What readers think of White Oleander, plus links to write your own review.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was great!! I usually dont enjoy reading all that much but i couldnt put this book down. I think it shows a real view of someone's life in foster care and how they see things and how they can relate to certain people. At some points in the book I couldnt believe what was going on and that made me want to read even more. It makes you feel like you are there witnessing what is going on and you feel like you know the people in the story. I would recomend this book to anyone who is looking for a book that they wont be able to put down.

brilliance!

From the first chapter, the reader is mesmerized by the story of Astrid and her mother and what will happen to them both. Fitch's descriptive writing and metaphors glue the reader's attention to each and every page. I am not a reader (2 books a year?),but I couldn't put this one down.It is intriguing, flooky and often with many twists. This is the best book I've read since She's Come Undone.The reader cannot put it down until the last page. I highly recommend it. Fitch's character developments and story plots unfold slowly to the reader through her careful descriptions, until you feel like you are actually there, witnessing the entire scene.It is sad,yet happy, tragic, yet euphoric.What will happen to poor Astrid?Read it and find out and it will be a rewarding experience. Ms. Fitch, I cannot wait until your next book! Job well done!

The book White Oleander was very interesting but at times was very hard to read. The beginning of the book was the most challenging because it didn’t get off to a good start. It was very boring and I had to force myself to keep reading but after a few chapters the book began to get interesting. After those first couple of chapters, I found myself never wanting to put the book down.
White Oleander was the debut book for author Janet Fitch. Janet Fitch was born November 9, 1955 in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Reed College, in Portland, Oregon, and from Keele University in England. Fitch had wanted to become a historian, but on her twenty-first birthday she decided to begin writing fictional books. So far she has a total of three books, and in her spare time, she teaches fiction to students at the University of Southern California.
White Oleander is a story of a mother-daughter relationship, and the search for ones identity. It tells the story of 11 year old girl named Astrid Magnussen and her feminist poet mother Ingrid. When Astrid mother is sent to jail for killing her ex-lover with poisons from white oleander flowers, Astrid Magnussen now has to find the way to adulthood through a series of Los Angeles foster families and juvenile homes.
Janet Fitch has a very unique writing style. She goes into a lot of detail and makes you feel like you are there. She also entices the readers throughout the story with her language and twists.
The book White Oleander opened my eyes to what life was like for kids who are in foster homes. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good book.

'White Oleander' is one of the books that I found to be weird in its own way...The Santa Anas, the letters that Ingrid Magnussen sends her daughter..all speak of the human tendency to interact, to want to be loved even though ego projects otherwise.

White Oleander makes you think a second time, about your own state of loneliness....that's why I like the book..It made me think!

White Oleander is a well-written masterpiece. The narrator is exceptional. The reader can connect with Astrid and understand her experiences . Astrid is a strong character who is full of life.

ummm, okayyyy this book is ruthlessly readable from the very first sentence, so it deserves brownie points for that. However, Ms. Fitch's writing quirk of layering simile upon simile within a single sentence can be cumbersome to the narrative at times, and as such I was compelled, on occasion, to skip entire paragraphs in order to keep with the stream of plot. Astrid's unfailing attitude of pessimism is pretty heavy-handed to have to put up with for 400-odd pages. However, the thing about this novel which redeems all of the abovementioned flaws is the perceptive observation that every household and family is a universe unto itself, with its own rules, beliefs, taboos, social structures and customs. Recommended.

- 16-year-old reader

Very good story. A little drawn out. To many similies and descriptive paragraphs. This story could have been told on a little faster pace. I ended up skipping whole paagraphs toward the end. The ending was not as I hoped. I hoped Astrid would feel a grater sense of freedomand from her mother. I hoped she would feel love for herself and/or someone.