Blood Orange Mass Market Paperback – June 1, 2010

This book felt like a slow start for me. Lots of gloom and sadness. But I rarely leave a book unfinished even if I think I won’t enjoy it. In the end this one was worth it, especially for the interesting moral dilemmas. I recommend it.

This author writes deliciously complex stories that keep the reader turning page afterpage to keep up with what is happening. Her characters are well-developed and one is leftasking for more and more of the story. The Good Sister is also a favorite from Ms. Campbell,who is very good at making more of a story than initially meets the eye. I would enjoy seeingher novels made into movies, for sure!

The book was okay. I found it hard to keep up.. To be fair, I have a short term memory loss so if I let a day or so lapse betweenreading, then I have trouble keeping the characters in order. The book did not hold my interest enough to read all at one time.

This is the first Drusilla Campbell novel I've read. The title caught my attention but the story summary worried me. I didn't want to read a novel full of pain and be left feeling unsettled. But this storyline was compelling, the characters real and overall an excellent piece of realistic fiction. I will try more of this author's works.

This is a beautifully-written literary novel in which a lot happens, something I hunger for. I thought it started out a bit slow, but it didn't take long to get engrossed in it, and then I couldn't stop until I finished it. The pacing was spot on, most of the characters believable and interesting (I never bonded with the priest, for some reason.)Maybe wrapped up a little too neatly, but still, a very satisfying read.

This wasn't my kind of book, so perhaps my review isn't really fair. It focused a lot on a failing marriage and a woman's insecurity with her place in life. I found it a bit creepy at times to be inside the head of the main character.Some of the major plot actions seemed contrived and did not flow naturally from the action. The author attempted to explain the actions, but it strained credibility.Overall, this was a strange read for me. It had all the elements of good fiction--good prose, an plot with a mystery and a good amount of action, characters with conflicts--but it just didn't come together for me. In this book, the writing process poked through and I never got immersed in the story. It seemingly has the same elements of a great Stephen King story (like  The Green Mile: The Complete Serial Novel , which I'm reading now) but it just didn't work. Perhaps it's that the main character wasn't honest with herself, even in her inner dialogue, and it wasn't clear if the author did this on purpose or if the author wasn't being honest with herself either. It was weird.

Good fictional story, yet could so easily be based on real life characters and plot. The characters are flawed in such a human way; you can't help rooting for them. Definitely worth reading.

It took me a few chapters to get into the storyline and once I did, I couldn’t put it down. I’m not very religious, but this book had some very deep religious thoughts. Good book.