drama

Review: The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

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Way back when, I read several of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware stories. And I loved them. Still, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this one. I was not disappointed.

Grace Blades had about as hard of a childhood as one can have and live to tell the tale. Unwanted from the beginning, and pretty much unloved all along, she was left to fend for herself while her mom and dad partied away. Then the unthinkable happens when her mom and dad die. But in a way, this is her salvation. This is her opportunity to escape the life she’s had and maybe have a shot at a better one.

As she weaves her way through the foster care system, she encounters a different kind of nightmare. She survives, though, and comes out stronger than anyone could ever have predicted. A loner by choice, she’s a highly successful psychologist treating people who’ve experienced traumatic events.

She also harbors a naughty little secret side that nobody would ever guess exists. And it’s this naughty side that brings her in contact with someone from her childhood that she’d rather forget. And then he’s murdered. Being the strong person she is, of course she can’t just sit by and wait for the police to solve the crime.

This is a great thriller. There’s a nice little shoutout to Alex Delaware in the plot that will please fans of his series. Grace is a great leading character, even though she’s far from perfect. My only complaint is that the ending of the story was a bit too wordy and drawn-out. Not enough to to keep me from recommending it, though!

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  The Murderer’s Daughter

Review: Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher 

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I loved Rosamunde Pilcher’s Shell Seekers so much that I wanted another Pilcher novel ASAP. So I put Winter Solstice on my TBR list, and here we are. 

Winter Solstice has the same depth and character development and saga feel as Shell Seekers, but it’s a little more lighthearted, fun and romantic. 

Pilcher speaks my language when she writes parallel relationships and symmetrical settings. I liked comparing Carrie to her cousin Elfrida, or Lucy to her Aunt Carrie. The men who enter their lives aren’t necessarily similar, but they all share a tender heart for the right woman. Carrie, Lucy and Elfrida treasure their independence, but appreciate being cared for and treasured as well. 

Death, divorce, and family secrets move this plot along. Property changes hands, mothers shirk their duties, love is lost in a variety of ways. But rising above the bleak Scotland winter as well as the winter season of life are the warm hearts and hands of three generations celebrating love. 

-calliope 

Buy Winter Solstice

Review: Sugar Scars by Travis Norwood

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Before your eyes glaze over at the word “apocalyptic” just wait.  It’s good. Really.  Yes, I know the genre has been way overdone the last several years. And I myself have strategically avoided many books described as such because I was just that burnt out on end of the world stories.  But this one caught my attention.

A virus has wiped out most of the population.  Only a handful (relatively speaking) of survivors remain, trying to forge their way in a new world.  But there’s no scavenging to be had in this story.  You see, humankind was wiped out so quickly that unlimited resources remain for the survivors.  Grocery stores are fully stocked, gas tanks are full, houses and cars are available for the taking.  But there’s one thing that isn’t as easy to come by…

“Sugar” is nineteen, without family, and a loner at heart.  So a world without people suits her just fine.  As a diabetic, however, a world without the insulin she needs to survive is a death sentence.  There’s enough for the immediate future, but what about after that?  So she sets out on a journey to save herself.  And she’ll need the help of others along the way.

Parts of this story, heck most of this story, were so unbelievable.  But isn’t that what fiction is?  If I’m being completely honest, the main character wasn’t even particularly likable due to her lack of emotion.  For some reason, though, I kept reading.  And at the end of the book I realized that it really was a pretty good story.

So go ahead, suspend your disbelief and your sense of rationality for the duration of this story.  It’s just different enough to be enjoyable.

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  Sugar Scars

Review: How Many Letters Are In Goodbye? by Yvonne Cassidy

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9780738747453I love stories told in alternate writing styles. When you read as much and for as many years as I have, you gotta mix things up from time to time! Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it does. In this case, it’s a bit of the first but much of the latter.

Rhea’s had a rough life by anyone’s standards. Her mom dies before she can hardly remember her, a tragic accident causes the loss of her arm, her dad drinks too much, she’s struggling with her sexual identity…the list goes on and on. When her dad dies and she’s sent to live with an aunt she hardly knows, it’s just too much. So she runs away, fleeing to New York City? Why New York? Because that’s where she feels closest to her mother, where she can immerse herself in her mom’s past as she tries to come to grips with her loss.

She copes by writing letters to her mom. Letters that she’ll never send, of course. Letters that she’s been writing since she was a little girl, way before her life went so far off course. She writes about her grief over her dad’s death. She writes about her confusion and pain over being gay. She writes about living on the streets and all that encompasses. And as she digs deeper into her mom’s past, she writes about buried secrets from long ago.

This is how the story is told. Each chapter is a letter in itself. It works for the most part. The story is easy to follow, and the narrative of Rhea’s letters are plausible and heart-tugging at the same time. The only fault I can find is that, towards the end, they seem to be a bit long-winded and drawn out more than is necessary. But still, a great story!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: How Many Letters Are In Goodbye?

Review: The Secret History by Donna Tart

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29044I really liked this story. This is a story of 6 friends. It is the telling of the events that lead up to the death of one of the friends, the death itself, and the aftermath of that death. There are layers and layers of nice, dark, deep, pathological juicy bits to go though. So much to keep you up late at night to think about. You’ll be thinking about this book all the time you read it…but you won’t stop thinking about it during the times you have to set it aside for the *real* world.

But let me be honest here….as much as I loved the story, and no matter how much I enjoyed these very…errr…unusual characters, I just don’t care for Ms. Tartt’s writing style. It’s tough for me. I absolutely loved “The Goldfinch”. Much more than I liked this one. However, I felt the exact same. I love books that go into great detail. I loved longer books. But having said that, the details I think Ms. Tartt goes into just aren’t the ones I need to know. I find bits of her stories very very very VERY repetitive. The bits I want more details to, I think she just skims over them or gives us just the barest of bit of knowledge she can to get on to the boring bits. I find myself just tapping tapping tapping my feet, waiting for her to get all those nonsense words out of her mouth and get back to the really relevant bits.

So many of these characters are so fascinating (or were to me). I can almost forgive the bits I felt dragged on for way long…almost….but not quite…

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

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What can I say about Ruta Sepetys other than she’s amazing?  She has this amazing ability to take a piece of history and weave a complex, compelling piece of fiction around it.  Her latest masterpiece is no exception.

The year is 1945, the place is Prussia.  The war is winding down, but the horrors of it are not.  As thousands of refugees attempt to make their way to safety, we are introduced to several of them.  They each have a story to tell, and secrets to keep.  Their paths converge as one in an attempt to survive.

There’s Joana, a selfless nurse whose only goal is to save people.  There’s young Emilia, harboring a secret far beyond what we are led to believe. And Florian, the knight in shining armor who saves her.  And Alfred Frick…what can I say about him?  He’s shady and secretive and more than a bit unstable.  Is he really going to help save the others from sure death?

Time and again, tragedy strikes in one form or another.  Until finally, towards the very end, the biggest tragedy of all befalls Joana and Emilia and Florian and the others.  And yes, even Alfred Frick.  Some will survive, some will not.

Yet again, historical fiction written by a gifted author has given me new knowledge while telling an outstandingly brilliant story.  The tragedy of the Wilhelm Gustloff  was a real thing, while the tragedy of our characters was not.  But the author makes us feel as if the entire story truly happened.  And that’s exactly what exceptional books do…

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  Salt to the Sea

 

Review: A Girl’s Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber

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A Girl’s Guide to Moving On is a REFRESHING look at getting over someone, developing a support system, and meeting new people. 

I so appreciated that Nichole and her mother in law Leanne leaned on each other and really loved each other. Making them live so close to each other was a little forced, perhaps, but it made the rest of the story flow: Nichole running into Leanne during a tough time, Leanne babysitting Nichole’s young son, etc. 

The ex-husbands are slimeballs, but I guess even slimeballs have redeeming qualities. Macomber does a good job allowing for situations where the reader might sympathize with them, yet not quite take their side. 

As a romance fan who adores a good happily ever after, I’ll tell ya that Nichole’s friend Rocco was a terrific hero. He may not have outwardly shown sophistication or refinement on a regular basis, but he certainly demonstrated it at the end when it truly mattered. Likewise for  Leanne’s friend Nikolai. Nikolai knew when to step back and when to step up, and I could’ve just cried over all the bread baking going on. Read it, you’ll see. You might want to start baking bread for – and breaking bread with – someone special, too. 

-calliope

Buy A GIRL’S GUIDE TO MOVING ON

Review: Where I Lost Her by T. Greenwood

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All authors tell a story, using their written words to weave a tale. And many are really very good at it. But it’s the rare author who creates a narrative so compelling, so lyrical, that the reader simply cannot pull away. T. Greenwood is one of those authors for me.

Something tragic happened to Tess many years ago.  We know it involved a child, and we know that it’s forever changed her.  But other than that, we are left to find out as the story progresses.

So when she claims to see a lost child out on the road one evening, the reader isn’t sure what to think.  Is it her imagination playing tricks on her yet again?  Or did she really see a disheveled, bleeding four-year-old on a dark country road?  She had been drinking, after all.  But everyone believes her.  At first.  A search commences, but when nothing is found, not even a body, doubts start to creep in.  Still, Tess knows what she saw and is steadfast in her commitment to find the child.  At all costs, even.  Her marriage and reputation are at stake, but she won’t be swayed in her determination.

I’ve loved absolutely everything from this author, and her newest book is no exception. Her stories are always captivating from the beginning until the very end. Full of life experiences that could happen to anyone, they make you think “What if…” So grab this one. Enjoy. And then go read her others!

~Thalia

Buy it Now:  Where I Lost Her

Review: Written on My Heart by Morgan Callan Rogers

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I loved this book about young newlyweds struggling to prioritize their marriage, children, employment, roots, and friendships. Dottie and Florine have a close, sisterly relationship based on honesty and support. Bud and Glen base theirs more on beer than honesty, and Morgan Callan Rogers outstandingly illustrates their desire to balance machismo and independence with responsibility and growth. I enjoyed seeing the men develop and regress, and then finally take the steps forward to become better men. 

The women change, too.  Through the grace and lovingkindness of her mother in law, Florine discovers the best way to demonstrate love to Bud… without compromising her values. Dottie grows in confidence and is able to be her authentic self — and a happier person. 

I adored this study on the ebb and flow of relationships, set in “local” down Maine. I liked the intertwined mystery, the ever-presence of Florine’s late mother, and the constance of children’s joy and a mother’s wisdom. 

-calliope

Buy WRITTEN ON MY HEART
 

Review: Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin

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8574333This is totally my type of read. I love the style. I loved the voice of the characters. I loved the story. Best of all I love all the implications.

This is a story about a woman, a wife and a mother, that disappears. As the family searches for her we start to see that there is much more than to this lady. Is anyone just a wife or a mother? How does one separate this two different identities? Confused? Okay, take your life. Stop and look at yourself. Say you are a college student. Are you also an employee? A daughter? A girlfriend? Maybe even a wife? Or even a mother? A sister? A friend?

This book shows us something that we all know, but no one really stops and thinks about…There are many facets to each of us. Yes, those parts help define us. However, how one person sees us does not fit in with how someone else views us…

As we hear from the children, and the husband, we see that they have very different views of who this woman is. Later, as we hear from the woman, we see that none of these views really “mesh” with who she is.

This novel is going to reside in me for a long time. Yes, I believe we do set out different vibes to different people…we want people to view us in a certain way. However, this novel makes it clear to me that we only see what we want to see in those around us….yes, a mother might act a certain way with her children…different than she might act with her husband….but this points out that children and husbands are often only interested in seeing that wife and mother as THEY want to see her…not as she truly is…

So, now, the question begs to be asked….

Does one even really *need* disappear to be hidden to those closest in our lives?

Just go and ponder on that one for a bit, why don’tcha….

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin