The Full Cleveland: A Novel

by Terry Reed

The growing daughter of a father who is unable to ignore nagging doubts about their seemingly idyllic world accompanies him into inner-city Cleveland, compares her perceptions of success with the harsh realities of the everyday working poor, and considers the moral dichotomy of having material comforts in an unbalanced world. A first novel. 35,000 first printing.

Genres: Adult Fiction, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2005

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Memories are like water, one flows into the other; so there were more of them, oceans of them. They would well up and go back, not always reaching the whole way, like incoming waves not always catching dry sand. The problem with this type of memories,though, they flood you up inside. You get so full of them, you almost drown." -- pg 228.

Thus speaks the narrator of this tale, a quirky, well-written first novel by a young author ostensibly fresh from an MFA program. I really enjoyed this book, I love the voice- here is the story of a young girl (Boyce) who takes us from her adolescence all the way to young adulthood, and the quirkiness of voice just... captured me.

Boyce is a unique character, the way she describes the 'bad'(poor) girl she be-friends at school, to the creepy twin sisters/roommates she bunks with at the boarding school she is sent to (for getting caught kissing a neighbor boy) who repeatedly bash their heads against their headboards in order to pass out/get to sleep at night.

This is a hidden gem of a novel-- a must read.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not warm up to this story.

[fleegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a novel. I thought it was going to be chicklit because of the cover art which featured quirky panted legs and shoes. Maybe it was chicklit but it wasn't what I would consider chicklit. It was a coming of age story that blah blah blah. I hate when they say "coming of age story". It's about a girl in a big, rich catholic family and then they go broke at the end. But also, while reading the book I was thinking that the family wasn't really as rich as they seemed to be, so it wasn't that hard to guess what was going to happen, and even when it does happen the girl doesn't act weird about it either.

It was okay. Had some really great sentences. But also? no. It wasn't that good. What I mean is, it wasn't written clearly. If I had turned that book in to one of my high school teachers or college professors they would have said, "Hey, this is a GREAT first draft. Just clarify these 900 parts for me, m'kay?"

I couldn't tell when the book was supposed to be taking place...late '60s...no, wait, mid-'70s? '80s? Also, I hate not knowing what the main character looks like. I mean, yes, she mentioned she had a crew cut...but that's for only a bit of the book and would it kill you to tell me what these people look like?! Everything was so vague and annoyingly so.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, sad, vibrant coming of age story, about family, and family fortunes, and finding your way. I'm glad I've been leaving this book on the shelf during my library sweeps! Somebody ought to read it.

I can find things to complain about, of course. There are a few too many precocious teen observations. In fact, way too many, most of them hung on one teen "genius" character. But the author works them in as some kind of rite-of-passage for her narrator, which is interesting. I can also see how the chronology would throw people off. The story follows this girl from 8 to about 16, I think. And sometimes a break in the story means several years have passed, but in a few cases, that break means only several hours have passed. So we go fast and slow, fast and slow. But that's teling in a way, isn't it? Some days will age you faster than the average year can.

[Zellysgrrl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An original voice, quirky and humorous and very distinctive. I enjoyed reading this book, and think it's a good first novel -- would really like to see more of this writer's later work (if you're there, Ms. Reed, I hope you're writing!)

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rich family who never knew they were rich. This story has some real big holes in it and the quirkiness of it just ends up feeling misplaced.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of this book was good. Most of this book was a rambling mess. I appreciate the idea - the 'coming-of-age' story, but I found myself so often bored with this girl's nonsence.

[Irma Servatius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really identified with the main character, though in the end, it was just an easy-to-read lovely coming-of-age book that makes you smile.