I really enjoyed reading this book. I wanted to give Mary Carter five stars but due to the explicit sex scenes, I could not. I know that makes me sound like a prude, but I'm sorry, that's just me. I thought it was a well written book that I was able to really get in to. There were parts that made me laugh out loud and yet others that brought tears to my eyes. Mary Carter either has a deaf relative, a close relationship with the Deaf community or she has done excellent research. I have attended many classes and workshops to obtain a lot of the information she has enclosed in her book. I feel she gave a very accurate picture to many of the situations faced. I applaud Mary for educating her readers on this subject. ( )

I'd give this one another 1/2 star if I could. There was so much going on in this book and so many characters to keep track of--I read it quickly and still had to stop and think about who a particular character was. I liked the idea of the book but I just wasn't able to get over all the points where I was just unable to suspend disbelief that certain things would happen. ( )

I'd give this one another 1/2 star if I could. There was so much going on in this book and so many characters to keep track of--I read it quickly and still had to stop and think about who a particular character was. I liked the idea of the book but I just wasn't able to get over all the points where I was just unable to suspend disbelief that certain things would happen. ( )

Haha, I think the cover spoof on [b:My Sister's Keeper|10917|My Sister's Keeper|Jodi Picoult|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255572825s/10917.jpg|1639903] is funny! But that was all I liked about this book. Twins, separated at 3yrs old, find each other as adults. One twin is Deaf, the other hearing.

So many problems with this story/writing.
1) POV: first several chapters are Deaf twin's 3rd person persp. Then it shifts to the other twin. Randomly there are chapters from the mother's perspective when the twins are 2, then one or two objective 3rd person when the twins are 3. The changing POV ruins the story by giving away too much and changing the perspective.
2) Character: the twins change personalitlies or do things that seem inconsistent with their personalities. For eg, Deaf twin has a ridiculous temper and diabolical streak, but then does crazy spontaneous things like take off her underwear and throw them out of the rowboat when she and newly acquainted twin have a wonderful day together. Conservative hearing twin is suddenly have crazy fantasies about sex (repression?) and her behaviour. Inconsistent/undeveloped, and their depth is limited or forced. The boyfriends are very flat and boring. The parents are also flat.
3) Melodramatic: the story and events are not believable (this also stems with the flaws in character development). Contrived and unrealistic.

I read the book because of the Deaf character. The author really wants to educate the reader on Deaf culture, but there are better books to read if that's your goal. ( )

Monica Bowman is the “…Architect of [her] Soul,” or so claims the self-help book that she and her boyfriend Joe wrote. Actually, if you want to get technical about it, Joe penned most of the book himself, but since he already had a career, he pushed Monica into claiming it as her own. She promotes the book through flashy motivational workshops in hotels up and down the east coast, complete with disco balls, confetti, and “Celebrate Good Times” blaring through the meeting rooms. And so Monica spends her days preaching rebirth, renewal, and reinvention as the solution to people’s unhappiness, all the while carrying a bottle of tranquilizers around in her pocket, just in case.

Even though she knows that her book and workshops are really helping people, Monica feels like a failure and longs to take her book's advice for herself and change her life. But with pressure bearing down on her from Joe, the enterprise backing her book and tours, and even from her well-meaning but overbearing parents, Monica finds herself immobilized by anxiety and unhappiness.

Lacey Gears is Deaf, with a capital “D.” Not to be confused with the hearing world’s “deaf,” which is not capitalized and often also referred to by hearing folks as “hearing impaired,” a label that Lacey vigorously rejects. You see, being Deaf, with a capital “D” means you are part of a huge community, an entire network comprised of both non-hearing individuals as well as hearing individuals who also speak ASL. To Lacey, Deaf with a capital “D” is her family. The only family she has ever known.

Making a living painting portraits of people and their pets, and preparing for an important art exhibition with her studio-mate Mike, Lacey is happy with the life she has made for herself, far removed from the group home for handicapped children that she grew up in. But even though Lacey is content in her world, she finds herself unconsciously painting portraits with the same theme over and over again in her downtime with no logical reason or explanation.

Then one day Lacey receives an anonymous piece of mail that forever after changes the course of her life. It’s a simple letter, really, just four sentences long. It has no signature or return address, but contains a revelation so astonishing that it catapults Lacey into a whole new world and a whole new perception of herself:

"You have a sister. Her name is Monica. Go to Benjamin Books. Look at the poster in the window."

The remainder of My Sister’s Voice is the absorbing tale of these two women discovering each other, resurrecting the secrets of the past that ties them together, and forging a new future for themselves and those that they love. I enjoyed reading this book, and was gripped by the tale of Monica and Lacey’s past. Ms. Carter’s portrayal of the ASL-speaking world, with its fellowship and ethos was enlightening and uplifting. Even though I found myself predicting outcomes once or twice, there were enough moments of complete surprise to balance them out, and overall I found My Sister’s Voice to be a pleasurable read. I give it 4 stars! ( )