drama

Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

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darkI loved this book from page one. All the way up until the end.

This is the story of Libby Day. As a young girl of seven, Libby’s testimony puts her fifteen year old brother, Ben, in prison for the murder of their mother and two sisters. Libby has spent much of her life as pretty anti-social. She isn’t really a very nice person. Okay…honestly, Libby isn’t even a semi nice person.

This story begins when Libby finds herself suddenly in a position to revisit the events of that night and to finally ask the questions about what really happened. Questions that she has avoided for the past twenty-four years. She finds herself finally face to face with her brother and father for the first time in years.

Because I don’t do spoilers, I will say the only one part of this novel I had issues with is the small part near the very end when Libby has a confrontation with a mother and daughter. One part of that just seemed like it was put in there for nothing other than shock value. I have no issues with the mother and daughter being in the storyline…or even the actual storyline….just some of the actions….but enough….

I did like how Flynn wrapped up the events of that night and the answers that Libby discovered. Perhaps “like” isn’t the correct wording, since, after all, Libby’s mother and sisters were killed….but….

The real reason I wanted to write this review is….well…Flynn really had me thinking….I think everyone can agree, Libby Day is not a very likable person….but at one point…on the day of the murders…Seven year old Libby is sitting down in the back a car drawling circles on a window. It really made me stop and wonder. That one simple glimpse of Libby as a little girl made me forgive her as an adult. How different would Libby be if that night had never happened. What type of adult would that little girl have grown up to be? How about Ben? As an adolescent boy he felt lost and misplaced. He felt isolated. But what teenager doesn’t? If even one of the events that happened to Ben had been changed, what would have happened to all the other events? Just one broken link in the chain of events for him could have made such a huge difference. What could have been avoided? What side of the maze of would he had come out on out of adolescence into adulthood?

Sure, we all know that our experiences and circumstances help to shape us into the person we are today….but for Libby Day it can be narrowed down to one single experience….It is easy to imagine a complete total different life for her had she not experienced that night. So is that an excuse for Libby to use? Or is it a way to forgive her for her actions and behaviour?

Sure, I know….Libby Day is not a real person. She is a character in a book…but look around….how many of the people you don’t like….ones that you pass judgement on….how many of them have that one single life event that might have made them into the person they are today? Perhaps it doesn’t always come from a lifetime of experiences…instead it can be traced to just one….

Again, yes…I realise that many have survived terrible things and they become great people. I’m not saying someone gets a free pass on their behaviour. No matter what happens in life, I strongly believe that we are all responsible for our actions…regardless of the childhoods we had….but it is very easy to see that the Libby Day we saw in this novel was not the same Libby Day that was sitting quietly in the back seat drawing circles on a foggy car window….

So yes….that little girl played a huge part in my forgiving the adult Libby Day for her behaviour….not just to others….but to herself as well….

Thank you Gillian Flynn for putting that scene into this novel….it meant a lot to me….and it has gave me endless hours of thinking….xx

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Review: The Shadow of Death (Psalm 23 Mysteries #9) by Debbie Viguie

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If you’ve been reading the Psalm 23 Mysteries, you’ve got to read The Shadow of Death. Right. Now. It’s fast-paced, international, truth-revealing, and the most dangerous book in the series yet. I love when a plot is written so well that you feel like you’re on a thrill ride… no effort, just excitement and fun!

If you haven’t picked up the Psalm 23 Mysteries, I implore you to. Despite the name, they aren’t preachy or hokey or Bible-pushing. They feature a church secretary and a Jewish rabbi who keep tripping over dead bodies. Some of the time it’s coincidental, and some of the time it’s due to Rabbi Jeremiah’s sordid past.

In The Shadow of Death, Jeremiah’s secrets are revealed, he comes clean about his true feelings for Cindy, and he faces his biggest fear.

Read it. Love it. Wait for the next one. Amazing writing and a really fun ride.

-Calliope

It’s on sale today. $7.95 for kindle. Worth every penny.
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Review: Harbor Island (Sharpe & Donovan) by Carla Neggers

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I don’t know HOW I missed out on this series until now. Where have I been? Living under a rock?

Harbor Island is a complex, witty, gritty, romantic suspense novel. Emma and Colin are FBI agents. Right there, Neggers has me as a fan. They have a quiet, affectionate banter … refreshing, as it’s not the usual shtick I experience in rom coms. (I love rom coms, but this is a nice change of pace.) And they are bent on solving a crime that spans decades and the globe.

While I mostly appreciated the underlying romance, and just ate up all the knowing glances, smooches, and warm embraces, I also really enjoyed the FBI adventure set on an island near Boston, MA. Gunshots, murder, larceny, con men, artists… Neggers made it so exciting that I’m on the edge of my seat just remembering it.

There were a lot of characters in this novel, and it took a bit to keep them all straight. I would have been better off reading books 1-3 in the series before jumping into this one (#4). But it was totally doable and enjoyable. Neggers took me on such a great ride that I can’t wait for book 5. I’m off to read 1-3 … and then maybe book 4 again!

-calliope

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Review: Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough

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This is the first novel I’ve read by Colleen McCullough, and I am quite impressed with the breadth of information she is able to weave into Bittersweet. It’s a family drama, but it’s also social and political commentary… It’s where romance and feminism meet, and where the power of money makes a difference (for once) in local and regional healthcare.

The history McCullough wrote in — not just dates and places, but people and culture and anthropology – was wonderful. I gleaned as much about Australian politics, economics and society as I did about people’s need for love and acceptance. And McCullough didn’t just stick in facts where she could; she made them part and parcel of the dramatic story.

And dramatic it was. Four sisters, each with wants and needs and quirks… grating on, supporting, loving, misunderstanding, and even betraying one another.

The women rise to meet their fates, and two sisters face life with acceptance… after a few tweaks. The other sisters slap fate in the face, turn around and walk the other direction until they find something better, something real, something they are proud to own.

I really loved the family part of this story. Though no one was perfect, they did love each other immensely, and the author was able to make me feel it and believe it. I liked the Latimer family – flaws and all – because their flaws made them real to me.

The men in the story were less relatable to me, but they had a purpose. Each character, male or female, was more than just him or herself; they represented “Everyman” in their realm. Think of a stereotype, and McCullough represented it via a flawed but likeable character. A widow, a clergyman, a politician, a salesman, a smart (oooooh!) woman, a shrew, a rich man… and so many more. Though it took a bit for me to get through the political descriptions, the cleverly written characters sold me on this solid 4-star read.

-Calliope
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Review: Ghosting by Edith Pattou

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20140629-124617-45977646.jpgWhere to begin with this review? First off, it was everything I expected while not being what I expected at the same time. Make sense? When I requested an ARC of this book, I had never heard of Edith Pattou so I wasn’t familiar with her work. The title of the book didn’t mesh with the description, so of course that made me curious enough to give it a try.

So exactly what is the story about? Think “butterfly effect” for the young adult audience. It’s a story about how quickly the world can go wrong, even if you’re young and have your whole life in front of you. Classmates, some friends and some not, thrown together because of a set of circumstances that all come together in one horrible moment. A night of partying, some drinking and drugs thrown in, guns where they shouldn’t be, a teenage prank gone horribly wrong, and nobody is brave enough to stand up for what is right.

My thoughts? In one word, wow. I was a bit thrown off at first because the story is written in free verse, which I wasn’t familiar with in narrative form. But once I got past that initial hurdle, I saw that this style of writing is part of what makes this story so engaging and easy to read. We hear from all of the main characters, almost as if we’ve been invited into their heads to hear their internal conversation. They’re not all likable. In fact, some of them are just plain horrible people. Still, we come to feel their pain and to see them as human as this tragic story unfolds. And this isn’t one of those books that leaves the reader wondering what happens, although those have their place on my bookshelf as well. We end the story with a good feeling of where everyone is, and where everyone is going after that final page. And we’re left thinking if only….

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Ghosting

Review: One of Us by Tawni O’Dell

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9781476755878I was intrigued by this new one from Tawni O’Dell based on one of her previous books I enjoyed, Back Roads. And I must say, as much as I liked Back Roads many years ago, this latest venture was even better for me.

Danny Doyle is a famous forensic psychologist who’s been involved in some very well-known cases. When he returns to his home town to check up on his elderly grandfather, he unwittingly becomes caught up in another mystery, this one seemingly spanning several generations. Deep in the heart of Pennsylvania coal country lies the mystery of not only the latest murder but also unsolved murders from Danny’s past.

This was an intriguing story for the mystery aspect alone. It’s very much a police procedural story but so much more. The author tells a great story, and her descriptions of backwoods Pennsylvania are hauntingly beautiful. It was dark and mysterious enough to keep me interested and will appeal to anyone who likes a good mystery.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: One of Us

Review: Mrs. McKeiver’s Solutions by Margaret Morgan

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This story set in 18th century England was such a treat! Mrs. McKeiver is the local midwife and general mother figure for the villagers. Her son doesn’t have the use of his legs and vacillates between depression and moving forward with his life.

The plot seemed secondary to the characters and setting. Basically, Mrs. McKeiver was remarrying, and her son had to figure out where to go when his mother moved. Other characters had babies, were forced to move to a different home, changed their religious inclinations, and were punished for their crimes.

I’m not big on non-fiction, so this fictional account was the perfect way for me to learn about English villages in the 1700s. The filth stands out in my mind, especially. People stank of sweat, urine, vomit, and disease. Animals stank, period. Food rotted and clothes deteriorated. Author Margaret Morgan employs Chaucer’s manner of slipping in crude bodily remarks in a matter-of-fact way… and always elicited from me a delayed but genuine laugh!

Besides the daily living outlined in the story, I was intrigued by the power that “the church” had on the villagers. Bishops, supposedly representing the Church, were totally in charge of everything, from disbursement of food and jobs to determining where people would live! Of course this autonomy led to corruption, another thread in this novel.

My only complaint is that I was rendered impatient by the rambly writing. I sometimes found myself not wanting to pick up at the next chapter because I knew it require some effort to work through all the words to get to the meat of the story. And so, Mrs. McKeiver’s Solutions was a long-winded but eye-opening, educational, amusing glimpse of a pretend village in a very real period in history.

-Calliope

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Review: Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan

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This is a romantic story, in the old-fashioned sense of it being nostalgic and dreamy and sigh-inducing. It blends a historical-coming-of-age story with a contemporary “finding oneself” plot. Rosie leaves London to help her aging great-aunt in the countryside. While she’s there she makes connections that fulfill an emptiness she didn’t even know she had. There’s a happily-ever-after, but it’s a tad bittersweet, kind of ironic for a sweetshop owner. 🙂

I loved Rosie’s story: her capers as a medical nurse, her hilarious clumsy attempts at traveling in the country, and her funny attempts at making friends.

I really didn’t like the flashbacks to Aunt Lilian’s youth. I’d be all into Rosie’s story and then BOOM Lilian’s story would interrupt it. You might like the alternating flashback format, but it seemed disjointed to me.

I really DID like the candy recipes and the editorial comments at the beginning of each chapter. I felt like the author was talking to just me, drawing me into the book!

My absolute favorite favorite parts of Sweetshop of Dreams were: when Rosie (with Edison by her side) tells off the dentist and Edison’s mom; and when Rosie goes careening off her bike head over heels. Yes, head over heels.

Sweetshop of Dreams turned into a contemporary romance after all. “Love is caramel… Always welcome… Easy melting of two souls into one… A taste that lingers even when everything else has melted away.” Lilian may have missed her chance at true love, but Rosie certainly “got lucky” when she moved to Lipton.

-Calliope

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Review: Stained by Cheryl Rainfield

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20140725-085358-32038195.jpgI’m a sucker for young adult books,especially those with a strong female protagonist. And when a book comes highly recommended from a friend, it’s a must read for me.

Sarah has had a hard life. Although she comes from a solid and loving family, a large port wine stain on her face has made her the subject of stares, giggles, rejection, and teasing for as long as she can remember. She’s created her own little world with a couple of select friends and her passion for reading and writing comic books. Still, she longs for a somewhat normal life where people will look past her appearance. Then everything changes when she becomes the victim of an abduction. As she tries to escape her captor, she finds herself examining her beliefs and drawing upon inner strength she didn’t know that she had.

This is a book about many things. It’s about teasing and bullying, going far beyond the normal teenage stuff. It’s about being strong at heart while still being vulnerable to both words and actions. And it’s about standing up for yourself and others, even when the world around you makes it hard.

This one was a tough read. It doesn’t sugarcoat the horrors that Sarah went through, and the descriptions are pretty graphic. However, it’s not meant to be a rose-colored glasses kind of story. In order to appreciate Sarah’s strength and resilience, you really have to feel her experiences. Still, use caution if choosing this book for younger readers. Although it was a book that I couldn’t put down, it was highly disturbing at times.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Stained

Review: Lucky Us by Amy Bloom

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20140728-154355-56635463.jpg There’s nothing quite like having a sister to help you through life. In Lucky Us, the expectation is that Iris will take care of her little sister Eva after their loved ones abandon them. But it is Eva who holds together the relationship, with dim hope and quiet strength. The sisters embark on an adventure like no other, opening their eyes and their lives to worldliness and shallow sophistication. They try – but fail – to piece together a family. They try again. And again.

Lucky Us is about losing a family and finding a family. It’s about the damage that a mother and father can do and undo. It’s about making a life out of nothing but the kindness of strangers, and then recognizing that kindness as the only love you’ll ever know.

This book is historical fiction, set during the 1940s, referencing the war and its horrors, and illustrating the stunning commonalities among Jews, Germans, and Japanese. I don’t even like historical fiction, but I was taken in by the human facet of the decade. It read so much like contemporary fiction that I forgot what decade I was in. The crafting of this book is exceptional, the format perfect for the story, and the writing is tight, with every substantial paragraph meaning more than you think.

Lucky Us is hopeful. Eva shows how a young woman can endure much – maybe not with joy but with grace – and find acceptance for the life she has.

I found Eva so impressive, gracious, and strong. The grand finale in Eva’s life is the return of two loved ones. Adding them to the one who never left is Eva’s happily-ever-after finally coming to fruition. Lucky, indeed.

–calliope

Note: Amy Bloom will give a free talk about LUCKY US on Friday, August 1, at 7p.m. at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut.

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