Take A Peek Book Review: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

“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. This week’s “take a peek” book:

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
(originally published 1883)

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Originally conceived as a story for boys, Stevenson’s novel is narrated by the teenage Jim Hawkins, who outwits a gang of murderous pirates led by that unforgettable avatar of immorality, Long John Silver. Admired by Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, and (reluctantly) Henry James, the story has the dreamlike quality of a fairy tale. It has worked its way into the collective imagination of more than five generations of readers, young and old alike, gaining the power of myth.

The most popular pirate story ever written in English, featuring one of literature’s most beloved “bad guys,” Treasure Island has been happily devoured by several generations of boys—and girls—and grownups. Its unforgettable characters include: young Jim Hawkins, who finds himself owner of a map to Treasure Island, where the fabled pirate booty is buried; honest Captain Smollett, heroic Dr. Livesey, and the good-hearted but obtuse Squire Trelawney, who help Jim on his quest for the treasure; the frightening Blind Pew, double-dealing Israel Hands, and seemingly mad Ben Gunn, buccaneers of varying shades of menace; and, of course, garrulous, affable, ambiguous Long John Silver, who is one moment a friendly, laughing, one-legged sea-cook . . .and the next a dangerous pirate leader!

The unexpected and complex relationship that develops between Silver and Jim helps transform what seems at first to be a simple, rip-roaring adventure story into a deeply moving study of a boy’s growth into manhood, as he learns hard lessons about friendship, loyalty, courage and honor—and the uncertain meaning of good and evil.

My Thoughts:

For a fairly slim book (my edition had 190 pages), it sure took me a while to finish this classic tale of pirates, treasure maps, and treachery. Treasure Island wasn’t a stay-up-all-night, can’t-put-it-down read for me — but it was definitely entertaining and well worth reading.

It’s kind of hilarious, in a way, to read this quintessential pirate story, in light of Pirates of the Caribbean, Black Sails, and even Spongebob Squarepants, and realize that Treasure Island was written at a time when pirate stories weren’t clichéd yet. In Treasure Island, the guy with a wooden leg exclaiming “Shiver me timbers!” while a parrot perches on his shoulder isn’t a joke; he’s honest-to-blazes scary. Doubloons, pieces of eight, cutlasses, buried treasure, the black spot, pointing skeletons used as road signs — here’s where to go to find where they entered popular culture.

It seems practically silly to review a classic like Treasure Island. It’s a classic for a reason! But, bottom line: I’m glad that I finally dug up a copy and took the time to read it. It’s a fun, fast-paced adventure, providing a glimpse into a by-gone era of storytelling — and next time International Talk Like a Pirate Day rolls around, I’ll have something to think about besides these guys:

or this:

or even my current pirate obsession:

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The details:

Title: Treasure Island
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher: Varied (available free for Kindle)
Publication date: 1883
Length: 190 pages
Genre: Classic adventure story
Source: Purchased

4Feb2015

Book Review: War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Selena and her husband have been happily married for close to thirty years and have three children. Lottie and her husband have been married for seventeen years and have one teen-aged daughter. Both women wish their husband could be home more often, but understand that his demanding job is important to him. Both look forward to the moment when he walks back in the door after his latest business trip to Dubai.

And both show up as the newly bereaved widow when Simon Busfield is laid to rest after a fatal drowning.

Yes, Simon was a busy guy. He lived in London with Selena in a beautiful, posh home, keeping Selena in fashionable clothing and expensive getaways to their house in Tuscany. Simon also lived with Lottie in a smaller flat, after living with her in Dubai for most of their marriage. Wife #1 knew nothing of wife #2, and vice versa. But an untimely death lets out all the secrets, and to say that chaos ensues is an understatement.

I’ll be honest: My first thought upon reading the synopsis was “Hmm. Sounds like a Lifetime movie.” I’m pleased to say that War of the Wives is a lot more than that.

In War of the Wives, author Tamar Cohen skillfully gives each wife a voice that’s distinct and true. We often get both women’s viewpoints on the same situation, and it’s enlightening to see how two people can interpret a statement or gesture so very differently. In what must be a very difficult feat, the author creates two sympathetic characters, almost daring us to take sides. And the truth is, it’s really impossible. Neither woman is culpable. Lottie didn’t know she was sleeping with a married man. Neither intentionally set out to steal the other’s husband. The guilty party here is Simon, but he’s no longer around to blame, so of course it’s the women who have to pick up the pieces.

There’s plenty of pain and remorse, doubts and anger. Both women remember Simon as a loving husband and father. Was one life a lie? Can Simon be faulted for loving both of his families so much that he couldn’t give either up? (Of course he can! Selfish beast.)

Selena and Lottie are wrecked not just emotionally, but financially too. The homes, the lifestyles, the luxuries all have to go. The legalities and taxes and mortgages are so intertwined that neither woman can walk away from the other, and so they have to navigate their post-Simon lives together, hating it every step of the way.

I do feel that the title of the book is a bit misleading. When I first saw the title War of the Wives, I expected cat fights, public scenes of bitchiness, scheming and nastiness. But that’s not what happens. The book ultimately is less about two women battling each other and more about them figuring out how their lives took such wrong turns and how to rebuild.

There’s a mystery here too: Simon died under suspicious circumstances — did he really just fall into the river, or did he commit suicide? Or was he pushed? Just what sort of shady business dealings was he involved in? Who keeps sending Selena all these random spam texts and emails? Who broke into Lottie’s flat? It all comes together by the end, and it definitely was not what I expected… which is a very good thing.

I love a book that keeps me guessing, that gives me plenty of clues but none that make an outcome obvious. The inner lives of Selena and Lottie are fascinating to read about, and I was invested in both women, their struggles to rebuild, to be good mothers, and to stand on their own two feet. Because they really were the victims of their husband’s deceptions, it’s easy to relate to both women and want both to find happiness and get a fresh start.

War of the Wives is a compulsively readable novel with a dark streak amidst the scenes of domesticity. I enjoyed the writing, the characters, and the unexpected plot twists. Author Tamar Cohen does a great job of taking a melodramatic, seemingly made-for-TV set-up and giving it an original spin that keeps the reader guessing.

Final note: Tamar Cohen is a new-to-me author, but I’ve now heard from other bloggers that she has some other can’t-miss books as well — and I’m looking forward to checking them out!

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The details:

Title: War of the Wives
Author: Tamar Cohen
Publisher: Mira
Publication date: January 27, 2015 (originally published in UK in 2012)
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Adult contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of Mira via NetGalley

3Feb2015

Blog Tour & Book Review: Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I’m delighted to be participating in the blog tour celebrating the release of an inspiring new novel: Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder.

Girl Runner is the story of Aganetha Smart, a Canadian farm girl who gains a brief moment in the spotlight when she wins gold for Canada running the 800 meter race in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

When we first meeting Aganetha, however, she is 105 years old, living in a hazy dream-state in a nursing home, alone and forgotten by the world, having outlived her entire family and anyone who ever knew her. With the unexpected arrival of a young man and woman, Aganetha finds herself bundled up for a supposed family visit with these two strangers, who proceed to drive her to her family’s old farm.

As she travels the familiar roads, Aggie’s thoughts return to her early days. Bit by bit, we learn of her family’s tumultuous past, the sibling love and tensions that featured throughout her life, and that small period of time in which Aggie was a star.

From early childhood, Aggie ran so fast she was practically flying, and her need to run is a core piece of her soul. In fact, as she tells us through her fractured memories, Aggie kept running until midway through her 90s, when a final family tragedy seems to have sapped her of her drive to run once and for all.

Through Aggie’s reminiscences, we gain a picture of what life was like for young women in Canada in the 1920s, with a heady mix of independence in the big city, the glory of being selected for the national Olympic team, and the pain of love gone wrong and friendship betrayed.

As we move further into the story, Aggie reveals secrets upon secrets, until the deepest, darkest mystery of her lonely life is finally unearthed. Through her memories, we get a glimpse of the life of a strong woman who achieved great things yet never had what she most wanted.

Girl Runner is a moving story that seems simple at the outset, yet eventually moves into the complicated territory of a large family with criss-crossing needs, deceptions, joys, and shames. Each new memory unravels yet another thread in the mystery of Aganetha’s life and helps us understand how she lived so long and yet ended up so lost and alone.

I did find the time jumps somewhat distracting. The story bounces between modern-day Aggie, wheelchair bound in the nursing home, and her memories of the past — but her memories come in a jumble, not chronologically. I suppose this makes sense, in that we’re seeing the events of the past as they resurface in this very old woman’s confused mind — so of course, it’s not linear and neatly spelled out.

While this approach works in finally revealing the full story by the end of the book, it does make it a bit challenging for the reader to unknot the storylines and put together the pieces into a coherent, logical picture.

However, it’s worth sticking it out. While the narrative jumps take some getting used to, once the story hits its stride, it flows nicely and quickly. By the end, I couldn’t stop reading. I just had to know what really happened and how it all fit together.

Told in language that’s brisk but personal, Girl Runner is an intriguing family story as well as a tribute to pioneering girl athletes and the obstacles along their path to glory. Despite its long time arc, spanning about 90 years, Girl Runner is less than 300 pages in length. It’s not a long book, but it is deep and emotional, and I recommend it to anyone who might enjoy an historical novel built around a strong, enigmatic woman.

About the Author:

Carrie Snyder’s Girl Runner is shortlisted for the 2014 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Her previous book, The Juliet Stories, was shortlisted for the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award and named one of the Globe and Mail‘s Top 100 Books of the Year. Her first book, the short story collection Hair Hat, was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award for Short Fiction. A mother of four, Carrie lives with her family in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Find out more about Carrie at her website, and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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The details:

Title: Girl Runner
Author: Carrie Snyder
Publisher: Harper
Publication date: February 3, 2015
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Adult fiction (contemporary/historical)
Source: Review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours

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

31Jan2015

Book Review: Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

If you ask me, David Levithan can pretty much do no wrong. I’ve now read at least a handful of books either written or co-written by this author, and I’ve love just about all of them.

I recently came across a review of Marly’s Ghost over at Chrissi Reads, and my curiosity was immediately piqued.

Marly’s Ghost was originally published in 2005, but it looks like a new edition is being published in the UK by Egmont Publishing.

This slim novel is a retelling of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and it’s a retelling in the truest sense of the word. The original story doesn’t just provide a launching pad for a new idea; instead, Marly’s Ghost faithfully follows the original, practically scene by scene, but transposes it into a modern love story that’s both incredibly sad and unexpectedly uplifting.

In Marly’s Ghost, Ben is bitterly mourning the death of his beloved girlfriend Marly, who died four months earlier after a long and painful battle with cancer. Marly was the center of Ben’s world, and without her, he sees no point in anything. He pushes away his friends, sees only bleakness in everything around him, and has a special sort of derision for Valentine’s Day. Marly’s death, to Ben, is proof that love is a crock. It can’t last, it only breaks you when it’s gone, and it can’t be worth pursuing if it only leads to pain.

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, when Ben has once again cruelly rebuffed his best friend’s attempts to connect and has needlessly lashed out at a couple in the early stages of love, he retreats to his room to surround himself with his loss and seek isolation. But his isolation is shattered when Marly’s ghost appears, weighed down by chains forged from a charm bracelet containing every memento of their time together. Ben’s grief is holding her and not letting her find peace. Marly warns Ben that he will be visited by three spirits… and, well, if you’ve ever read or seen a production of A Christmas Carol, you have a pretty good idea of what’s to come.

Ben is visited by the spirits of Valentine’s Day past, present, and future, and each shows Ben a piece of himself and illuminates his effect on those around him. Above all else, Marly wanted Ben to promise not to give up, and the spirits have come to hold him to his promise.

This slim novel brought me to tears at various points. It’s a terribly sad story of loss and suffering, made worse by the characters’ young ages, and yet it’s a pleasure to read as well. David Levithan refers to this book as a “remix” of A Christmas Carol, and that’s an apt description. He sticks to the basics of the original story, but turns it into something new and emotionally rich. The modern-day characters fit easily into the framework of the classic story, and Ben’s transformation from bitterness to hope is believable and lovely.

The book is further enhanced by black and white illustrations by the masterful Brian Selznick, who models his drawings on the illustrations found in the original edition of A Christmas Carol.

I recommend this book highly, for fans of the author and illustrator, for those who love A Christmas Carol, or for anyone who enjoys a well-written, honest look at love and loss. I borrowed this book from the library, but I think I need to own a copy for myself! Marly’s Ghost, along with David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary, proves that in the hands of a gifted author, good things really do come in small packages.

With thanks to Chrissi for inspiring me to track down a copy of this book!

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The details:

Title: Marly’s Ghost
Author: David Levithan
Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: Originally published 2005
Length: 208 pages
Genre: Young adult fiction
Source: Library

29Jan2015

Book Review: Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Silver Bay is an older work by bestselling author Jojo Moyes, originally published in 2007 and re-released in the US in fall of 2014. And while Silver Bay is perhaps not quite as tear-inducing as Me Before You, it certainly fits in with the author’s talent for portraying unusual relationships full of tragedy and redemption.

Silver Bay is a sleepy little coastal town in Australia, known for its harbor full of marine life, its ramshackle old hotels, and its whale-watching expeditions. Liza and her daughter Hannah live in Liza’s aunt Kathleen’s inn, which has been in her family for over 70 years. Liza keeps to herself, takes tourists out on her boat, and socializes each evening on the front porch of the inn with the other “whale chasers”.

But then Englishman Mike Dormer shows up on a secret mission, exploring Silver Bay as a possible development site for a luxury resort. Mike’s job is to secure the location and smooth out any local resistance to the plan so that his wheeler-dealer boss can pin down the venture capitalists’ money and make boatloads of money himself. Mike doesn’t count on the connection he starts to feel for the small town, the local folks, and most especially, for Liza herself.

But Liza has her own secrets too, and she’s not looking for love or anything like it. What’s more, when the truth about Mike’s mission comes to light, Liza, Kathleen, and all of the Silver Bay people feel betrayed by Mike… but his own beliefs have been shaken as well. Ultimately, it’s up to Mike to reverse the damage done and try to save not just the town, but the friendships that have come to matter so much to him.

I found the beginning of Silver Bay a bit slow. The book has multiple narrators, and after a brief introduction told by Kathleen, we spend the first long chapter of the book looking through the eyes of 10-year-old Hannah. This did not feel like a wise choice to me; it’s a book for adults, and the child viewpoint was by necessity somewhat weak and narrow. Once Mike is introduced, the story opens up in scope, and as I got a bit further into it, I was hooked.

The storyline itself isn’t particularly unique. I feel like I’ve seen the basic footprint of the story in other books or movies: Small town, outside big business coming to ruin things, quirky locals banding together to fight the good fight, etc. The love story too proceeds along mostly predictable lines. Of course, Mike falls in love with Liza. Of course, her secret, tragic past keeps her from being able to open up. Of course, Mike’s business dealings threaten all of the relationships he’s built.

All that being said, there’s a lot going for Silver Bay as well. There are some truly delightful supporting characters, especially tough old Aunt Kathleen and her would-be beau Nino, fellow whale-chasers Greg, Yoshi, and Lance, and even Liza’s daughter Hannah, who ultimately takes a big hand in helping to save the town.

What would a Jojo Moyes book be without a tragedy? Yes, the secret from Liza’s past that eventually comes to light is awful and terribly sad… and yes, I did get a bit teary in the final third of the book. The author does a masterful job of giving just enough hints along the way to let us know that the secret is a doozy, and once revealed, it’s impossible not to feel for Liza and her sad story.

Again, I saw the ending coming from about a mile away, but that’s okay. Having a pretty good idea of how it would all work out didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. It’s a quick read, and after the first several chapters, it’s a book that will pull you in and make you care.

This isn’t my favorite Jojo Moyes book, but it’s a good choice for fans who’ve read all of her more recent novels and want more.

Interested in this author? Check out my reviews of other books by Jojo Moyes:
The Girl You Left Behind
One Plus One
The Ship of Brides
Me Before You
The Last Letter From Your Lover

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The details:

Title: Silver Bay
Author: Jojo Moyes
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication date: Originally published in UK in 2007
Length: 338 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library

25Jan2015

Take A Peek Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

My Thoughts:

I find myself not quite knowing what to say about this unusual, lovely book. I love the juxtaposition of the modern world, with its IPods and high school parties, alongside the hidden world of the Folk who live in the deep, dark forest. In fact, the opening lines create such a magical aura that it’s a bit jarring to realize that this story is set in a 21st century real-world town with ordinary teens who drive cars, drink beer in the woods, go to football games, buy vintage clothing, and have all the usual rivalries, gossip, and tensions you’d see in any young adult novel.

And yet, in the town of Fairfold, residents know that there are other beings in the forest, and it’s best to be wary. Every child knows the rules, such as never saying “thank you” to a fairy or eating any food offered. It’s just tourists, flocking to what’s known as a kitschy destination with cutesy, magic-themed main street shops, who get into trouble, finding their money replaced by leaves or, in more recent years, being subjected not just to harmless pranks but to actual life-threatening danger.

Hazel and Ben have grown up with the stories and know the ropes. They’re also each crazily infatuated with the sleeping prince in the glass coffin in the woods, and have concocted all sorts of fantasies about him and his world. As the story progresses, we learn much more about Hazel and her secrets, and what she’s done to help her brother, despite all the warnings and scary-sounding rhymes.

While the book is a bit odd at first, introducing plot points as facts already known (so that I kept having to flip back and say, “wait, when did that happen?”), it eventually settles into a logic and rhythm that work. The everyday lives alongside the magical, and the writing too can veer from the commonplace to the enchanted in the blink of an eye.

I loved the strange interplay between waking life and dreams, and I especially loved how traditional fairy tale gender roles are turned on their heads. A girl is the wielder of a powerful sword, defending family and all those who need her strength. A boy can find true love by waking a sleeping prince.

Meanwhile, there are changelings, goblins, a terrifying Alderking, and a creature so consumed by the loss of her true love that she literally becomes a monster.

In The Darkest Part of the Forest, author Holly Black creates a spell-binding tale of sibling love, bravery and devotion, with language that weaves its own magical enchantment.

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The details:

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: January 13, 2015
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Young adult fantasy
Source: Purchased

23Jan2015

Book Review: The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

This is the second book in a series, so here come the warnings:

SPOILER ALERT: This is the follow-up book to The 5th Wave. Events from The 5 Wave will be discussed! So, need I say it? If you haven’t read The 5th Wave, now would be a good time to look away. (Better yet, go get a copy of The 5th Wave! It’s good.)

KINDA SPOILER-ISH ALERT: There are some elements from The Infinite Sea that I’ll have to talk about in order to write any sort of review. I’ll try not to go into a tremendous amount of detail, but if you prefer to know nothing about what happens, well, here’s another good time to look away.

And that concludes the housekeeping portion of this post. Moving on…

In The 5th Wave, the subject matter is nothing less than the destruction of the human race at the hands of alien invaders. Over the course of an apocalyptic few months, 98% of Earth’s population has been killed in all sort of horrifying ways. The story focuses on a handful of survivors, each on their own, trying not only to stay alive themselves, but to save or sustain the people they love.

The Infinite Sea picks up pretty much right after the big, blow-out ending of The 5th Wave. Our little band of survivors is hunkered down in an old, abandoned motel, waiting for whatever comes next, listening to the rats in the walls. (The rats are important — more on this later.)

What else? Well, that’s mostly it.

In The 5th Wave, our main three point of view characters are Cassie, Ben, and Evan. Each has his or her own intense story to tell, with a unique viewpoint on the events unfolding. In The Infinite Sea, the perspective expands to include chapters narrated by several other characters. Does this help broaden the view of life after the invasion? Not really.

It’s not that I wasn’t interested in what happened in The Infinite Sea. I was. But at the same time, the story somehow feels narrow, almost claustrophobic.

Part of what really impressed me in The 5th Wave was the epic scale. As seen through the eyes of our POV characters, the destruction is devastatingly huge, yet also intimate in that the impact of the invasion is highly personal. Family members die cruel, bloody deaths. Trusted adults betray in horrible, mind-breaking, soul-damaging ways. Safe havens turn out to be hell on earth. Humans yearn for companionship, but safety lies only in isolation. The loss each character experiences, especially Cassie, is enormous not just for the character, but because of what it means for the entirety of human life.

Compared to all that, The Infinite Sea feels small. In a most literal sense, it is: Going by my physical copies of both books, The Infinite Sea is about 150 pages shorter than The 5th Wave. The invasion is still underway, but not much has changed. We spend all of this second book holed up with our group of characters, waiting for the next awful thing to happen. The relationships barely move forward, and they have very little to do other than hide and speculate – and talk and talk and talk.

The endless talk is yet another piece that works less well for me in The Infinite Sea. In The 5th Wave, the language is often highly dramatic, much more figurative than you might expect out of the mouths of teens dealing with disaster, but somehow it matches the grand tone of the entire book. Sadly, in The Infinite Sea, the language tends toward an overuse of imagery and metaphor, and rather than feeling epic, it ends up sounding like borderline mumbo-jumbo.

I understood. In the safe room, a billion upraised faces populating the infinite, and the eyes that sough mine, and the question in those eyes too horrible to put into words, Will I live? It’s all connected. The Others understood that, understood it better than most of us. No hope without faith, no faith without hope, no love without trust, no trust, without love. Remove one and the entire human house of cards collapses.

It’s all about a search for meaning in disaster, but the discussions go in circle upon circle: There are rats in the walls. Are we the rats? Is the Earth the inhabited house the aliens want to move into? Why not kill all the rats? Why leave some rats alive? There’s the rock problem: Why not just use a big rock (i.e., a meteor) to wipe out all life? Why embed aliens inside the humans? Why play all the mind games? Why, why, why… this books amounts to a never-ending litany of characters discussing “why” — but unfortunately, we end with little more understanding than we had at the beginning of the book.

Another problem: In what felt like a baffling shift to me, the entire second half of the book is focused on Ringer, a character in a supporting role in The 5th Wave. We barely know her; we never saw her point of view in the first book. An awful lot of space is devoted to Ringer’s experience, trapped and cut off from the other characters, and it’s a weird shift in emphasis. Cassie was established in The 5th Wave as our primary character, yet she and the rest of her entourage are absent for almost half of this book. Ringer’s story adds some knowledge to the mix, but it’s kind of jarring to have the book split like this, with two stories that don’t fit together.

The Infinite Sea is clearly the bridge book in this trilogy. We need to get from the introduction of the disaster in The 5th Wave to the final resolution in the 3rd, yet-to-be-published book, but other than as a connection from point A to point B, The Infinite Sea adds very little to the world-building or the story arc of the series. By the end of this second book, I would have expected to understand much more about the reasons for the invasion and the strategies employed by the invaders. Instead, the only real progress is that the characters are beginning to understand that there’s a lot that they don’t know, that there has to be more to what to the invaders want, and that there are major pieces of the strategy that remain to be figured out.

The more I write about The Infinite Sea, the more I realize how unsatisfying I found it. With very little story progression or character growth and very little in the way of unraveling the mysteries of the alien plan, it’s very difficult to point out much that’s gained by reading The Infinite Sea, other than a reshuffling of the chessboard and a set-up for a finale. Perhaps this series should have been two power-house books instead of a trilogy with a tepid middle. I’m hoping that the final book, supposedly to be released in September, will blow the story out of the water.

The 5th Wave was amazing. I suppose if you want to find out what happens next, you have to read The Infinite Sea. But unless something is revealed early on in book #3 that demonstrates how the events of #2 matter, I’d say that The Infinite Sea is a mostly unimportant interlude that comes nowhere near to matching the power and scale of The 5th Wave. Proceed with caution — or perhaps wait until the release of the 3rd book and read it as an introduction to #3. Read on its own, as the eagerly anticipated sequel to a fantastic first book, The Infinite Sea disappoints.

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The details:

Title: The Infinite Sea
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication date: September 14, 2014
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Young adult/science fiction
Source: Purchased

17Jan2015

Book Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

In Breathe, Annie, Breathe, the main character is a 17-year-old girl facing one of life’s cruelest moments: The boy she loved, her boyfriend of three years, died in a tragic accident. Annie’s whole life had revolved around Kyle. The two were inseparable, and so long as Annie had Kyle, she didn’t need other friends or anything else in her life.

As we meet Annie, Kyle has been dead for about six months, and Annie can barely function. Somehow she’s arrived at the idea that to honor Kyle’s memory, she’ll run the marathon he’d wanted to run but didn’t live long enough to accomplish. Annie is not a runner, however, so she joins a training program where, over the course of six months, she’ll push her body and mind into shape for the upcoming October marathon.

At first, she’s in constant pain and doesn’t believe she can do it. But her stubborn determination that she has to do this for Kyle keeps her moving forward. And then, on the trail, she encounters Jeremiah, the adrenaline-junkie brother of her running coach, and she feels something that she never thought she’d feel again. Sparks fly. It doesn’t hurt that he’s gorgeous and muscle-y, and seems instantly drawn to Annie as well.

Stop rolling your eyes! My description might make this book sound run-of-the-mill, but it’s not. True, on the surface, it’s “poor bereaved girl learns to love again”, and that’s been done before. But there are many elements that make Breathe, Annie, Breathe a cut above typical YA fare.

For starters, Annie herself is an interesting, conflicted, smart girl who doesn’t always make good choices. She’s the daughter of a single mom, Annie’s dad having walked out before she can even remember, and she, her mom, and her brother live in a trailer park. And that’s totally okay — Annie doesn’t feel shame, and the trailer park isn’t the stereotypical redneck, trashy place that you see in so many books and movies.

Because of her low economic status, Annie has to work for whatever she wants. She sees herself as weak many times, but it takes a lot of strength and commitment to do what she’s doing. The only way she can afford her running program is through hard work. Every shift at the restaurant matters; every bit of her tip money is accounted for, whether it’s her running gear, her living expenses for college the next year, or the cost of her school books. Annie doesn’t begrudge her mother anything or resent anyone — this is just her life, and she deals with it.

For another thing, Kyle is never torn down or criticized. In many books, the heroine finally moves on when she realizes that the dead boyfriend/lover/husband isn’t as perfect as she’s made him out to be. Not here. Kyle wasn’t perfect, but neither was Annie. Their relationship had flaws, but Annie does not for a moment stop wishing that they could have had the life they’d dreamed of. She moves forward by cherishing her memories of Kyle while also setting her sights on a life that no longer revolves around him.

From the early descriptions, I thought Jeremiah would be the bad-boy-saved-by-a-good-girlfriend stereotype, but that’s also not the case. Jeremiah is a great guy, a Southern gentleman, whose only flaw is his need to do extreme sports, to the extent that he’s been hurt so many times that his mother has kicked him out unless he promises to slow it down. He treats Annie with the utmost respect, and there’s never a doubt that he’ll be good to her and for her.

An added element that really makes this book a treat is the community it’s set in. Miranda Kenneally’s books take place in small-town Tennessee, with a rural setting, a close-knit community, and a Southern sensibility that involves hospitality and good manners. Characters from her previous novels show up in minor roles in Breathe, Annie, Breathe — but it doesn’t matter if you’ve read those books or not. It’s like getting a visit from old friends, which makes it fun if you recognize them, but their backstories don’t contribute to the plot of Breathe, Annie, Breathe in any way that would be confusing to someone unfamiliar with them.

I really enjoyed Breathe, Annie, Breathe. Annie’s emotional journey is portrayed with sensitivity, and her struggles and conflicts feel real. The guilt she feels over her attraction toward Jeremiah, the growing awareness that she needs to rebuild her life, reconnect with the friends she lost over the years by her own negligence, and think about what she truly wants for her future — all seem realistic and are easy to relate to. Meanwhile, Annie’s running journey is the backbone of the story, and it’s fascinating and inspiring to see how a person can transform herself if she’s willing to commit and throw herself into it.

Although categorized as young adult fiction, I’m not entirely sure that that’s the right place for this book. It skews a little older than YA, covering both the end of high school and the start of college. The sexual content is somewhat more explicit than I’ve seen in a lot of the contemporary YA that I’ve read lately, all of which seem to be more focused on flirting, popularity, and high school drama rather than on actual relationships with emotional and physical connections.

I’ve read one other book by Miranda Kenneally, Racing Savannah (reviewed here last year), and after reading Breathe, Annie, Breathe, I’d like to read more. Her books center on girls striving for success in typically male-dominated athletic pursuits, while at the same time sorting out their lives, their dreams, and their relationships.

In Breathe, Annie, Breathe, the story is quick-moving, but doesn’t skimp on emotional challenges or character development. Annie is a terrific main character, and readers will be cheering for her to succeed, in running and in rebuilding her life. The book tackles the subject of terrible loss without becoming maudlin; instead, the loss is acknowledged and honored in a way that feels appropriate and respectful. I recommend Breathe, Annie, Breathe — and Miranda Kenneally’s work in general — for readers who enjoy their YA a little on the older side.

A final, personal note: I hate to say it, but I’m mostly a couch potato at this point, with my exercise routine limited to long walks on the weekends and not much else. I loved reading about Annie’s training, though — and this book has made me start thinking that I should break out my old running shoes and give it another go!

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The details:

Title: Breathe, Annie, Breathe
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication date: July 15, 2014
Length: 306 pages
Genre: Young adult contemporary fiction
Source: Library

14Jan2015

Take A Peek Book Review: The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Love is all you need… or is it? Penny’s about to find out in this wonderful debut.

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It’s a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there’s this certain boy she can’t help but like. . . .

My Thoughts:

I’ve read and completely enjoyed Elizabeth Eulberg’s two most recent books, Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality and Better Off Friends. When I happened to stumble across her debut, The Lonely Hearts Club, at the library this week, I thought I’d give it a try.

Elizabeth Eulberg excels at portraying the ups and downs of the high school pecking order. Her female characters tend to question the norm and make their own way. Penny isn’t a revolutionary, though — she’s just a girl who’s been dumped on and duped by one too many jerky boys. She’s not looking to start a movement, but by taking a stand for herself, she sets the stage for a lot of soul-searching.

Suddenly, the girls at school begin to realize that being with a boy who treats you badly is not actually better than not having a boyfriend at all. Penny and her small circle rediscover the value of having friends to rely on, friends who put their friends first and don’t dump them the second a boy comes calling (or texting).

It isn’t preachy, though: No one here is saying that boys are bad, or that feeling pretty and popular is shallow, or that strong girls should never flirt or care about dating. It’s really about balance, and the takeaway here seems to be that girls have the right to expect to be treated with respect, to decide whether they want a relationship or to go it alone, to pursue what makes them happy and not just what makes them popular.

One great little tidbit that you don’t get from the synopsis: Penny’s parents are Beatles fanatics. Penny’s full name is Penny Lane Bloom, and her older sisters are Rita (Lovely Rita) and Lucy (in sky with diamonds…). Mom and Dad are quirky and hip, occasionally embarrassing, but also unabashedly pro-independence and nonconformity in their daughters — so, for example, it’s no surprise that they take Penny’s side against the principal who tries to crush the club. So what if they call her “Penny Lane” in public? They’re still great parents.

A teeny example — following Penny’s disclosure that she’s in a club:

“Penny started it. It’s called The Lonely Hearts Club,” Rita chimed in.

“Oh, oh, Penny Lane, that’s so, so wonderful!” Mom put her hand up to her chest, thrilled that I’d named something after the Beatles, although she had no idea what the Club stood for. I could’ve started a club called the Yellow Submariners that went out in the ocean and clubbed baby seals and they still would’ve been proud.

“Kiddo, it’s so great you’re taking an interest in your heritage. Goo goo g’joob!” Dad beamed.

The writing is cute and clever, with snappy dialogue that never feels too over-the-top or that it’s trying to hard to be hip. The story is fast-paced, and this is a quick, zippy read.

I’d happily recommend The Lonely Hearts Club to teens, parents of teens, anyone who enjoys contemporary YA, and — of course — to Beatles fans. I understand the sequel (We Can Work It Out) is coming soon, and I’ve already put in my request for it at the library.

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The details:

Title: The Lonely Hearts Club
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher: Point
Publication date: 2010
Length: 290 pages
Genre: Young adult contemporary fiction
Source: Library

11Jan2015

Series Wrap-Up: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede encompasses four novels set in one world — and be warned ahead of time: Your enjoyment of this series is by no means guaranteed just because you liked the first book. Each book is quite different, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

First things first: If we were only talking about book #1, Dealing with Dragons, my enthusiasm would be much higher. In Dealing with Dragons, we meet Cimorene, a princess who doesn’t want the typical Happily Ever After with a handsome prince, fine gowns, and a kingdom to be pampered in. So Cimorene runs away and finds herself a large dragon, Kazul, who just so happens to need a princess of her own. In this world, princesses serve dragons — some willingly, some not so much — usually until they are rescued by a brave knight who comes to free them from “captivity”. Cimorene has no patience for such nonsense, and soon finds herself an indispensable assistant to Kazul, keeping house, observing dragon politics, learning about magic, and warding off dangerous wizards who want to steal the dragon’s magic. The book breaks gender roles in all sorts of interesting and unusual ways; my favorite is that the leader of the dragons is called King, which denotes a position, not a person. Kazul is a female dragon, but is still able to vie for the position of King…. and woe to anyone who mistakenly refers to her as the Queen.

Unfortunately, in my view, the focus shifts from book to book. Dealing with Dragons is the only book of the series I rated as 5 stars on Goodreads. I loved Cimorene’s courage and brains, the clever wordplay, and the way Cimorene defies expectations to become the person she wants to be. But suddenly, in book #2 (Searching for Dragons), Cimorene is a supporting player, and instead, the story is told from the point of view of Mendanbar, the reluctant king of the Enchanted Forest. Mendanbar’s story intersects with Cimorene’s as they go on a quest together to find out who is draining magic out of the Enchanted Forest and to rescue the kidnapped Kazul. Mendanbar and Cimorene have good chemistry, and Mendanbar is a fine leading man, but unfortunately, the zippiness of Cimorene’s grrrl power is a bit more subdued here.

In Book #3 (Calling on Dragons), we barely see our familiar characters at all, as the focus shifts once again, this time to the witch Morwen, a supporting player in the earlier books. I came close to abandoning the series altogether early on in this book. True confession: I have a dislike for talking animals, particularly when there’s an overabundance of them — and this book has more than enough to go around. Within the first few chapters, we meet all twelve of Morwen’s cats, each of whom has a name and a distinct personality and contributes to conversation, as well as a bewitched bunny named Killer who transforms first into a six-foot-tall bunny and eventually into a blue, winged, flying donkey. Killer is meant to be the comic relief, but is more annoying than funny most of the time. There’s a quest and an adventure that ends up involving Cimorene and Mendanbar, but they’re quite peripheral. The magical adventure aspects of the book become more enjoyable by the end, but there’s a lot of space taken up by new characters, odd magical rules, and never-ending journeying.

And then we come to the final book, Talking to Dragons, in which there’s a brand-new main character, Daystar, who must travel into the Enchanted Forest and figure out for himself what the purpose of his quest is. There he meets a temperamental young fire-witch named Shiara — clearly there as his love interest — and encounters talking lizards, elves, dragons, and dwarves before arriving at a climactic battle scene. I won’t tell you how Daystar’s story intersects with the characters from the earlier books (spoilers!), but they are all connected and come together for an exciting and satisfying conclusion.

As a series, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles feels a bit disjointed. The shift in main characters from book to book didn’t really appeal to me. I suppose the intent is to broaden the scope of the world of the Enchanted Forest, but in my opinion, Cimorene and Kazul are the most interesting characters — and once they leave center stage, the story loses some of its charm. I was never bored exactly (although I was awfully close during the talking cat chapters), but I did find my attention wandering from time to time, and I found it a challenge to get into each new book, where we readers are required to leave behind the characters we’ve become fond of and start fresh with with a whole bunch of new ones.

All that said, let me now point out that I read this series in partnership with my 12-year-old son — and from that regard, I’d say the series was a success. My kiddo is a very reluctant reader, and so to encourage him, we read these books in tandem. He enjoyed the stories quite a bit, liked the action sequences involving dragons and wizards especially, and liked that there were plenty of funny scenes, humorous dialogue, and even some hints of danger (nothing too life-threatening, but still risky business).

Bottom line: While the Enchanted Forest Chronicles doesn’t strike me as strong enough to really hold adult attention, I do think it’s a great choice for middle grade readers, either to read on their own or as a very fun parent-kiddo reading partnership. And as an alternative for those who aren’t looking for a multi-book series or don’t like the sound of the focus changing from book to book, I think Dealing with Dragons would work perfectly well as a stand-alone. As the best of the bunch, it’s certainly a great read — and maybe if I’d stopped there, I’d have avoided the frustrations I had with the subsequent books.