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.

I know God led me to read this book at a time that I really needed it most. It filled me with the Holy Spirit. It was an awesome book, even if Oprah liked it. This review may turn some away, which makes me sad. But, it was thought provoking and the characters were rich and insightful. I'm a better person having read it.

Beautiful story of a girl with Torettes

With all of our current knowledge of Tourettes it is fun to see a family discover it and try to tame it. The writer has a comfortable flow of word and good character development.

I'm always intrigued by stories about people with rare and odd conditions, so I was excited to read this one. I enjoyed the writing style, but some of the story is just too out there for me. Some of it felt like it was happening in her head rather than in reality - characters say and do things that seem so unrealistic. Got way religious for me at the end there. Overall, liked it but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

I felt this novel was trying to duplicate the free spirit of Scout and wisdom of Atticus captured in TKAM through Icy and Miss Emily. It tried way too hard, so the lessons came across forced and the story failed. Though I'm by no means an expert on Tourette Syndrome, I also felt the disorder was oversimplified and I hated the idea that Jesus soothed all the temptation to twitch away. The last chapter was nearly insufferable. I read it so that you don't have to - do not put yourself through that.

This is a story perfectly told. The narrative voice of Icy as a young girl vibrates with truth and honesty. She somehow manages to tell her very painful story without indulging in a moment of self pity; however, the hurt she feels at being shunned for being different is present in every breath she breathes and every word she speaks.

Being “different” wasn’t tolerated in the hills of rural Kentucky in the 1950s. This intelligent and sensitive child's bewilderment about what she was feeling--her undiagnosed “disorder” and her fear of public embarrassment by uncontrollable outbursts--was heartbreaking.

Experiencing Tourette’s Syndrome from the inside through Icy’s frank reporting of how the urges to jerk or shout obscenities bubbled up and took over her 10-year-old body was simply chilling.

I thought the story was a fascinating piece of work.

A slow beginning, a fast paced middle and a disappointing end.I'm not sure why this was on Oprah's book list (not that I picked it for that reason) - perhaps because it was loosely based on a girl with Tourette's Syndrome who had a morbidly obese friend, lived in Kentucky and found God... I have nothing against all of these separately or bunched together but it made for a bland read when it brushed by topics that could have been more interestingly explored. Again, I don't mind a loose end or two at the end but I felt like I got on the train to one destination and inexplicably ended up just south of there where I had to retrace my steps back and wonder why I took the trip in the first place. Not a waste of time per se but I don't get why the high marks on the review I'd read.

The book’s theme had so much promise! Yet, I found the characters to be shallow or rather not well developed. The author kept setting up conflict and then “resolving” with vague solutions. The ending was especially disappointing. EVERYTHING was made better by religion....ugh! That insults the science teacher in me. I usually keep books on my shelves as “good” friends to remember. This one is going to the used book store.

Onvan : Icy Sparks - Nevisande : Gwyn Hyman Rubio - ISBN : 142000205 - ISBN13 : 9780142000205 - Dar 320 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 1998

I found myself very frustrated with the book. It is hard for me to be objective about the writing since I spent most of the time being so aggrivated by the way people treated her. I only finished the book because I could reason that it was the 1950's and people did not understand the disorder.
With that being said, could it be a good book because it did affect me so much? I suppose, but on this one I am rating it based on how much I enjoyed the 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.

This is a book for anyone who has ever felt like they didn't fit in.

While I don't have Tourette's Syndrome, I have definitely felt before like I didn't fit in, and this book spoke to me. So many times as I was reading it I thought, "How does she know what's going on in my head?"

It was a raw but beautiful story that captured not only a story of a remarkable girl-turned-young-woman, but also a time and a place and a unique family. It made me think deeply about the way we treat others who are different from us, and I'd like to think it softened my heart and helped me look outside of my own experience, if nothing else by helping me realize that my own experience is more than likely one that's shared by the people around me, more than I ever knew.