 "she liked it!" | 2008-09-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A275O239FGTMKG |
| bought this book for girlfrind, she has a sizeable collection of danielle steel, an her comment when finish reading it was "that lady speaks from the heart" .she being one who knows her danielle steel,an commenting on them to me, this was one of her better recommendations. Enjoy! |
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 "What a Tragic Story" | 2008-06-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3P6I2M6TAUY2G |
| This really is the greatest nonfiction story I ever read with such a tragic ending. His life was so troubled, but it is truly inspiring. It makes you look inside yourself and those you love, and realize that there are some things we can not change. Those things that we can change, however, are often overlooked when the cries for help are accidentally ignored. This happened to Nick Traina. I do agree with other users that it seems that his mother, although full of love, does feel a lot of guilt. No one could have told his story better than himself, of course, but it seems unlikely that anyone else knew him better than his mother. Very touching, and I am happy that his legacy continues to inspire and live on. R.I.P. Nick. |
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 "Let's Take a Look at the Whole , Big Picture!" | 2008-04-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A9HM0AZYWIBM3 |
I give five stars plus to Nick's soul and one star, at best, to the book itself. By Ms Steel's own admission throughout the book, she recognized Nick had problems from a very young age. Perhaps if the author had spent more time doling out love and attention to her young child, and less time pumping out volumes of romantic fiction with a vain desire to increase her wealth, this book would never have been written. Money does not buy happiness; a son's smile does.
The book is sad and heartbreaking, but so was Nick's life. In my opinion, the book came across as a vain attempt by the author to relieve her own guilt, as opposed to a tribute to her troubled son. Much of our adult life and who we become is formed within the first six years following birth. It is too easy for society to simply "blame the drugs" for many of today's wrongs. If a child, from a very young age, is nutured, loved, disciplined in a fair and loving manner, instilled with self-worth and self-esteem, the chances of that child turning to negative solutions to find happiness or whatever is missing in his/her life is greatly diminished.
The book comes across as if the author is suffering from a "poor me" symdrome. Of course, she has a right to grieve, she lost a son, but what were the contributing factors? What was missing from Nick's life? The only one who truly knows the answers is Nick and, unfortately, he is not here to tell us or write his side of the story. Ms Steele will have the opportunity to continue on with her life, turn out best-selling novels faster than bees produce honey and make millions of dollars in the process. Unfortunately, Nick will not have that same opportunity. |
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| "Heartbreaking" | 2008-01-08 |
| - Reviewed By ishka12 |
| This was my first Danielle Steel book. I am not a lover of fiction, so that is one reason that this was my first experience with Danielle Steel. I enjoyed this book. It was slow in spots, and a bit difficult to follow, but overall a good story. I wish that every person that suffered from mental illness had the ability to have the funding to live a more independent life. As an individual that has had a career working with children and adults with mental illness, I hope that this story will help try to find more resources for individuals with bipolar disorder. |
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 "Poignant" | 2007-12-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1N276H9CT597T |
| I was a hard-core DS fan of 20+ years, but grew ever so weary of her redundant, simplistic drival a decade or so ago. At the library recently I decided to give one of her newer books another go-round and found it to be another very trite, hum-drum book. I was curious to see if had been so negatively reviewed by Amazon's readers and came across "HIS BRIGHT LIGHT". I had never known of this tragedy and was immediately compelled to purchase the book. It immediately gave me some insight as to possibly why her writing had gone downhill, (IMHO of course). I found the book to be tremendously sad. Just in looking at the cover of that smiling, handsome young man will do that to you. It is not meant to be a self-help book, so I don't understand why some reviewers are finding fault with it in that regard. It is simply her and her beloved son's journey together through his short life. She intuitively is aware that something isn't right about Nick and this is with her from the time of his infancy. She did everything she knew to do and perhaps this comes across as her appearing guilt-ridden, but as she explains even with all her "resources" help came far too late. I admire the writer, I respect and applaud her bravery in writing this book. And I pray that her beloved Nick is finally at peace. Could I critique the book more harshly? Yes, but this book deserves to be read irregardless. There is a lot to be learned from it,especially those who struggle or those who may have loved ones affected by mental disorders. |
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| "A must read for every woman" | 2007-10-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: A22QQ6E86195OU |
| Bought this as a gift for my mom and had to read it for myself after she raved so much about it. I enjoy all of those real stories that are written well. |
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| "i am the mother of a musically talented son with severe bipolar 1" | 2007-09-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3R2H376QKGC2A |
| I am so frightened that this disease will take my son's life. Ever since his undetermined coma on xmas 2003, he was discharged with only me knowing there was something not quite right. He was diagnosed 3 years later, after 3 years of neurologists, radiologists, nutrienists, etc. No one in the medical field ever suggested a psychiatrist, not until started with hallucenations, auditory and visual. The medications stop working and he needs to get hospitalized. He is a talented song writer and guitarist. I am constantly worried. Unfortunatley the rest of the family have no understanding or knowledge of how sick he really is. I cried for the family of Nick, and for Nick, to be taken so soon when he was just beginning his life. Bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses affect more people than is realized. I've done so much research and read whatever I can from other families so I can help my son and help myself understand his disease. God Bless anyone who has to deal with this themselves. I found a support group for families of people with mental illness so I know I'm not alone in this. |
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| "Sharing in his light" | 2007-09-04 |
| - Reviewed By lfarner3 |
| This book was very enlightening. I'm not a regular reader of Danielle Steel, however I've always admired her writing. This book though caught my attention because of the subject matter. I was grateful to Ms. Steel for opening up such a personal aspect of her life to the public. I hope writing it helped in her healing as well. This book really shows from a young age (infant) just how strong a mother's intuition is and some, what I believe from my experience as well, what can truly be some tell-tale signs of mental illness. I would definitely recommend this book, especially for anyone who suffers from bi-polar disorder, or knows someone with the same. |
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 "Parts not completely true..." | 2007-05-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: AS331DIY4BINH |
| I don't think it was fair for Danielle to blame a lot of Nick's problems on his former bandmates (friends of mine as well) of the band Link 80. I understand that writing this book was her way of grieving with her loss, but at the same time there are a lot of parts to this book that was just not true. She even pointed out that Nick had had many problems and considered thoughts of suicide as early as 13. Singing for Link 80 was his way of escaping depression more than anything else, it certainly was not one of the reasons for his plan for suicide. However, I still think Danielle is a good writer. Personally, I don't read any of her books, it's just not my style, but good writer nonetheless. |
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| "Sad..." | 2007-04-10 |
| - Reviewed By elson75 |
This is a book that will make you wonder how great a love of a mother can be. But I kept wondering as I read the book, if the mother of Nick is not Danielle Steel, someone who have so much resources and money, what will become of him? I kept imagine how much money she had spent to keep him going.
The love she has for him is really great.
I must say after reading so much autobiography, this is one of the few that come out worthy to spend the money and time. |
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