If I could give it half a star I would. This book felt like it should’ve been a script, but even then it would’ve been bad. The storyline was too long and scattered. The main character was not an intriguing character. And it’s portrayal of Tourette’s seems a bit offensive.

It just felt like it was trying to do too much and in the process did nothing at all. So this was a waste.

And ya wanna know something? I don’t think Oprah really read this book at all.

Also the ending felt very out of left field and ultimately like a sermon in the end with no real build up to this point.

So this book was weird for me because I genuinely enjoyed reading it - I wasn’t bored out of my head. But I thought there’d be more discussion of the diagnosis etc and there was none whatsoever, then the epilogue is like “yeah I have Tourette’s” and goes on about the diagnosis that we never got. The end seemed surreal to me? Very out of place. My rating for this book changed every like 80 pages or so lol

For Kaska-boom: I was so frustrated by this book! I didn't really like Icy although I did feel for her and her struggle. The people who loved her but really did nothing to help her were part of my frustration. Icy's struggle with her disorder and inability or unwillingness to share what was going on inside her were a part of my frustration. The fact that no one really seemed to do anything to try to understand her was part of my frustration. The characters like Mamie Tillman and Miss Emily who I thought would figure in so importantly left me questioning why they were even in the story. And the ending!!! Oh my goodness, what a stupendous disappointment. This might be the worst Oprah book I've ever read. It's definitely the biggest disappointment.

I should have stopped reading it when I wasn't captured by page 75 (a good rule of thumb from what I've been told). I kept hoping they're was going to be a big ending that would excite me, and all the way until the last page, I was bored and annoyed that I wasted my time on it. The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is because it was interesting to see life through the lens of the main character. But as a whole, it was disappointing. From now on, I'm going to follow that rule of thumb!

I picked this book because it one of Oprah's book club selections. In the beginning of the book I found her story a bit amusing, but towards the end I just wanted to finish the book just to end it. The last few chapters were a complete drag, I found myself scanning and not reading each word just to get through the pages without throwing it across the room. Overall, I didn't like this book.

I read this while in quarantine because there was no other fiction in the house. It was PAINFUL. I kept on hoping it would get better, but it was a saccharin sweet, overblown, self consciously "literary" book that didn't even rise to the level of High Trash. (Which I define as well written fiction without a lot behind it). This was just BAD. All the cliches: the super fat Southern friend, the super smart but misunderstood main misfit character. The loving grandparents. The quirky townspeople. Ugh. Just Ugh. And to top it all off, her whole issue is "resolved" by her finding Jesus. Seriously? I skipped those passages because....deus ex machina?!?!?? Really? A must miss.

Finally finished. This felt like a painful one to get through. An extremely weak plot with no real progress. It took me over 24 hrs to finish the last 10 pages. Overall, it took a turn for the worst in the last 6-7 chapters. I am glad this one is done so I can move on to something better.

It could have been better. The build up of characters and plot was going well at the beginning. It started to decline and get all muddled up when Icy was at the institution. The characters, events, and relationships became so weak and confusing. There was no clear explanation as to what finally made them decide to send Icy home, no clear diagnosis or even a prognosis of what Icy had, and there was no resolution to Wilma's case. (The revelation of the Tourette Syndrome came at the epilogue.) The last part became even worse, with the idea of religion too injected that it was like bringing all its readers into some fanatic devotion meeting of some sort.

I wonder what happened to the author?! It could have been a good story. She had good characters to work on, her writing style was potential, with natural humor ... but something seemed to have gone amiss along the way. Could she have been in a hurry to wrap up the book and turn it in to the publisher without giving it a second read? Or did she get bored with Icy that she wanted to just end it and start a new writing project?

Can anybody tell me how this book got Oprah Book Club label?

Almost a five star, I would say. What is it about southern writers? And why do I love to read books that have poverty stricken, Appalachian settings? I don't know, but this one has an interesting slant, as it focuses on a girl with Tourette's Syndrome, that does not get diagnosed until she is grown. Throw that on top of poverty, and you get, well...you'll see.

I'm so close to the end, but I can't finish it. I literally have only 11 pages left, but I cannot and will not open the book again.

You know, it's sort of sad. I was really enjoying the book up until 20 pages ago.

This is the story of Icy Sparks, a girl in rural Kentucky who is afflicted with diagnosed Tourette's Syndrome. The story is interesting and sad and I was attached to the characters.

Until they decided to go all Jesus freak.

I'm not opposed to reading Christian literature. Sometimes I even like it. But for the last 30 pages to all of the sudden be spouting fundamental Christianity? I'll pass.

Overall, I was disappointed. While most of Oprah's book club books are depressing in some way, I still usually like them. That's probably why I kept going until the end, even though the story felt slow at times.

Icy Sparks suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, though she doesn't know it, and the people in her small town just figure she's crazy. Part of the time I believed Icy was a 10 year old girl with some issues. Other times I questioned whether a 10 year old girl really would think that deeply about flowers and her surrounding landscape.

The writing is okay, though a number of times I had unanswered questions, and some loose ends muddled up the story. Yet I was ready to go for 2.5 stars, until the last part of the book. Icy  finds religion, gains a purpose, and suddenly things are better. The sudden influx of heavy religion surprised me, for it felt out of place.  So, I didn't like the ending.

Icy was nervous about starting 4th grade. She'd been a good student all through those first few years, but she'd heard scary stuff at the 4th grade teacher, and she wondered how she could manage the outbursts that took her down to the basement on a regular basis. More and more, it seemed, she just had to get to a place all by herself and croak and tic and pop her eyes. Once she took care of those things, she could be "normal." If she didn't, well....it could prove embarrassing.
4th grade doesn't work out so well. The teacher is mean, the kids make fun of her, and her outbursts get more and more obvious, more and more overwhelming.
She spends time in a mental hospital and, on her return, isolates herself from the world.
The story of this journey is the basis for Icy Sparks; however, it's also the story of living simply in the mountains, with only a few people, all of whom have their own burdens. It's the story of love and grief, the story of trying to be good and right.
Toward the end, there is the most beautiful and sensitive explanation of faith I have ever read.
Good book.