Link for The Story of Beautiful Girl, Kindle edition

A Review of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

In reading Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, I was struck by several things. This book began clearly, as a whodunit, and ended as a descent into madness, for virtually all of the characters. It was uneven for this reason and didn't appear to ever get into a smooth rhythm. It was also a book of pure hate, not the least of which is a long series of characters (not all of them men) who are both obvious and subtle misogynists. The two main characters, Nick and Amy, married five years, are about to celebrate their fifth anniversary when Amy disappears. It seems, for this first part of the book, that Nick may have had something to do with it. However, at about 1/3 of the way through, we begin to see who Amy really is, and who Nick really is as well. These two are the most self-aggrandizing, vitriolic, hate-spewing people on the planet. Amy is ridiculous. Nobody, including her child-psychologist parents, seems to have any idea that she displays clear signs of sociopathy. People seem to "hurt themselves" around her all the time, but they just want to be her or be loved by her, or so Amy says, and her parents buy it every time. They are the few characters who aren't painted as hating women, but they certainly seem to care less for their child than the books they write about her life and make a living from. Aside from this, both Amy and Nick seem to think all women are either smart, but nasty bitches or just flat-out dumb. There was some clear indication that the author, a Midwesterner, seems to find the stereotype about New Yorkers thinking Midwesterners are dumb rubes to be true. I didn't care much for this story. It was too frustrating to read about innocent characters getting framed or hurt over and over, and the ending was absurd. I did think the concept was interesting, but the execution was unpleasant and not at all fun to read. I would not recommend this book.

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A Review of Sister by Rosamund Lupton

The novel Sister is a mystery with many twists and turns that keep the reader guessing what the truth actually is from page to page. The story takes place in London, where Beatrice, called Bee, is searching for her missing pregnant sister, Tess. Tess is a flighty, artist type, and at first everyone believes she is off somewhere, but eventually a more sinister and dark story emerges. The police find Tess's body in an abandoned lavatory and rule her death a suicide. Athough Bee insists that her sisteer would not commit suicide, that she must have been murdered, the police tell her there is nothing else they can do. The author has constructed a very interesting tale which is hard to pin downs from one moment to the next. What is most fascinating here is Bee, who completely transforms throughout the story. At the beginning, Bee is living in Manhattan with her fiancée, Todd. Right from the start, we feel that Bee is not in the relationship she should be in, that she is constrained mostly by her own doing, from love and passion and excitement. Bee admits that she is lousy at her relationships with her family back in England; her parents divorced when she was young, after the death of Tess and Bee's brother from Cystic Fibrosis. Bee has become closed off from emotion, but her relationship with Tess is a strong one. Bee comes to realize that she is a lousy sister, daughter, fiancée and friend, but she changes. While this story is a tale of suspense, it also a study of love and family relationships, how we relate to others and how grief and sadness shape who we become and how we interact with the world. Sister has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout the entire story which is what makes it such a good read. I would recommend this story to all readers.

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A Review of Wonder by RJ Palacio

The YA novel Wonder, by RJ Palacio, is the story of August Pullman, an 11 year old boy who happens to have been born with a confluence of genetic abnormalities that result in his facial features being severely under- and incorrectly formed. Auggie is otherwise a normal child, he is not developmentally delayed; in fact, he's particularly intelligent and able to understand completely why other children run away screaming when he comes around. Auggie has been homeschooled his whole life until his parents decide to put him in an exclusive New York City prep- right into Middle school. As if life weren't difficult enough, he has to start at an age when school is the toughest socially. His father first argues against this, saying Auggie is like a "lamb to the slaughter", a phrase which Auggie looks up and fortuitously applies to his current situation. Auggie does go to school and makes friends. Summer and Jack Will are two children Auggie becomes closest to in the school and he falls in and out with them throughout the story. Most interestingly, the story is told from multiple viewpoints, all of them children, none of them the adults who appear regularly. The adults are not portrayed as impotent, clueless or overly-enthusiastic, which is refreshing. They are portrayed as caring and interested, for the most part. The change in perspectives gives the reader a real sense of how Auggie views himself, but also how others view him; it's not all pity, as the reader- and Auggie himself- might assume. Both Jack Will and Summer have their turn, again fortuitously, as they become central to the story and move back out again. Also, Via, Auggie's older, high school aged sister, has an opportunity to share. This is one of the more interesting views, as Via- who has always been Auggie's champion- begins high school and must struggle with changes of her own. Via's boyfriend Justin and her friend Miranda have their stories to tell as well. We see how difficult the lives of these other children are- Jack, Summer, Miranda and Justin, and we can understand that although Auggie may be unusual on the outside, he has a terrific home life- something that not everyone else has. The author did a fine job of not writing Auggie as someone to be pitied. In fact, it seemed that both Miranda and Justin were more pitiful as it were- families who seemed uninterested in them as people and who were never around. This book was trying to give several messages, and while they were clear, the author never clobbered the reader over the head with them. I also enjoyed Mr. Browne's precepts (a concept taught to his students; each month a famous precept was introduced and discussed). Mr. Browne encouraged his students to live by these ideals and to understand the meaning behind them. He also asked his students to write one of their own and mail it to him over the summer. These are included at the end of the book and give a nice closing to the story. In all, I found this book to be an uplifting read, one that teaches lessons, to be sure, but also one that makes the reader feel good. I would recommend this book to all readers.

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A Review of The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers is a sweeping historical novel set in ancient Judea during the time of the Roman siege on the mountain Masada. The story is told from the perspective of four women who have escaped the Roman soldiers in their hometowns and have come to the Jewish settlement at Masada for refuge. Each of these women, some related to one another, all holding secrets that intertwine them in each other's lives, is a strong feminine force. They are tough ladies, reflecting the times and the role of women, Jewish women especially, in those times. The book is beautifully, if hauntingly written. The character's lives are gripping and shocking; themes of love, abandonment, loss, child death, war, rape and murder. Despite this, I was not as drawn in to the book as I had hoped or expected to be. It was an enjoyable read, but at times a bit boring. Although each of these characters is a Jew, and therefore destined to be annihilated by the advancing Roman army, bent on ridding the world of Jews, they seemed particularly steeped in mysticism and magic, probably a very accurate rendering of certain sects of Jews living in that place and time. This book is not religious in nature, but there were many references to angels and praying, prayers and Adonai (Hebrew for God). It still seemed removed from religion, per se, and focused more on the culture of the time. Women were certainly not respected or given many rights. These women seem to triumph over their lack of rights as much as they can, and try their best to stand for and love each other, even when they are messing things up. I would recommend this book, as I thought it a worthwhile read.

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A review of Defending Jacob by William Landay

Is it possible to inherit violence through your family genes? That is the central question in the novel Defending Jacob. Jacob Barber, age 14, is accused of the heinous murder of a classmate, Ben Rifkin. The story is narrated by Jacob's father Andy, an assistant DA in Newton, MA. Andy and Laurie, Jacob's parents, are in the beginning convinced of Jacob's innocence. As the story unfolds, information is revealed, both about Andy's bloody family history and Jacob's early childhood, that suggest he may not be innocent of this crime. The story is told in parts, running through a transcript of a Grand Jury proceeding taking place well after Jacob's trial for murder. Information is parceled out piece by piece in this way, as well as through the general storytelling of the plot. In the beginning, in fact up to half way through the book, I was struck by several aspects of Mr. Landay's writing. First, it is apparent that the author is himself a lawyer. He overexplains the process of the law over and over to the point where I was skimming sections just to get past the boring explanations. They were unnecessary. Another drawback to this novel is that the reader is hard pressed to find one likable character. Andy Barber is a head-in-the-sand kind of guy. He is so busy ignoring his low origins that he fails to notice either his wife or his son in a real way. He has no idea who they are. I didn't care for Jacob, although a character with as many issues as he has is obviously not going to be likable. I should have been able to like Laurie, however, or at least some of the secondary characters. There wasn't one in the bunch I enjoyed. In fact, it appeared that the author went out of his way to make them unlikable, especially in the case of Neil Loguidice (and yes, it was difficult to pronounce this name, which the reader had to read over and over as Mr. Loguidice is a main character) the next Assistant DA and the one who prosecutes Jacob. There were several other things I strongly disliked about this novel. It was only in the last 1/4 of the book that it got interesting. You would think a court case about murder would be more exciting, but it truly was not. The author did a poor job of writing the dialogue, especially in the first half of the book. It was very awkward and clunky. I had to reread sections to try and capture a flow in the wording, and it just wasn't there. Not enjoying the writing or the story makes it very difficult for me to want to finish a book. I kept on because I assumed there would be some payout at the end. There was (I won't give anything away here), but I didn't quite feel it was worth so much reading that isn't fun. I would not recommend this book, as I didn't enjoy it much.

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The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg

The Art of Mending is a story of family relationships. Told from Laura's point of view, it details the unraveling of a family that wasn't particularly tight knit to begin with. Laura is 50ish and the oldest of three children. Steven and Caroline are her younger siblings. One day Caroline, who has always been "difficult", calls up Laura right before a family reunion of sorts, and alleges terrible things about their mother, things that Laura at first doesn't believe can be true.
As the story unfolds, Laura begins to reexamine her family's past and her own childhood. She realizes that things were not as happy as she thought they were and that on some level, she had known about what was going on. Nothing was ever acknowledged by any of the members of this family, including their father, who is almost a non-entity in this story. His role is one of overlooking all things, especially when it came to his wife.
Throughout this story, which was relatively quick and easy to read, I was struck by how unlikable the characters are. Even Laura, as our main character, seems to want to hide in her quilting room (she's a professional quilter) all the time and not deal with anything that happens. This includes Caroline as the injured party. She's portrayed as whiny and difficult (although after years of emotional abuse, who wouldn't be?), and Steve, the youngest sibling, is much like Laura, just wanting to get back to his own easy life, not caring much about anything other than himself.
I enjoyed very much the author's descriptions of quilting, which is something I know nothing about. I enjoy learning about something I have no experience with, and this fit the bill. It was also an interesting metaphor for a family rent apart, then attempting to stitch itself back together, even so many years later.
I found the writing to be very good, especially since such a topic can inspire some authors to extreme wordiness. This was not the case here. The writing was judicious and inspired sympathy without being overly saccharine or emotional.
I would recommend this book to all readers.

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Darkfever, the first in Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series

Since I am quite obsessed with Urban Fantasy, I thought I'd post a link to the first of the MacKayla Lane series (Fever Series) by Karen Marie Moning. I have many favorites amongst this genre, but this series rocked my world.

A Comment on Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Series

I posted below the link to the newest Anita Blake book, #21 in the series. Just to clarify, I absolutely adored this series for about the first 9 or 10 books. Then it got bad. I loved it enough to keep reading them, always hoping for better. It just gets weirder and weirder, and unfortunately, not in a good way. But I still hope....so maybe this next one will be good. Or not.

A New Anita Blake Book, #23

50 Shades of Grey

As in my previous post, a warning about this book. It does contain explicit sexual content, not necessarily any more explicit than many so-called "romance" novels (or some of my other book suggestions on this blog), but this content is of a particular sort: Bondage and Domination.
Anastasia Steele is an almost-college-graduate who is pressed into last minute service by her roommate, Kate, to interview Christian Grey, a young billionaire, for the college paper. When Anastasia meets Christian, they have an instant attraction and a romance of sorts ensues.
Unfortunately, Christian is damaged goods. He is only interested in a Dom-Sub relationship with Ana, and wants to control her in all ways within the confines of their contractual agreement (yes, he actually draws up a non-legally-binding contract to set out all of the limits and rules). Ana tries to create more of a relationship with him, and Christian comes to realize that while he is falling for her, she doesn't make a good Sub, except of course in the bedroom.
This book doesn't skirt around things or suggest as much as many books of this ilk do. Everything is plain and simple. And whoa, is it hot. The sex scenes (there are many, many of those) are well-explained, and the author refreshingly does not use many euphemisms for body parts (I am really tired of reading the word "core" for a woman's intimate anatomy).
I enjoyed the origins of the relationship between Ana and Christian, and they do seem to be very hot together.
I have a few issues here, however. One of my first thoughts about this book is how similar the characters are to Edward Cullen and Bella Swan from Twilight. Odd, I know, but there are plenty of parallells. Christian has "bronze" hair (whose hair is bronze??), he is extremely rich, tries to prevent Ana from being with him because he's "a bad guy", buys her many gifts, a car included, and is obscenely rich and young. Where Edward wanted to protect Bella's virtue is where Christian departs from the similarities. However, Ana is a virgin, like Bella, she has no idea that she's good looking, doesn't think Christian could like her because he's a "god" and she's just a plain girl, she doesn't like receiving gifts and gets mad when Christian buys her things. Also, Ana's mom is much like Bella's, on her 4th husband, and Ana went to live with her stepfather when her mom married "Husband #3" because they didn't get along. Ray, her stepfather, is quite similar to Charlie Swan, Bella's father. The list goes on. The stories themselves are not similar, but the characters are much alike in their demeanors and backgrounds.
All that being said, I did enjoy this book very much. I don't think it necessarily needs to be analyzed, as it is not intended as fine liturature, but it is extremely entertaining and very hot.
The bondage scenes are relatively mild, gaining intensity throughout the story, as Ana and Christian's relationship progresses, but they never get too out there or too odd for the average reader (at least in my opinion). Some may not agree, I suppose, so I would recommend this book, with caution for any that might possibly be offended by the content.

Coming Soon* Warning! Explicit Content!

In Death series Nora Roberts

In case anyone is interested in this series as well (see blog post on The Search below), this is the first book.

The Search by Nora Roberts

When reviewing books, I normally choose what I would describe as literature; more literary type books and authors. That being said, I have mentioned here before that while I enjoy literature, I REALLY enjoy the more commonly read types of fiction. Most especially, I like mystery and fantasy novels. I am not a fan of the romance novel, per se. Although I do enjoy a little romance mixed in with a story about something else, especially if it has a bit of an edge.
I only began reading Nora Roberts about a year ago. She does write many romance novels, but she has quite a few novels that have that edge I so enjoy. I am a big fan of her In Death series, written under the nom de plume of JD Robb.
One of the things I liked best about The Search was that although it was about a woman stalked by a serial killer, and there was a romance aspect, there was the opportunity to be exposed to something else. That something was dog training. I am always interested in learning about something new, especially if I have no experience with it at all. Dogs play a big part as characters in this story, as the main character, Fiona, is an expert dog trainer, with three of her own dogs that are expert Search and Rescue dogs. There were several short subplots on this topic, which was fun, interesting and different.
Another aspect of Nora Roberts' writing that I really enjoy is how she writes her romantic lead men. In The Search, Simon plays the foil to Fiona. He is cranky, unsociable and generally difficult to like. He doesn't say anything that he doesn't mean, which is refreshing in a character, as his whole personality is refreshing for a romantic lead man. Ms. Roberts does not write wilting flower females, either. Her ladies are tough (see Eve Dallas from the In Death books for more!) but their characters are very well created, and the author takes the time to build the backstory for Fiona, the only survivor of the Red Scarf Killer and the one who eventually helped to put him in prison.
The build up of tension in this novel is excellent. The author again takes her time to get us there, and the middle parts are very enjoyable, switching between Search and Rescue activities as well as romantic interludes between the main characters, spiced with a little sex along the way.
I would recommend this book to all readers. It is a fun and easy read, with lots of well-researched information for those interested in dogs as more than pets.

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