back cover. That was my first mistake--- if I'd opened it and read the first page I would have put it back down. I couldn't get past the first few chapters because it is written SO BADLY-- I can't believe a publishing house picked this one up.
Maybe it's not fair to write a review on a book I barely started, but as a voracious reader and a sometimes writer, I honestly wonder how this ever made it to print. Sad, because there is a great story to tell here-- just not by this author.

This book was delivered as promised and once I started reading it I could not put it down. It is a good read and I recommend it.

I really thought I'd get into this one, but it never seemed to catch me. It never hit that "sad nerve" that I thought it might. The fathers writing just seemed to be TOOO timely. I mean, he had everything in the world timed out perfectly and left me sort of laughing at it at times. I did finish it though and I will say this is a good "airplane book". One of those that you might read half of it on your way TO somewhere and half on the way back.