What readers think of The Help, plus links to write your own review.

Since I had already read "To Kill a Mockingbird", and "The Secret Life of Bees", this book seemed like a repeat of themes of southern sociology, but with a different twist. It was entertaining, but I kept thinking I had read it before.

It is certainly a page-turner. I have to say, when it was all over I was disappointed with the way it portrayed the south in the 60's. I know there were (and still are) many who mistreat folks based on the color of their skin or religion. However, I grew up in a small southern town in the sixties. Yes, we had a "maid". However, I can say I never knew any of my friends or family to be so horribly cruel to anyone, black or white. Of course, it did happen. It just seemed sad to me that there were not more true heroines to bring forth justice..other than Skeeter.

I felt the book gave a true picture of what the maids endured during this time. My mother worked as a maid and I always felt she was not treated as a "human" because of what she did. Her employer reminded me of Hilly, it did not matter who the person was, Hilly felt she was helping because she employed the maid, not that there was a lesson to be learned from their meeting. Hilly's insensitivity is displayed today, those who have and the have-nots.

I found the book enjoyable yet shallow. I was truly disappointed at the end. The platform was set for a real dialogue about race, class and equal rights and somewhere in the middle the opportunity was missed. It was as if the writer became scared and watered the issues down as not to offend anyone. The book lost its heart and purpose. The writing was safe.

I found this book to be, basically, uninteresting. The characters, especially the white ones, were one-dimensional, the relationships not believable, the writing so so, and the plot fairly nonexistent. However, for those who have not thought much about racial inequality in the south, I suppose the book is somewhat enlightening. I agree with a previous reviewer who stated that the book reads like a Nora Roberts soap opera.

The Help was a good book. The end was slow and disappointing. Seemed rushed.

I haven't finished the book yet (for me it is not a page turner), and am trying to find a reason to keep reading it. So far the most remarkable thing I see is the inconsistencies in character, language and plot. Why, in her letters to Skeeter at college, would a woman (Constantine) who utters such illiteracies as "Is you?" and "Which one he?" use such proper grammar as the cat ran off "and I haven't seen her since"? She probably would have written "and I ain't seen her since." Also, if Constantine's father is a white man, why is Constantine, who would by definition be a mulatto, be so black? How can a baby be talking in complete sentences before she is potty trained, and how can she be trained in one day? Give me a break. I guess if I keep reading I will learn how Celia from Sugar Ditch (please!) snagged a rich man. I am a former English teacher who has read and taught some of the greatest literature in the English language, so maybe I'm being too harsh .

I'm one to read a book in 2-3 days with a full-time job and a family of 5. It took me at least 3 months to read this. I found I only finished it because I lead a book club and we are meeting today. "The Help" is probably an amazing book to those that would not "be the Help". Growing up in Tyler, TX, I just missed being that person by a few years. I was born in 1960. I remember what it was like to hide from the Klan under my 3rd grade desk because we "should be in school with white kids". And to see my mom's face as we were turned away or talked bad to. And, amazing enough, my mom was "light-skinned". My grandfather was white. So, The Help is a great book if you were hiring the Help, not if you're the Help.