drama

Review: Forty One by Lesia Daria

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This might be a novel about being a housewife, or being Eastern European and feeling misplaced living in England, or coming to terms with depression, or allowing your emotions to catch up to everything that’s happened in your past. 

And maybe this book is a mirror, reflecting the failures and sins of the reader. The thing is, I don’t quite enjoy my flaws staring back at me. And I don’t like all the gloom and doom of Forty One. The WHOLE THING is gloomy with tiny bits of shimmer thrown in, every piece of which Eva manages to dull with her depression. I also didn’t appreciate the betrayals to marriage.  If you’re depressed, think long and hard whether this book will make you feel better (understood and validated) or worse (dragging you deeper) before deciding to read it. 

I prefer a bit of happy escapism in my daily reading.  But some people (ahem, Urania) think it’s totally awesome when a book makes the reader uncomfortable, pushes the reader to reexamine her values, brings to light that which is usually hidden. So I admit to my negative and egotistical nature… And heretofore I’m moving on to a more uplifting read! 

Technically, the writing was long-winded. I skipped entire pages of droning and description, and still the book took forever to read (over 8000 locations, felt like maybe 8 hours). 

Know what I loved, though? When Eva is in Poland, her family traditions around meals and holidays were very similar to my family traditions when I was a little girl. I thank the author for bringing me a piece of my childhood, eating pierogies and golombki before Christmas midnight mass, and sharing the opłatek with my relatives. 

-calliope

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Review: The Gilded Life of Matilda Duplaine by Alex Brunkhorst

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Unsophisticated journalist Thomas gets nudged into the world of Hollywood by a well-meaning acquaintance. When Thomas catches a glance at the sheltered, Bel-Air-raised Matilda, he’s compelled to get to know her… and then to take things further. He doesn’t realize that two different worlds colliding can cause something more dangerous than just a spark.  

This novel is definitely quirky! From Thomas’ newsroom friends to his social awkwardness at Hollywood parties, from Matilda’s refined upbringing to her life full of secrets,  from film producers’ power to the corrupt indebtedness in the industry, The Gilded Life offers the reader a panorama of the lifestyles of wealthy LA elite. 

The quieter yet more powerful backbone of The Gilded Life is an illustration of how our environment shapes us. We see how being overprotective only protects someone as long as we control their environment. The moment they step into real life, our overprotectiveness proves to be the real danger — they have no instincts, no judgement skills, no confidence of their own.  Thomas doesn’t get it until it’s too late. And Matilda doesn’t get it until reality has changed her irreversibly. 

This was a fun, unique read that was part literary fiction, part adventure, and part romance. Four solid stars!

-Calliope

Buy THE GILDED LIFE OF MATILDA DUPLAINE

Review: The Sea Keeper’s Daughters by Lisa Wingate

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Whitney owns a restaurant up north and has an inheritance to deal with down south. She has enough on her hands without the addition of old letters from her grandmother’s family, a sleazy real estate developer trying to cash in on her building, a possible romance with a conflict of interest, and an Outer Banks legend being brought to light. 

I liked the mystery, the history, and the family dynamics. Adding a love interest and townie in trouble added authenticity to Whitney’s life. The constant reference to her restaurant struggles took me out of the main story and kind of ruined it for me. I was happy just being in North Carolina, with the shop downstairs and the old coot upstairs, the developer coming around each week, and the visits to the museum. 

Too many points of conflict blurred the focus of The Sea Keeper’s Daughter. But when I concentrated on the events in OBX, I was rewarded with a beautiful tale that illustrated lots of love coming full circle. 

-calliope

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Review: The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs

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Caroline Jacobs is a doormat. Her teenage daughter Polly is a rebel. When the two make a spontaneous trip to Caroline’s hometown to confront a childhood (ex-)friend, mother and daughter learn a lot about each other. 

I loved the mother-daughter storyline more than any other thread in the plot. The author wrote Caroline’s weariness and Polly’s incredulity with authenticity. I saw myself in Polly – not wanting to let go of an issue until Justice is served – and in Caroline, who was more comfortable just trying to smooth things over. 

I don’t know that I really believed that someone would up and drive several hours to confront a childhood bully, but it was a fun story. I think I would’ve enjoyed it even more if the focus was more on the family dynamics instead of the PTA and former schoolmate dynamics!  

-calliope

Buy THE PERFECT COMEBACK OF CAROLINE JACOBS

Review: Season of Salt and Honey by Hannah Tunnicliffe

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Frankie’s fiancé died just weeks before their wedding. Overcome with grief, she escapes to Alex’s primitive family cabin in the woods, where she can be alone. 

But she isn’t alone. Her estranged sister, the cabin’s caretaker, and Alex’s brother all try to rescue Frankie from herself. Italian aunties, Vinnie the party machine, and an earthy, motherly neighbor round out her nurturers. 

The author did a nice job making me feel Frankie’s heavy sadness and nature’s solace. Relatives provided comic relief, and fellow cabin dwellers were a blanket of comfort for Frankie. 

You never know what will help heal you when you’re devastated by the death of a loved one. Tunnicliffe’s take rang authentic, and I recognized Frankie’s emotional journey as one many of us have taken in real life. 

This was a nice, relaxing read, not melodramatic but with plenty of opportunities for laughter and tears. Now I’m just waiting for GoodReads to tell me when there’s another book available by Hannah Tunnicliffe! 

-calliope

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Review – The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

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16126596After two books, Hanya Yanagihara has now been put onto my “blind buy” author list. This is my list of authors that I will gladly buy their new book without knowing anything about it. You may remember my previous review A Little Life and how much I gushed over it.  Well, The People in the Trees is Yanagihara’s first book, and for a debut novel, it is absolutely brilliant!

Now, being a debut novel, you can see where the author is learning their craft, and in Yanagihara’s second novel, she most definitely expands upon that craft.   However, Yanagihara’s themes, and how these themes are presented, is a skill that the author seems to naturally possess.

The best thing about this books are the characters.  The main character, Norton, is complex, certainly not likable, intelligent, egotistical, and most of all… human…  We are not going to resonate with him on a superficial level, but really, we all share very similar qualities, and that’s what drew me in to these characters and their stories.   Human nature, and the perception of human nature, really interests me, and it is explored with finesse in this book.   If one person is evil, can they still be a genuine?  If a person is honest, can they still be a liar? What do you consider reliable vs unreliable?  The dichotomy of labels that we put on people based upon their actions, or indeed, what actions we choose to support or vilify, is a fascinating subject.  When you have a situation of intentions vs consequences, which one ultimately “wins”?   All these garbled and incoherent questions/ramblings are the result of reading this intense piece of fiction.   But you know what?  I bloody love it!

If you want a book that will make you question things you originally had a different opinion on, reinforce some ideas of yours, but maybe make you consider them from a different angle, then pick this book up.  It is not an easy book at all.  You will need to read fluff afterwards, but these type of books don’t come along often, so take a chance.

Pegasus.

The People in the Trees

Review: If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

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I read so much Kristan Higgins that I thought this novel would be just like her Blue Heron romances. I was wrong. Though Kristan’s signature wit is ever-present, If You Only Knew is a more serious take on relationships, both romantic and familial.  

Jenny Tate’s fickle husband divorced her and remarries… yet wants Jenny to remain his best friend. Jenny’s sister Rachel gives marriage and motherhood her all, only to find out her husband thinks she’s boring. Jenny and Rachel’s mom is no help at all, using passive aggressiveness to ensure she’s always the center of sympathy. 

I love how Jenny and Rachel navigate their romantic relationships with each other’s love and support. Higgins shows that sometimes our love induces good intentions… that the receiver doesn’t really want. For example, when Rachel needs a shoulder to cry on, she doesn’t want Jenny to judge her husband, but Jenny doesn’t know any other way to defend her sister! Higgins wrote it so real that I could believe I was with my own sister, navigating our own real life issues. 🙂

Higgins’s characters develop realistically, also. They come to emotional crossroads that push them to change gradually. Jenny’s downstairs neighbor wasn’t ready for a relationship at first because he was, frankly, depressed. Higgins gives Leo plenty of turning points and opportunities for change before illustrating his healing. 

Lest you think this is a melodrama, let me tell you there are plenty of laughs. Jenny’s dress-shop right-hand man is sarcastic and cynical and hilarious. One bride’s Momzilla gives everyone a run for their money, and Higgin’s description of her expressions is AWESOME. 

If You Only Knew has lust, laughter, and lunacy, but it also takes a peek at the serious side of love. It isn’t the Kristan Higgins that I expected; it’s even more. 

-calliope

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Review: Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt

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Ohmygoodnessilovedthisbook. 

Lucy has been living in Boston – the same city as her überfeminist mother for the past two decades. With her egomania and focus on art, Fiona has managed to simultaneously  humiliate, neglect and drive away Lucy. So Lucy reaches out to her sister Juliet in the western Lake District of Cumbria, England. Juliet takes Lucy in, and there begins the roller coaster of estranged sisters, emotional numbness, putting on a happy front, and trying to find love in all the right places. 

Though it reads like chick lit, Rainy Day Sisters illustrates some heavy inner conflicts. Hewitt masterfully describes the mental anguish of the sisters and their love interests. Totally believable. Alex’s daughters were written well, also, from the sullen and reserved teenager to the perky and innocent primary-grader. Best of all were the townspeople of Hartley-by-the-Sea. They were quirky but not over the top. They developed authentically and I was just as interested in their stories as I was in Lucy, Juliet, Alex and Peter. 

I laughed and cried and sighed at the happily ever after… And then I ran to Amazon.com looking for the next one in the series. Which isn’t out yet. Because this one was just released. 🙂 But I was just so excited to hear more about the realistic, endearing, and lovely people in the HARTLEY-BY-THE-SEA. 

-calliope

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Review: The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

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Alrighty then. I didn’t expect that! Here’s a small Australian town with an outcast woman living uphill from a burning garbage heap, and the outcast’s daughter coming back after twenty years. For what? I think she misses her mom. Tilly does the good daughter thing, cleans up her incoherent and dysfunctional mother as well as the house she subsists in, and tries to find her place in a town that never wanted her. 

And then Tilly starts making beautiful dresses for the townspeople – because she’s a talented pro with haute couture training.  And they don’t pay her. And then we find out why Tilly left and why they all hate her so much. Personally I think they hate themselves and take it out on Tilly. 

A new dressmaker arrives on Tilly’s heels and seems to turn the town upside down. Maybe her flawed dresses symbolize the townspeople’s real characters: uneven, backwards, trying to be something they’re not. 

And from there on the story is a whirlwind of crazy. Affairs, financial ruin, secrets, deaths. I’m not sure how it all happened… I certainly didn’t expect any of it! 

It’s dark and grim and clever and funny. And if it’s a mirror of life, it’s downright scary. A smart – and bizarre – read. 

-calliope

Buy THE DRESSMAKER: A NOVEL

Review: How to Say I Love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

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How_to_Say_I_Love_You_Out_Loud_for_sitejpgModern-day readers are very fortunate. No matter what situation-ailment-predicament-life event they find themselves in, there’s a book for it. Nonfiction if they’re after factual information, fiction if they want to simply lose themselves in a story. And it’s the same for young adult readers. Almost every possible scenario has been imagined, everything from bullying to living with a mental illness. It’s not as common, however, to find a book that tells the story from the perspective of a family member. This wonderful book from Karole Cozzo does just that.

The story is told from the point of view of Jordan, a young girl living with a secret. To her it’s a terrible secret, one that’s led to embarrassment and isolation in the past. But it’s not something she can control. Her younger brother Phillip has autism, and it pretty much governs everything that goes on in her family. From family outings to alone time spent with her mom, it all revolves around Phillip and his unpredictable, ever-changing moods.

She survives by keeping a definite separation between home and school. A student at an elite school, she gets by well enough. She’s active in sports and does well enough academically. But she keeps her friends at arms-length, never letting down that boundary between the outside world and her home life. While not an ideal solution, it works for Jordyn. Until Phillip is unexpectedly and unavoidably transferred to her school. Now all her worst fears come true as the lines between home and school are crossed. And Jordyn has to confront some hard truths about herself. Is she using Phillip as an excuse to not let others into her life?

It’s hard to like Jordyn at first because she’s so hard on herself and her family. She’s embarrassed of Phillip, even to the point of pretending to not even know him. Most of us would find that inexcusable. But she’s a teenage girl, and that says a lot. Being a teen is hard enough, especially in an elite school. It’s entirely understandable to see how she’d want a little bit of normalcy, one area of her life that isn’t ruled by Phillip.

This was an outstanding story. It’s plausible and realistically written, and the descriptions of Phillip’s behavior as a person with autism ring true. It will hit home for anyone affected by autism, but will have readers of all kinds hooked until the very end.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: How to Say I Love You Out Loud