The Raising: A Novel Audiobook

" This book is too bizarre. I almost stopped reading it multiple times until I finally got to about page 200. Then I just kept going to see if the truth finally was exposed. "

" This book started off with a lot of mystery and intrigue and kept me going until the very last part of the book. It has 5 parts, the first 4 are fairly fast paced, really interesting, and everyone has an interesting story. Each character is developed fairly well and the reader easily gets a sense of who they are. The whole book is written in a way where I was wondering what was going on. Who was playing with whose mind, were things as they seemed or was there something much more sinister going on. I liked how the author tried to portray that each person deals with death differently. However what I didn't like is that in the end she made it seem like we all deal with it the same, which wasn't her initial concept, not in my mind anyway. Regardless of what you believe is going on, what I don't like is the Universities reaction to all of the events going on. It's hard for me to believe that a small University city would be so completely controlled by a sorority. The paper, the police, University big wigs? Yeah, I don't think so. I didn't like the sheer stupidity of some of the characters either, especially when in most other aspects in their life they are intelligent capable beings. The fifth part of the book leaves the conclusion open ended. It's clear that a cover up happened, but I would have liked more information on why the sorority did things in the way that they did things. Their way seemed a lot more complex and unnecessary. I felt the ending was a cop out, and that the author could have done more to tie up loose ends. I realize some authors like to leave the loose ends in order for the reader to make their own interpretation, but I've never been a big fan of that style of writing. It just seems like such an easy way for the author to write without having to actually think of a solid conclusion. "

" Please don't let me read another book from this author. The plot always reels me in and then it is dragging, dragging forever with not a very exciting ending. "

" Really wanted to like this book because of the local author and setting ... so NOT my kind of book though! "

" I can't make up my mind about this book. It was interesting and mediocre. It took my breath away, it made me roll my eyes. It hooked me somewhere about a hundred-some-odd pages in and it left me with the same stupid questions I had since the real story decided to present itself. "

" Had to drag myself through the first half of the book and it just doesn't seem worthwhile. I'm putting up the white flag and moving on. "

" Wonderfully written mystery about a college coed's death and sororities. "

" I loved this right up until the end which was rubbish. Very disappointed in it. "

" Never really warmed up for me - did not care for any of the characters. "

" This was such a good read. It was a bit frustrating at some parts especially with the whole mystery about Nicole and the sorority. "

" I found the location (fictionalized Ann Arbor, MI) interesting but the characters were flat and unconvincing. The book was much too long. I had to force myself to finish. "

" I just bought this on a whim at one of those airport book shops on my way to Monterry last spring. It's well-written, but I think the tone is too colloquial and has a "young adults/teens" air. As in, I didn't realize it was in the teen genre until I had started the book. "

" Not my style of book. "

" I was sucked in from the start of the book but quickly found my interest waning towards the middle. The author tends to use parenthis to add uneccesary details and the plot fell apart. "

" I was on the lookout for a literate writer who wrote commercial, genre-spanning fiction, and this New York Times "

" It was nerve-wrecking to say the least, but am not too happy with the ending as it left a lot of strings untied. Laura Kasischke is certainly talented, and I'm definitely going to be reading more by her. Could have done with a few less curse words, in my opinion, as they weren't always necessary. "

" bored. bored. bored. bored. bored. "

" It seemed so promising but it was too foul for me to continue reading. Each character was so one dimensional and it seemed that the author couldn't go two pages without a gratuitous sex scene. Not my thing. "

" Not your standard plot-driven suspense novel, I enjoyed the sinister atmosphere, the uncertainty, "oddness", experienced by the characters, in contrast to the crisp everyday reality of the university setting. "

" Very interesting premise. Written very well, but I was ready for the book to be done. There is no closure to the story. I felt it left me hanging - waiting for something to really end. "

" horrible, read half and stopped. too weirdly high schoolish and very sexueal. not entertaining or interesting at all! "

" I think this would make a better movie...just couldn't get into the main characters "

" I found the location (fictionalized Ann Arbor, MI) interesting but the characters were flat and unconvincing. The book was much too long. I had to force myself to finish. "

" Put this aside after the first 60 pages. just couldn't get interested enough to finish it. "