Customer Reviews

While My Sister Sleeps

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a huge Barbara Delinsky fan and was excited to read her newest book. It doesn't disappoint...I was hooked from the beginning. What I loved most is that it truly makes you think about what you would do if, God forbid, your own family ever had to make the same decisions that the Snow family has to make. Be sure to read it with tissues near by!

Molly Snow has always lived in the shadow of her older sister, Robin, who is a determined runner bound for Olympic greatness. Whereas Robin has always shone in the spotlight and is the apple of their mother's eye, Molly likes to remain behind the scenes, fulfilling her passion for botany, where she works in her family's business, the Snow Hill Greenhouse. Sometimes to her chagrin, Molly is also expected to support Robin's running, timing her practices and driving her to meets.

On a day Molly was supposed to be with Robin, tragedy strikes when Robin is found unconscious on the roadside by another runner. After being admitted to the ICU, it is determined that Robin had a massive heart attack that deprived her for oxygen for too long and left her brain dead. In the days that follow, each family is grappling with Robin's accident in different ways: Charlie, her father, tries to be the silent supporter, Chris, her brother, wants Robin off the life support, Kathyrn, her mother, believes that Robin will come out of this, and Molly just wants to do what Robin would have wanted, even though she doesn't know what this is.

While dealing with the guilt she feels for not being there for her sister, Molly is determined to do right by Robin and figure out what she wanted. Little does she know the family secrets she will unveil while looking for an answer.

Tackling a hot issue such as the ethics of life support is delicately executed by Delinsky's talented voice. Readers will find themselves wrapped up in the Snow's dilemma, and they will be thinking about the decisions made long after the last page is turned. While My Sister Sleeps is another thought-provoking story from bestselling author Delinsky.

This is the first time I've read a book by this author and I finished it over a weekend because I wanted to find out what happened - it grabbed me in the first few pages. A moral dilemma with very good character developement. Some characters I liked, some I hated, some I wasn't sure about, and some who changed from beginning to end. Twists and turns along the way kept my interest and explained some of the characters' actions. I highly recommend this book.

What a boring book! Usually I put a book down if I can't get into it within the first 60 pages but I persevered and made it all the way to Page 125 before putting down. I was hoping something, ANYTHING, would happen to move the plot along but for 125 pages Robin is brain dead, the family feels terrible, Robin is brain dead, the family feels terrible...this is all that happens within the first one-third of the book. I finally put it down last night; I just couldn't read anymore.

I have been reading Barbara Delinsky's books for years, all the way back to her romance days. So I am always excited when one of her books comes out. This book does not disappoint, as other reviewers have agreed. Delinsky tackles hard subjects that honestly I tend to avoid, in a way that makes it palatable to read. Other authors, such as Jodi Picoult, also write about very difficult subject matter but in a more intense way. (Not trying to knock Picoult, because she is a fabulous writer- just offering a comparison)

Anyway, I liked the character development in While My Sister Sleeps. As a result of one character's accident, the other characters get to know themselves and one another in different and new ways. Each comes out somewhat better at the end, which helps make the situation more accepting.
Very good read, I could not put it down and thought about it a lot in between chapters and since I finished.

I have read many of Ms. Delinsky's books and most are really well thought out and have many emotional moments. This book I never really cared for the sister Robyn who was on life support. I never cared about Molly the heroine either. It was all too forced and the only reason I give this book 3 stars is because anyone who can write a whole novel should get at least 3 stars.

This book was just ok. It was very predictable and fairly uneventful. I did not really find a deepness to the characters. I typically don't like these kind of books....and this book is pretty much the sum of why :)

When athletic Robin suddenly has a heart attack and goes into a coma, it forces her family to address Robin's unknown wishes and to confront their own guilt and issues. While it was a good premise and the book is an effective advocate for organ transplant, I just couldn't get past the character's weaknesses. Robin's sister Molly is a doormat who aims to please everyone, her brother Chris is frustratingly spineless, and mother Kathryn is an overbearing denial queen, constantly reiterating her mantra, "I just can't deal with it yet." The plot was predictable, the emotion wasn't convincing, and the writing was not exceptional. The story had potential, but it was one long delay of the inevitable that could have done a better job at tugging at the heartstrings and portraying sympathetic characters. I wanted more from this book, but it just didn't deliver.

This story just was not well developed. I read it in a few days and was dissapointed with the way it ended. I never understood why Molly allowed herself to be treated like she did. It did not seem believable to me and affected my enjoyment of the book.

In typical Delinsky style, While My Sister Sleeps is a provocative drama about family secrets, rivalries, resentments and regrets.

In the opening, we meet Molly, the youngest sister in the Snow family, a horticulturist in the family business. Reliable, sometimes blunt and outspoken, she is definitely not the "star." While Robin, the oldest in the trio of siblings - Chris, the only son, is in the middle and quietly does his thing - is a prize-winning runner, on her way to greatness.

Then on one fateful day during a race - a run that Molly didn't have the time to attend - Robin has a massive heart attack. A Good Samaritan gives her CPR, but it may have been too late. She is comatose, while the family waits for the grim outcome.

Throughout the waiting process, we gradually come to know each family member, with the secret fears, hopes, and regrets - through their internal dialogues, conversations, and in Robin's case, a CD containing her personal journal - and discover the bonds and strength that unify them all in the end.

Like an unexpected gift that opens slowly, revealing hidden treasures,the family members finally realize that they do have the strength to make the necessary decisions.

I read this one nonstop, pausing only for necessities, and when I was done, I wished for more. I felt I had come to know this family and the flawed characters that felt so real.

Laurel-Rain Snow
Author of: Web of Tyranny, etc.