What do readers think of The Children by Ann Leary? Write your own review.

I struggled with this book. It started out with great potential. I loved the part in Chapter 1 where the grandmother says she is going to go upstairs to die. Her grandson says "Gran, not die. You mean lie, not die." Then it continues "But Trudy had meant die. She walked up the back stairs to her bedroom. …Then she folded back the quilt on the bed, pressed herself against the cool sheets, and died." That got my attention.

And I liked the guy that was breaking into homes. He was called Mr. Clean because he didn't steal anything but always left the homes cleaner when he left – doing the laundry, washing the dishes, etc.

But the book overall was pretty lackluster for me. I could not get into any of the characters. I like to care about the people I am investing so much time with, but that did not happen here. The family definitely has its quirks, but even those did not really draw me in. Not the book for me.

This is sad, this book in the beginning had potential, but halfway it just goes on and on with nothing to do with the story. It was like the writer needed to fill up pages.