Category Archives: Book Reviews

Blog Tour & Book Review: What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

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What You Left BehindWith thanks to Sourcebooks Fire, I’m delighted to be participating in the blog tour celebrating the release of What You Left Behind, the new teen novel by Jessica Verdi.

About the Book

Jessica Verdi, the author of My Life After Now and The Summer I Wasn’t Me, returns with a heartbreaking and poignant novel of grief and guilt that reads like Nicholas Sparks for teens.

It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.

The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions. Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?

My Thoughts:

I’ll keep this brief… because if that synopsis doesn’t grab you and make you want to read this book, like, yesterday, then I’m not sure what else I could possibly say to grab your attention!

What You Left Behind is unusual in the increasingly crowded field of contemporary young adult fiction: It’s a teen drama full of loss and hope, told not through the eyes of the tragically dying Meg or by new love interest Joni, but by Ryden himself. I don’t recall reading any other YA novels recently with a male narrator who’s experienced anything quite like Ryden. Age 17, high school senior, father. Bereaved as a teen without every really getting to start a life with the girl he loved. Work, school, soccer, trying to be a good dad, trying to be a good son, and still trying to understand what really happened with Meg.

You can’t help but love Ryden. He didn’t ask for any of this. Meg insisted on keeping the pregnancy, even though it meant going without chemo for all those months. All Ryden wanted was to love Meg and do anything in his power to keep her healthy… and here he is six months after her death, stressed out, feeling like a terrible father, having to face the reality that the life he thought he was meant for is now forever out of reach.

Jessica Verdi’s writing is beautiful in its heartfelt sorrow and frustration and bitterness. Ryden is a giant mess, and he screws up a lot — but I challenge any reader not to feel complete sympathy with him. He’s in a horrible situation, and even though he has an amazing mother who supports him wholeheartedly, his life really does suck at the moment when we first meet him. Watching him go through the process of grieving and figuring things out and finally starting to see a glimmer of hope is painful. Ryden’s emotions are raw and brutal, and he makes some big mistakes, and really doesn’t understand the world around him or what his new life really is a lot of the time. But it’s impossible to blame him for anything. He’s in a horrible situation, not of his making, and — he’s only 17! He’s bound to make mistakes, but I can’t help but admire the courage and grit he shows in just waking up and moving forward day after day.

The author knows how to get inside a teen’s head and explore all the contradictory wants and needs lurking there. The writing doesn’t condescend and doesn’t shy away from showing the good, the bad, and the ugly. The story didn’t necessarily go where I thought it would, but I was invested every step of the way and couldn’t look away.

My only complaint is that the author made me care so much about these characters that I wanted more at the end. I like the ending of the book very much, which makes it clear that a new chapter is just beginning and that Ryden finally has a path ahead of him that can lead to happiness. But (and maybe this is the mom in me speaking!), I wanted to know more. I really want to know what Ryden’s life is like in a year, in two years, and in five. What happens next? What does he decide to do with himself? How does he grow as a person and as a father? I think it’s a testament to the power of this novel that I feel invested enough to have so many questions.

Bottom line: If you enjoy contemporary YA fiction that deals with tough subjects with honesty and emotion, don’t miss What You Left Behind. And for more by Jessica Verdi, check out her excellent previous novel, The Summer I Wasn’t Me (reviewed here).

More Info:

Purchase Here:

What You Left Behind–

Amazon | Apple | B&N | BAM | !ndigo | IndieBound | Kobo

About the Author

Jessica Verdi lives in Brooklyn, NY and received her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. Her favorite pastimes include singing show tunes at the top of her lungs (much to her husband’s chagrin), watching cheesy TV, and scoring awesome non-leather shoes in a size 5. She’s still trying to figure out a way to put her uncanny ability to remember both song lyrics and the intricacies of vampire lore to good use. Follow Jess on Twitter @jessverdi.

Connect with Jessica Verdi

Website – http://jessicaverdi.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/JessVerdi

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicaverdi

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6442339.Jessica_Verdi

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The details:

Title: What You Left Behind
Author: Jessica Verdi
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication date: August 4, 2015
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Young adult fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire

Book Review: In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

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In the Unlikely EventWhen you think of historical fiction, if you’re like me, images of petticoats, palaces and kilts might fill your head. But how about fiction that tells a story of a more recent history? In Judy Blume’s new novel, In the Unlikely Event, the plot revolves around real events from the 1950s, and the effect is stunning.

If you didn’t grow up in New Jersey and weren’t around in the 1950s, you might be as shocked as I was to realize that the plane crashes that serve as a catalyst for the drama of this book actually happened. If these events weren’t actual documented history but rather a fictional invention, we’d all be shaking our heads and saying that’s it’s just too unbelievable.

The facts are these: In the winter of 1951 – 1952 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, three different planes crashed into the town within a span of three months. How is this even possible?

In the Unlikely Event shows us the horrifying plane crashes and the devastating effect on the residents of Elizabeth through the eyes of a large cast of characters, all of whom bear witness in one way or another.

The main character is 15-year-old Miri Ammerman, who lives with her mother Rusty, uncle Henry, and grandmother Irene. Miri’s best friend is Natalie Osner, daughter of the town’s very successful dentist. Each person is connected to other people, so that we meet the best friend of Natalie’s brother, the high school senior who assists in Dr. O’s office, the orphan boy who falls for Miri, the girlfriend of Miri’s uncle, and on and on in interlocking, expanding circles.

The time itself is exquisitely drawn in loving details, from the cashmere sweaters of the rich girls to the Lanz nightgowns that Miri’s friends all wear to sleep-overs, from 17-inch TVs to telephones with long cords — in all sorts of little ways, the author paints a picture of a particular era in American life. World War II is in the past, but not so distant as to be forgotten. American boys are serving in Korea. And air travel is new and fresh and glamorous. Airline stewardesses must be pretty, perky, flirty, and single. Traveling by air is a luxury, and going on an airplane is all part of the excitement.

And then the crashes start. As each plane crash occurs, the impact is felt more and more deeply by Miri and her circle of friends, family, and acquaintances. Boys at school claim it’s either UFOs or Commies behind the whole thing. One of Miri’s friends descends into mental illness and anorexia, consumed by thoughts of one of the dead airline passengers. People on the ground lose their lives as well as the passengers who fell from the sky, and the loss is random, tragic, and incomprehensible. Miri’s life changes in unpredictable ways, marriages disintegrate, friendships are changed forever, and indeed the entire community seems to lose its heart and its center.

In the midst of all this loss and suffering are some quintessential Judy Blume moments. The scenes of Miri and her friends bring back memories of the author’s classic books about preteen and teen girls, as they deal with their parents’ flaws, differences in economic status, pressure to fit in — and boys. Make-up and clothes, flirting and making out, worrying about going all the way and getting “in trouble”, fretting over missed periods — all of this is told in the voice we’ve trusted to portray young womanhood in so many earlier books, and it’s comforting and familiar here in her newest.

My only minor quibble with In the Unlikely Event is that we’re dropped into the world of Elizabeth and immediately introduced to just about every character in the story, and it’s a lot to track. Eventually, we get to know them all individually and it’s easier to understand who’s who and how they connect, but at the beginning, I found myself doing a lot of flipping backwards to figure out who a particular person was and where I’d seen them before.

Other than the early clutter of characters, the structure and richness of In the Unlikely Event works very, very well. The story is framed at the beginning and end by Miri traveling back to Elizabeth for a commemoration of that awful winter, 35 years later. It’s interesting and touching to see how all the people we followed in the 1950s have turned out, and how each has had his or her life changed and shaped by that one fateful year.

With detailed, evocative writing and characters whom we come to truly know and care for, In the Unlikely Event is a touching, compelling story that really holds a reader’s attention from start to finish. I’m very glad to have read it, and strongly recommend it.

End note: Way back when in my early days of blogging, I wrote a little salute to Judy Blume. Want to read it? You can find it here.

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The details:

Title: In the Unlikely Event
Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: Knopf
Publication date: June 2, 2015
Length: 397 pages
Genre: Adult fiction
Source: Library

Blog Tour & Book Review: The Uninvited by Cat Winters

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The Uninvited

I admit, I had seen a ghost or two.

I’m delighted to be participating in the blog tour celebrating The Uninvited, a new novel by Cat Winters. This is the author’s first book for adults, following two successful YA releases. Thank you, TLC Book Tours, for inviting me to participate!

Synopsis:

Twenty-five-year-old Ivy Rowan rises from her sickbed after being struck by the great influenza epidemic of 1918, only to discover that the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.

But Ivy’s lifelong gift—or curse—remains. She sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked for and unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918, Ivy sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death in the Great War of Ivy’s other brother, Billy.

Horrified, she leaves home and soon realizes that the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for today, because they could be stricken by nightfall. She even enters into a relationship with the murdered German man’s brother, Daniel Schendel. But as her “uninvited guests” begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once again, and terrifying secrets will unfold.

My thoughts:

The Uninvited crept up on me, little by little, until I was completely hooked. I wouldn’t say it has a slow start, because there’s certainly nothing about the pace to criticize. What I mean, really, is that it’s subtle and quiet to start with. The author sets the story in small-town Illinois, which should give the book a quaint, peaceful feel — except for the particular place in history chosen as the setting.

It’s October of 1918. Anti-German (and more generally, anti-foreigner) sentiment couldn’t be higher. The American Protection League is busy harassing outsiders into isolation and flight, spying on “good” Americans to make sure they’re behaving correctly, and inciting anger and violence in formerly friendly neighbors. While families lose husbands and sons to the Great War overseas, the horrible and deadly influenza pandemic strikes without warning, and the death toll mounts unbelievably quickly.

Ivy, the main character, is a young woman raised on a farm, frightened by her alcoholic, violent father, in mourning for her brother Billy, killed in the war. Hatred and fear are the overriding emotions all around her, but once she flees her family home to start fresh in town, she encounters friendship, passion, and love that she never expected. Ivy is an unusual character, really well defined, who seeks independence when she realizes how intolerable her family has become. She sets out to make a difference any way she can, and ends up driving an ambulance on a rogue mission to rescue the poor and unwanted flu victims who aren’t white or American enough to merit treatment in the one good hospital in town.

I loved Ivy’s backbone. She goes where she needs to go, stands up to creepy APL members, and chooses connection and physical intimacy despite all the reasons to stay away. She’s drawn to the wild jazz music she hears every night, which represents freedom and a new kind of society to her.

From setting the stage at the beginning, the author builds the tension and stakes as the story progresses. And then, bam! By about 3/4 of the way through the book, I suddenly found myself gobbling up every word, unable to look away.

Something happens along the way which changes the meaning of everything that came earlier, but I won’t say more than that. It’s enough to say that this is one of those books that’ll make you want to start all over again from the beginning once you’ve read it, to see what you missed the first time around and look at events from a different angle.

The Uninvited is a curious mix of historical fiction and ghost story, and the combination really works! The setting and time could not be more dramatic, and I loved the cast of characters, including memorable supporting characters (such as the frightened Red Cross volunteers and Ivy’s ex-suitor) in addition to Ivy herself and her sexy but aloof love interest Daniel.

Absolutely recommended for anyone with an interest in the time period, as well as anyone who enjoys well-developed characters and a plot that informs, moves, and surprises the reader. Okay, basically, recommended for everyone! I plan to read Cat Winters’s YA books as soon as I can, and I do hope she’ll continue writing more for adults as well.

Find out more:

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Purchase Links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble
 

About the Author:

Cat WintersCat Winters’s debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was released to widespread critical acclaim. The novel has been named a finalist for the 2014 Morris Award, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013, and a Booklist 2013 Top 10 Horror Fiction for Youth. Winters lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.

Find out more about Cat at her website, and follow her on tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.

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The details:

Title: The Uninvited
Author: Cat Winters
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date: August 11, 2015
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Adult fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours

tlc logoFor further information, stop by TLC Book Tours to view other blog tour hosts.

 

 

Book Review: Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

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Never Always SometimesNavigating high school is never easy. In the new YA novel Never Always Sometimes, best friends Dave and Julia decide at the end of their 8th grade year that they will not turn into high school clichés. They want to be unusual, true to themselves, outside of the pack mentality that takes over otherwise normal kids’ lives. So Dave and Julia create a “Nevers” list — all of the high school clichés they vow never to do.

Never be identified by where you eat lunch.

Never host or attend a beer party.

Never hook up with a teacher.

Never date your best friend.

After the 8th grade prologue, the book jumps forward to the end of senior year. Senioritis has definitely set in. College acceptances in hand, there’s only the tedium of continuing to attend classes for the reamining months until graduation. But then Dave finds the crumpled-up old copy of the Nevers list at the back of his locker, and an idea is born: Dave and Julia have made it all the way through high school without doing any of the things on their list — so what if they start doing them now, just for fun?

And so Dave and Julia embark on a wild few months of drunken house parties, hair dying, stalking a teacher, running for prom king, and otherwise breaking out of their own happy little world by embracing the “norms” of high school life.

Of course, there are glitches. Dave and Julia have spent all of high school as a complete entity of two. Best friends, whose lives absolutely revolve around one another. They’ve never needed anyone else, and so haven’t bothered with anyone else. They’re not unpopular, exactly — but they’ve also never admitted anyone else into their sphere. When they start their “nevers” project, they’re shocked to discover friendship, fun, and acceptance, and to discover that there are other people worth hanging out with.

The biggest problem of all, though, is that Dave has spent all of high school madly in love with Julia, but never acknowledging it. He’s never had reason to think she might return his feelings, and it’s the classic “wouldn’t want to ruin our friendship” situation, from Dave’s perspective. He’s never dated anyone else, because all he can see is Julia. Julia has dated a bit, but nothing serious — most likely because, at the end of the day, neither really needs anyone else in their lives.

Where it goes from here, well… jump down to the spoilers section if you really want to know. Let’s just say, while there are crazy antics and adventures galore, Dave and Julia also discover plenty of unintended consequences.

I really liked the characters of Dave and Julia. They’re smart and funny, and their banter and easy joking manner with one another is cute and fun. It’s plain to see that they fit together perfectly in their friendship. Their isolation from everyone else might be misguided, but then again, their little universe really does seem complete at times.

The overall arc of the story is engaging and fast-paced. There are emotional issues addressed: Dave’s mother died when he was nine, and I think he gets the warmth and affection from Julia that his still-mourning father and brother don’t really provide. Julia has a happy home life with her two dads, but she’s drawn to her absent bio-mom, who’s a special, free-spirited butterfly who sends postcards from around the world describing her unique and extraordinary experiences, but who’s never actually there for Julia in any real way. The crux of the “nevers” list and Julia’s devotion to it may come down to her unresolved feelings toward her mother — is she embracing this idea of being outside the social norms as a way to prove to herself that she’s worthy of her mother?

The idea of escaping clichés is explored in many ways in this books. Julia and Dave have managed to be outsiders throughout high school, but when they set out — ironically — to join the crowd, they discover that being apart from the crowd all this time deprived them of some legitimate fun as well. Maybe everything they scorned isn’t all bad — maybe there are people who might enhance their lives, instead of just being looked down upon as sheep.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT, SO AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!

When Dave finally admits to Julia that he likes a girl he met at a party, Julia is hit over the head with the realization that she’s loved Dave all along. These two. Their timing sucks. Because Dave can finally have what he’s always wanted, but he’s not sure it’s actually what he wants anymore.

Dave and Julia do finally hook up, but only after he’s gotten involved with a sweet, popular, “normal” girl. The cliché, from countless YA novels, is the idea of best friends finally realizing (usually at the end of the book) that they’re actually perfect for each other romantically as well. That’s not the case here. They should be perfect together, but once they start sleeping together, Dave realizes that a romantic relationship with Julia actually doesn’t work for their friendship.

I’ll admit that I didn’t quite buy this scenario. Is it just a matter of timing? If Dave hadn’t started dating Gretchen, would things have worked with Julia? I’d almost have preferred to see it play out without the complication of another love interest, so it would be clearer whether Dave’s love for Julia was always just an unrealistic crush on a best friend, or if their connection really could have turned into a romantic connection too.

I feel the need to add that a sex scene that marks the turning point of the story was very odd — at least, it was to me. There’s a casual air to it that seemed out of place, especially for two characters for whom it’s so momentous an occasion in their history together, as well as given the fact that they’re both virgins at the time. In addition (and this may seem kind of nitpicky), there’s no mention in the scene as to whether they’re having protected or unprotected sex. If it’s not specified, do we assume it’s unprotected? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop (metaphorically speaking), but this part of the equation was never mentioned. It felt to me like it would have been easy to include a reference to the character reaching for a condom, because otherwise, especially given the setting, the unplanned nature of the event, and the virginity of the two characters, it really seems like they just went for it without protection. And not that I feel that YA lit needs to get preachy, but I do think a quick mention of protection wouldn’t have hurt the scene at all and would have sent a positive message about responsibility and taking care of oneself.

I also had a bit of a hard time with the subplot of Julia trying to seduce her math teacher, awkwardly and jokingly, of course, but I found it hard to find this part funny. It just felt kind of weird and awful to me, but maybe that’s my adult brain taking over and criticizing the actions rather than seeing the hilarity of it (which clearly Julia was feeling).

I do want to mention that the writing in Never Always Sometimes is really a stand-out in the crowd of YA fiction. I just loved the author’s ability to paint pictures with language and to use clever word play to evoke a feeling or sum up a situation. For example, I loved this:

How Julia had felt something so deeply for so long without knowing it herself was a mystery. As if love was a fugitive harboring in an attic, hidden even from the people residing in the house.

This too:

Before, when Dave had dreamed about love, this is what it looked like:

It was lazy. Love was lazy as hell. Love laid around in bed, warm from the sheets and the sunlight pouring into the room. Love was too lazy to get up to close the blinds. Love was too comfortable to get up and go pee. Love took too many naps, it watched TV, but not really, because it was too busy kissing and napping. Love was also funny, which somehow made the bed more comfortable, the laughter warming the sheets, softening the mattress and the lovers’ skin.

END OF SPOILERS

Wrapping it all up, I did actually enjoy Never Always Sometimes very much. The balance between serious and funny was kept up very well throughout, and the story explores some interesting ideas about best friendship and trying so hard to be different that you end up missing out on so many good experiences along the way. Julia and Dave are both great characters, although since we spend a lot more of the story viewing events through Dave’s eyes, I felt as though I was playing catch-up a bit when the narrative shifts to Julia’s perspective.

As I mentioned, beyond the plot, I really enjoyed the author’s use of language and his writing style, and I’d love to read more of his work.

This is a fun read that has some good food for thought too. Recommended for anyone who enjoys contemporary YA fiction — and if you’re a parent to a teen, I could see this book generating some really good discussion, if you’re open to it.

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The details:

Title: Never Always Sometimes
Author: Adi Alsaid
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication date: August 4, 2015
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Young adult contemporary fiction
Source: I won an ARC in a giveaway! Thank you to Krystal at Books Are My Thing!

Book Review: Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Maybe in Another LifeAre our lives determined by fate? Or is it all just a matter of chance?

Is there just one person in all the world that we’re meant to be with? Or is life more of a multiple-choice quiz, where different answers may be correct in different circumstances?

In Maybe in Another Life, the characters say one thing, but their lives and actions give a very different message.

Hannah Martin, age 29, has lived anywhere and everywhere, but has no idea where she truly belongs. After a go-nowhere disastrous affair in New York ends, Hannah moves back “home” to Los Angeles, to reunite with her best friend Gabby, pick up the pieces, and start from scratch.

And maybe, just maybe, rekindle an old flame with her high school sweetheart Ethan.

On their first night out on the town, Hannah faces a moment of truth: Should she go home with Ethan and see what happens… or call it a night, head back to Gabby’s place, and spend the night alone? At the moment of decision, the narrative of Maybe in Another Life splits.

From this moment on, we follow two separate narrative threads in alternating chapters. In one, Hannah does go home with Ethan, their dormant feelings are rekindled, and they begin to work through what an adult relationship might look like. In the other, Hannah turns Ethan down, continues on the way home with Gabby, and is struck by a hit-and-run driver, resulting in serious injuries and a lengthy hospital stay.

In both versions of Hannah’s life, she’s confronted with choices. What does her future hold? How do you know if you’re meant to be with someone? How do you recognize a soulmate? What do you give up for a relationship, and what are the deal-breakers?

Likewise, in both versions, Hannah tries to puzzle out the question of destiny and predetermination:

“You think things are meant to be?” I ask her. For some reason, I think I’ll feel better if things are meant to be. It gets me off the hook, doesn’t it? If things are meant to be, it means I don’t have to worry so much about consequences and mistakes. I can take my hands off the wheel. Believing in fate is like living on cruise control.

Hannah has been so busy searching for the perfect life and what she’s “meant” to do, who she’s “meant” to love, that she’s never fully engaged with her options anywhere she’s been.

“Doesn’t it scare you?” I ask her. “To think that you might have gone in the wrong direction? And missed the life you were destined for?”

Hannah’s life is so messy that she has to believe there are other forces at play:

“I mean, I think I have to believe that life will work out the way it needs to. If everything that happens in the world is just a result of chance and there’s no rhyme or reason to any of it, that’s just too chaotic for me to handle. I’d have to go around questioning every decision I’ve ever made, every decision I will ever make. If our fate is determined with every step we take… it’s too exhausting. I’d prefer to believe that things happen as they are meant to happen.

Ironically, the split narrative demonstrated that it is all random, and that every decision changes the course of events. Towards the end of the book, a party guest talks about the multiverse theory, in which every decision leads to multiple universes in which all possible outcomes exist. From the moment Hannah decides to go home with Ethan — or not to go home with Ethan — she has two different parallel lives. In both lives, she confronts pain and difficult choices, finds a soulmate, faces hard truths, and finally sets off on the path toward professional fulfillment as well as a life filled with love.

The lovely thing about Maybe in Another Life is that both halves of the story feel right! Neither of Hannah’s two lives is 100% easy, but both feel real and both seem like valid outcomes. In both, Hannah begins to grow, take chances, and own up to the decisions she’s made that lead her to this point. Both feel like the absolutely right thing for her, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

I really enjoyed the writing in Maybe in Another Life, which maintains a light touch even in heavy situations. Hannah herself is a person with a lot of room to grow, but she’s self-knowing enough to own up to her mistakes and want to make better choices. And through it all, she’s got a great sense of humor, is a devoted friend, and knows that she needs to finally do something with her life.

The author gives Hannah certain quirks and habits that are both charming and make her feel like an individual, rather than a stock character. In particular, Hannah’s need to always have her hair in a high bun and her constant craving for cinnamon rolls are recurring motifs, and to my surprise, the repetition is actually pretty charming (rather than annoying, as it so easily could have been).

I liked the double narrative, although occasionally I lost track of which event happened in which version of Hannah’s life. No matter, though: Both halves of the story contain ups and downs, loves lost and found, and the true and deep friendship between Hannah and Gabby, which is a key element of the entire story. It’s not often that contemporary novels emphasize the huge difference a good friendship between women can make, while also dealing with romantic entanglements and all sorts of other drama. But here, it’s crystal clear that the bond between Hannah and Gabby is the most important element for both women, grounding them in such a way that they’re able to make their life decisions from a position of strength and support.

Maybe in Another Life is a very quick read. It’s light, but heartfelt. Not sugary, not glossing over the hard stuff, Maybe in Another Life shows a young woman dealing with real life… and the way every decision has consequences. This book is quite fun to read, and yet manages to be emotionally real even amidst all the jokes about cinnamon rolls.

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The details:

Title: Maybe in Another Life
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publication date: July 7, 2015
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Adult contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

Take A Peek Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

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“Take a Peek” book reviews are short and (possibly) sweet, keeping the commentary brief and providing a little peek at what the book’s about and what I thought.

All the Light

 

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When Marie-Laure is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

My Thoughts:

I’m not sure I have anything new to add to the oodles of gushing reviews already written about this book. The writing is thoughtful and lovely, with surprising imagery and carefully crafted descriptions of the world inhabited by the characters. Despite the horrors of war, the book itself is beautiful, even when depicting horrific acts and circumstances.

It did take me a good third of the book to truly get into the back and forth approach to the narrative, with shifts in perspective, character focus, and timelines. That being said, I ended up completely enthralled by this book, and despite its length, felt that I would have wanted even more. The two main characters themselves, Marie-Laure and Werner, are both so well-developed that I came to care deeply about them and felt that I really understood them. Even Werner, who tacitly condones terrible acts by doing nothing to prevent them, has an inner life that makes him a very flawed but understandable character, and his life is tragic in its own way every bit as much as some of the more obviously heroic characters’ lives.

The setting and the supporting characters are all lovingly drawn, and the writing simply glows. This book is hard to describe, other than to call it a must-read.

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The details:

Title: All the Light We Cannot See
Author: Anthony Doerr
Publisher: Scribner
Publication date: May 6, 2014
Length: 531 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Purchased

 

Book Review: The Sweetheart Deal by Polly Dugan

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Sweetheart Deal

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

The poignant story of what happens when a woman who thinks she’s lost everything has the chance to love again.

Leo has long joked that, in the event of his death, he wants his best friend Garrett, a lifelong bachelor, to marry his wife, Audrey. One drunken night, he goes so far as to make Garrett promise to do so. Then, twelve years later, Leo, a veteran firefighter, dies in a skiing accident.

As Audrey navigates her new role as widow and single parent, Garrett quits his job in Boston and buys a one-way ticket out west. Before long, Audrey’s feelings for Garrett become more than platonic, and Garrett finds himself falling for Audrey, her boys, and their life together in Portland. When Audrey finds out about the drunken pact from years ago, though, the harmless promise that brought Garrett into her world becomes the obstacle to his remaining in it.

My Thoughts:

I feel like I’ve read at least 4 or 5 contemporary novels about young widows in the last fews years, and while The Sweetheart Deal is the latest, it’s certainly not the least.

When Audrey’s firefighter husband Leo dies in a tragic ski accident, she’s left alone with three boys to raise. But not entirely alone: Years early, celebrating the Y2K New Year with quite a lot of booze, Leo made his best friend Garrett sign an agreement saying he’d marry Audrey if anything ever happened to Leo.

Audrey never knew about the deal, but Garrett has never forgotten. So when Leo dies, Garret drops everything in his own life to support Audrey and the boys, moving into their guest room and committing to finishing the addition to the house that Leo left half-built.

Needless to say, eventually Audrey emerges from her devastating grief to find comfort and the hint of new love in Garrett’s arms. But will the drunken promise from all those years ago come between them? Dunh, dunh, dunh….

The Sweetheart Deal is actually quite engaging, and I felt that the author did a very good job of portraying how the different family members deal with such a shocking loss. Different characters narrate different chapters, so we see events from the perspective of Audrey and Garrett, as well as each of the boys. It’s interesting to see how the kids come into the story, how their feelings complicate matters, and how Garrett very selflessly immerses himself in doing whatever he can for Leo’s family.

While Audrey has a best friend as well, it’s the friendship between Leo and Garrett that really drives the story. Friends since boyhood, they’re bonded in a way that we don’t often see in female-centric contemporary love stories, where the main friend relationship is usually between women. Garrett’s feelings here are intense and conflicted: He loved Leo truly and faithfully, would do anything for him, and sincerely wants to protect and assist Leo’s family. His feelings for Audrey grow out of his grief and devotion, and he deals with heaping helpings of guilt as well.

Audrey’s initial bereavement is realistic and heartbreaking, and she is really to be admired for her strength in caring for her boys even as she falls apart inside. There’s no suggestion at all that she wasn’t madly in love with her husband. Instead, we see a woman who suffers a great loss trying to figure out if she’s entitled to any future happiness, and trying to understand if what she wants is wrong for herself, for her children, and for the memory of her husband.

The characters are all Catholic and their faith does come into play, but not in a way that feels heavy-handed. Audrey’s religion guides her actions, and she gains strength and insight through the counsel she receives from her priest – but I never felt alienated by the religious aspects or that they took away from the story.

Ultimately, the romance with the husband’s best friend feels deserved and well-developed, given the odd backstory and the guilt everyone feels.

The Sweetheart Deal is a sweet, moving, sad, and finally uplifting love story that deals with challenges that feel all too real. The plot is not complicated, but by focusing on an everyday family and its crisis, the book remains grounded and is quite accessible.

I think, if I hadn’t recently read other books about widows in their 20s or 30s finding their way back to love, I might have been more moved by The Sweetheart Deal, so perhaps it’s not really fair to even mention the other books. I did like this book a lot, and readers who haven’t read other books with similar set-ups should find it fresh and engaging.

The Sweetheart Deal is a quick read, but it hits the sentiment right on the nose and strikes a good balance between grief and hope. Recommended for readers who enjoy contemporary fiction focusing on family and marriage.

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The details:

Title: The Sweetheart Deal
Author: Polly Dugan
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication date: May 19, 2015
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Adult contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

Blog Tour & Book Review: Second Life by S. J. Watson

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Bookshelf Fantasies is participating in the blog tour for the release of Second Life, author S. J. Watson’s second novel following the huge hit Before I Go To Sleep.

Second Life

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep, a sensational new psychological thriller about a woman with a secret identity that threatens to destroy her.

How well can you really know another person? How far would you go to find the truth about someone you love?

When Julia learns that her sister has been violently murdered, she must uncover why. But Julia’s quest quickly evolves into an alluring exploration of own darkest sensual desires. Becoming involved with a dangerous stranger online, she’s losing herself . . . losing control . . . perhaps losing everything. Her search for answers will jeopardize her marriage, her family, and her life.

A tense and unrelenting novel that explores the secret lives people lead; and the dark places in which they can find themselves, Second Life is a masterwork of suspense from the acclaimed S. J. Watson.

My thoughts:

In Second Life, Julia is a part-time professional photographer married to a successful surgeon named Hugh. Julia and Hugh have adopted the baby son born to her sister Kate, now grown into a teenage boy, Connor. Life is good — until Julia gets the horrifying news that Kate has been murdered, apparently the victim of a random mugging.

Distraught and wracked with guilt, Julia decides that there’s more to the story. She begins to dig into her sister’s life, uncovering bits and pieces of a world that her estranged sister never shared with her. Kate lived a free and easy life in Paris, and was an active participant in the “hook-up” lifestyle, meeting men online for cyber and real-world sexual encounters.

Julia decides that Kate’s hidden life must hold a clue to her murder, and begins to explore. But at some point, the exploration stops being about Kate, as Julia gets sucked into an online flirtation with a stranger that turns sexual, and before long, Julia is consumed by the affair she’s stumbled into.

We know early on that Julia has a history of addiction, involving both alcohol and heroin, and the temptation of a drink is ever-present in Julia’s mind as she deals with her guilt and grief over Kate’s death. It’s easy to see that she’s channeled her out-of-control emotions into yet another addiction, her obsession with the online world — and the seemingly perfect and sexy man she meets there.

Second Life spends a great deal of time detailing Julia’s headlong rush into an affair, and unfortunately, the emphasis on the seedy details of Julia’s seemingly willful endangerment of her marriage and family takes center stage for far too much of the book. For large sections, the mystery of Kate’s death is almost an afterthought. Julia throws herself completely into the affair, and the book bogs down in the sexual encounters and hotel trysts.

After a somewhat slow start, the book picks up momentum by about the halfway mark, as Julia starts to realize that her perfect lover is hiding all sorts of secrets from her, and as her affair starts to overshadow everything else in her life that she values. Eventually the pace quickens and the plot becomes more intriguing, as the dangers closing in on Julia become connected back to Kate, as well as to Julia’s hidden young adult past.

I hate to say it, but Second Life overall didn’t really work for me. The main plotline was highly unappealing, with its voyeuristic emphasis on the details of Julia’s infidelity. I understand that Julia was acting out her grief and loss, giving in to her addictive tendencies and flirting with danger to numb herself in some way from the pain of losing her sister. But I just couldn’t sympathize, and felt that her horrendous choices were so clearly illogical and bad for her family (including the son she claims to love so much) that the plot teetered on the edge of becoming completely implausible.

As my own personal bias, I think it’s only fair to add that a book about infidelity had better have a lot of other compelling elements going for it if it’s going to appeal to me in any way. Otherwise, it’s a turn-off — and that was the case for me with Second Life.

I did find myself hooked for the last 100 pages or so… until the abrupt and unsatisfying ending. I won’t say more about it, but the answers to the mystery were fairly prediction, and what’s more, the final scene was a lousy payoff for the tense build-up.

I really enjoyed Before I Go To Sleep and ended up recommending it to lots and lots of reader friends. Sadly, Second Life does not live up to the promise of the earlier book.

I usually try to find a reason to recommend or praise a book if I’m participating in a blog tour. While Second Life didn’t work for me, I could imagine that readers who are into thrillers and aren’t bothered by the subject matter the way I was might enjoy this book. If you read it and have a different opinion, please share your thoughts!

Find out more:

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Purchase Links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble
 

About the Author:

S-J-WatsonS. J. Watson was born in the Midlands and lives in London. His first novel was the award-winning Before I Go to Sleep, which has sold over four million copies in more than forty languages around the world. It was recently adapted into a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong.

Find out more about S.J. at his website, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

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The details:

Title: Second Life
Author: S. J. Watson
Publisher: Harper
Publication date: June 9, 2015
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: Review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours

tlc logoFor further information, stop by TLC Book Tours to view other blog tour hosts.

Take A Peek Book Review: Jesse’s Girl by Miranda Kenneally

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“Take a Peek” book reviews are short and (possibly) sweet, keeping the commentary brief and providing a little peek at what the book’s about and what I thought.

Jesse's Girl

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Everyone at Hundred Oaks High knows that career mentoring day is a joke. So when Maya Henry said she wanted to be a rock star, she never imagined she’d get to shadow *the* Jesse Scott, Nashville’s teen idol.

But spending the day with Jesse is far from a dream come true. He’s as gorgeous as his music, but seeing all that he’s accomplished is just a reminder of everything Maya’s lost: her trust, her boyfriend, their band, and any chance to play the music she craves. Not to mention that Jesse’s pushy and opinionated. He made it on his own, and he thinks Maya’s playing back up to other people’s dreams. Does she have what it takes to follow her heart—and go solo?

My Thoughts:

I wouldn’t normally pick up a book about a romance between a small town girl and the superstar she meets cute… but this is my third book by Miranda Kenneally, and I went into Jesse’s Girl expecting something special. And that’s exactly what I got.

Maya dresses goth/punk, loves 80s music (especially Madonna and Queen), and wants to spend her life rocking out with an awesome guitar. The band she started has kicked her out, though, and her dream of auditioning on Wannabe Rocker seems to be slipping away. But meeting Jesse opens her eyes to the idea of taking risks to get what she really wants, as well as seeing that celebrity and superstardom come at a price… and that the lives of the rich and famous can be awfully lonely without a loving family to back you up.

That may sound like a lot to pack into one young adult novel, but it works. The first half of the book is a “one special day” type of story, where Maya and Jesse start as semi-hostile strangers, have a ton of crazy adventures as they both break rules and defy expectations, and end up connected in ways that go way beyond the attraction they both feel.

Maya is shown as a strong girl who needs an even stronger infusion of confidence. She learns to open up, and in turn gets Jesse to start realizing that he doesn’t have to give up his own dreams in order to be loved.

Jesse and Maya are well-developed characters, with flaws as well as talents. I appreciate the economic diversity that the author features in her novels. Maya’s family is proudly working class, and every dollar counts. Maya can’t take anything for granted, and meets her financial challenges head on without shame. It’s interesting to see how she views Jesse’s financial success and life of creature comforts, and yet still values her messy, loud family with their beat-up cars more than anything money can buy.

Fans of Miranda Kenneally’s earlier books will be delighted by this return to Hundred Oaks, especially as favorite characters from earlier books show up here in supporting roles. Reading Jesse’s Girl makes me realize that I need to go back and read the three other books by this author that I’ve missed!

Jesse’s Girl is a moving story of teens finding their way, a tribute to the power of romance, and a nice spotlight on the unbelievable strength that a loving family and supportive friends can provide. I’m really impressed with the author’s ability to create characters who seem both familiar and fresh, as well as her engaging storytelling. I was really swept up in the fun and feelings of this book, and recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good contemporary tale… particularly if you like a bit of a Southern twang in your fiction!

Interested in this author? Check out my reviews of other books by Miranda Kenneally:
Racing Savannah
Breathe, Annie, Breathe

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The details:

Title: Jesse’s Girl
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication date: July 7, 2015
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Young adult contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

Book Review: Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

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Our Souls At NightIt’s hard to describe this small, lovely book and explain what makes it just so special — but I’ll try.

In the small Colorado town of Holt, the setting for previous novels by Kent Haruf, Addie Moore lives alone. And around the corner is her neighbor Louis Waters. Both are widowed, and are in their 70s. Both seem to lack real human connection in their lives, although they certainly have friends and acquaintances.

One day, Addie shows up on Louis’s doorstep with a proposal.

I’m listening, Louis said.

I wonder if you would consider coming to my house sometimes to sleep with me.

What? How do you mean?

I mean we’re both alone. We’ve been by ourselves for too long. For years. I’m lonely. I think you might be too. I wonder if you would come and sleep in the night with me. And talk.

She asks him to come sleep with her at night. Not for sex, mind you. It’s the closeness she seeks. She wants someone to fall asleep with, to talk with in the dark, to make the nights a little less lonely. And after some thought, Louis agrees.

On the first night, Louis comes through the alley to Addie’s back door with his pajamas and toothbrush in a paper bag, but Addie tells him to come to the front door from now on, if he intends to continue. There will be no sneaking around.

And that’s really it. Small town folks talk, of course, and people seek to create gossip and scandal, but Addie and Louis will have none of it. They refuse to be ashamed, and they refuse to stop. In the night, they talk over their lives, their marriages, their children, the disappointments, the dreams, the pain and the joy. And from these nights, the two form an unusual intimacy, closer than most marriages, that seems like a true meeting of souls.

Just, wow. What a book.

Kent Haruf uses deceptively simple language to paint a gorgeous picture of the inner lives of common people. Our Souls at Night is a short book, under 200 pages, and much of it consists of dialogue between the two characters. Their speech, like their lives, is plain and unadorned. They’ve been through a lot over the course of the years, and they talk to each other directly and openly, no hiding or subterfuge. It’s as though, after all they’ve experienced and all the ups and downs of their lives up to this point, they’re dispensing with the bullshit and getting right to what matters.

This is a beautiful, elegant, graceful book. The writing is spare, pared down to the essentials. There’s nothing fancy about the characters, their speech patterns, or the story. It’s simply a powerful book about the connection between two people who manage to find happiness and true connection at a point in their lives when everyone expects them to simply behave and then fade away.

I read the author’s novel Plainsong years ago and remember that I ended up loving it for its stripped-down beauty. I’m sorry that I haven’t read more by this author, and I do intend to correct that. Our Souls at Night is Kent Haruf’s final novel, as he passed away in 2014 at the age of 71.

This book really swept me up and moved me, and I’d like to page through it for a while longer before I return it to the library. My immediate reaction, though, right after finishing the final pages, is just this: Our Souls at Night is lovely, and should not be missed.

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The details:

Title: Our Souls at Night
Author: Kent Haruf
Publisher: Knopf
Publication date: May 26, 2015
Length: 179 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library