I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully complex and enlightening book.
Review: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a very interesting book. Perhaps, at times, one gets lost in the twisting of the plot, but this only makes one think more. Unlike many books about mental illness, the main character is still within grasp of understanding the real world, and this makes us identify with her better.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting reading, for everyone
Review: I read I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, and I loved it ! I'm 13 years old, and it is not as confusing as people have said. If I can read it, anybody can. It is fascinating story, about a young girl's struggle from madness to reality. It is an interesting, inspirational story. It is like no book you've read before. But don't take my word for it, read it yourself, and you decide.

Rating:
Summary: this book is very powerful!
Review: this is a great book for people who like books they can connect with. it is filled with heart wrenching trauma to a girl with schizophrenia.

Rating:
Summary: Sort of confusing
Review: Somewhat enlightening, but I was confused by the rapid transitions from the real world to her imaginary world of Yr. It was also sort of boring, but I liked the way it gave her thoughts as well as the thoughts of her psychiatrist.

Rating:
Summary: The most extraging book i have read in a long time.
Review: I could not but it down. The twist the book takes when going from the social word to Yr. Even though it was confusing when talking in Yr the book seemed to make sense. It made me want to shake the parents and family and realize their daughter/relative is not "O.k" and she needs help. not to ignore it and think it will get better. I would recommend it to everyone. Great Job Joanne or is it Hannah??

Rating:
Summary: I actually give it 3 and a half stars...
Review: Well, I first saw the movie not knowing that there was a book. I really liked the movie. The book has some of the same characters but it's mostly a different storyline then the movie. All and All I liked the movie better. *BUT* the book WAS good yet a little confusing at times. I was happy with the ending.

Rating:
Summary: This book shows the struggles one has with a mental illness.
Review: I had to first read this book as a book report in a psychology class. I started reading and I couldn't put it down. This book was so vivid and true. It shows what kind of horror a person can see inside themselves. I would definetly recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Exploring the World's of the mind...
Review: Wow, what a neat book, those who seek adventure in the worlds of the mind will love this one. It explores not only this venue, but the different levels on which they exist! This poor young girl struggling with a problem that many face, but uses it only in a way that she really knows. To escape reallity?, to explain life? Read it and find out! I give this book 5 star's...just don't get lost in the realm of YR...

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a "Must" for ALL parents of young people.
Review: I read this book when it was first published back in 1964. It was written by Hannah Green, and from the comments on the dust jacket, she, herself, had suffered from schizophrenia and I think much of the novel was based on her own experiences. I have just re-read it again, in 1998--34 years later and can't praise enough the insight it has given me in dealing with a family member's problems. Back when I was dealing with this member, there was little to nothing written about so-called "mental illness." Today I hear that if you want to know more about this disease you write for a pamphlet put out by the association dealing with both schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder--manic/depressive illness. They are quite similar in that you are dealing with two different attitudes coming from one person. All this is most confusing until you read about Deborah Blau and her "secret world"--a world of her own making because the "real world" is more than she can handle. This is a book where, if you want to really understand, you must read every word, and re-read where you didn't quite get it the first time. All of us fight the same demons. In the case of the schizophrenic, they have had exceedingly traumatic experiences which have led to withdrawal from the real world, or else they are not strong enough to face that real world to begin with. They need help, and we need to understand. It goes without saying, I enjoyed the book the second time around and will want to read it again to reinforce that understanding whenever I find myself becoming intolerant of another's inability to handle today's world and its problems. Seems to me that the "druggie" does it with drugs, but it's all the same thing.

Rating:
Summary: Well written but awfully slow....
Review: It takes quite a bit of time to get into this novel. Of course, though, once you're in, you're in. The novel travels deep into the mind of girl deep in madness. Joanne Greenberg does a fine job of creating the mental images we as readers need to see. However, the novel is somewhat confusing, what with the girl slipping in and out of her own secret world of Yr. Although I can't say I really enjoyed this book, I think the ending was very well written and just what I would have had happen.