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Taylor Razzani wrote:

braver wrote:
I don't think it really would have fit the story, but I think a tiny bit more insight into Ralph and Dina would have been excellent. I feel like there are so many questions about them and how they got into this situation. Did Dina never want to foster? Or, knowing some people who foster, has Dina's heart been broken by the system too many times? What is her relationship with her husband like without Molly's presence? Maybe a conversation between them that Molly overhears would have been enough. Largely irrelevant to the story, yes, but it makes me curious!

Yeah, that wouldn't have hurt! Just a little insight to make us see a bit more into their life and make their relationship more believable. Maybe a littlw irrelevant but your idea is good, it could have just been a little scene and that's all. I didn't really think of a lot of your questions, but now I'm curious about them too!

It's funny because I can't decide if I wanted less of Molly's story or more. I think the reason is because her foster parents are such minor characters that I didn't feel that they needed to be in the story. However, if they were more precedent in the book, then I might have been more interested. So, very good thought!

I hate when authors groom you to dislike a whole character. They make everything they do horrible and malicious. Then turn around and make a whole book for you to sympathize with them. Shows you there past before whatever horrible thing they done was. And why they are the way that they are.

I love how everyone has some great assessments of the negatives here. Looking forward to figuring out who I most dislike as soon as I can get this book loaded up and on my TBR pile.

hsimone wrote:

Taylor Razzani wrote:

braver wrote:
I don't think it really would have fit the story, but I think a tiny bit more insight into Ralph and Dina would have been excellent. I feel like there are so many questions about them and how they got into this situation. Did Dina never want to foster? Or, knowing some people who foster, has Dina's heart been broken by the system too many times? What is her relationship with her husband like without Molly's presence? Maybe a conversation between them that Molly overhears would have been enough. Largely irrelevant to the story, yes, but it makes me curious!

Yeah, that wouldn't have hurt! Just a little insight to make us see a bit more into their life and make their relationship more believable. Maybe a littlw irrelevant but your idea is good, it could have just been a little scene and that's all. I didn't really think of a lot of your questions, but now I'm curious about them too!

It's funny because I can't decide if I wanted less of Molly's story or more. I think the reason is because her foster parents are such minor characters that I didn't feel that they needed to be in the story. However, if they were more precedent in the book, then I might have been more interested. So, very good thought!

Good point! I felt the same way. Perhaps because Vivian's storyline captured so well what it was like being an orphan in the wrong home it felt like Molly's story was just filler with no new ideas. In that case adding on a little more about her foster family might have helped in this situation.

gali wrote:I agree with bookowlie and Eatleaves.

I also didn't like the Grotes and Dina. Dina's husband irritated me also for not standing up to his wife.

I also agree with them. It was very hard to like the Grotes and Dina. And gali, I was upset that her husband wouldn't stand up to her.

I think that Dina was my least favourite. While I absolutely detest the Grotes, at least I can understand why they wanted Niamh around as slave labour. I honestly cannot understand why Dina and her husband agreed to take Molly in the first place when Dina obviously had no intention of trying to make it work.

Keishalyn1 wrote:I hate when authors groom you to dislike a whole character. They make everything they do horrible and malicious. Then turn around and make a whole book for you to sympathize with them. Shows you there past before whatever horrible thing they done was. And why they are the way that they are.

A person could be the villain in someone's story and a hero in someone else's. But I agree with you here - after making you hate a character, to have to understand their point of view would be difficult.

As it seems, I agree with the majority of the other readers on this forum. I think the Grotes are the worst, or at least to me personally. It's weird to me though how an author can write a book and intend on making characters as dislikable as possible. Considering it's ultimately subjective because not everyone's going to agree on who's a good person or who's a bad person.

Kia wrote:I think that Dina was my least favourite. While I absolutely detest the Grotes, at least I can understand why they wanted Niamh around as slave labour. I honestly cannot understand why Dina and her husband agreed to take Molly in the first place when Dina obviously had no intention of trying to make it work.

I wondered this as well. Motives and intentions for Dina would have been helpful, at least to flush out the context. I suppose we are seeing things from Mollys eyes, so its entirely possible that she didn't know (or didn't care to know). Mollys sections really did read as if it was coming right out of a teenagers brain, so I actually wondered at some points if Molly wasn't seeing things exactly as they were. She has learned to expect the worst in people, so that could have colored her opinions on what was happening? Its so hard to say. I was a bit disenchanted with the authors portrayal of the foster system though, as others have mentioned as well. Dina was so stereotypical one has to wonder if her character was even considered in any sort of detail by the author.

The Grotes really had no redeeming qualities. They were awful characters yet also not very memorable. I wish the characters had had some redeeming qualities, however, I guess it is realistic that these types of people exist and were given foster children during the time of the story.

I have to agree with everyone who didn't like the Grotes. They were terrible, especially Mr. and Mrs. Grotes. I initially thought Mr. Grotes was different, more responsible than Mrs. Grotes who's been lazy and uncaring from the start. But no, he made my stomach turn.

If I may add, I dislike Mr. Sorenson, too. He's a representation of the Children's Aid Society's lack of action after that dreadful incident.

I could not stand the Grotes. Absolutely repulsing. However Molly managed to tug on heartstrings, especially with Dina!

ellieonline03 wrote: If I may add, I dislike Mr. Sorenson, too. He's a representation of the Children's Aid Society's lack of action after that dreadful incident.

I wanted to reach inside the book and throttle Sorenson with the words "Can't you see what's going on here? Fix it!".

Easily Mr. Grote. He tries to rape Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian for goodness sakes! He was a horrible man, and the wife was no better.

I think my least favorite was Dina. I didn't feel like she was very compassionate toward Molly at all.