Book Review: Sway by Kat Spears

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Sway The synopsis for Sway, on Goodreads and elsewhere, describes the book as “hilarious” — and that’s not the way I’d put it.

Snarky, snide, clever, with humorous dialogue? Yes. But a laugh riot? No.

Sway is told from the point-of-view of high school senior Jesse Alderman, a kid who knows how to make things happen and get things done. He’s a fixer. People come to him for solutions, for answers, for connections. He’ll take on any job, it would seem. He arranges protection for a kid who’s being bullied. He makes sure that the bane of the principal’s existence gets expelled. He guarantees that a school fundraiser is a success — for a cut of the earnings. He also deals drugs (more on this later) and term papers, and seems to be welcomed everywhere he goes.

Jesse doesn’t really have many friends, though, having shut himself off emotionally after a family tragedy a year before. He doesn’t allow himself to feel, doesn’t even play his beloved guitar any longer. He floats through life, living by his wits, seemingly above it all. And then Ken, the star football player, hires Jesse to help him win a certain girl… and the girl is amazing. Jesse has never met anyone like Bridget before — beautiful, yet not focused on her beauty, and truly committed to doing good works. As Jesse gets to know Bridget in order to carry out his task, he can’t quite recognize what’s happening to himself at first, but slowly it becomes clear: He’s falling in love.

That doesn’t stop Jesse from completing his mission, and before you know it, Ken is dating Bridget, Jesse has earned his money, and all should be well. Except Jesse is now friends with Bridget as well as with her younger brother Pete, who’s a pissed-off kid with cerebral palsy and a chip on his shoulder, and Jesse can’t quite pull himself away. Things go south, as you’d expect, and it’s interesting to see Jesse pick up the pieces and finally start to repair the damage to his own life.

Along the way, Jesse falls more and more into good-guy mode, although he’d never admit it. As part of his ruse to get to know Bridget, he befriends an old man in an assisted living facility — but even after the ruse has been completed, Jesse continues to hang out with Mr. D., each providing the other with the sense of family both are missing. Jesse would consider himself a heartless business person, but his actions continually lead to good, even selfless results.

More troubling? Jesse’s drug dealing is just no big deal throughout most of the book. Jesse is a charmer and a welcome addition to every party — but how much of this is his personality and how much of it is the pot and X that he supplies? I found the morality of the drug aspects a bit slippery. Even when Jesse wants out of the drug business, he finds another kid from the high school to take his place with his pot connection, and it’s presented as a good thing for the kid, a way to win friends and fit in. The situation with the X dealer is a lot hairier and scarier, but even that dire situation is resolved fairly quickly.

There are a few loose plot threads that could have used more explanation, particularly in regard to Jesse’s two closest allies. I’d have liked to get to know each of them better and to find out more about how they connected with Jesse in the first place and why their bonds are so strong. I would also have liked to know more about Jesse’s family life and his childhood; we know about the tragedy from a year prior and have a sketchy understanding of what his life had been like prior to that, but I think a bit more fleshing out of that part of the story would have been helpful. Perhaps the biggest omission is an explanation of how Jesse came to be the success he is at influencing and fixing — when did he get started, and how? And how much of his business was already in place prior to a year ago?

Overall, I found Sway to be fast-moving and captivating. I read it all in one day, and had a hard time taking a break for little things like eating and talking to my family. Jesse is a wounded boy who acts out in all sorts of ways, and yet he’s clearly smart and funny… and underneath the gruff, never ruffled exterior lurks a kid who actually cares.

For what it’s worth, I’d say ignore the book blurbs that describe Sway as “a Cyrano de Bergerac story with a modern twist”. The comparison is only vaguely relevant, and doesn’t really set the right expectations for reading this young adult novel. Just go into knowing that it’s a well-written, clever story with heart, focused on unusual characters, and enjoy!

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The details:

Title: Sway
Author: Kat Spears
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication date: September 16, 2014
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Young adult contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy via NetGalley

13Sep2014

Series Wrap-Up: Frontier Magic by Patricia C. Wrede

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic, #1) Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2) The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3)

The Frontier Magic trilogy by Patricia C. Wrede presents a puzzling dilemma for me as a reviewer:

On the one hand, I never doubted that I wanted to finish reading the trilogy — and even more importantly, my son remained engaged throughout, which is no small accomplishment.

On the other hand, these books contain certain problematic pieces that remain consistent across all three books.

Is it contradictory to say that I wouldn’t rate this series any higher than three stars, and at the same time state that I mostly enjoyed it all?

In Frontier Magic, we view an alternate America (known here as Columbia) through the eyes of Eff. Eff is one of twins, and is the family’s thirteenth child, in a society which believes that the 13th child will be full of bad magic. Because, yes, in the world of Frontier Magic, magic is part of the every day fabric of life. Magic is an advanced scientific field of study in the academic world, and even mundane tasks are routinely done by means of magic. In this tale of westward exploration and discovery, the civilized world stops at the Mammoth River (think Mississippi), and all land east of the river is protected by the Great Barrier Spell, which keeps out dangerous creatures like steam dragons and medusa lizards. Yet exploration of the West beckons, and expeditions regularly set out across the river, some never to return.

I wrote quite a bit about my reaction to the first book in the series, Thirteenth Child, in my review here. And the same issues that I had with the first book continue into the second. As I wrote on Goodreads about Across the Great Barrier:

	Book #2 in the Frontier Magic series continues — for good and for not-so-good — along the same path as the first book, Thirteenth Child. On the plus side, we continue to explore this alternate history of the United States, in which magic is commonplace and an actual necessity. The challenges and adventure of living life on the frontier are still here, and main character Eff is still pursuing her own non-standard magical skills. On the negative side, the same problems that detract from the overall success of the first book are still present. The magical systems are overly complicated, so that it’s never quite clear what’s happening, and the solutions and big confrontations are so full of this jargon-heavy magical hoo-ha that it’s hard to tell who did what or why. Eff should be a powerful character, but she never really comes into her own. That is, she clearly has talents that are rare, but she doesn’t get to do a whole lot with them. She’s always just a part of, not the lead actor — she assists a professor, she participates in expeditions, she’s on the team when danger strikes — but she never is out in front, making decisions and standing out. Finally, the plot suffers from odd pacing. Many of the chapters (as in the first book) have time jumps that basically say, well, for the rest of that year, not much happened, or for the next few months, I kept doing my job. There’s a lot of summarizing, with action sequences popping up occasionally, but overall there’s a static feeling, as if the whole plot was being described in synopsis rather than actually taking place. The Frontier Magic series thus far strikes me as a very interesting idea without the execution to fully back it up.

Book #2 in the Frontier Magic series continues — for good and for not-so-good — along the same path as the first book, Thirteenth Child.

On the plus side, we continue to explore this alternate history of the United States, in which magic is commonplace and an actual necessity. The challenges and adventure of living life on the frontier are still here, and main character Eff is still pursuing her own non-standard magical skills.

On the negative side, the same problems that detract from the overall success of the first book are still present. The magical systems are overly complicated, so that it’s never quite clear what’s happening, and the solutions and big confrontations are so full of this jargon-heavy magical hoo-ha that it’s hard to tell who did what or why. Eff should be a powerful character, but she never really comes into her own. That is, she clearly has talents that are rare, but she doesn’t get to do a whole lot with them. She’s always just a part of, not the lead actor — she assists a professor, she participates in expeditions, she’s on the team when danger strikes — but she never is out in front, making decisions and standing out. Finally, the plot suffers from odd pacing. Many of the chapters (as in the first book) have time jumps that basically say, well, for the rest of that year, not much happened, or for the next few months, I kept doing my job. There’s a lot of summarizing, with action sequences popping up occasionally, but overall there’s a static feeling, as if the whole plot was being described in synopsis rather than actually taking place.

The Frontier Magic series thus far strikes me as a very interesting idea without the execution to fully back it up.

As for book #3, my feelings are pretty much the same. There’s further adventure, and Eff, now in her early 20s, finally comes into own in terms of flexing her magical powers and being recognized as having unique talents. She’s invited to participate in the most far-reaching expedition yet, and the group’s travels are full of danger and excitement. And yet, the same issues that plague the earlier books show up here as well. Nothing ever feels terribly urgent, despite the fact that a lot does actually happen. Events are described in a way that feels very episodic, and the point-of-view has a distant to feel to it. Eff narrates all that happens, and her voice simply isn’t particularly distinct. We never do really get a full picture of what Eff is capable of, although we do see her pretty much save the day.

The most serious problem, for me, is that the magical systems are fairly incomprehensible. We get long passages describing how Eff uses her magic to save the expedition (and perhaps civilization as a whole) — but it’s practically impossible to envision what she and the others are actually doing or how any of their magic truly works.

There’s quite a bit of outrage expressed in the reviews on Goodreads and elsewhere over the absence of a native population in the world of Frontier Magic. Others have gone into great detail on this issue; I don’t need to repeat them. Suffice it to say that the books are controversial because of this omission, and if you want to know more, there’s quite a lot written elsewhere on the topic.

Approaching these books, then, purely as an adventure tale and leaving aside the social commentary, I find myself back where I started. Unmitigated success? No. But enjoyable and engaging? Yes.

Even when my own attention wandered from time to time, my son remained interested throughout. Neither of us was exactly on the edge of our seats… but we still wanted to see it through and find out more. So all in all, not a bad choice for advanced middle grade readers or for adults who enjoy middle grade fiction featuring magical world-building.

11Sep2014

Book Review: Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson In a way, it’s silly to write a review of a book of stories such as Shifting Shadows. If you’re a fan of the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, then you’ll want to read this. If you’re not, this is not the place to enter Mercy’s world. Which, by the way, is amazing… so if you like urban fantasy filled with unique characters, exciting plots, and fascinating relationships, start with Moon Called, and then keep reading! I dare you to stop.

Shifting Shadows is definitely a gift for fans, and it’s a pretty wonderful gift at that. There are 10 stories in Shifting Shadows, all set in Mercy’s world. Six stories have appeared previously in various anthologies, and four stories are new. Although I’d read all of the six older stories already, I still enjoyed re-reading them in the context of this collection.

The previously published stories are:

“Fairy Gifts” – Set in Butte, Montana, this is a short, sweet tale of redemption and old debts focusing on a vampire and a fae, with a distinctly old West feel to it.

“Gray” – A ghost story/love story set in Chicago, “Gray” is quite lovely. This story of vampire Elena and her quest to reconnect with her late husband has both action and emotion.

“Seeing Eye” – The story of werewolf Tom and white witch Moira, set in Seattle.

“Alpha & Omega” – Even though I’ve read this story 3 or 4 times already, I never get tired of it. This novella was the original work that started the Alpha & Omega spin-off series of novels, and tells the story of Charles and Anna’s first meeting. Such wonderful characters, and a truly great addition to the Mercy-verse.

“The Star of David” – Focusing on werewolf David Christiansen, this is a holiday tale of family connection and personal redemption. Action-packed, and touching as well.

“In Red, With Pearls” – Werewolf Warren is the star of this one. Need I say more? Warren rocks, always.

New stories include:

“Silver” – An origin story for Bran and Samuel, which mostly focuses on Samuel’s first encounter with Ariana. I would have liked more Bran, but that wasn’t the point of this story. Still, quite interesting to finally hear the tale of how Bran and Samuel were turned.

“Roses in Winter” – Tells the story of Kara, a young girl introduced in the Mercy books, and how old wolf Asil cares for her when her life is on the line.

“Redemption” – Ben gets a story! I’ve always loved the character of Ben — so outwardly awful at first, until we learn more about his history and the traumas and abuse he’s suffered. Here, he really gets a chance to shine and be the good guy — even a hero! — for once. Plus, this story is really funny. Loved it.

“Hollow” – Mercy finally shows up in one of the stories! “Hollow” isn’t really about Mercy for the most part, but more about a troubling case of a haunting that Mercy helps solve. But hey, all Mercy is good Mercy, and we even get some Adam!

In addition, Shifting Shadows wraps up with two outtakes from published novels — deleted scenes, I suppose — from Silver Borne and Night Broken.

If any or all of the above made any sense to you, then congratulations! You’re a Mercy fan! And in that case, make sure you grab a copy of Shifting Shadows, and enjoy.

And just to repeat myself… if all of this seems like gobbledegook to you, that’s a sure sign that you haven’t yet been introduced to the wonderful world of Mercy Thompson. Moon Called is waiting for you…

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The details:

Title: Shifting Shadows
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Publication date: September 2, 2014
Length: 450 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy (short stories)
Source: Purchased

6Sep2014

Book Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Big Little Lies In Liane Moriarty’s newest bestseller, the Australian mommies at the heart of the story have a boatload of secrets and lies, and the schoolyard is practically on fire with hostility, passive-aggressive snarkiness, and not very grown-up-like behavior.

While we’re introduced pretty quickly to a large cast of characters, we mainly follow a group of three women who become best friends:

Madeline, happily married to her second husband and mother of two young ‘uns… but still plagued by resentment as she and her ex-husband wrangle time-sharing of their teen-aged daughter and deal with the fact that they’ll each have a little girl in kindergarten this year — in the same class.
Celeste, stunningly beautiful and fabulously wealthy, with a perfect husband and twin boys — but hiding a devastating secret from even her closest friends.
Jane, young single mom whose son Ziggy is accusing of bullying during kindergarten orientation. But did he do it? And what happened in Jane’s past that makes her so insecure about herself… and makes her wonder whether the accusations against her sweet Ziggy could be true?

We know from the very first chapter that something goes terribly wrong at a school fundraiser, and through quotes from assorted school parents sprinkled throughout the book, we see the the power of gossip and the way events gets distorted through the lens of personal bias and predisposition. Oh, and there’s a dead body and a police investigation, and a whole slew of unreliable witnesses.

Big Little Lies is a roller coaster ride of a book, full of twists and turns, ups and downs. The plot is fast-paced and engrossing, and the characters are just so damn good!

I’ll be honest: I almost closed this book and walked away within the first couple of chapters. Having read (and loved) The Husband’s Secret, I was getting a “been there, done that” feeling at the beginning of Big Little Lies. Another drama centered on the schoolyard? Yawn.

But something told me to keep reading, and wow, what a pay-off. The author is masterful at portraying people who feel real, but with that added oomph that makes them leap off the page. We all know people like Madeline and her ex, or like the “Blonde Bobs”, the ultra-involved moms who rule the school and look down their noses at all the less-perfect mothers — the ones who never quite manage to have the right snacks or finish their kids’ school projects on time.

While there’s real pain and drama here, the humor quotient is also quite high. I couldn’t help but cringe when reading certain characters’ lines, realizing that some of these same ridiculous-sounding statements have come out of my own mouth from time to time. All of the embarrassingly petty thoughts of parents under stress can be found here, and they’re hilarious… and also — almost — uncomfortably true to life. Yup, Madeline’s rants about her ex-husband felt a little too close for comfort to me… to the extent that my own daughter laughed hysterically when I read them to her, clearly pointing a finger back at me and some of my more ridiculous statements about my daughter’s dad.

The underlying story, beneath the surface of snarky humor and quippy one-liners, is sad and powerful. The through-story is about domestic violence and abuse, and it’s conveyed with heartbreaking sympathy and realism. When told from the victim’s point of view, it’s possible to understand why she stays for as long as she does, why she feels trapped, and how no solution or escape plan feels possible to her. Likewise, the deep shame that another character feels over an event from her past may objectively be illogical, but told from her own point of view, we can easily see how her current doubts and worries relate back to this terrible incident and can understand why she feels as she does.

Liane Moriarty does an excellent job of telling a compelling story that gets the balance of entertainment and empathy just right. It’s a sad, sad story in many ways, and yet the writing is so crisp and full of humor that I found myself laughing throughout as well.

I highly recommend Big Little Lies. It’s both a fast and absorbing read and a deep look at friendship, marriage, pain, and healing. I’m really looking forward to reading more by this outstanding Australian novelist.

For a look at another book by Liane Moriarty, see my review of The Husband’s Secret.

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The details:

Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Publication date: July 29, 2014
Length: 480 pages
Genre: Adult contemporary fiction
Source: Library

5Sep2014

Fields & Fantasies presents… The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Posted in Book Reviews, Fields & Fantasies by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the August/September pick for the Fields & Fantasies book club! Each month or so, in collaboration with my wonderful co-host Diana of Strahbary’s Fields, we’ll pick one book to read and discuss. Today, we’re looking at The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman:

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Mesmerizing and illuminating, Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century.

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.

With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is Alice Hoffman at her most spellbinding.

True confession time: I did not finish this book.

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with Alice Hoffman’s novels. The ones I love, I love wholeheartedly — The Dovekeepers, Practical Magic, Second Nature, among others. But when I don’t like them, I really don’t (Here on Earth comes to mind… with a big shudder to go with it).

I started Museum with high expectations — the setting, the era, and the description all appealed to me. But as I began to read, I found myself in the weird situation of loving the beautiful writing… and having no compelling interest in the story itself. To me, it felt slow and disjointed. Each chapter begins with pages upon pages of a character’s history — all in italics, which is annoying to read after a while — and then more pages picking up the story in the main timeline of the book. As a portrait of odd characters, it’s an impressive piece of writing, and the language itself is lovely. Still, the storyline as a whole simply didn’t hold my attention. Finally, at around page 130, I couldn’t convince myself to continue forward, and closed the covers.

I will say that one particular section, a detailed description of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, is especially breathtaking and beautifully crafted. Unfortunately, the individual moments of great writing never coalesced into a story engaging enough to keep me motivated to stick with it.

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My F&F partner Diana has a different take on Museum. You can view her review in its entirety on her blog, and it’s excerpted here:

Overall I liked the story. I haven’t read that much about New York City during the turn of the century. The culture clashes and new immigrants made it dangerous and exotic. I think Alice created a good glimpse into the world at that time. Each story progressed on its own and then merged about half way through the book. Which created a slow build that eventually paid off.

I really like Coralie and Eddie. Especially once they met. They both matured as the story progressed. There were a number of secondary characters that I really enjoyed, though I have to say I prefer the freaks that were around Coralie more so because they felt like complete characters. In many ways, the people that Eddie interacted with in the first half of the book felt like stereotypes in some parts.

I wanted to know more about our different takes on the story. Did Diana see something in it that I didn’t? And so, I asked her. Here’s a Q&A between Diana and me about The Museum of Extraordinary Things. Warning: SPOILERS from this point forward. Proceed at your own risk!

What was your favorite part of the story?

I really enjoyed the secondary characters. I have a good friend who is always more fond of the secondary characters in most books that we read and right now I feel like her. As much as I like Eddie and Coralie, I like the secondary characters more. We start to see a relationship form between Maureen, the “professor’s maid” and the wolf man (whom I loved btw) and I really liked their story. Likewise, why was Maureen so attached to Coralie so much so that she would put up with an abusive father? I would love to have known more about what was going in Maureen’s head.

What was your least favorite part?

Some of the immigrant characters seemed like stereotypes. They were just a generalized mass of people, those that did have character development didn’t really seem logical. For example Eddie’s father. He was a runner, and came off as a fairly weak character but all of a sudden at the end we find out his dad was some tough labor activist. It didn’t fit.

What three words come to mind when you think about the plot?

Slow: if I hadn’t been so curious about the historical elements to the book I probably would have dropped it before I became invested in the main characters.

Simple: there aren’t any major revelations that you don’t see coming. But the plot adequately gets you from point a to point b.

Accurate: one of my biggest pet peeves in historic fiction is when the author doesn’t do their homework. The history of Coney Island and the Labor movement was spot on.

Is this more of a character study or more plot-driven?

It’s hard to say. I would like to say that it’s more of a character study because of the detail that is put into the main characters and those closest to them.

What would you say to try to convince me to read this?

I haven’t convinced you so far?? The second half of the book is SO much better. Give it just a little more time. The characters will grow on you.

Is there any one thing about this book that makes it really stand out for you?

The whole historic freak show/circus element. It’s actually started me on a Gothic/steampunk circus kick. There was a period in our history where these circuses and freak shows were big attractions. I have really found it fascinating.

Have you read other books by this author? If so, how would you rank this one compared to the others?

You know this is the first book by Alice Hoffman that I have read. Which is odd because the movie Practical Magic is one of my favorite movies. I have heard people on a number of occasions say they weren’t fond of her writing but I quite liked this book and plan on reading more.

Thanks, Diana! I can’t say I’m convinced, but at least I have a sense of what you liked about the book and what I might have come to appreciate if I’d gone a bit further! I don’t think I’ll go back to this one, but I can see that the historical elements probably would have continued to be the most interesting part of the book for me.

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Next for Fields & Fantasies:

Horns To get in the mood for Halloween, we’re picking a horror story for October. Can’t wait to finally read Horns by Joe Hill.

31Aug2014

Book Review: Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Six Feet Over It In this moving young adult novel, main character Leigh is stuck working in her family business… which just happens to be running a graveyard. On a whim, her self-centered dad Wade has relocated his family from beautiful coastal Mendocino to the hot, boring inland town of Hangtown (yes, really, that’s its name), where he’s bought a graveyard. Shell-shocked, Leigh is forced into working in the graveyard office, selling plots and services to families at the worst moments of their lives. Does it make sense for an inexperienced teen to be a source of comfort for mourners? Wade doesn’t seem to care.

There’s more here than meets the eye. Only six months prior to the move, Leigh’s older sister Kai finally went into remission after a two-year battle with cancer. And what the family doesn’t know is that Leigh is battling major demons of guilt and self-blame. While Kai was ill, Leigh made a friend, the adorable and bubbly Emily. But Leigh always felt that she was abandoning Kai to spend time with Emily, so kept their friendship a secret. When Kai’s health returned and the girls were sent off to spend the summer with their grandparents, Leigh could have chosen to go with Emily instead to a week of camp — but telling herself that Kai always had to come first, Leigh stuck with her sister, and then discovered only through a newspaper clipping that Emily had died in a freak accident. More guilt. Would Emily have died if Leigh had been there? Would Kai have still beaten her cancer if Leigh hadn’t been by her side the whole time? And if Leigh now allows a new friend into her life, will she be betraying Emily all over again?

The parents in Six Feet Over It are truly appalling. Continuing the trend of absent/clueless parents in YA fiction, Leigh’s parents can, in the kindest interpretation, be accused of benign neglect. No one notices what Leigh is going through. No one notices that she wears the same jeans every single day (Emily gave them to her), that she has no friends, that she’s barely eating, that she’s on the verge of collapse from all of her misery. Instead, her mother retreats into painting and incessant solo trips back to Mendocino, and her dad is… well, he’s just a selfish, insensitive jerk, always quick with a joke but never bothering to listen. It’s awful. Sure, they’ve been through hell almost losing Kai, but their neglect of Leigh is unconscionable.

Six Feet Over It goes a lot deeper than I had anticipated. Leigh’s inner turmoil is painful to read about, yet it feels real. Her burden of guilt and responsibility may not make objective sense to an outsider, but it’s what she feels, and the author gives Leigh a voice that makes her struggles understandable.

There’s a subplot about the graveyard caretaker who becomes Leigh’s only source of support and comfort, but this piece of the story meanders into a rescue/road trip/border crossing story that is more of a distraction than it is a key part of the plot. Quite refreshingly, Leigh is not rescued from darkness by romance; there’s no love story hidden in Six Feet Over It, and that makes for a nice change from so much of the current crop of YA novels.

Overall, I found Six Feet Over It to be deeply affecting, while showcasing a brave young woman with a decidedly unusual life. I enjoyed seeing Leigh’s journey through such a painful and difficult period of her life, and felt that the book ended in a way that seemed both hopeful and realistic. I’d recommend this book for anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction with a slightly off-the-beaten-path feel to it.

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The details:

Title: Six Feet Over It
Author: Jennifer Longo
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication date: August 26, 2014
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Young adult fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of Random House via NetGalley

20Aug2014

Book Review: The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

The Geography of You and Me Meeting cute doesn’t get much cuter than this: Two Manhattan teen-aged loners get stuck in an elevator together during a city-wide blackout. Perfect, right?

For Lucy and Owen, the stuck elevator is just the beginning of a magical night. Once freed, they roam the streets and their building with no parents, no electricity, and no interference from normal daily life. They go up to the roof and watch the stars, they talk, and they dream. And the next day, it’s all over — but each is permanently marked by their brief time together.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Owen each have some real life drama as well. Lucy is the youngest child of busy, successful, jet-setting parents, who seem to think nothing of leaving her home alone while they travel the world, sending postcards from every perfect tourist destination they visit. Owen and his father have been drifting for months since Owen’s mother died in a car accident, and the sadness of their lives is overwhelming.

Lucy and Owen are deeply lonely people, and the connection they feel is sudden and strong. But their family ties pull them apart almost immediately, and though they keep up a connection via goofy “wish you were here” postcards, their paths seem to take them further and further away from one another. Was their connection a fluke? Is it just an illusion? Should they forget about it and move on along their new paths, or is the chemistry between them something worth trying to recapture?

The Geography of You and Me is a light and charming young adult romance, but it doesn’t skimp on real dilemmas and honest conflicts. Family loyalty is explored, and the parent-child relationships here are complex and sad. Lucy and Owen both have imperfect parents in their lives, and each has to step up in ways that might seem unfair, yet they love their parents and want more than anything to make their family lives work out. Both characters dream of each other, yet each is also determined to move forward, to find happiness, and to find a place to fit in.

I liked both main characters quite a bit. They’re smart and devoted, wise for their years yet not above being silly and spontaneous. Over the course of the novel, we see them grow and change, and their trajectories feel real. The storyline never sags, and despite spending most of the story apart, the connection between Lucy and Owen is always present between the lines.

My only quibble with this book is less about the book itself and more about overall trends. Perhaps this book might have grabbed me a little bit more or felt fresher if I hadn’t read Gayle Forman’s Just One Day and Just One Year recently. The Geography of You and Me treads familiar ground, focusing as it does on two characters who seem destined to get together, but spend most of the story apart, struggling to reconnect. As with the Forman books, it’s the journey that counts, and the ending scenario is remarkably similar. I feel like the trend of keeping characters apart and ending with a reunion is becoming more prevalent in contemporary young adult fiction, and unfortunately, that means that even when there’s one that succeeds, it may not feel entirely new or different.

That doesn’t mean that The Geography of You and Me isn’t worth reading; it certainly is. It’s fun, sweet, and even touching, and it’s quite a fast read as well, so you’ll be tempted to read it straight through to keep the storyline flowing along. This tale of connection and belonging is entertaining and never sappy. If you enjoy teen love stories with a hip, urban feel, this is definitely a book to check out.

Want to know about another Jennifer E. Smith book? Here’s my review of This Is What Happy Looks Like.

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The details:

Title: The Geography of You and Me
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Poppy/Little, Brown and Company
Publication date: April 15, 2014
Length: 337 pages
Genre: Young adult fiction
Source: Library

19Aug2014

Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Talk about being late to the party. I’ve been hearing about this book for years (since its publication in 2009, to be more precise), and yet it never quite made it into my hands until this month. Thanks to an upcoming book club discussion, I’ve finally read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet… and all I can say is, what took me so long?

This sad, sweet, and ultimately hopeful book is about love, friendship, family, and second chances. Centered around a shameful period in US history, Hotel is set at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment during World War II, as communities of Japanese Americans are forced from their homes and into internment camps. In 1942 Seattle, 12-year-old Chinese-American Henry Lee attends an all-white school, wearing the “I Am Chinese” button that his father forces on him to make sure everyone knows that Henry isn’t one of the enemy. Bullied and alone, Henry hates his new school until he meets the lovely, artistic new student, Keiko, daughter of a Japanese-American family. Henry and Keiko become fast friends, but Henry knows he’s breaking his father’s rules every moment he spends in Keiko’s company. When Keiko’s family is forced out in the evacuation of Japantown, Henry is bereft — but with the assistance of his musician friend Sheldon, he finds a way to stay connected with Keiko even in the distant and desolate camp to which she and her family are relocated.

Family is really at the heart of this slim book. Henry’s parents are so determined that he should be an American that he’s forbidden to speak Cantonese in their home — but since neither parent speaks English, the family spends years never really speaking to one another. Family loyalty is tested again and again, as Henry must choose between obedience to his parents — Chinese loyalists who are virulently anti-Japanese — and his need to help Keiko and her family. Keiko too must choose between the possibility of shelter and escape or staying with her parents and brother.

The time period of the books switches between the 1940s and the 1980s, when we see Henry as a recent widower with a cordial but distant relationship with his only child. When a trove of war-era items is found in a boarded-up old hotel in Japantown, Henry’s memories of Keiko are rekindled, and he begins a journey of rediscovery that starts to heal the rift between Henry and his son as well as presenting the possibility of recapturing a long lost love.

Through it all, these well-defined characters struggle for understanding and connection, forced apart by circumstances beyond their control, fighting to do what’s right, even when what’s right isn’t always clear. Loyalty, love, and friendship are all tested in different ways, and the recurring theme of jazz music nicely highlights the characters’ feelings and experiences.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a lovely book about a tragic piece of history. More than just a glimpse of the past, though, Hotel offers a glimpse into the hearts of its characters. Deeply affecting and full of period detail, this is a book that will be in my thoughts for quite some time to come.

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The details:

Title: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Author: Jamie Ford
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: 2009
Length: 290 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Purchased

16Aug2014

Book Review: Henna House by Nomi Eve

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Henna House tells the tale of the little-known world of the Jews of Yemen in the early 20th century, taking place largely during the tumultuous years of the 1920s and 1930s. As seen through the eyes of Adela Damari, whom we meet for the first time at age five, the Jewish community of the village of Qaraah is small and isolated, steeped in a tradition and a simple way of life that seems at odds with the modernity of the time period.

The Jewish community of Yemen at that time was by law an underclass, kept subservient and oppressed through a string of harsh restrictions and edicts, none more feared than the Orphan Decree. According to the Orphan Decree, an unmarried Jewish child left orphaned would be confiscated by local authorities, adopted by a Muslim family, and permanently removed from his or her relatives, community, and faith. Families lived in fear of confiscation, taking the preventive measure of betrothing children at birth so that hasty marriages could be enacted when needed.

Adela first enounters the Confiscator when she is five years old, and is terrified. This official routinely visits her father’s marketplace stall, observing her father’s illness, and practically counting the days until his death so that Adela can be taken. Despite having a very large family, Adela is at risk, as all of her potential betrothals have come to naught. One day, however, her young cousin Asaf comes to live in Qaraah, and the two children become fast friends — and more. Despite their young age, they form a deep bond, and it’s only natural that their betrothal is announced.

Other arrivals in Qaraah further change Adela’s life. Her uncle Barhun moves to the village with his wife Rahel, a skilled henna artist, and their daughter Hani, who quickly becomes Adela’s closest friend and confidante. Adela is introduced to the women’s henna rituals, in which symbols and patterns are painstakingly painted onto the skin to celebrate happy occasions, commemorate significant events, and represent a secret language full of mystical power and meaning.

That first night I was a novitiate. Soon, like the others, I would learn about the stars in the heavens by reading the astronomical tables they inscribed on my feet, shins, and fingers. Soon, I would grow to believe that I myself was an actual text, and that my skin without henna was like a holy book without words — a shameful, almost blasphemous, thing. Without henna, I wouldn’t know how to read myself. With henna, I was as sacred as a sanctified Torah. With henna, I was the carrier of ancient tales — a living girl-scroll replete with tales of sorrow, joy, and salvation.

The story of Henna House moves from the small mountain village of Adela’s birth to the city of Aden, through the anti-Jewish riots of the 1940s to the rescue of the Yemenite Jews by the newly declared nation of Israel. The story of Adela is at once large in scope, covering the significant events in the global Jewish community during the devastating years during and after the Holocaust, and at the same time, is a deeply personal tale.

Adela herself is a girl and then a young woman finding her way through an ever shifting series of homes and relations, experiencing both joy and love as well as terror and grief. She values the traditions of her people and the rituals of the henna house, yet also finds an inner strength that sees her through horrible loss and betrayals.

I was incredibly moved by this lovingly crafted story. The writing is often poetic, rich with tradition and symbolism, yet the pace never slackens or drags. The forward momentum of the story is engaging while also allowing the emotions of the characters room to breathe.

I was quite taken with the use of traditional rituals and foods to highlight the lives of the Jewish families, and found the depiction of their lives in Yemen completely fascinating.

Henna House is an intimate look at a time, a place, and a people, at a by-gone world with rich yet mysterious traditions. As historical fiction, it’s deeply affecting as well as informative and revealing. And as a novel, Henna House succeeds in telling a story full of love, wonder, loss, and excitement.

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I leave you with a collage of images (scavenged from Pinterest, thank you very much…) which bring to mind some of the people and food mentioned in Henna House.

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The details:

Title: Henna House
Author: Nomi Eve
Publisher: Scribner
Publication date: August 12, 2014
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of Scribner via NetGalley

9Aug2014

Book Review: Since You’ve Been Gone by Anouska Knight

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Since You've Been Gone In this romance, a young widow learns to start enjoying life again two years after the tragic death of her husband, when she falls in love with the handsome man who unexpectedly swoops into her life. And it doesn’t hurt that he has oodles of money, lives in a mansion, and drives a flashy sports car.

To be fair, Holly is emphatically not interested in Ciaran when he first appears, and she is so not impressed by his millions or by his allegedly playboyish love life. Holly just wants to live a quiet life in the unfinished cottage she and the late Charlie had moved into, where she can be left alone with her troubled dreams of her lost husband and with a big slobbery dog for company. But when Holly’s bakery (deliciously named Cake) is commissioned to make and deliver a specialty item to Ciaran’s father (a loud, often drunk man prone to inappropriate displays of what’s beneath his kilt), she meets and then can’t stop running into lovely Ciaran — and Ciaran is smitten enough to woo Holly despite her rather rude attempts to make him go away.

Since You’ve Been Gone doesn’t hold much in the way of surprises, but for a straight-forward romance, it veers just enough from the expected formula to keep it interesting. Holly herself is a well-drawn character, clearly suffering when we meet her and not ready to let go of her loss and grief. Yes, the money angle is a little obnoxious and obvious, but Holly makes clear that she falls for Ciaran despite the status and glamour, not because of it.

I enjoyed the emphasis on the natural settings, Holly’s love of nature and the outdoors, and the tenderness Ciaran displays in honoring Charlie’s memory. There are some stock characters, to be sure, including the gold-digging personal assistant who is icy-beautiful and constantly needles and undermines Holly — but the rest of the supporting cast, including the lonely older woman next door and Holly’s hugely pregnant and over-involved sister, are off-beat enough to keep the story lively.

Yes, in some respects this is a by-the-numbers romance novel, and anyone who’s not a fan of the genre might want to steer clear. I’m not much of a romance reader ordinarily, but I was drawn to Since You’ve Been Gone by the adorable cover as well as by the synopsis, which made it sound not very run-of-the-mill — and I’m pleased that I gave it a try.

Since You’ve Been Gone is a fast, light read, with some nice emotional moments (and some super-steamy sex) to keep things moving along. It’s an enjoyable book about finding love again, and is a perfectly entertaining way to spend a summer day.

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The details:

Title: Since You’ve Been Gone
Author: Anouska Knight
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Publication date: July 29, 2014
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Romance
Source: Review courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley