The Life All Around Me By Ellen Foster Audiobook

" Her abstract writing style was the main factor that ruined the book to me...that and the fact that the story seemed to revolve too much around her abandonement issues with her mother, it was kind of a weak crutch for the plot to lean on. I wish they would have explored Laura's character more as well. "

" Didn't enjoy this one. Might be because I read it out of order and should have read Ellen Foster first but I thought that was what I had picked up at the library not realizing this was the second book. "

" I loved the original Ellen Foster but this was really really disappointing. I didn't even finish it and that's rare for me. "

" In this sequel to ELLEN FOSTER Ellen is living in a stable foster home & maintaining her friendships with all the local misfits. She also applies to Harvard at the age of 15. I think it helped that I listened to this book as read by the author. "

" Eh. I just couldn't finish this one. I liked it just fine, but couldn't seem to get any kind of real connection with Ellen. Maybe later... "

" Not as good as the first (Ellen Foster) but still very good. Does a great job providing closure for this wonderful character. "

" Stopped reading this after about 30 pages. COULD NOT get into it, very confusing. "

" The charm of Ellen Foster continues in this sequel. The author sculpts her characters and gives them voices that echo on after the last page in the book is read. "

" A good message about overcoming adversity, but hard to read. The language/voice of the main characters and the lack of quotation marks made hard to read. I had to keep going back and rereading to get meaning and follow the plot. "

" A horrible sequel to a great book. "

" Didn't finish this. Agree with what others have said. Could not get into this at all. "

" Not as good as the first but Ellen Foster is always an intriguing character. "

" I had a lot of trouble with this CD because Kaye Gibbons herself read the book-BIG mistake. I couldn't take her monotone voice. Since I loved Ellen Foster, I may try to read this myself someday. "

" The Life All Around Me By Ellen Foster is the sequel to Ellen Foster. I listened to audio version which included an interview with the author, Kaye Gibbons, which was interesting. "

" I LOVED "Ellen Foster," Five stars for sure, but this sequel was a three star book. "

" Bizarre sentence structures reminiscent of Sarah P. Is this supposed to be the way they talk in the South? Kind of fascinating. "

" Rarely does an author write a continuation that becomes so essential a part of a story. However, Gibbons makes this book an inseparable part of the character Ellen Foster. "

" It always take me a bit to relax into Kaye Gibbons' writing style--I didn't feel this was quite as good as some of her other books, but still rewarding. "

" Same good old wonderful Ellen but the writing and plot veers too much into "stream of conscious" storytelling that feels scattered and is often confusing. "

" I loved Ellen Foster, so of course I had to read the follow-up. I didn't make it through the 4th chapter. I liked Ellen at 11. "

" Terrible follow up to the beloved "Ellen Foster," I suffer for Kaye Gibbons' forced prose, her poor planning and the unimportance of this follow up 20 years later. I am embarrassed for her, and I hope she redeems her gift and saves her fans with another effort, but soon! "

" Beginning and end were delightful. Writing style were a challenge to read. Middle of the book was "good" but a slow read. Author is a quirk. Glad I read it. "

" I really liked "Ellen Foster" but I could not get into this sequel at all and never finished it. "

" I liked this book much more than Ellen Foster. It wasn't as depressing, and it was so nice to read more about Ellen's life. "

" Not as good as the first (Ellen Foster) but still very good. Does a great job providing closure for this wonderful character. "

" Bizarre sentence structures reminiscent of Sarah P. Is this supposed to be the way they talk in the South? Kind of fascinating. "

" Same good old wonderful Ellen but the writing and plot veers too much into "stream of conscious" storytelling that feels scattered and is often confusing. "

" I LOVED "Ellen Foster," Five stars for sure, but this sequel was a three star book. "

" 4-- This sequel was harder to follow and understand. Not as good as the first book, Ellen Foster. Was interesting to see how Ellen is doing 3 years after the end of previous book. "

" The charm of Ellen Foster continues in this sequel. The author sculpts her characters and gives them voices that echo on after the last page in the book is read. "

" It always take me a bit to relax into Kaye Gibbons' writing style--I didn't feel this was quite as good as some of her other books, but still rewarding. "

" This book wasn't hard to get through, but I didn't come away with any particular impressions of what happened in the story. So-so. "

" I remember loving Ellen Foster, but maybe I read it too long ago. Anyhow this sequel was written in such an annoying style I almost couldn't stick with it and then the ending was too much to believe. Too bad. "

" OK, I think I would have liked this better if I read it, rather than listened to it. The author narrated, and she had the perfect tone and accent, but she just speaks so fast! I had trouble sometimes keeping up with what was going on. "