The Help...Review...DNF

About the book:
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step. Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger.

Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women — mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends — view one another.

A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

And, yet again, I'm in the minority.  This is one that is raved about, over and over.  I tried to read it.  I really did.  I tried several times in fact.  I didn't care about the characters, I didn't care about the story.  I found myself annoyed and wishing it would simply be done.  I finally skimmed it, hoping that I'd find something redeeming in the end, but I didn't. I can't even pinpoint what it is that I didn't like, and I hate that!  It just wasn't for me, and sometimes that happens. So many friends of mine, in the real world and online, loved it.  And, I've learned that if several specific friends rave about certain books, I don't usually like them.   Some connect with a book, completely and others don't. 

Thanks to my girlfriend April for letting me borrow her copy! You can find other, more positive reviews here: 5 Minutes for Books, Red Lady's Reading RoomBook Journey, Booking Mama, Lesley's Book Nook, Chocolate and Croissants, Hey Lady, Whatcha Readin'?, Bookstack, and Bookbath.  You can find over 2,000 positive reviews on Amazon!  You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 9/10


1/5 Stars


Comments

  1. Sorry to see this didn't work for you. I've yet to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so sorry that this book didn't work out for you! I really liked it, as did my entire book club.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've heard so many good things about this book that I'm thinking about joining a discussion about it. Thanks for the reminder to go borrow it from the library! (and for your honest review)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh boy -- sorry to hear this one just wasn't working for you! I absolutely loved it and tore through the whole book in a weekend. As a character and personality, Skeeter really resonated with me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't think I've EVER seen a negative review for THE HELP. Very interesting that you couldn't get into it. I, like everyone else, adored it. Too bad it didn't work for you. Oh well, right? On to the next book ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have been toying around with reading this book for a while now and I just have not been able to bring myself to do so, so I am thinking I will still just let it be as I am really not sure if I'd like it. Maybe someday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thats happened to me so many times. Everybody likes a certain book and I was scratching my head wondering why (The Maze Runner or Goose Girl)

    I , too liked The Help. Sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've been avoiding this book for many reasons ... and with all of the worthy books I have sitting in my shelves and calling out "Read me!", I will likely continue to avoid it. Quite a few reviewers whose opinions I respect had the same reaction as you, and since their tastes run similar to mine, I'd likely have the same reaction as well.

    Julie @ Knitting and Sundries

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have the book but haven't read it yet because I'm worried that all the glowing reviews have set my expectations too high. I've had that happen where there really isn't anything wrong with a book but I just didn't like it. It's hard when you can't really figure out why but you know something isn't working.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment