Rating: 
Summary: Dreadful - I wish I hadn't read it
Review: As a 'sequel' to GWTW this book was embarrassing. Ripley seems to have little idea as to characterisation, and the main characters do not ring true to the original. And where have the supporting characters gone?In addition, as an Irish person I am both embarrassed and offended by the appalling portrait of 19th-century Ireland. Authors should write about what they know; Ripley certainly does not know Ireland. Forget this book, and remember GWTW as it is.
Rating: 
Summary: RHETT & SCARLETT TOGETHER AGAIN, BETTER THAN EVER!
Review: FIRST OF ALL, A COMMENT TO SLC, UTAH - USA: SCARLETT DID NOT SLEEP WITH EVERYONE. THE BOOK MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT SCARLETT ONLY SLEPT WITH ONE MAN WHO WASN'T HER HUSBAND, AND SHE HATED EVERY SECOND OF IT BECAUSE IT WASN'T RHETT. WHAT BOOK DID YOU READ???!!! RIPLEY KEPT VERY TRUE TO SCARLETT'S CHARACTER. ALSO, THE LOVE SCENE ON THE BEACH WAS VERY TASTEFULLY DONE. I/WE APPLAUD HER! BESIDES A FEW "THIS-N-THATS", I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH THE BOOK AND ALSO VERY SURPRISED AT HOW WELL DONE AND TRUE TO THE STORY "SCARLETT" WAS. MY ONLY REAL HESITATION WAS THE ENDING. ALTHOUGH IT WAS QUITE GOOD, I JUST WISH IT HAD A LITTLE MORE TO IT, AND A BIT MORE OF A CONCLUSION & EXPLANATORY PROCESS TO IT. BUT DESPITE THAT, I/WE THANK ALEXANDRA RIPLEY FOR FINALLY GIVING US WHAT WE'VE BEEN YEARNING FOR ALL THESE YEARS: A BELIEVABLE, VERY INVOLVING, ENTERTAINING STORY THAT GAVE US RHETT & SCARLETT TOGETHER AGAIN, BETTER THAN EVER!
Rating:
Summary: Practically Perfect
Review: Scarlett's change was so wonderfully gradual that you couldn't help but get swept away with it all. We loved following her through all her adventures of her soul, tracking down her family line and, in the process, herself. And through it all, Ripley made sure that Scarlett didn't lose her self-respect by having her sleep with every guy to forget Rhett. She slept with one guy she wasn't married to and regretted every second of it; she was sorry for trying to forget Rhett that way. The love scene on the beach was tastefully done and gave us hope. Besides a few "this-n-thats", we were very happy with the whole of it. Our main hesitation was at the ending. Although it was quite good, we just wish it had a little more of a conclusion & explanatory process; there were a few loose ends. Despite that, though, we thank Alexandral Ripley for finally giving us what we've been yearning for all of these years: A believable, very involving, entertaining story brings Rhett & Scarlett together, forever.
Rating:
Summary: A stain on Margaret Mitchell's legacy
Review: SCARLETT is like a car wreck you pass on the highway - it's grisly, but you can't help yourself, you have to look at it! This book is of a near-unbelievable badness. It is so awful, it is utterly excruciating to read. Margaret Mitchell's great anti-heroine has been transformed via Ripley's cheap and trashy pen into a ludicrous parody. Aside from the cold hard fact that Mitchell had more writing talent in her least sentence than Ripley can demonstrate in an entire book, perhaps the most appalling thing for the reader is the sheer implausibility of the plot and characterizations. Ripley cobbles together a bunch of low-grade Barbara Cartlandt episodes (Scarlett's journey to Ireland neatly removes the action into an exotic locale and effectively demolishes the sense of historical time and place) populated by the most unbelievable, superficial, false and nonsensical characters. All this would be so even if the book weren't a sequel to GWTW, but Mitchell's shadow renders! these people even more ridiculous - the scene where Scarlett caresses herself sensuously while thinking of Rhett comes immediately to my mind. SCARLETT could be any mass-market romance novel - just change the character's names, and you have a story that could be about any body. I was particularly disgusted by the way Ripley jettisoned all of Mitchell's own characters and settings less than a third of the way through the book, totally destroying any sense of place and turning the rest of the novel into a cheap romance fantasy. I will grant that the Charleston sequences have some merit - I always did wonder about Rhett's family and what they thought of Scarlett - but too many unformed characters come and go too quickly. I won't even bother to comment on the flaws in Ripley's Scarlett, who manages to be the two things Mitchell's Scarlett would most have despised - cringing and boring. This book should never have been written. As a product, it is a monument to human greed, ! bad taste, and lack of talent. I hope someone else decides! to take up the Mitchell legacy when the book enters the public domain in a few more years - it would be a shame if this Ripley trifle remains the sole imaginative effort to continue Mitchell's story. Pathetic.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but doesn't live up to the original
Review: I fell in love with Gone With The Wind and was very excited to hear that a sequel had been written. I just had to know if Scarlett got Rhett back, so I read it. I have to give Ripley credit for trying, but she didn't have to bring the trashy romance-novel-of-today atmosphere. For the most part, she sort of sounded like Mitchell, until the "love scene" on the beach; that part made me ill, litterally. And I also didn't like how she took away all of Scarlett's morals--she practically slept with everyone! Even though all I've done is complain, there are good aspects of this book, too. I would reccomend it to anyone who loves GWTW, but you will be disappointed more than once.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and true to Margaret Mitchells story and character
Review: I believe that Alexandra Ripley could not have done a better job in re-creating the characters from Margaret Mitchells classic book. I have read the other reviews and most don't make sense. Rhett admitted that he married Anne because he was trying to hurt Scarlett not because he loved her. Furthermore, Scarlett did not love Lord Fenton. She admitted that she just went along with him to get his money for Cat. You have to realize that there are supposed to be several years between the end of Gone With the Wind and Scarlett. People in real life change over years as should characters in a book. Scarlett grew up. I thought it was a fabulous novel
Rating:
Summary: Continue the wit and romance !
Review: I would give it 4 and half stars because GWTW is one of the few books that can garner 5 stars. But I thought most of you wouldn't buy it unless I gave it 5 stars..and it's a great read ! I came to the book with trepidation but finished it with a great big smile! ( unlike the end of GWTW ) There are many really memorable scenes in the book that are in the same caliber of other infamous GWTW scenes. Rhett is just as dashing but Scarlett finally grows up.Yet,I wish that Alexandra Ripley could have written the dialogue so that it "sounded" more Irish or more Southern. The only other criticism is that the last line should have had more oomph. It's always compelling to read about the legendary romance of Rhett and Scarlett! Is it true that Pat Conroy has been commissioned to write a third book of Scarlett and Rhett?
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful yet Different
Review: I believe that what these people write in their reviews is harsh but they have a right to their own opinions. I must say that even though I haven't read the book yet, when I saw the mini series I fell in love all over again with this wonderful, exciting story. There were a few dissapoinments though; I didn't like the way Scarlett got when she fell for Lord Fenton and making herself look like a slut; I also found it hard to follow because these aren't the same actors you were so fond of... these were others; I also didn't like when Rhett married Anne Hampton , which I thought was ridiculous due to the fact they are very different; yet there were at some parts where you felt so much suspense that you just couldn't stop seeing it. All in all I liked the way Ripley tried to make the public happy by making this sequel even though she will never be able to measure up to Mitchell's style and story. I liked the movie and I'm considering on buying the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excited for a sequel, but disappointment is flooding
Review: The first time I heard of a sequel to GWTW was when I saw ads about the miniseries. I was overjoyed because someone had finally decided to write a sequel. It must have been hard to follow in the footsteps of one of the greats. I could never do it. Even though I haven't finished, I'm disappointed. Ripley failed to transfer the feelings and emotions into the sequel. Tara was barely mentioned, Scarlett's pride and soul! Some things Scarlett did in the sequel were unthinkable. It rushed in places and was too slow in others. It also had too much of a 90's touch to it. The emotions that had sparked in me after reading GWTW were washed out in this book. I was disappointed, but glad to have read something that will put my mind at ease. Besides, this is only one person's hopeful attempt at recapturing the romance and emotions of this amazing classic novel. I must commend the author at having the gumption to try.
Rating:
Summary: Too long for its own good
Review: "Scarlett" is a decent attempt at a sequel to GWTW, but it is too long and has parts that seem pointless, boring, and dragging. It does a good job of showing how Scarlett reunites with her O'Hara side of the family and how she becomes wiser & more loving, but it tries to get too involved in the English-Irish feud...until you're ready to scream, "Enough already!!" GWTW was a classic about our OWN country, the Civil War...be prepared, if you are going to read this book, that "Scarlett" is an IRISH story, NOT an American one!!! And as a footnote, the other reviews saying that Rhett shouldn't have married Anne Hampton is True, since if Rhett *did* still love Scarlett (as the book tries to imply) he wouldn't marry again--after all, Mitchell told us he "wasn't a marrying man" and never implied in GWTW that that aspect of his personality would ever change, except in Scarlett's case (his TRUE love).
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