Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Beyond the Bright Sea

Top positive review

A beautiful story

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017

It is difficult to find the right words to describe this book without it sounding excessively sweet. I am an 80 year old man who hates books, movies, and TV shows that ooze and drip with sickeningly sweet syrup. "Beyond the Bright Sea" is a beautiful and genuine story told by a very gifted writer. If you do not read it you will miss one of the most rewarding reading experiences one can find.

165 people found this helpful

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C. Anderson

My 10 year old daughter really did not let like this book

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2018

My 10 year old daughter really did not let like this book. She is gifted snd has read at least a hundred books. She found this book to be a “horror book” and thought was very creepy. She was very unsettled after reading and I wish I did not buy it for her.

120 people found this helpful

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Cou

A beautiful story

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017

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165 people found this helpful

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C. Anderson

My 10 year old daughter really did not let like this book

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

120 people found this helpful

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VerbRiver

Three on a match

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2020

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“Beyond the Bright Sea” could have been an above-average book had it not been seriously bruised by three avoidable imperfections.

First, it is hard to imagine another first-person work so overwhelmed by its pronoun. A virtual infantry of I’s pounds across the pages, vertical intruders inexorably shifting the reader’s focus from the story to the grammar. It is a distraction that could have been eliminated with more discipline or better editing.

Second, key parts of the book are so contrived they become a fetch too far. Most notably in a clutch of just a few pages, the protagonist takes her first-ever-alone ferry trip resulting in encounters with: (a) a possible lost relative who happens to be at the rail of a passing ship; (b) a person she has never met before willingly spilling a great deal of information about that possible relative, and; (c) a coincidental brush with the story’s arch villain. All this on a round trip in a single day. Please. Harder work and a more dispassionate review process could have made this more believable.

Third, a sort of Hallmark Channel formula begins to emerge. The Annabelle of “Wolf Hollow” becomes the Crow of “Beyond the Bright Sea” becomes the Ellie of “Echo Mountain.” Although the geography changes, the circumstances, dilemmas and fears are all too familiar among the three Wolk books.

Lauren Wolk is a fine writer, but one who needs to shake the foundations to begin building something new.

39 people found this helpful

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Danielle

Lauren Wolk has written another story as wonderful as last year's Wolf Hollow

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017

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This is my front runner for the 2018 Newbery Awards- and it is on my fifth graders' short list in their #MockNewbery voting. Lauren Wolk has written another story as wonderful as last year's Wolf Hollow. Crow, Osh and Miss Maggie create an unusually endearing family- and they are three characters that I haven't stopped thinking about since I read the book last June. Plus, with this book you get a mystery and some adventure that will keep kids entertained. But it is the language Wolk uses in Beyond the Bright Sea that is so truly exceptional. I hated that the book ended- I have revisited passages several times with my fifth grade students - and I hope that the Newbery committee is smart enough to put this book at the top of its list!

36 people found this helpful

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mijcar

A Terrific Read for Any Age from Pre-teen through Adult.

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2018

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I bought the book for my grandson because I liked the author's previous book and because of the good reviews. I make it a point to read all the books I get for him because a) I like literature for young people and b) we enjoy sharing our views on the books.

He gets "first read" most of the time. And he sped through this book -- a definite sign of approval. When I picked it up, I found out why he was so excited; I couldn't put it down either.

It would be unfair to discuss the book beyond what you will have already seen in the Amazon listing. The story is rich in detail and will keep the reader guessing and hoping.

(There is, however, one exception, but it won't be a spoiler. I could sense throughout the book that the author was considering an alternate ending to the story, a slight thread that wasn't tied off. It didn't need tying -- the story is complete as is -- but there is a possibility of a sequel now, one that deals with that other possibility. I hope there is one.)

24 people found this helpful

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Denise Tabscott

Beautiful Book Full of Wonderful Characters and a Compelling Story

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2017

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A wonderfully crafted novel set in the Elizabeth Islands off the coast of Massachusetts in the 1920's. Crow came to the island as a newborn baby, set adrift in a tiny skiff and launched into the sea. Taken in by Osh, the only man living on the small island where her skiff comes to rest, she grows up wondering about her past. She is happy with her life, with Osh and Miss Maggie who lives across the sandbar in nearby Cuttyhunk Island but most islanders keep away from her, fearing she might be from Penikese which not long before had been a leper colony. This fear and rejection leads Crow into deeper digging about what secrets are held in her past. As Crow finds out answers to these secrets, danger comes closer and closer to her beloved island and to the people she holds dear.

I was a big fan of Lauren Wolk's previous novel, Wolf Hollow and she did not disappoint with Beyond the Bright Sea. The characters are wonderfully developed and the setting is vibrant, wild and beautiful. She is a master storyteller and I look forward to other books in the future.

19 people found this helpful

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Nanci Turner Steveson

A lovely second book from Newbery Honor author

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2017

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Lauren Wolk's writing alone makes this a must read. After loving Wolf Hollow so much, I approached her new book cautiously as I felt there was no way it would compare. Let go of that worry. This is a lovely book with characters that instantly grab you, a story that keeps the pages turning, and writing that wows me. This is a quiet book, and I say that as encouragement to pick it up and read it as that aspect allows the reader to experience the beauty of the words washing over you. This is a keeper, a terrific read-a-loud, and something I, as an adult, will read again and will put in the hands of kids who will love it, too.

18 people found this helpful

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J. L. DeCastro

Belonging and Family

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2020

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MG (10+), HISTORICAL FICTION, MYSTERY, LEPER COLONY

Twelve-year-old Crow has started asking serious questions about her origins and arrival to the small island off of Cuttyhunk (MA). Raised by Osh, a quiet lobster man and painter with his own secret past and his neighbor Miss Maggie, Crow wants answers. Did she come from the old Leper Colony on another island? Who were her parents? Why was she abandoned in a small skiff....? But her persistence in searching for the truth has put them all in danger. This is an important story of belonging and family. In the end it's not necessary to solve all of life's mysteries.

4 people found this helpful

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Ashley

A beautiful book

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2020

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Bought to read to my 8 yr old daughter. I couldn’t stop reading it. BEAUTIFULLY written. Stunning. Loved the story, the writing, the ending...loved all of it

8 people found this helpful

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Cynthia Johnson

Adding this to my Read Alouds for next year!

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2017

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Will make a great addition to my 3rd grade read alouds. I am always looking for books that have empathy as a theme. This book also covers empathy with an unusual main character which is an automatic crowd pleaser with kids these days! Definitely recommend as an addition to the classroom library or for those skillful chapter book readers who need an unusual book. I also like the historical reference to the actual leper colony that existed back in the 1920's on the setting's island!

15 people found this helpful

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