Icy Sparks (Oprah Selection)

Rating:
Summary: Okay Book with Horrible Ending
Review: I agree with Heather. I forced myself to get through this book, mostly because once I start one, I hate to end it without finishing it. The characters in this book were "okay" but everything seemed so overdramatized and quite frankly the most touching character was Patanni, in my opinion. I kept going through the book hoping for at least a great ending to tie it all up and make it worth it, but alas I was subjected to three chapters of bible beating and "Praise the Lord Jesus...." eighty thousand times. Plus, I think I know the words to every Christian hymn, and I'm not even Christian! Just a highly disappointing ending, one that left me feeling even more disconnected from the main character. Rent it from the library.

Rating:
Summary: Ending bad...
Review: Decent book - not really gripping - I didn't fall in love with any of the characters...so I didn't really care about getting through it. (Just fyi - I'm a 29 year old female)...but the ending just ruined it for me...I was really hoping for something interesting...but the last three chapers warped into this huge religious freakshow...all of a sudden...they're all bible beating their way to the end...and then the epilogue was just stuck there...with no continuity. I wish I could return the book...I guess I'll donate it to the library...blech.

Rating:
Summary: Good until the last three chapters...
Review: I loved this book down to the last three chapters. I read it in two days because I just couldn't put it down. The characters are so real. The story is one that most anyone can relate to. Intolerance. Not fitting in. Trying to find meaning in your world. But the ending seems to try to put a perfect little bow on an imperfect story. The author did such a wonderful job creating believable, lovable, real characters. People who could really exist and who had realistic problems.
I just felt like the last three chapters pulled me into a strange time warp. The rest of the book doesn't fly through time so quickly. The end makes characters change too rapidly. And the sudden introduction of religion along with the bible quotes and hymn lyrics seemed foreign.

Rating:
Summary: Pork-and-Grits Good!
Review: I loved this book. It felt very 'southern' to me, and I mean that in the best possible way. It ranks up there with Carson McCullers and Eudora Welty. Rubio's language is pork-and-grits colloquial -- I love it. Her characters suffer from loneliness, physical abnormalities, and the desolation of rural Kentucky -- but they survive and even triumph in the end. I agree with other readers who were turned off by the religious puffery at the end (I would've written the ending differently myself), but that was not the main thrust of the book and should not turn people off from reading it.

Rating:
Summary: This could have been a great book
Review: Icy Sparks was a page-turner until the "happily ever after" ending. The "born again" message was a total turn-off. It's too bad that Ms. Rubio, who at first seemed non-judgmental, in fact, suggests that there is a right way to "cure" a mental disorder.

Rating:
Summary: Icy Sparks
Review: This book is absolute, five star,top quality. It's entertaining & touching with a timeless feeling. While reading it, you'll be amazed at the author's ability to inform about a mental disorder in a personal way by making the main character so real. She tells a vivid and charming story without resorting to sleaze or sensationalism. Very enjoyable and I can't wait for her next book!

Rating:
Summary: Simplistic
Review: It was no surprise that Icy would triumph in the end- after all, this is one of those Oprah "feel-good" picks, complete with a 100% good hero, 100% bad people who stand in her way, and an obvious lesson to be learned: be accepting of our differences. What did surprise me was the religious tone the story took in the end. Icy herself said "It was the power of His touch. God was the One Who touched me." I find it so patronizing, this "just embrace God and everything will be fine" attitude, but then again, this was a story with simple characters; a simple ending was fitting. Many will probably like this book because Icy is certainly an endearing character; however, I found the characters too simplistic, the plot underdeveloped, and the writing style too heavy.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, pick this one up
Review: A very good read, I think it's worth your time. Not really long and laborious like some books out there.

Rating:
Summary: I Wouldn't Recommend...
Review: This book is the best example of a good beginning of a story turned bad. It begins with little Icy Sparks living with her grandparents. The beginning goes a bit into her past, about her mom, her eye colour, whatever is relevant to the rest of the book. I'll skip over the plot and well-wrought relationships and go straight to the end. Icy finds solstice in her new-found religion. Icy was skeptical at first, as I was, but she finds out that God can do all, help all, etcetera. In the end, it just turned into a big praise-fest for God and Jesus ... and it was a horrible way to end the book. I wouldn't recommend it for non-religious people or people who don't enjoy cheesy endings. But I would recommend it for a good read at the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: I'd give it more stars if I could
Review: This book was excellent! Rubio did a wonderful job of placing me in someones shoes that has Tourettes. I was so pleased when I started reading from page one and I couldn't put it down. It isn't one of those books that is supposed to deal with something, and then you read it and feel cheated (like The Corrections that barely touched the surface of Parkinsons). I felt like I understood Icy's need to tic & jerk. I learned a lot about the disease. I loved the characters & their development, there wasn't anywhere where you were left hanging. The end was kind of out of place though....but if it didn't say this WASN'T a true story, I'd think it was.