Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Like a stab to the heart! I was overwhelmed with a feeling of deep depression on finishing the book, which I had trouble doing. I was tempted to just put it down and not finish it, but I kept giving it the benefit of the doubt, thinking that the author would redeem herself by the end of the book. I could not believe this book when I finished it. I was so stunned and upset that I could not speak. I got the book a day earlier than expected and read it in one sitting; not because it was so good but because it was so bad. Also, it is very short, published with lots of blank pages, large print and probably is not really more than 200 pages although the publishers have pushed it to 300. I was tempted to stop reading it and just toss it, but I kept hoping that something would change. The author would come to her senses...or somebody would. I could not believe what I was reading, what the arguments were, who was agreeing with what. The characters had absolutely nothing in common with the characters of 'mockingbird' --- who created this bunch? the writing style ... I kept hoping that something would be redeemable. Maybe even on the last page. I don't want to include a lot of spoilers here, but the important thing I came away with is this: I don't believe this book was written by the same person who wrote 'mockingbird.' Not just for moral reasons (which there are plenty of) but because of the style. The writing is hackneyed, amateurish, dull, flat, and droning. It reads like a lecture from a southern racist who wants and needs to defend his/her way of thinking. It's from the pulpit of a right-wing klan leader who needs to convince us that those people of color are less in all ways than those of 'white' people. I cannot believe that this is what Lee meant us to take away from her writings. It is my (what may be perceived to be paranoid) opinion that editors/agents etc., got hold of some remnants of what she wrote before 'mockingbird' and turned it into 'watchman.' if there was ever anything that could undermine the beauty and sensitivity of 'mockingbird' it is accepting that this book precluded it and that 'mockingbird' came from it. This is not the soul that 'mockingbird' came from.