Thursday, September 2, 2010

Testimony by Anita Shreve - Review and Giveaway

I first read and reviewed this book in May 2009 for the Hachette Book Group. The mass market edition was released yesterday and in celebration, I am being given the opportunity to sponsor this giveaway of 5 copies of Testimony by Anita Shreve.


          Testimony is the story of a sex scandal caught on videotape at an elite high school. While the headmaster is trying to deal with the situation and the students, the images become public and the police are brought into the picture.
          I have to admit I almost threw Testimony aside because of the graphic descriptions of the video images. I struggled through to the next chapter since I had really enjoyed The Pilot's Wife (also written by Shreve). While the steamy scenes didn't resurface to quite the same level, there was still some unnecessary description (I guess there's a reason I read mostly Christian fiction).
          Overall I enjoyed the story even when I wanted to wring the necks of characters for their stupid choices. My difficulty in reading Testimony was the continual change of voice; chapters were from the point of view of many characters which I found confusing at times.
          I would give this four stars but for the obscene first chapter; for that I have to drop it to three stars. I would not recommend this book for those that mostly read Christian fiction.

GIVEAWAY
THE RULES:

-- US/Canadian residents only; no PO boxes
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY

1. For first entry, leave a comment letting me know you want to be entered.
2. For an extra entry, follow my blog. Leave a comment letting me know how you follow. You can become a follower by a) clicking on Follow in the upper left corner or b) clicking on Google Friend Connect in my right sidebar.
3. For an extra entry, tell me if this is the first book you have read by Shreve.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
5pm CDT,  September 10th

12 comments:

Marjorie/cenya2 said...

I would enjoy reading this novel and would like to win and read it.



cenya2 at hotmail dot com

Marjorie/cenya2 said...

I have never read a book by this author.


cenya2 at hotmail dot com

Anita Yancey said...

I would love to be entered to win this book. Thanks for the chance.

ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

Gigi Lynn said...

I would like to be entered, please.

Gigi Lynn said...

I have never read anything by this author, but my best friend loves her. So if I win this book, I will give it to her for Christmas!

Teresa said...

I would love to be entered and I have not read a book by this author before.

Cindy said...

I would love to win a copy of this book!

I appreciate your honest review. I too do not like books with graphic language like you mentioned this book has, but if you liked the book overall, I know that I would too.

Cindy
Socmom213(at)aol(dot)com

Cindy said...

I follow your blog on Google.

Cindy
Socmom213(at)aol(dot)com

Cindy said...

I have read The Pilot's Wife. I would love to read another book by this author.

Cindy
Socmom213(at)aol(dot)com

The Green MomSter said...

I would like to be entered thank you!

elkmeese at yahoo dot com

The Green MomSter said...

I'm gfc follower Lindsie

elkmeese at yahoo dot com

The Green MomSter said...

This would be the first book I have read by Shreve

elkmeese at yahoo dot com