Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Well summer has come to an end, marked by my oldest heading off to school, still have my youngest for a month.  It has been a great summer filled with lots of traveling and family.  I'm sorry it has to end but excited to get back to my routine and my blog.  I hope you all had a wonderful summer and I'm so glad you stopped by today.

Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that she is the latest recipient of a generations-old family curse that requires her to complete three seemingly impossible tasks or risk falling into madness and passing the curse on to the next generation. Unlike her ancestors, though, Lucy has family, friends, and other modern resources to help her out. But will it be enough to conquer this age-old evil? 

A beautifully wrought modern fairy tale from master storyteller and award-winning author Nancy Werlin. Inspired by the classic folk ballad "Scarborough Fair," this is a wonderfully riveting and haunting novel of suspense, romance, and fantasy.

I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book, nor could I remember what drew me to it in the first place.  Going in without any expectations probably saved me from absolutely hating this book.  In the end I decided to give Impossible 2 out of 5 stars.

My initial issue with this book is that it took it a long time to get off the ground.  Instead of getting right to the problem and the three tasks that Lucy would have to face Nancy takes over 100 pages to get to the incident that sets off everything.  Yes I agree that some character development needs to be made but I as a reader prefer to see my characters in action rather than in a slow drudge through everyday life.

Once the horrible incident that set everything off took place all the characters, and I mean all of them, seemed to just accept it and move on.  I'm sorry but there is an element of fantasy (folklore) here that any normal person would not just accept once told.  I liked the fact that the people in Lucy's life supported her and believed in her but everything was just too easy and convenient.

Now I want to take a second to go back to the whole action thing, or lack there of.  So Impossible has this wonderful set up, horrible incident, 3 tasks to perform.  One would think the majority of the book would be on performing the three critical tasks.  Well, it's not.  In fact one task is completed in a couple of paragraphs.  No great dramatic lead up, no thwart, no action during, it just happens and then we move on. I do have to say that the last task does have a lot more drama and intrigue to it but at this point in time I was just reading because I had read over half the book.

Final thoughts.  Well, I didn't like the book but I am not relegating it to the worst books I've ever read.  I probably won't pick up anything else by this author.

The Friday 56, Book Beginnings, Literary Friday

Book Beginnings
There will be no awakening.

The Friday 56
The camp lay twenty miles east of where we lived, hacked out of the woods during the 3rd wave to build a field hospital after the ones in town had reached full capacity.

One Night In Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore

If your children were forced to testify against you, what terrible secrets would they reveal?

Moscow 1945. As Stalin and his courtiers celebrate victory over Hitler, shots ring out. On a nearby bridge, a teenage boy and girl lie dead.

But this is no ordinary tragedy and these are no ordinary teenagers, but the children of Russia's most important leaders who attend the most exclusive school in Moscow.

Is it murder? A suicide pact? Or a conspiracy against the state?

Directed by Stalin himself, an investigation begins as children are arrested and forced to testify against their friends - and their parents. This terrifying witch-hunt soon unveils illicit love affairs and family secrets in a hidden world where the smallest mistakes will be punished with death.
I was looking forward to reading One Night in Winter.  It has great reviews on Goodreads and has all the elements that I love in a historical fiction. However I just couldn't get into this book at all. Maybe it was because I don't know much about Russian history and Stalin.  

But I think more than anything it was the abundance of characters that seemed poorly developed.   And when I say abundance of characters I mean a total of 57!  The author even puts a list at the start of the book so you can keep them all straight.  But who wants to continually flip to the front of the book to keep everything straight? On top of that they all seem to have nicknames.  It was just exhausting.  

It is writen in 3rd person multiple points of view.  The issue is the voices weren't balanced.  I would get really interested in one story and then the author would switch and not come back to the previous character for pages and pages.  Other characters he just had a paragraph or two.  It left me feeling like the story wasn't well rounded.

I am the minority when it comes to not liking this book.  So if historical fiction is your thing be sure to check out the other reviews.  It might be just the book for you.

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The Friday 56, Book Beginnings, Literary Friday

 Book Beginnings
The leather-bound volume was nothing remarkable.  To an ordinary historian, it would have looked no different from hundreds of other manuscripts in Oxford's Bodleian Library.

Friday 56
The daemon's eyes were focused on a spot in the middle of the room. "Of course, you're a witch,too. Perhaps it's wrong to talk to you.  I would have thought you of all witches would be able to figure out how they did it thought..."

The Heiresses by Sara Shepard

The series follows one of the most prestigious and wealthy families on the Upper East Side who have built their entire fortune on the business of diamonds.

Due to a clause the grandfather placed in his will, only his granddaughters are set to inherit his massive fortune…these are the heiresses. After the death of their cousin, the remaining heiresses try to figure out if the family curse is real or not, and if not, who killed their cousin, and more importantly, which one of them is next on the hit list?

I enjoyed this one.  It was light, fast paced and enough of a mystery to hold my interest.  A great beach read. 

 

The Heiresses is the first in an intended series and I will be reading the others.  To me this is very similar to the TV show Pretty Little Liars (also written by Sara) but for those readers that are no longer into YA and still want to read books by Shepard.  A marketing genius!

 

There are a few too many characters mentioned in the first chapters which made my head spin a bit.  But that gets smoothed out and it's clear the characters will be in the next book.  The book is written in 3rd person multiple points of view.  Each character has a distinct voice and even if you don't relate to the character you can still get a sense of who they are and what motivates them.

 

Some of the 'twists' were predictable and the solving of the mystery was an information dump but it was well supported and plausible. 

 

The only writing flaw that I found was that some of the transitions between past memories and present story line were a bit too abrupt.  So occasionally I had to reread what I had just read to ground myself in the story. 

 

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes light mysteries and strong female relationship books.  4 stars from me.

The Friday 56, Book Beginnings, Literary Friday

Book Beginnings

Just moments after the shots, as Serafima looks at the bodies of her schoolfriends, a feathery whiteness is already frosting their blasted flesh.

Page 1 Prologue June 1945

 

The Friday 56

'Why would anyone want to kill me?' asked Marlen, looking around. 

'Because you are so important in the school.  Our enemies will certainly know you're school Komsorg.'

Page 56

 

 

50 Children by Steven Pressman

Based on the acclaimed HBO documentary, the astonishing true story of how one American couple transported fifty Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Austria to America in 1939—the single largest group of unaccompanied refugee children allowed into the United States—for readers of In the Garden of Beasts and A Train in Winter.

 

In early 1939, America's rigid immigration laws made it virtually impossible for European Jews to seek safe haven in the United States. As deep-seated anti-Semitism and isolationism gripped much of the country, neither President Roosevelt nor Congress rallied to their aid.

 

Yet one brave Jewish couple from Philadelphia refused to silently stand by. Risking their own safety, Gilbert Kraus, a successful lawyer, and his stylish wife, Eleanor, traveled to Nazi-controlled Vienna and Berlin to save fifty Jewish children. Steven Pressman brought the Kraus's rescue mission to life in his acclaimed HBO documentary, 50 Children. In this book, he expands upon the story related in the hour-long film, offering additional historical detail and context to offer a rich, full portrait of this ordinary couple and their extraordinary actions.

 

Drawing from Eleanor Kraus's unpublished memoir, rare historical documents, and interviews with more than a dozen of the surviving children, and illustrated with period photographs, archival materials, and memorabilia, 50 Children is a remarkable tale of personal courage and triumphant heroism that offers a fresh, unique insight into a critical period of history.

 

I must start by saying when I selected this book I did not know it was non-fiction.  My expectations were for something more along the lines of a Philippa Gregory, a fictitious portrayal of real people and a real story.  Even with this misconception I enjoyed this book. I also did not know that there was a film covering the same topic and have plans to watch it in the near future.

 

WWII has always fascinated me.  Why did this happen, what possessed Hitler, how come more people didn't fight back.  The story of 50 Children answered some of these questions for me. I was glued to the book when Steven started covering American Immigrations laws of the time.  He laid out, in a not so positive light on America, why Jews couldn't just leave Nazi controlled areas.  The policy of quotas per country and that everyone must be self sufficient (no monetary aid needed).  It was interesting to learn about this portion of American history.

 

The book is broken down into three sections, 1) The Plan, 2) The Rescue, and 3) New Lives.  Each section is tightly written with loads of information and a smattering (I could have used more) of insight into who Gil and Eleanor Kraus were. Some of the insight into who Eleanor Kraus was made her look extremely shallow.  Perhaps more so than intended because of the heavy nature of the book.

 

Like many non-fiction books there are a plethora of names, all of which I couldn't grasp onto and keep in my mind through the duration of the book.  However, those that were most important I was able to follow.  On this topic there were also some characters that were thrown in and not used, Dr. Robert Schless went with Gil to Vienna but he is hardly ever mentioned at all.  And then there is Hedy Neufeld who aids the Kraus' and is only briefly covered.

 

The book closes by highlighting a number of the children and how they lived their lives after coming to America. 

 

For those interested in WWII and intrigued by rescue stories and the brave men and women behind them then this is a must read. 

 

50 Children will be available for purchase April 22nd. 

I received an advanced readers copy in return for an honest review.

 

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The Friday 56, Book Beginnings, Literary Friday

 

Book Beginnings

On a late April morning, as rain smeared the windowpanes, washed the dirt off the sidewalks, and slowed traffic on every block in New York City, twenty-seven-year-old Corinne Saybrook stood barefoot in a dressing room, talking on her cell phone in clipped, precise Turkish.

pg 11 (previous pages are a prologue) of The Heiresses

 

The Friday 56

Compared to Poppy's feminine touches in their own place, Rowan's apartment looked like the inside of a cigar box. It wasn't lost on her, either, that James hadn't seen this place in years.

pg. 56 of The Heiresses

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palisades Park by Alan Brennert

Growing up in the 1930s, there is no more magical place than Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey—especially for seven-year-old Antoinette, who horrifies her mother by insisting on the unladylike nickname Toni, and her brother, Jack. Toni helps her parents, Eddie and Adele Stopka, at the stand where they sell homemade French fries amid the roar of the Cyclone roller coaster. There is also the lure of the world’s biggest salt-water pool, complete with divers whose astonishing stunts inspire Toni, despite her mother's insistence that girls can't be high divers.

But a family of dreamers doesn't always share the same dreams, and then the world intrudes: There's the Great Depression, and Pearl Harbor, which hits home in ways that will split the family apart; and perils like fire and race riots in the park. Both Eddie and Jack face the dangers of war, while Adele has ambitions of her own—and Toni is determined to take on a very different kind of danger in impossible feats as a high diver. Yet they are all drawn back to each other—and to Palisades Park—until the park closes forever in 1971.

Evocative and moving, with the trademark brilliance at transforming historical events into irresistible fiction that made Alan Brennert’s Moloka'i and Honolulu into reading group favorites, Palisades Park takes us back to a time when life seemed simpler—except, of course, it wasn't. 

This is a book about a park where all the characters seem to be supporting the parks growth and development.  It is written in third person with multiple points of view, Eddie, a man who's dream it is to own a concession stand at the park, Adele, who marries Eddie and Toni, Eddie and Adele's daughter.  It chronicles the dreams of each of these characters in relation to the park.  The problem with these points of view is that you never really connect to any of them.  While there are hiccups in the characters lives, everything is still a bit too perfect. 

 

I love a good historical fiction and really like how the author touched on all the major historical events that took place during the parks reign.  Starting with the Great Depression, moving into WWII, The Civil Rights movement, the Korean War, and the Kafauver Committee (Crime in Interstate Commerce).  Another thing that Brennert does is use characters that were actually part of the parks history.  John Rinaldi was a superintendent and makes an appearance in the book.  Minette Dobson and Bunty Hill play pivotal roles in Toni's life and were fixtures of the park in history.  The Rosenthal brothers owned the park for over thirty years. And Melba Valle Rosa, a civil rights activist, leaves a lasting impression on Toni.

 

Since I have mentioned all these characters I will add that there are too many minor characters mentioned at the start of the book.  My head was spinning with all the names and it took me over half the book to work out who was who and which characters were actually important. 

 

I think this book would have been better as a documentary of the park instead of throwing in characters that one can't connect to and a soap opera type vibe where everything is solved within a few paragraphs.  It's an easy read but a bit of a disappointment.  What it did make me do was venture out to discover more about the actual history of the park.

The Friday 56, Book Beginnings, Literary Friday

Book Beginnings
London, 1867
I blame Charles Dickens for the death of my father.
pg. 1 of This House is Haunted

The Friday 56
As the little girls closed the door behind me, it sealed with a heavy sound, making me jump and turn round in fright, at which pointed I startled again, for standing next to her, wearing a similarly white, crisp nightshirt, was a little boy, perhaps four years her junior.  I hadn't seen him before.  Had he been hiding behind the door?
pg. 56 of This House is Haunted

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? 

 As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet? 

I've been sitting on this review trying to figure out how I truly feel about this book.  Well, I'm still conflicted.  On the one hand this was a book that I couldn't put down, on the other I despised the ending, the unnecessary crudity in the writing and the predictability of the storyline.   

 

Gone Girl has two distinct voices, Nick, the unconcerned husband, and Amy, the unhappy, unloved wife.  Both voices are strong, even if some of the things they are saying are a bit fishy.  From the start I didn't like Amy but I don't think that was the authors intent.  As I read on this feeling grew stronger even after discovering that Nick was no saint.  So there was never a "Oh my gosh" moment for me, I guess that is why I say this book is predictable. 

 

On the surface Gone Girl is a mystery, but mystery lovers will be highly disappointed.  It is nothing more than an ultra dark chick lit book.  Demented and disturbing don't even begin to describe the content within the covers of this book.  I'm all for a dark demented story but what I didn't need, and got beat over the head with, was the crude narrative from both characters.  It did nothing to enhance the voices of the characters or describe the situations, it just read as tawdry unnecessary words.

 

What I did love is how Gillian takes major marital issues like money, employment, children, infidelity, and trust and mixed them into a toxic formula that propels both characters to do things no practical human would ever consider.  This and this alone is what made the book compelling. However the reader doesn't know this is going on until halfway through the novel, so getting through the first 200 or so pages can drag. 

 

This will be a book that I will never forget and one that would make a great book club discussion. 

 

 

New rides were introduced, including the Water Scooter - managed by an up-and-comer named Joe Rinaldi, who also ran the Dodgem cars - and a hair-raising new coaster, the Lake Placid Bobsled, whose steep drops and hairpin turns could hardly have been called "placid."

pg 56 of Palisades Park

 

 

They Danced by the Light of the Moon by Tempa Pagel

Andy Gammon, a former Detroit social studies teacher living in (but not always fitting into) a quaint New England town with her Yankee husband and two children, can't help getting involved whenever history meets mystery. Add in a couple of prime specimens of 19th century architecture-Andy's other passion-and she can't resist sneaking through back hallways of a Victorian grand hotel and crawling through the underground tunnels of a derelict Gothic insane asylum as she seeks answers to why a woman was killed at the Grand Hotel of the Atlantic on the night of the reopening gala, why another woman disappeared from that same room a century ago, and what connection may exist between the two.

They Danced by the Light of the Moon is Tempa Pagel’s second book in the Andy Gammon series. If you enjoyed Here’s the Church, Here’s the Steeple, you will love this one. The story, brimming with haunting intrigue, memorable characters, and a wealth of expressive detail, travels back and forth between the familiar, modern world and an early 20^th Century coastal New England brought uniquely to life.

 

Pagel takes the reader back to 1901 when Marguerite Miller, torn between family duty and a keen desire for independence, is sneaking out of her room in an elite New Hampshire hotel. A quick shift to the present sees Andy attending the grand re-opening of the hotel over a hundred years later. Echoes of Marguerite’s legendary disappearance begin to haunt Andy, a onetime social studies teacher and now frequent sleuth, and her mother-in-law sidekick. In no time these two stumble onto a murder that takes place in the very room from which Marguerite disappeared.  Too much of a coincidence? The sleuthing duo thinks so – and quickly become haunted by the past and its now disputed cultural beliefs, as they struggle to understand its imprint on the present day murder.  The plot is stimulating; the writing, perky and well-paced in the present, is almost dream-like in the past making for enigmatic transitions.  Pagel effectively weaves the mysterious past with an old fashioned, present day whodunit for a very satisfying read as perfect for a dreary winter day as it is for a visit to the beach. 

 

This review is by my mother.  I read Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple, a number of years ago and enjoyed it.

 

 

"The scent of Lady Frederick's perfume lingered behind her, as pungent as crushed frangipani petals, in the confined cabin.  Shaking his head to clear it, like a sleepwalker slapping himself into wakefulness, Alex forced his attention to his writing desk..."

 

Page 56 of The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. This is book 6 in one of my favorite series, they don't have to be read together.



Help for the Haunted by John Searles

It begins with a call in the middle of snowy February evening. Lying in her bed, young Sylvie Mason overhears her parents on the phone across the hall. This is not the first late-night call they have received, since her mother and father have an uncommon occupation, helping "haunted souls" find peace. And yet, something in Sylvie senses that this call is different than the rest, especially when they are lured to the old church on the outskirts of town. Once there, her parents disappear, one after the other, behind the church's red door, leaving Sylvie alone in the car. Not long after, she drifts off to sleep only to wake to the sound of gunfire.

Nearly a year later, we meet Sylvie again struggling with the loss of her parents, and living in the care of her older sister, who may be to blame for what happened the previous winter.

As the story moves back and forth in time, through the years leading up to the crime and the months following, the ever inquisitive and tender-hearted Sylvie pursues the mystery, moving closer to the knowledge of what occurred that night, as she comes to terms with her family's past and uncovers secrets that have haunted them for years.

I can't quite put my finger on this book.  It could be classified as a mystery, Gothic thriller or general fiction.  The fact that this book could be classified in so many genres might have something to do with why I don't really know how I feel about the book.  There are just too many different things going on and I don't think any thread was particularly well developed.

 

The story is told through the eyes of a sixteen year old girl, Silvie.  There are two storylines, the present day and everything leading up to her parents murder.  She has a strong voice but I don't feel like she grew in any way.  That may have to do with all the jumping back and forth in time.

 

I had the opportunity to chat with the author and learned that the book is loosely based on the Warren's.  I knew nothing about this couple so it was fun to learn something new.  The Warren's are the family that the movie The Conjuring was based on. 

 

My need to find out who murdered Silvie's parents kept me reading, without this element I'm pretty sure I would have put the book down.  Once I start a mystery I just have to know 'who done it.' When the book finally got around to this it felt rushed.  Many of the elements that pulled it together seemed outlandish and unneeded to make the story believable. 

 

In the end there was just too much left up in the air for me.  There was never a definitive answer on any of the paranormal aspect of the storyline.  It was left up to the reader to decide what they believe. 

 

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  I started Gone Girl yesterday.  I'm not thrilled that this book was selected by our book club.  Last year I read He's Gone and didn't care for it much.  Many of the reviews of He's Gone said it was just a re-write of Gone Girl.  But I'm giving it a try.

 I'm using this book to participate in

"I like to think I am confident and secure and mature enough to know Nick loves me without him constantly proving it.  I don't need pathetic dancing-monkey scenarios to repeat to my friends; I am content with letting him be himself."

 

From page 56

 

So what are you reading?

 

 

Necessary Lies By Diane Chamberlain

Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty years ago, and the darkest—and most hopeful—places in the human heart

After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm.  As she struggles with her grandmother’s aging, her sister’s mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.

When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County’s newest social worker, she doesn’t realize just how much her help is needed.  She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients' lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband.  But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm—secrets much darker than she would have guessed.  Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong.

Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy.  Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it’s wrong?

This one deserves more than 5 stars!  I learned something about American history (you know the kind nobody wants to talk about) I felt connected to the characters and truly cared what happened to them and I just couldn't put it down.

 

Diane Chamberlain takes on the hush hush topic of the eugenics sterilization program something that I didn't even know existed and couldn't believe that we actually practiced especially after WWII. But somehow Diane skirts the line of making this an angry political statement book leaving me feeling more like I was educated than told how to feel about something.

 

The book is told from two women's points of view, Jane and Ivy, and they couldn't be from more different worlds. Diane creates a realistic relationship between these two women which I found refreshing considering how easy it could have been to go overboard with their friendship.  Both women are very well developed, as are all the characters.  There are ones that I liked and ones that I didn't but I understood why every single one of them acted the way they did. 

 

I'm not going to lie, the book is sad, but again Diane skirts the line of sad and depressing very well.  I never once got up from reading this book with that heavy depressed feeling so many books sometimes leave.  I always got up wanting to read more and when it was all done I was happy with the way she chose to end it.

 

After visiting Diane's website I discovered a prequel to this book and I am going to download it right away. This is a keeper book for me and I have the feeling that many of her other books will be as well.  I am so glad I read this, it was by far one of the best books I read all year.

 

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Defending Jacob by William Landay

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

William Landay wove a story that I enjoyed despite not liking any of the characters.  Despite the unoriginality of the storyline I couldn't put this book down.  Landy's pacing was spot on and I enjoyed how he broke up the book with different texts to show the current timeline, the father, Andy, sitting in the witness box being examined by a prosecutor, vs. everything that happened leading up to the trial. 

 

Defending Jacob is told from Jacob's fathers point of view, Andy Barber.  He, like the other characters, is greatly flawed.  He is simply unable to see anything negative about his son.  This is deeply contrasted by how the mother views her son.  It left me feeling like Landay wrote the two extremes in parenting.

 

Landay spends a lot of time on the murder gene.  This is the first time I have ever heard of this type of behavioral phycology.  It really got me thinking about what might be hidden in my genes and if I believed in this or not.  I enjoy books that make me think and this one did.  It also scared me because this family on the surface appeared close but none of them really knew each other at all.  How well do I know my family?

 

Mystery/thrillers are not really my genre so I can' say if this was a good one or not.  What I can say is that I enjoyed this book despite the wide open ending.  If you are okay with there not being a definitive answer on "who done it" this is a great novel for character development, the ties that bind or unbind a family and how secrets can destroy everything. 

 

I am linking up with Art @ Home's Literary Friday

come join us! 

Death of the Mad Hatter by Sarah J Pepper

The Jack prophesied: If the king loses his head, then the Queen with a Bleeding Heart would rule the Red Court until Time ceased to move forward. When a second carried on for infinity, every creature in Wonderland would tip their Hat to the misfit girl with a Boy’s name (or was it a boy with a Girl’s name?) who’d end the Reign of Terror. However, it all hinged on the One-Eyed Hare being able to convince an uninspirable Heir that the impossible was indeed possible—like stopping time—and that Love was worth a Beheading.

Heads would Roll…
Hearts would Break…
In the end, would it matter who Reigned?

Sarah J. Pepper specializes in dark, paranormal romance – think “happy ever after” but with a twisted, dark chocolate center. Real-life romance isn't only filled with hugs, kisses, unicorns, and rainbows. True-love can be more thoroughly described in times of darkness and tribulation. It’s in those harsh moments where you see what a person is truly capable of – both the good and bad. Sometimes prince-charming isn't always on time, and the glass slipper is a little snug. However, it doesn't mean Charming is not Mr. Right, and who says every shoe is the perfect fit?

 

And that is exactly what she gives us with Death of the Mad Hatter (available for pre-order).  This is a wildly imaginative book filled with rich quirky descriptions, strong characters and a believable romance line.

 

Death of the Mad Hatter answers the question of what happened after Alice's trip to Wonderland.  This isn't the Alice you know, she is now a teenager and has been drastically changed after multiple visits to Wonderland. Alice is but one of the many characters from Lewis Carroll's work that Sarah develops.  There's of course the Mad Hatter, The Queen of Hearts is still the nemesis and a book with Alice in it isn't complete without the White Rabbit.  However the book isn't about Alice, it's about falling in love, surmounting obstacles and defeating evil.  To do this Sarah adds her own characters. Ryley is a down to earth kid who's got a bit of a daddy issue, his friends Dax, Irwin, Mick, Becky and Courtney are each individual in their own way and help carry the story without spending too much time on them (because after all the book isn't about the minor characters).   

 

The romance line is more of a tug of war, none of that falling into each other's arms at first glance.  For those of you not keen on romance, don't count this book out.  Sarah balanced the romance line with action, rich descriptions (that are tight and concise) and her magical world.  It makes for a well rounded book.

 

"Wonderland was an intoxicating, magical world where the most farfetched dreams could come true and the impossible was possible.  Conversely, it was a realm where the most daunting nightmares could haunt us until the end of time." Sounds like love doesn't it.  I really enjoyed how Sarah mixed her magical story with real life lessons. 

 

This is a fun, must read for anyone that knows the story of Alice and Wonderland - boys and girls alike (and of course those adults who love Alice in Wonderland). 

 

Still undecided (how could you be!) check out some of the other reviews.  I think you will see a common trend, you should read this.

666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce

What if your mother-in-law turned out to be an evil, cold-blooded witch . . . literally?

Ever since fabulously wealthy Malcolm Doran walked into her life and swept her off her feet, fledgling architect Jane Boyle has been living a fairy tale. When he proposes with a stunning diamond to seal the deal, Jane can't believe her incredible luck and decides to leave her Paris-based job to make a new start with Malcolm in New York.

But when Malcolm introduces Jane to the esteemed Doran clan, one of Manhattan's most feared and revered families, Jane's fairy tale takes a darker turn. Soon everything she thought she knew about the world—and herself—is upended. Now Jane must struggle with newfound magical abilities and the threat of those who will stop at nothing to get them.

 



With the streak of bad books I've been reading I wanted to pick something up that would be light and most likely something I would enjoy.  Well, I enjoyed the TV show 666 Park Avenue, so why not try the book?

 

The book is nothing like the TV show!  And when I say nothing I mean literally the only thing that is the same is the name of the heroine and the city it takes place in.  But this is not a review of the TV show vs. the book, so onto my book review.

 

666 Park Avenue is a bit unfocused.  It seems to me that Gabriella Pierce was trying to write a romance, a paranormal and a chic lit book all in one and instead of getting the formula right it ended up lacking on all fronts.  The romance line is unbelievable.  Without giving anything away, Malcolm does some things that would make any girl run for the hills but Jane forgives and forgets and plows forward with their marriage.  It's hard to swallow and makes Jane out to be a very week character.

 

On top of that Jane never stands up for herself.  She allows her mother-in-law to plow over all of her wedding wishes.  It is so bad that it is hard to read.  I just wanted to reach into the book and throttle some sense and spine into Jane.  Another unforgivable flaw is that Jane accepts that she is a witch way to easily.  She never has that "witches aren't real" moment or the "how can I be a witch" she just says oh, okay. 

 

***Spoiler***

There were two components of this book that screamed unoriginal to me.  In the house is a giant family tree tracing only the females for the family, Anne Rice did that in The Queen of the Damned and then there is a family member hidden in the attic, hello Jane Eyre. 

 

I hate to say it but the TV show was far more interesting and had much stronger characters.  I'm sad that it has been canceled.  Regardless of all the negative things I have said, this was the type of book I needed, a light don't have to think about it read.  I am also not opposed to reading the other books in this series. 

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Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

It began in Scotland, at an ancient stone circle. There, a doorway, open to a select few, leads into the past—or the grave. Claire Randall survived the extraordinary passage, not once but twice. Her first trip swept her into the arms of Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scot whose love for her became legend—a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Her second journey, two decades later, brought them together again in frontier America. But Claire had left someone behind in the twentieth century. Their daughter, Brianna....

Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the stone circle and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she is risking her own future to try to change history...and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past...or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong....

The Outlander series is one of my all time favorite reads.  I read the first three, Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager back to back over 7 years ago.  I got 50 pages into Drums of Autumn and put it down.  For years since I've been hearing that I just have to make it through the book and then everything gets better.  Well in my opinion there should not be a book you "have to get through."

 

This time when I picked it up I was determined to get through it.  But boy did it hurt.  The first 450 pages, yep you read that right, this book is close to 1000 pages, were so dry I might as well have been in the Sahara Desert.  It did pick up a bit after that but nothing like Diana's other page turning, heart racing, gotta know what happens books. 

 

This book also took us away from Scotland, which had happened before but they always returned.  It took place in North Carolina after the French and Indian War.  There was a lot about how to survive in the wilderness and deal with the natives but there didn't seem to be any reason for as much as Diana put in.  I missed my European setting. 

 

As for character development I think Diana missed the mark.  She spent a ton of time on Claire and Jamie (yes I love them but they are already well established) and not enough time on Brianna (Claire and Jamie's daughter) and Roger, Brianna's love interest.  Of course there was some but not enough to justify the length of the book.

 

Overall I'm glad I "got through it" because I have high hopes for the next book which I won't be picking up right away but do have more of a desire to read than I did this one. 

 

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The Round House by Louise Erdrich

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

This book is among one of the worst books I've ever read.  I am seriously starting to wonder about award winning books.  Does it have to suck to win an award?

 

The Round House is what I call a "boy book."  You know those books that are about boys and probably only appeal to boys (like A Separate Peace).  But the big issue is what boy would want to read about how another boy deals with his mother being raped?  So it fails even that criteria (yes it is my own but I have to have some criteria's).

 

Louise Erdrich did something rather unusual in her writing style, she used absolutely no quotations.  A number of times I had to read read sections to figure out what was actually being spoken out loud by the character, what was internal thought and what was just descriptions.  It was really annoying.  It broke up the pace (not that she had an edge of your seat pace, which a mystery book in my opinion should have).

 

None of the characters seem to have any redeeming qualities.  Again I feel like another author tried to make their characters more realistic by giving them flaws but went overboard.  The Catholic Priest in this book is particularly scummy, come on people stop picking on the Catholic's they are not all bad. 

 

As I'm sure you can tell from my tone I am absolutely disgusted with having made myself read this entire book and am loosing faith in the literary world.  I am ready to go back to my mind numbing teen vampires!

 

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Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

In 1810, a sister and brother uncover the fossilized skull of an unknown animal in the cliffs on the south coast of England. With its long snout and prominent teeth, it might be a crocodile – except that it has a huge, bulbous eye.

Remarkable Creatures is the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.

Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, however, Mary finds herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she takes solace in an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly London spinster with her own passion for fossils.

The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth sees them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession. It reminds us that friendship can outlast storms and landslides, anger and jealousy.

 

 

I found Remarkable Creatures, remarkably boring.  This is the third novel I have read by Tracy Chevalier and I am starting to think that Girl with a Pearl Earing was a fluke since it is the only book I've liked.

 

In the video Tracy says the book is about Mary and Elizabeth's friendship. Well, she missed that mark.  Tracy spent too much time harping on the fossil aspect of this book (which she obviously did extensive research on) for anything but the fossil's to be well developed.  Every time I read about a new fossil discovered by Mary I thought, wow there are a lot of fossils on this beach.  It might be historically correct, but it was hard to swallow as a reader.

 

Another thing Tracy seems to be proud of is her discovery that Mary was struck by lightning as a child.  She writes this into the book but it seems out of place.  It adds nothing to Mary's character or the friendship the book is supposed to be about.

 

Overall this was a very dry, extremely slow moving book.

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He's Gone by Deb Caletti

“What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?”

 

The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.

 

As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.

 

 

I will come right out and say it.  I did not like this book. 

 

For starters when it was voted for our next read in my book club I didn't vote for it, just didn't' like the way it sounded.  But like I always do I went into it with an open mind because half the books I read I don't want to and end up loving them.

 

This book is written in first person, I usually love first person books.  But we spend over 75% of the book inside Dani's head.  Her memories of her first marriage, the affair and the second marriage with Ian.  There were long sections between when one character spoke and Dani replied.  Half the time I lost the thread of the conversation.

 

The write up makes it sound like there will be something exciting going on in regards to the missing husband.  Cop type stuff.  But there is hardly any of that and Dani doesn't really ponder what the police are doing.  There is absolutely no excitement or tension in this book just pages and pages of Dani's thoughts. 

 

When we finally do get to what happened to Ian it is insignificant and you don't really care because he hasn't been painted in the best of lights.  Heck, all the characters are flawed to the point where you can't understand why Dani had anything to do with them.

 

My advice, skip this one.  There are too many good books written about the same type of thing to waste your time stuck inside Dani's head.

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Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by luck or chance. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?

As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

 

Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.

Wow, just wow. 

I picked this book up for an online book club I am a member of and read it in 2 days. 

Until this book I had no inkling about this part of our American History and I find it horrifying and fascinating all at the same time.

Baker Kline weaves the historical journey of Vivian (named Niamh by her birth parents and Dorothy by one of the families that takes her in) and Molly's present day foster care story beautifully.  Her characters are well rounded and easy to identify with which I found amazing since I have no experience with the foster care system. 

The one element that did bother me is that Baker Kline makes all of the women who foster/adopt (with the exception of one who you don't get a good picture of) horrible.  I'm not talking just mean to Vivian and Molly but just down right rotten people.  I found this element of the book a bit disturbing, being confronted with these women every page just left me with a nasty taste in my mouth. 

There was one other thing that happened in this book that I found absolutely unbelievable and stunning.  I don't want to give anything away but I am still thinking about Vivian's decision today and would love to ask the author 'why'.

It is rare for me to pick up a book and learn something new about our history (since I'm a bit of a history nut).  But this one did teach me something and was written beautifully. 

The Orphan Train Movement was a welfare program that transported children from crowded cities of the United States, such as New York City and Boston, to willing foster homes across the country. The orphan trains ran between 1853 and 1929, relocating an estimated 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children. At the time the orphan train movement began, reformers estimated that 30,000 vagrant children were living on the streets of New York City.

Two charity institutions, The Children's Aid Society (established by Charles Loring Brace) and later, the Catholic New York Foundling Hospital, determined to help these children. The two institutions developed a program that placed homeless city children into homes throughout the country. The children were transported to their new homes on trains which were eventually labeled “orphan trains” or "baby trains." This period of mass relocation of children ended by the 1920s; it was the beginning of organized foster care in America. (from Wikipedia)

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