tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11487085694440329002024-03-04T23:31:13.930-08:00Breaking Out of DreamsIn which an aspiring writer attempts to make dreams a realitymaire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-33946072920637356812020-12-03T13:27:00.003-08:002020-12-03T13:27:45.303-08:00Eartheater by Dolores Reyes, translated by Julia Sanches: A Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb0Ao6LlneRMxKOwwroX1Y2Zj9UxM_HHifkOatQShc12dgITgKq1LyFSHirunnl42M-IyjNhfTo6KvmFoRLh_eI2BfK7Y2QVQO_8H81KAA6rm3fLsQv8zPOL0to34x9HBOQryX5pQS7E/s2048/Eartheater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb0Ao6LlneRMxKOwwroX1Y2Zj9UxM_HHifkOatQShc12dgITgKq1LyFSHirunnl42M-IyjNhfTo6KvmFoRLh_eI2BfK7Y2QVQO_8H81KAA6rm3fLsQv8zPOL0to34x9HBOQryX5pQS7E/s320/Eartheater.jpg" /></a></div>Whoa.<p></p><p>That was the first impression I had once I flipped to the last page of this story on my tablet last night. Whoa and <i>I need to sleep on this.</i></p><p>I read this book in one sitting. Literally opened my tablet, loaded the book, and started reading. Less than two hours later the book was over and was just....stunned? maybe? Speechless? It's been 12 hours since I finished the book and I'm still sitting here trying to figure out what fascinated me the most, why I'm rating this so high but then not high enough.</p><p>First off, the writing style might irk some people. It's a rhythm that is necessary and before long, I barely noticed it. The voice of the story is very no nonsense, clear-cut almost because the impression given is that our lead, Eartheater, does not have the time or the energy to deal with anything that is not essentially important. She might ignore things but she has a reason for it and really, readers can't fault her for that.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>I'd never heard of a story where a character with visions had to eat dirt/earth in order to see things. I was intrigued from the start when I saw the book title in the list of new eBooks from my city's library. I'd never heard of the book before that but I checked it out on impulse and I'm glad I did. It's a haunting story, literally. This one will stick with me for a long time.</p><p>At the same time, it is horrific. In the sense that Eartheater, who is never called by any other name except for Eartheater, has to eat the dirt that has been imbued with the essence of the missing, the lost, the dead, the forgotten. She eats their earth, closes her eyes and waits to see what happened to them. Are they dead? Buried? Left alone to rot? Or maybe, just maybe, is there a chance they are still alive? It's horrible to think about. No one should have to bear that kind of pain, be forced to witness these events and then suffer for knowing what happened. Because the point is, the inspiration for the story is the many murders and missing person cases that remain unsolved where author Dolores Reyes is from, in Argentina, particularly the cases involving women.</p><p>That's probably why I can't give it five stars, it makes me sick to think this is still so commonplace, so accepted in a way. I think I actually love this book, but at the same time I'm not sure I will ever read it again in its entirety. I will get a physical copy as soon as I am able to, I even wish my Spanish was better so I could read the book the way it was written. Julia Sanches did an incredible job with the translation, and it's worth reading her note at the end of the text about the struggles of bringing the essence of the story through into a different language. Even so, I still wish I had kept enough of my Spanish growing up so I could read this book in its original language. I wish there would be more to the story in the future but that's just me being greedy.</p><p>This book is perfect as a whole, worth reading to start a conversation, and worth keeping because it deserves to be known. Eartheater herself makes good choices, makes a small difference in a short amount of time but she does try. In the end, I wish I had her strength. I'll settle for a copy of the book on my shelf and encouraging other people to read it for themselves.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 9 Stars</p><p>Seriously, I'm perusing book sites and considering my bank balance because I WILL be getting a copy of this book as soon as I can reasonably do so. It was just a wow kind of book when all is said and done.</p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-55693502124272956232020-11-03T00:16:00.001-08:002020-11-03T00:16:16.903-08:00When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey: A Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJ9ZwLrH_0e9V4TcRttumtRMnaBwHsr_-SX4o6G4RcRvsRMZaeosvi_diNS7MgX-YAGKODDQMVjXdrdILtm39dsN7R0ok0-AreT4-NG7By4FAzzq2Mgsr8SynY597wYoKNjlOqclaSPw/s2048/45701797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1355" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJ9ZwLrH_0e9V4TcRttumtRMnaBwHsr_-SX4o6G4RcRvsRMZaeosvi_diNS7MgX-YAGKODDQMVjXdrdILtm39dsN7R0ok0-AreT4-NG7By4FAzzq2Mgsr8SynY597wYoKNjlOqclaSPw/s320/45701797.jpg" /></a></div>Just a bit of an aside before we get into the whole review I wrote.<p></p><p>I call this my review that just keeps on giving. I read this book earlier in the year, just before the lockdown hit, and I really wanted to like it. Instead, once I finished it, I went on a word rampage, typing everything that came into my head, just this long stream of gripes that I just had to put down on Goodreads before I could really put the book away in my mind. I was happy when so many people liked what I wrote because I kept checking reviews while I was reading, searching for someone who had the same issues I had with the book. The representation in the book made me want to adore this story but I couldn't get past, well, the <i>story</i>, which is not the takeaway you want from a book. So I wrote it all down, tagged it with a spoiler alert, and hoped other readers would find that they could relate to the so many issues I had within the story.<br /></p><p>And so with that out of the way, onward to the review I wrote that I have to admit, turned out pretty okay in my opinion. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><br />I must have missed something.<br /><br />That's the only
explanation I have for why it seems like there are so many glowing
reviews for this book and I am sitting here thinking about how many
things I just could not stand about this story.<br /><br />First of all, for
a book that is supposed to be about friendships, I was constantly TOLD
that these girls are the absolute definition of the best of friends but I
wasn't actually SHOWN that there was any truth to that statement. What
readers are given in the synopsis is the bare basics of what is given in
the novel. Main character Alexis makes a mistake on prom night, asks
her friends for help and when things just get worse, they declare that
they will all help Alexis to make it better. And that is it. There is no
true background given to explain the devotion between these girls. The
only thing that seems to bind them together is their share in the talent
of magic but in my mind I was waiting for the why about how they stay
linked, how they truly depend on one another, how they truly support
each other. They agree to hide what Alexis did and protect her at all
costs but other than that, they do not actually seem to be all that
close as friends.<br /><br />I think the main reason why the friendships
never landed for me was because of the horribly weak lead, Alexis. This
girl drove me crazy. Every other thought in her head is about how she
wishes she was enough to deserve the loyalty of her friends and the love
of her family and the constant barrage of despairing thoughts made me
want to wring her neck. For example, Alexis has a crush on her best
friend and has spent years pining away for her. Over the course of the
book, several of her friends in the group point out that not only are
Alexis's feelings noticeable to everyone but the object of her
affections feels the same about her. She was explicitly TOLD that her
crush cares about her and yet, when the two of them get together, the
next day Alexis is going on about how she knows the girl does not truly
care about her, not like Alexis feels about her, she was only trying to
make Alexis feel better, and on and on and on.<br /><br />Gag me with a spoon.<br /><br />Alexis
is like this the entire book. I can't for the life of me figure out if
the author was making fun of the melodramatic leads of other Young Adult
books because good grief, I wanted this girl to stop sticking her head
in the ground and own up to what was happening in the book. Even when
she was told off for the way she was acting, the takeaway she got was
that she did not want to make her friends mad, she was going to try
harder, oh goodness, Alexis does not deserve their love, how can Alexis
make herself worthy AND PLEASE JUST MAKE HER STOP.<br /><br />And I honestly
don't think these girls are good people. At one point, a classmate of
theirs approaches Alexis and basically tells her that she knows that
Alexis can do magic and she knows that Alexis was the last one seen with
the boy that seems to have gone missing and that it is suspicious that
Alexis has not come forward, and so on. So what does Alexis do? She
helps one of her friends put a horrible spell on the classmate,
something that can seal her mouth shut if she tries to tell anyone about
them. And then things go on, the girl approaches them a few times but
Alexis and her friends don't want anything to do with the classmate, it
is her fault this has happened, Alexis and her friends warned her. And
in my head I am thinking, these girls are hurting an innocent classmate
because she thinks Alexis had something to do with a boy who has gone
missing, which is all true except he is not missing, he is actually
DEAD, but hey, they are protecting their dear friend, everyone else is
the enemy.<br /><br />Give me a break.<br /><br />But the worst for me was the
main conflict of the story. Alexis made a horrible mistake and she
killed a boy with her magic. It was an accident but she can't go to
authorities and explain what happened because the circumstances actually
make absolutely no sense. Alexis texts her friends for help and they
agree to help her get rid of the body using their magic. And this is
where I was left shaking my head. They immediately think they need to
get rid of the body. It does not occur to them until later that hey,
they have MAGIC, maybe they should try to bring him back to life first.
It never comes up to them to try to restore the boy back to life and I
am left wondering, is there a reason for this? Have they tried something
similar in their youth and there were consequences? Did they try to
bring someone back and it didn't work and they suffered for it? As is,
they are suffering for the magic they tried in just getting rid of the
body and in the long run, each girl loses something in themselves. One
loses childhood memories of a sibling, another loses the ability to cry,
someone loses the ability to forget and her ability to see the color
green. And Alexis? All she loses is the ability to dream, which just
seems really meh to me because the reader is not told if this affects
her day to day life, if it makes her feel lost without the ability to
dream, if it affects her ability to truly rest after falling asleep.<br /><br />In
fact, not only do I feel like Alexis did not lose much, she ends up
with a version of a happily ever after with the girl she has loved for
years. None of the girls regain the bits they lost but hey, they have
graduated and they are going in different directions, and this is their
last chance to be kids together before they leave the next day on new
adventures and they are going to be better people, Alexis is going to
live her life and make herself worthy because she is not only living her
life for herself but is somehow making her life mean something because
the boy she killed does not get a future because of her.<br /><br />What then is the point of the accident to begin with?<br /><br />By
the end of the book, I was grateful that I did not bother picking up a
physical copy. I probably would have thrown it across the room when I
finally got to that ending. Basically, definitely not a book for me or
something I'll try again in the future. For a book that started out with
a bang, literally, it never cemented itself as funny, charming or even
that interesting. I'm sorry I could not find anything worth praising
about the book. Hopefully Gailey's <i>Magic for Liars</i> is more my speed since I have a copy of that and plan to read it soon.<p></p><p> </p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 1.5 Stars.</p><p>I have other works by Sarah Gailey in my personal library, as in yes, I OWN these copies, because NO I do not own <i>When We Were Magic</i> in any way, shape or form. Besides <i>Magic for Liars</i>, I also have the <i>River of Teeth</i> set and <i>Upright Women Wanted</i>. I am a firm believer in just because I didn't like THIS book, it does not mean I won't adore something else by the same author.</p><p>It's a glass half full kind of thing. Still, here's hoping with fingers crossed.<br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-89842083323813980222020-11-02T23:56:00.001-08:002020-11-02T23:56:59.895-08:00Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert: A Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTs7gTL83Fzd-tOnrOsEFXiIvyfp25WaHZWGQgnx_p6UmPN8DVam-zgZuOm5wvXrTKRPs4D2Usq1UFYV_e0XRq6ywZwcl6D6khdTNgetFpj79LN74PFD9u96DxwNL6cBH6y21PjfFmJNw/s475/52090948._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTs7gTL83Fzd-tOnrOsEFXiIvyfp25WaHZWGQgnx_p6UmPN8DVam-zgZuOm5wvXrTKRPs4D2Usq1UFYV_e0XRq6ywZwcl6D6khdTNgetFpj79LN74PFD9u96DxwNL6cBH6y21PjfFmJNw/s320/52090948._SY475_.jpg" /></a></div>Sorry but I just barely got through this book. I even changed
my rating from 2 stars to 1 star after finishing this review because
yeah, I am not ever reading this one again.<br /><br />My first issue was
the character of Dani Brown. The book opens with Dani making a request
to find the perfect friend-with-benefits and while fine, it seems
reasonable, this is a romance after all, I knew I was probably not going
to be happy when the rest of the scene played out.<br /><br />Apparently,
the perfect person for this request will be someone who follows all of
Dani's specific rules, the main one being that said person will not
attempt to pursue a relationship with Dani, they will not expect her to
develop <i>feelings</i> for them, or else she will move on to the next
happy candidate. Dani believes that the other person will not only
attempt to change Dani, because she "knows" she is not an ideal
relationship partner, but that they will also eventually find her
lacking as a girlfriend and then the fighting starts so why not just
never allow said scenario to happen?<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /><br />My eyes are rolling so hard that I think I just gave myself a headache.<br /><br />Not
only that, but Dani already had a previous relationship with a woman
who started out as a dear friend and then became something a little
more, and when said character wanted a real relationship, Dani threw
them to the curb because how dare they develop feelings for her when
Dani does not want to have feelings for anyone? They knew the rules. So
what if Dani misses the friend she had in that person? Dani's
expectations are completely reasonable, she just needs to find the
person who will fit her parameters exactly, it's not a stupid request.
(And if it's pointed out that the act of missing her friend means Dani
does, in fact, have feelings for that person, well it's just not true,
because Dani SAYS it's not true, so there.)<br /><br />Are you kidding me?<br /><br />This
is all in the opening chapter and I have to admit, I approached the
rest of the book with a bit of trepidation because darn it, characters
stubborn enough to ignore what is right in front of them just grate on
my nerves.<br /><br />My second issue was the pacing, or at least I am
categorizing it as that. Basically, nearly every time we read anything
from Dani's point-of-view, she mentions some catalyst event that is the
reason for why she believes she should never be in a relationship.
Something happened, and we readers don't get the full story until around
the what?, 70% mark, maybe? On the other hand, when we read things from
Zaf's point-of-view, we know within a few of his chapters what happened
in his past, we know why he works at his anxiety issues, we know what
he wants for his future.<br /><br />The truth is that Zafir is presented as a
completely honest, sensible and sensitive love interest from the start.
The fact that Dani spends the majority of the book doubting every
single one of his actions just makes me want to strangle her. He gave
her no reason whatsoever to believe that his words and actions had any
kind of double meaning to them. He acted like a good man because he <i>is</i> a good man, he did nice things for her because he <i>wanted</i> to, not to make himself look perfect. If Dani saw nefarious scheming, that says something about her, not Zafir.<br /><br />Then
we add in the fact that Dani only decided to finally try a real
relationship with Zafir because her idol told her to enjoy her life, and
the whole book just flatlines indefinitely for me. No coming back from
that. Who on earth thinks it's a good idea to take a random stranger's
advice to heart about a serious issue in their life? A disappointing
character. There were moments with Zafir that made the book better but
Dani is just the absolute worst. She wakes up the morning after and in
the face of the fact that Zafir has declared he loves her, she decides
everything is a lie and throws him out. She never should have tried to
have a relationship, they just aren't for her.<br /><br />My fingers hurt
from how many times I clenched my fists. If I'd had a physical copy of
this book, it'd probably have claw marks on it.<br /><br />Imagine Dani's
surprise when she can't get Zafir out of her head. She goes to cry to
her sisters and her best friend and when the whole story comes out of
her, it just landed with a thud to me. I was happy when someone plainly
told her that her denying the truth of Zafir's love <i>just because</i>
made no sense at all. But it came as too little, too late. Dani spent
the entirety of the book with this mindset that made absolutely no
sense. There was not enough of a wavering in her resolve to suddenly
have her make this epiphany moment believable. She was horrible, no ifs,
ands or buts about it.<br /><br />There are other issues I had with this
but honestly, I just can't recall the specifics. it was enough to cement
that I am not a fan of this book, and I really don't like Dani Brown.<br /><br />As
a side note, the library copy of this book I read had a sneak preview
of the next book about youngest sister, Eve Brown. Going off of what
little was available, I am wary and let's face it, fully expecting to
dislike that book as much as this one, but hey, fingers crossed. It
could end up saving this series for me.<p></p><p> </p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 1 STAR, even though I did not buy a copy of this. <br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-90814028151447249482020-11-02T23:51:00.002-08:002020-11-02T23:51:57.546-08:00Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee: A Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliMsL6brck1eU7M_B-GDN9in8q08Tl_piyOmRzScCVZ0nVd229ygsk9XSsyLJp4zuFzHNdBi8hXv6IfKi4oWD2EaISAZShQpyGaZRRJLNVXtada-NGxmPw7g9yb8lFeiWabMNnS7t0ik/s2048/81DCja3YiWL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliMsL6brck1eU7M_B-GDN9in8q08Tl_piyOmRzScCVZ0nVd229ygsk9XSsyLJp4zuFzHNdBi8hXv6IfKi4oWD2EaISAZShQpyGaZRRJLNVXtada-NGxmPw7g9yb8lFeiWabMNnS7t0ik/s320/81DCja3YiWL.jpg" /></a></div>*<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways*</i><br /><br />I remember reading Tolstoy's <i>Anna Karenina</i>
in high school and writing an important paper on it but other than the
bare bones of the story, which is about a woman and the tragic
consequences of her affair, I honestly can't tell you anything else
about the book.<br /><br />For that reason alone, I admire Jenny Lee's
efforts in writing a book inspired by that Russian classic and setting
it in today's modern times.<br /><br />However, while I could appreciate the
efforts that went into placing these characters in high school, showing
their actions and mistakes with the use of technology and what not, I
also feel like the scope of the tragedy does not translate well inside
of a high school setting. The whole plotline of Anna K. and her being
stuck between Alexander and Vronsky just did not resonate with me at
all.<br /><br />What I did truly enjoy were the side characters. I wanted to
know more about Dustin, Kimmie, Lolly and even Anna's brother Stephen. I
think the storyline with Dustin and his family life and how it
intersected with Stephen and Anna made for a more compelling plot. I
didn't care for Kimmie in Part One but as the book continued, I found
myself waiting for the story to return to where she was and how she was
growing as a character. I wanted these characters to get a happy ending.
<br /><br />I do like the biggest change that Lee used in her book. Part of
me thought it was pointless, maybe even didn't have to happen, but I
was touched by the appearance of a character in the epilogue that put,
maybe not a "nice spin", but at least a different perspective on the
events of the novel that I truly believe makes it worth reading.<br /><br />In the end, I did like the book and I believe it did a truly admirable job of bringing a classic to a new audience. <p></p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 8.5 Stars.</p><p>So apparently there will be a second book in this series, currently scheduled for release April 27, 2021. I don't feel right posting the title here because of SPOILERS, but hey, I'm in for book 2. Definitely on my list of books to keep an eye out for. <br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-35345933827280408162020-11-02T23:46:00.002-08:002020-11-02T23:46:43.490-08:00Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12Wtmh3_5DQM6UdIoGy2867TUSr8__UgGZQe64D1I9zYpQbFL-CVzXa7dbc_jCCRzWen3xH-AXLieMQ4ZEOEnLU0VZrixObagkB4vSjzD9Gd6_o5zXSLsyTXF2JdUt1n8esvmagG29hE/s2048/71NZz2i9K3L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1358" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12Wtmh3_5DQM6UdIoGy2867TUSr8__UgGZQe64D1I9zYpQbFL-CVzXa7dbc_jCCRzWen3xH-AXLieMQ4ZEOEnLU0VZrixObagkB4vSjzD9Gd6_o5zXSLsyTXF2JdUt1n8esvmagG29hE/s320/71NZz2i9K3L.jpg" /></a></div><p>Overall
I thought this was okay. I thought Georgie was the cutest lead
character which just made it glaringly obvious how horrible everyone
else was.</p><p>Because they were horrible. I wanted to enter the world of this book and take a baseball bat to their knees. Georgie deserved so much better. <br /></p><p>First star off is for the family. Good grief, they were
horrible/despicable/insert similar adjective here. Dismissive in such a way that I honestly wondered why Georgie
even bothered to still communicate with them. The worst was her brother
Stephen, who over the course of the story has several plot points
involving him that made me want to throttle him. He forgot about a
brunch that Georgie wanted him and his wife to attend but the point that
bothers him is not that he hurt his sister's feelings by being a jerk;
what bothers him is that Travis, Georgie's love interest, was the only
one to show up and was therefore alone with his baby sister. He finds
out their other sister, Bethany, wants to be more involved with the
actual construction part of the family business and he not only denies
her the chance to try but he also makes it so that Bethany can't do her
own jobs outside the company so she can prove to her darn family that
she can do the job. But the real kicker was at the end, where Stephen
runs to Georgie and helps to break her heart after he misunderstands
something he overheard Travis saying at a bar. Given that Stephen and
Travis were supposed to be best friends and he should have been able to
use context clues to help figure out why certain words were said, this
last straw just made it seem like Stephen sincerely wanted everyone to
fail, even if he had to make it happen himself. He was like this the
whole book. It's hard to forgive a character when their every move
proves they suck.<br /><br />Second star off for the combination of bad
nicknames and the constant referring to Georgie as a child. The name
"Two Bats" for Travis was ridiculous, worse still the fact that this was
both revealed and then explained in detail within the first few pages
of the book. Not charming and maybe also too much info too soon for
hooking me in for the romance. Then there was the fact that Travis calls
Georgie "baby girl", a nickname that was just wrong to me. You guys see
the cat in my profile picture? Her name is Lydia and she is my spoiled
princess/dragon monster and I call that little creature "baby girl" on a
daily basis. The fact that a grown man decides to call the woman that
he is interested in "baby girl" when she is actually a 23-year-old woman
and not a "girl child" or even an "awkward kid" like the book actually
stated at different points, just makes the wrong emphasis for me. It's
not endearing and it bugged me that Georgie seemed to love the nickname
so much. There also was the fact that Travis stood up for Georgie at a
family dinner where everyone in attendance had a hand in undermining
Georgie, treating her like a kid that needs to keep quiet while the
"adults" are speaking and I am just confused. Why couldn't he call her
something else? He is basically saying, "They can't treat you like a
baby, <i>baby</i>," and it does not make any sense to me in the long run.<br /><br />Now
for the final star off. When you throw in the fact that Travis only
paid Georgie better attention after she changed her wardobe, cut her
hair, and got another well-meaning man to ask her out, it all just goes <i>meh</i>
to me. I am not a fan of love interests who had a chance to make a move
and only act on their feelings after someone else has taken a chance.
The truth was that Travis was the childish one and if he cared, he would
have tried to fight fairly for a chance with Georgie, not manipulate
her into choosing him. Unfair in so many ways.<br /><br />In the end, the
story is not the wonderful, heartwarming romance I thought I was in for
when I opened the book. But I did love Georgie and I want Bethany to
succeed and I want Rosie to get her dream restaurant so I guess I'm in
for book 2 to see if those women get what they want. </p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: Still 2 stars. I look at this book cover and turn away to find something else on the shelf whenever I see it in stores.</p><p>To continue though, I did read Book 2, the one about Rosie and her restaurant.</p><p>I HATED it.</p><p>So color me baffled that I would rate book 3, the one about Bethany, 7.5 stars on my rating scale. I'm even keeping it on my list of paperbacks to eventually add to my insanely huge library. I was quietly charmed by the events of the book and I'm still surprised that I liked it so much. Enough that it will get its own review soon.</p><p>Hopefully, anyways. <br /></p><div id="review-like">
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maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-45120126552688915822020-11-02T23:36:00.003-08:002020-11-02T23:36:42.650-08:00Kissing Ezra Holtz (and Other Things I Did for Science) by Brianna R. Shrum: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxoT17cwEBNVH5JS9R_0aAd_ZvbPKzHMyI8B89MvLkCAAbdulGw7BMQ-U_gNthvuxQ9hyTU8Y7nLa1xCgVPwjMxc2gyPgtv56lQRba0pivgKDhIuBYziUjxM3-q1cmlQcJrLX6rkbAeM/s1500/71H4LCDgebL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxoT17cwEBNVH5JS9R_0aAd_ZvbPKzHMyI8B89MvLkCAAbdulGw7BMQ-U_gNthvuxQ9hyTU8Y7nLa1xCgVPwjMxc2gyPgtv56lQRba0pivgKDhIuBYziUjxM3-q1cmlQcJrLX6rkbAeM/s320/71H4LCDgebL.jpg" /></a></div>2.5 Stars rounded down to 2 Stars<p>I wanted to <i>really</i> like this but
Amalia needed a smack over the head. She talked about being judged for
her choices and for her interests and then turned around and did the
same thing to Ezra over and over again. She sometimes mentioned how she
knew what she said was unfair, that she was being a jerk, but in the
end, for me, she didn't show enough growth.<br /><br />Also, I was not a big
fan of her attitude towards school. She had her big art school dream
and didn't have a single back-up plan in place? Seriously? And she
honestly thought coasting through her classes doing the bare minimum was
okay because she was going to be an artist, what did she need school
for, and just no, she must have had her head in the sand to believe her
grades didn't matter. I think she was too selfish and I am honestly glad
she had her dreams shattered. I just wish readers had been shown that
she really understood why her plan to get into art school didn't work
out like she envisioned and why she really needed to make changes for
her future.<br /><br />There were a lot of cute moments. The representation
in this book was awesome. In the end though, I wanted this girl to
understand that caring for people does not make you weak, working hard
does not make you lame, and you don't always get exactly what you <i>thought</i>
you wanted would make you happy. But guess what? You can be insanely
happy with completely different choices and be eternally grateful that
you did not go that different route.<br /><br />After a whole book of this
personal crisis of if Amalia is not an artist, then who is she, the
conclusion of maybe 20 pages having her realize she loves Ezra and might
be able to make chemistry into a career was not enough of a payoff. It
almost feels unfinished because the book just ends and maybe she makes
something out of her relationship with Ezra, maybe she keeps up with her
AP classes and proves she can handle the workload, maybe she makes it
into a good school and is happy on her new path but readers will never
know that for certain. Because the book had not yet reached Thanksgiving
in their timeline and Amalia had not truly accepted the need to work
harder to get what she wants, it might be that she just gives up and
goes back to blowing everything off again. I just wanted something a
little more concrete out of this character at the end, since I spent the
whole of the book waiting for something more than just a couple maybe
getting together. </p><p> Rating on my Blog Scale:..........</p><p>Yeah, still 2 stars, even with the way I sparse it out for my ratings. It just really disturbs me that a kid in high school believes they can get their dream with a minimum amount of effort and no fallback ideas. Just ARGH, tell me kids are smarter nowadays? Or don't, and let me have hope a little longer. <br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-82212990625742910542020-11-02T23:28:00.000-08:002020-11-02T23:28:27.106-08:00The Ghost Wore Gray by Bruce Coville: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AHX0Sq74W12z51L5iZPBBJ_JLNUvqAieXkyJJgmhYxuxOqwfaHNsKWmNjvlwBuPWbBYqToGQNLu1rTgXdZVb9_-k4ARlkxuRmnTItQ7WQ4vnaEk10LPAO2C4AKLK_ZwXew_744lbD9o/s288/6389285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AHX0Sq74W12z51L5iZPBBJ_JLNUvqAieXkyJJgmhYxuxOqwfaHNsKWmNjvlwBuPWbBYqToGQNLu1rTgXdZVb9_-k4ARlkxuRmnTItQ7WQ4vnaEk10LPAO2C4AKLK_ZwXew_744lbD9o/s0/6389285.jpg" /></a></div>I have finally gotten the chance to read this story. When I
was about 11 years old, I was wandering around Waldenbooks when I found a
book called <i>The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed</i> and chose it as my new must have read. The following week I saved my allowance and bought <i>The Ghost in the Third Row</i>.
I loved the idea of kids my age helping ghosts, finding clues, being
all around awesome. I used to put both books in my bag and carry them
around everywhere, and I honestly mean <i>everywhere</i>, these books meant that much to me.<br /><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"><br />I
always knew there was a story between those two books but I never had
the chance to find it. It might be trivial, but I am happy to say that
the copy of this book that I managed to find matches my old paperbacks
that I have kept safe for the last twenty years. It makes
elementary-school-aged me very giddy.</div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"> </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody">I mean look at that cover art I managed to find. That's the cover that matches my old paperbacks and I just love the way they look compared to the new art that I've seen around. I did not want those covers, I wanted THIS cover. Yes, I am picky, I've learned to manage it by writing about it in these blog posts. So there. <br /></div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"> </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"></div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody">In terms of story, this one
was what I expected it to be, heartbreaking and a little wistful when
the story wraps up. For the fun of it, I am reading these in order, so
it is nice to see the development of Nine and Chris's friendship the way
I was supposed to experience it. I enjoyed the back and forth with Nine
and her dad, and the support that Nine knew she had with Chris at her
side. I do wish there were more mysteries to read in this series but
these three books will always have a safe place on my bookshelves, no
matter what. </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"> </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody">Rating on my Blog Scale: 8.5 Stars.</div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"> </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody">My guess is my rating reflects the fact that the child inside me still demands more Nine Tanleven stories. Seriously, I can't be the only kid who read these and wanted more. I refuse to accept that. <br /></div>
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maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-22422149643995764962020-11-02T23:15:00.001-08:002020-11-02T23:28:37.707-08:00Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers: A Review<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRz2S21e3_g1m7gaWHUtG5BRqoVRdTRhtJUHJOFZ__1QEdP1hMWmH9-uxMdL8V3ElZUHr86K5tMcekxx7UkdGpyZDKXRGpM17XEkKqE_KJpKNJJCD4g_5lEe343IBrfz2FFv85Dss5Yg/s1360/71HdQlWoFQL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="893" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRz2S21e3_g1m7gaWHUtG5BRqoVRdTRhtJUHJOFZ__1QEdP1hMWmH9-uxMdL8V3ElZUHr86K5tMcekxx7UkdGpyZDKXRGpM17XEkKqE_KJpKNJJCD4g_5lEe343IBrfz2FFv85Dss5Yg/s320/71HdQlWoFQL.jpg" /></a></i></div><p><i>*I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways* </i>Really and truly, when I received the e-mail that I'd won a copy of the third <i>Wayfarers</i> book, my reaction was giddy triumph mixed with a lot of squealing. I may or may not have woken up every day and waited for the mail to arrive to see if my book was there. It was a long wait (maybe?) but worth it (definitely)</p><p>When I finished reading <i>The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet</i>,
I thought of my Dad and how he would love the book. I raved about the
book to him, telling him everything it reminded me of, and he bought a
copy to read not long after that conversation.<br /><br />When I finished reading <i>A Closed and Common Orbit</i>,
it was close to 5 in the morning, and I immediately felt the urge to
call my Mom just to see how she was doing. I convinced myself to call at
a more reasonable hour and then told them all about this wonderful
book.<br /><br />After reading <i>Record of a Spaceborn Few</i>, I thought
of my sister, my brother, friends I grew up with and people I know now
that I'm older. It's a strong book, carefully exploring the issues of
belonging to a family, understanding your place in the world, and
realizing the importance of remembering your past while building a
better future.<br /><br />The focus is on a small cast of characters, each
working to better understand themselves as the world changes around
them. The best part about the characters is that while they are each
going through similar struggles about their identity, they are actually
each from a different backgrounds, they are different ages, they have
different skills and interests. The answers they find are important to
them, and in turn to us, because any reader could see themselves in this
book and understand the yearning that it seen through each character as
the story moves towards its ending. The writing is strong, the plot
concise, and while readers could read this as a standalone book and
appreciate it, it truly benefits the readers who have followed this
series from the start. There is something for everyone in this book and
that makes it one of great releases of the year.<br /><br />I have loved every book in the <i>Wayfarers</i> series and I honestly hope that there will be more books set in this world published in the future. This was a beautiful book.</p><p></p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 10 STARS.</p><p>And guess what? There will be a book four titled <i>The Galaxy, and the Ground Within</i>, tentatively scheduled for release on February 16, 2021. I say tentatively because 2020 has been a buzzkill and lots of books have been pushed back for publication this year. Usually only by a few months so brava publishers, books are our saving grace this year and most likely next year. Please continue in your endeavors of keeping us reading folks sane.</p><p>Fingers crossed this book is right on schedule because I already have a signed copy on preorder.<br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-41772539352997789912020-11-02T23:02:00.002-08:002020-11-02T23:29:10.763-08:00Legendary by Stephanie Garber: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3qALyJFz42vn-qvnncGWZLrshSFpnN0qYKLhx2pWDSCppWF9QGl7WTVh38A74JzeshR3GJSGuhnjP5r3wAqez1WxqPBmAx0VGa9A8dSwmfKdDSIQvHz_jTBUcCyr4TumBf_9djz15Bw/s2048/81unYzab9VL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3qALyJFz42vn-qvnncGWZLrshSFpnN0qYKLhx2pWDSCppWF9QGl7WTVh38A74JzeshR3GJSGuhnjP5r3wAqez1WxqPBmAx0VGa9A8dSwmfKdDSIQvHz_jTBUcCyr4TumBf_9djz15Bw/s320/81unYzab9VL.jpg" /></a></div><p>2.5 Stars rounded up to 3 on the 1 to 5 scale because I liked this one more than <i>Caraval</i> and I figure the extra star should show that.</p><p>To
start off with, the story held my interest better than book 1. I wanted
to see the conclusion to the search and understand the different
threads that circled around Tella. It didn't feel as if there were
scenes or characters meandering around and forcing the story to move
along to where it needed to go. Instead, it felt more natural, as in of
course this is happening, it's the next logical point for the story. I
didn't get that sense in the first book but it was there in this one.</p><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody">Concerning
the characters, I definitely like Tella considerably more than I ever
liked Scarlett in either book. Scarlett still bothered me in this story
but she's barely around so my interest grew in Tella and the people that
worked with her. Tella was stronger overall, more focused and aware,
which allowed for a clearer sense of the book.<span><a name='more'></a></span>However, the
faults of book 1 are still around for book 2. There was a tiresome
repetition in the writing that I sometimes glossed over while reading
the book. Tella has a choice to make in this book, it could go either
one way or the other, and that was repeated time and time again. If
Tella makes this choice, then <i>this</i> will happen, but if Tella makes <i>that</i>
choice then this will happen, and so on and so on. I got tired of it,
all joking aside. I don't know the reason for it, and maybe I'm being
cruel, but it felt like either the repetition was because maybe readers
won't remember this apparent fact, and that's why it needs to keep being
repeated OR maybe it was just for the sake of filling in the writing,
trying to reach a certain word count. Either way, completely unnecessary
because it kept taking me out of the book, which I was liking for the
most part until the repeating started.<br /><br />Another point is the
telling instead of showing. Book 1 had Scarlett going on and on about
her love for Tella, their devotion as sisters, but they were separated
for the most part and whenever they were together, it didn't look like
love. In this book, again Tella talks about the love she has for her
sister, the certainty that she has in knowing that her sister loves her
back, and AGAIN they are separated for the most part, this time by
choice. The only good side to this is that this plot didn't depend on
that to get to the ending, it didn't depend on a non-existent
relationship. The point of the clues was a different search, focused on
points that were shown over the course of the book, which made this
story so much stronger than the first one. It's not necessarily a fault
to the story but I feel like it needs to be pointed out that a series
that has focused on the stories of two sisters still hasn't managed to
create a realistic devotion between them. Perhaps the next book will put
Scarlett and Tella truly together, and then everything already in place
will make complete sense.<br /><br />In the end, I do feel like Garber has
grown as a writer. I wasn't eager to read this book after my experience
with the first one but after reading <i>Legendary</i>, I will be reading
the next book in the series. My interest in the world created here is
enough to have me looking forward to the next release. Part of me even
hopes that additional stories will be added to flesh out the background
of this world because I feel like there is so much material to still be
explored. I don't know of any future plans for the series but I hope the
next book gives more than enough of everything if it is indeed the last
book set in the world of Caraval. I would love it if the last book
threw my world into complete chaos because of its sheer awesomeness.
After this book, I think Garber is more than capable of it. </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"> </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody">Rating on my Blog Scale: 7 Stars.</div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody"> </div><div class="reviewText mediumText description readable" itemprop="reviewBody">I really enjoyed this book and I even bought this one and the final book in the trilogy, pointedly titled <i>Finale</i>, in hardcover. They look really nice on my bookshelf next to the ARC I got of <i>Caraval</i>.<br /></div>
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maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-44164316377288301832020-11-02T22:39:00.002-08:002020-11-02T23:29:00.347-08:00War by Laura Thalassa: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLydpAEg6SLYyfIur90Gex5Br1mcYmWl5efUKGc61V3Z67j6fsuoXSFtjxKTSWgTAgwg9_o02h-g4c_D31ZNV6iaJSpI9GFbdSta7NsUZUdGvfpbZtJkBGnymJRpzQECe5M-Oh7uh1UV8/s475/39339451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLydpAEg6SLYyfIur90Gex5Br1mcYmWl5efUKGc61V3Z67j6fsuoXSFtjxKTSWgTAgwg9_o02h-g4c_D31ZNV6iaJSpI9GFbdSta7NsUZUdGvfpbZtJkBGnymJRpzQECe5M-Oh7uh1UV8/s320/39339451.jpg" /></a></div>So after really enjoying the first book in this series, I am giving <i>War</i> a hard NOPE.<p>Seriously,
I just do NOT in any way, shape or form, enjoy reading about a couple
where one of them is the over-the-top, piece of shit, jackass who makes
demands and expects their every whim to be obeyed while the other
partner actively hates the other but can't help being physically drawn
to the sadistic asshole they were paired with.<br /><br />Complete and utter malarkey.<br /><br />It
took until at least the 80% mark for War the character to start making
the right efforts towards Miriam but by that point, I was forcing myself
to finish this because 1). I wanted to see if Pestilence and Sara from
Book 1 showed up and 2)..........<br /><br />Yeah, nevermind, there is no
other reason. Maybe I just hate having to mark books as DNFs. There is
so much to hate about 2020 already without throwing a DNF into the mix.
Let's end the year with a bit of my dignity intact, please and thank
you.<br /><br />Anyways, 80% or more is too far gone to convince me that a
couple like this works out in the long run. Just going to mosey along to
the next book in this series and hope for the best.</p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 1 STAR. I'm just so sad that I did not like this book one measly bit. When I started reading this book, I'd already made the decision to order the books in paperback and was patiently waiting for my copy of <i>Pestilence </i>to arrive in the mail. But by the time I hit maybe the 44% mark, maybe, who the hell cares about the specifics, I was very much thinking NAH, don't need this one in paperback just yet.</p><p>I mean, if book four really kicks ass, and I buy that one in paperback, most likely I'll get the whole series to sit on a shelf, but the point is that I bought it for the sake of being matchy-matchy and NOT because this book made me swoon.</p><p>Just thought I'd point that out.<br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-9333515519858769352020-11-02T22:31:00.002-08:002020-11-02T23:28:50.633-08:00Across the Void by S.K. Vaughn: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbB1-KeE9bFaOtWpXFSOGt-zj2VXF17YJW7MYrgKgdi_qIgTAWihJkDHtFY1g3QDWiz8aCn0XBXcTNn8Qtx0mLRIkZmXts3PaaT6WRViiST-3_RfUTUpxt4ULKZ5gNSJAb9dQnwuKS0s/s475/42201327.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbB1-KeE9bFaOtWpXFSOGt-zj2VXF17YJW7MYrgKgdi_qIgTAWihJkDHtFY1g3QDWiz8aCn0XBXcTNn8Qtx0mLRIkZmXts3PaaT6WRViiST-3_RfUTUpxt4ULKZ5gNSJAb9dQnwuKS0s/s320/42201327.jpg" /></a></div><i>I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways*</i><p>Overall,
an interesting read. I enjoyed May as a character and her journey in
the book. I especially liked Eve, whose interactions with May were some
of the best parts of the story.<span></span></p>Basically, the reason why my
rating is not higher is because of pacing. The story has the main
present storyline, with May trying to get back home, which is where the
plot was at its strongest. The book moves back and forth in the present
between May, out in space, and her estranged husband, Dr. Stephen Knox,
back on Earth, as they try to solve how to get May back home. It is all
very straightforward, and the suspense is in the fact of not only
figuring out a rescue but also trying to discover what caused the demise
of the entire crew of the ship. However, the tension felt in response
to her plight was cut into by chapters focused on past memories inserted
at odd intervals in the book. I understand its purpose but in the end,
the jumping back to those points in time did not keep me engaged in the
book.<br /><br />Add in a bit of trying too hard to be funny dialogue that
just fell flat, and some villains that could have been anyone thanks to
not enough development, and I was left feeling the book was good but not
great.<br /><br />I am grateful for the chance to have read this book and hope to see more from this author in the future. <p></p><p> </p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 5.5 Stars <br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-64677433330434432852020-11-02T22:25:00.002-08:002020-11-02T22:25:40.882-08:00The Distant Hours by Kate Morton: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgLIvrGrkJlVl-mlil0EEh87KklnMOTxuWE-CkCr7cjaMP8Op0ICffpN1EDN0Ty9Xcx8d4AaysSDRgDpMkrKu4ItfQdwpevuAXXuCs6nJek5YiKkUV7NAArP-bu4flY4-LDI5IAAI6v8/s463/6746018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgLIvrGrkJlVl-mlil0EEh87KklnMOTxuWE-CkCr7cjaMP8Op0ICffpN1EDN0Ty9Xcx8d4AaysSDRgDpMkrKu4ItfQdwpevuAXXuCs6nJek5YiKkUV7NAArP-bu4flY4-LDI5IAAI6v8/s320/6746018.jpg" /></a></div><p>The truth about Kate Morton books is that I get to the end of them and still wish there was more to the story.</p><p>I'm also finally making good on my word to follow through on reading all of Kate Morton's books. Honestly, I own each and every one of her books. I just haven't sat down and read them all yet. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>This one hurt a little, though it did end on a very wistful final image and that is why I am giving it 5 stars instead of 4. (Side note for Blog Readers: Goodreads only rates on a 1 to 5 scale but I'm more nitpicky about Stars, so I rate 1 to 10 here). <i>The Forgotten Garden</i>
left me feeling grumpy and griping about all the unfair things that had
been revealed to the reader but not actually resolved in the book but <i>The Distant Hours</i>
manages that better than its predecessor. It still has those secrets
that readers have to hold onto for the book characters but it does not
feel like a burden to know all the facets of this story, only leaving
this reader with the wish that more could be had and seen about this
world.<br /><br />At least I still have 2 more Morton books to read before I
have to find something to fill the void her writing leaves when I have
to wait for a new work to be published. Guess my new goal will be to get
a hardback copy of <i>The Lake House</i> so it matches my whole collection. And then wait patiently for a new Kate Morton book to finally arrive.</p><p> Rating on my Blog Scale: More like <i>9 Stars</i> if I want to be honest. So much of this is just bittersweet, you have to love the characters to be happy with the ending they got. I'm just not entirely <i>happy</i> with the ending they got because I have a mean bone in my body that makes me want to exact vengeance on book characters that deserve some kind of comeuppance. I take my reading very seriously, I tell you. <br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-335902894684994072020-11-02T22:16:00.002-08:002020-11-02T22:26:19.884-08:00My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhux22-cvxyG5MK3UqhEdpNHmJP1FOfvF0N2WACV8AuJk3ZqJDIPVjsNArLHGB8orf5UbVyYzl_Qx8YNP_rp-UlF7Pm9GQKMJWV8yolvnkH_GeMyihhZqEhSoHnsC8lPfEAFx3u1vZJQWA/s2048/81CBonEmekL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1355" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhux22-cvxyG5MK3UqhEdpNHmJP1FOfvF0N2WACV8AuJk3ZqJDIPVjsNArLHGB8orf5UbVyYzl_Qx8YNP_rp-UlF7Pm9GQKMJWV8yolvnkH_GeMyihhZqEhSoHnsC8lPfEAFx3u1vZJQWA/s320/81CBonEmekL.jpg" /></a></div><br />I'm leaving this unrated. After everything I've seen about issues with
the story, the facts behind it and so on, I am just not comfortable
rating this.<br /><br />In the end, I think this book is just difficult to
get through. I was considering putting this down as a DNF but I
convinced myself to finish it. The shifting timelines, the shifting
beliefs, the drawn out story all made me feel like it was too much to
handle in one lump sum. I wanted someone to come forward and stop that
monster, I wanted someone to believe Vanessa, I wanted more suffering
for the villain of the book because yes, I think he was a villain. On
the other hand, I thought the book was almost too much, too long, and
then I felt bad for thinking that and kept reading.<br /><br />Despite it
all, I did like the way it ended. Maybe it felt a bit abrupt but I think
for a story with this subject matter it needed to end in an open way
that leaves questions. It can't be summed up and tied off with a bow. It
had enough of a note of hope that I did not feel disappointed at the
way it finished.<br /><br />I will say that whatever Russell publishes next, I will most likely end up reading it.maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-29601291018050931432020-11-02T22:08:00.002-08:002020-11-02T22:26:07.272-08:00The Deep by Alma Katsu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgid0oL3B41zwt1GKbidWzalpSs5G75rbNBgglHBQCG1mNyy7mM6tO-bRiw-TQ5_eK0PCHeHnpgMPnqA5B7QYMW2BubRgIyRSVBVNX5hNwv_VAZXW-ErffQ1HENvU_2UVWz4j1LC7cmxks/s2048/91uVxHaj87L.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1357" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgid0oL3B41zwt1GKbidWzalpSs5G75rbNBgglHBQCG1mNyy7mM6tO-bRiw-TQ5_eK0PCHeHnpgMPnqA5B7QYMW2BubRgIyRSVBVNX5hNwv_VAZXW-ErffQ1HENvU_2UVWz4j1LC7cmxks/s320/91uVxHaj87L.jpg" /></a></div><p>Something is haunting the <i>Titanic</i> on its doomed maiden voyage. Before anyone can figure out what is truly causing so many disturbing events on the ship, disaster strikes and the story we know of the Titanic takes over the page.</p><p>This story follows maid Annie Hebbley, a woman haunted by her survival, who is now on the <i>Brittanic</i>, working as a nurse on the ship that has been made over into a hospital ship during World War 1. Annie's memories of her past are vague but when she happens across a soldier she recognizes as a survivor of that horrible night, she realizes that there was more to the disaster than she realized. Annie needs to figure out what haunted that maiden voyage because now it is following the <i>Brittanic</i>, and it is ready to cause tragedy all over again.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a>I want to rate this higher but as to the way this unfolded, I admit I
ended up disappointed by the reveals. I got to about the 3/4 mark and I
was still wondering what I was supposed to be interested in, who I was
meant to support. I was sometimes even tempted to put the book down.<br /><br />The
book opened on an interesting note, showing what has happened to lead
character Annie Hebbley since the tragic sinking of the <i>Titanic</i> four years earlier. Annie ends up taking a post as a nurse on the <i>Britannic</i>
and from there, the story seems to lose its steam. I could not connect
to Annie at all and while I could understand that she was more in line
with the idea of an unreliable narrator, there was not enough to keep me
invested in her wants and needs. Once the reader sees the reveal, it
feels like there was a lot of missed opportunities to build that tension
and make the ending have more of an impact.<br /><br />Too much information
necessary to the supernatural aspects of the novel was kept too close
to the chest, stayed hidden for too long that in the end, the reveal
almost feels like a last minute change. To me, it feels like the ending
comes out of nowhere after the story dragged too long with various
characters on that ill-fated ship. Readers know what is going to happen
and even with that hanging over the story's head, the whole middle
dragged.<br /><br />The good news is that from everything I have seen, <i>The Hunger </i>by Alma Katsu
has all the chills and eerie circumstances I was in search of in this
book and thankfully I have that in my library. I'll be reading it soon. <p></p><p> </p><p>Rating on my Blog Scale: 3.5 Stars. Seriously, I wanted so many more horrifying circumstances to this book. If you're looking for scary deep sea adventures that will keep you up at night, read the novella <i>Rolling in the Deep</i> and it's sequel, the full-length novel <i>Into the Drowning Deep</i> by Mira Grant. Because of the monsters in those stories, I will NEVER go out into the ocean.<br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-58188298607104853392020-11-02T21:21:00.002-08:002020-11-02T22:26:36.635-08:00Lack of Updates<p>So apparently the nice little added help of being able to post your review on Goodreads and have it appear over on your blog does not actually exist anymore?</p><p>I've tried going through all of my reviews and checking off the option to post my reviews here at the same time. So far, nothing has appeared here. And obviously I am NOT tech savvy enough to manage how to correct the issue.</p><p>Instead, I will have to go through all of my Goodreads reviews and just recreate each review here.</p><p>Seriously, it's sad how empty my blog looks, really, I was so happy to have that middle step cut out so I could just believe everything was still coming over here.</p><p>I know, it was naive of me, I get it. Moving on.<br /></p>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-74284367057307909372018-05-10T00:30:00.000-07:002018-05-10T00:30:11.078-07:00Book Review: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20983362-passenger" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Passenger (Passenger, #1)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446749751m/20983362.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20983362-passenger">Passenger</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2973783.Alexandra_Bracken">Alexandra Bracken</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1489328666">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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More like 4.5 stars but I'll explain why in a moment.<br />
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First of all, I didn't like Etta much at the start of the book. I wasn't sure if she was going to make the right strides to be strong but after a while, I grew to respect her choices and her strength of mind, which in turn made her a better character. I wasn't very keen on her clinging to the idea of still making her debut, what with when considering her new circumstances, I felt she had a little more to concern herself with than making it back to New York for her violin debut, BUT when you take in account that the book takes place in what, 10 days?, I forgave that once more of the book went by.<br />
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I did, however, like Nicholas right off the bat. A bit of no-nonsense mixed with a hidden heart of gold and a dash of hope make for a stronger male lead than most books offer nowadays. He had honor and a struggle with his conscience and inspired others to trust him making him the best balance to the sometimes impulsive Etta. She needed his stability and was a better character for it.<br />
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In terms of setting, this book is all over the place but the detail given to each particular time and place was extremely well-researched, detailed enough to give me clear picture in my mind. Is it all accurate? I have NO idea, but I loved and respected the effort.<br />
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But that is where my drawback is, with the amount of information this book holds from jump to jump in the plot. Every time Etta and Nicholas move forward, there had to be time devoted to setting the place, to allow the charactets to process their surroundings. It dragged the tiniest bit to me because every time I felt settled back into the plot, there was another jump, and the information given is so dense that at times it was easy to put the book down, nay, it was <i>necessary</i> to put it down just take a break. Add to that the fact that there are a few questions I want answered about a group in the book, and you end up with me taking half a star off, even if it is only words on a page.<br />
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One thing is for certain though, I am so glad I waited to read this until <b>after</b> <i>Wayfarer</i> was released. I have no patience when it comes to books except in the act of reading them, and the wait for book 2 would have made me batty.<br />
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As a side note for my blog, I did finish <i>Wayfarer</i> and I loved it. I thought it was a wonderful end to the duology and I enjoyed the additional characters that Bracken included for the finishing adventure. As an extra bonus to the edition I bought, I received a separately bound novella about Etta's parents which just made me want more from this series.<br />
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Rating for both Books: 9.5 This duology was such a surprise to me. My next read from Bracken will be <i>The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding</i>, which I admit to putting off until I knew for sure there would be a second book for that series. Thankfully, there is a second book planned, called <i>The Last Life of Prince Alastor</i>, and the cover art is amazing.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a><br />
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Rating: 9 Starsmaire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-73057041489016193372018-05-10T00:29:00.000-07:002018-05-10T00:35:14.023-07:00Book Review: The Female of the Species<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25812109-the-female-of-the-species" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Female of the Species" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455917180m/25812109.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25812109-the-female-of-the-species">The Female of the Species</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5351825.Mindy_McGinnis">Mindy McGinnis</a><br />
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<i>Alex Craft has a secret, a violent secret, one she is happy to keep. After her sister was murdered, Alex learned a truth about herself she didn't know before, a violent fact that keeps her isolated but willing to fight if she has to in order to make sure the world is one that she can live in.</i><br />
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<i>When Alex starts her senior year, she has to learn to deal with new friendships. One with Jack, a popular athlete, and another with Peekay, the preacher's daughter. Both will change Alex in ways she never anticipated, and the three of them together will learn things about themselves and each other that will change the way they see the world for the rest of their lives.</i><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1815058546">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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My initial reaction to this book is an awe-struck, nearly slack-jawed feeling of something that words can't really suffice for right now. More thoughts soon as I figure out exactly what I want to convey about my feelings for this book because one thing for sure is that it should be discussed. And I want all the right words for when the conversation starts.<br />
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More thoughts, starting now:<br />
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It happens more often than it should. More often than anyone ever talks about it.<br />
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No one steps forward. No one makes a protest. It is never the guys fault because the <i>girls</i> should know better. No one knows if it is true but it's whispered about in the halls as a warning to others. Girls are wary of each other, guys make jokes like it doesn't matter, and life goes on.<br />
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It is sickening that the idea of <i>boys will be boys</i> is such an accepted concept in our culture. How is it possibly funny to laugh at a joke about assaulting someone? How is it possible that people look at the girls and boys that are suffering and they don’t stick up for them, ask them what is wrong, protest when the story is false or help them when others won’t?<br />
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This book delves into that and more and I admire it for going there, for ripping open wounds and forcing them to bleed in the faces of those who dare to scoff at the subject matter of this book. Nothing is neat and tidy, monsters exist even amongst children, and the fact of the matter is that more people need to talk about it.<br />
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It’s hard to say that there is something to enjoy about this book. There is the blossoming of first love, the true growth of real friendship, moments between kids that can make you smile. But that is only the sugar-coating to this book, which explores the nature of revenge, the accepted norms of high school, and the willful ignorance of people looking the other way instead of stepping in to help. It’s hard to get through some of it but it needs to be discussed. It needs to be realized across the world that this isn’t acceptable.<br />
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Despite her flaws, which she had plenty, I still adored Alex Craft. I loved her straightforward manner, her extensive vocabulary, her genuine curiosity as she learned to navigate her way through friendships and first love. I especially enjoyed her honesty, her ability to place blame where it should be and her understanding that enabled her not to pass judgment on others that didn’t deserve it. It’s not the norm and for that, I’m grateful this character exists.<br />
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And while a lot of this book has to deal with the idea of revenge and taking matters into your own hands, I think the deeper issue at stake is the fact about why someone even needs to go to those extremes to have justice served. If matters were dealt with, reported when they happened, evidence gathered, witnesses having come forward, would revenge be an issue? Or would people rest easy knowing the villain will be caught and justice will prevail?<br />
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I predict that this book will end up on some English teacher’s class reading list. If this book had been released when I was school, I would have given it to my teachers, shoved it in the hands of the kids I knew, demanded that the library keep several copies on hand for others to read. It’s that kind of book, that one that opens the discussion, that starts the conversation, because the world is brutal but so much of that is brushed under the rug, gets forgotten, is ignored. <br />
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Revenge is something many have fantasized about but never acted upon. This book shows why someone would and how they go about being an avenging figure, but I hope the discussion evolves into how to help keep that need from materializing, how to help right the wrongs the first time around so that revenge isn’t necessary, isn’t the prevailing fantasy of those that have been damaged in one way or the other from a vicious attack on them or someone they love. Then maybe, if we’re really lucky, the discussion can go towards preventing the acts of violence before they are ever committed.<br />
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We can dream, right?<br />
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Rating on my Blog Scale: 10 Stars. I hope some teacher somewhere is using this book in their classroom. It's that kind of book to me. <br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-21158761350173639442018-05-10T00:08:00.002-07:002018-05-10T00:08:24.890-07:00Book Review: The Burning World<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16148435-the-burning-world" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Burning World (Warm Bodies, #2)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471507890m/16148435.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16148435-the-burning-world">The Burning World</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1302285.Isaac_Marion">Isaac Marion</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/838770301">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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Once upon a time, I heard about a new book, something set for release a few months away in the future and I did something I don't ordinarily do, which is I actually pre-ordered a copy. That book was <i>Warm Bodies</i>. I loved that book so much that I urged my Dad to read it because he's a big zombie fan.<br />
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However, I think I'll wait until the last book is out before I suggest <i>this</i> book to him. While it started out great, the plot started to drag around the halfway mark, making it seem like a struggle to get through the rest of the story. The long journey, the various stops, the almost repetitive actions of the characters made me feel like the book was going nowhere for too long. Also, knowing that there is indeed a final book to finish this journey, <i>this</i> book feels like it suffers from middle-book syndrome. It is essentially a stepping stone to the end of the story.<br />
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I do want to read the rest of this story, mainly because I keep remembering how much I loved the first book and how, even though I was certain there was only going to be the one book, I still wanted to know who R was before, what he did before he became the zombie we first met. The story is finally going into those details so I'm going to stick it out through the end. I hope it will be brilliant.<br />
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Rating on my Blog Scale: 6 Stars. Book 3 says it's called <i>The Living</i> and will supposedly be published in 2018 but there is no exact date and there is currently no cover art available for the release. Hopefully more information will be available soon.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-60029860188205634582018-05-10T00:04:00.001-07:002018-05-10T00:04:57.015-07:00Book Review: Fate of Flames<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28954021-fate-of-flames" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Fate of Flames (Effigies, #1)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474198505m/28954021.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28954021-fate-of-flames">Fate of Flames</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7056449.Sarah_Raughley">Sarah Raughley</a><br />
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<i>Massive creatures called Phantoms, terrorize the world and 4 girls,
known as the Effigies, protect the world from them. Each Effigy is
connected to one of the 4 elements of the world, and when one girl dies,
another one is randomly chosen to take her place.</i><br />
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<i>Maia
is the latest fire Effigy and she doesn't want the job. She's followed
the Effigies for years but when it comes down to it, she never thought
about what it would mean if she ever had to step into one of their
spots. When a young man shows up with the ability to control Phantoms,
Maia has to put aside her insecurities and help the other Effigies to
work together to stop him before it's too late for the world.</i><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1715181867">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
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More like 1.5 stars. This had a lot of good ideas but the lead, Maia, was too weak. She waffled too much and never grew as a character. When something happened that she didn't like, she made up reasons to believe her <i>own</i> version of the events. And that was the last straw for me. Her reasoning, her fangirling, her tendency to mope around and whine, was too much for me to root for her in this book. And despite the almost lack of romance, it stuck out too much at inopportune times, making Maia falter because the story needed her to do so. Not okay when it comes to understanding a character.<br />
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If the next book changes leads, I might read it. If it's just going to be more of Maia, no thanks. I liked Lake and Chae Rin so much more than Maia and Belle. Their stories seem to be way more interesting as a whole. And there wasn't enough to explain the world and why it was the way it turned out. There was just some flimsy explanation of well, effigies were eventually discovered but weren't well tracked for many years, so yeah. The book dragged and it made me frustrated to read about Maia and her tendency to react poorly. I wish I had liked more of it in the end.<br />
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Rating on my Blog Scale: 2.5 Stars. After all, I did finish it in the end. I tried checking out the second book but I didn't get into it and returned to the library unread. I might try again in the future.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-52375522068704893362018-05-09T23:46:00.000-07:002018-05-09T23:46:39.515-07:00Book Review: The Deep End of the Sea<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18844839-the-deep-end-of-the-sea" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Deep End of the Sea" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389985849m/18844839.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18844839-the-deep-end-of-the-sea">The Deep End of the Sea</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6552446.Heather_Lyons">Heather Lyons</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1841064969">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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This book did something I have wanted to see for a long time, exploring the <i>what ifs</i> behind the story of Medusa, who I have long believed got the short end of the stick in a situation that never should have happened, if you've read Ovid's version of her story. I hadn't read anything by Lyons before this but this book solidified her as one of my "need to read her books" authors. I went off and bought her entire <i>The Collectors' Society</i> series after finishing this book.<br />
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My only problem was with the length. I wanted so much more and while the book works, I think it could have easily had another 100 or more pages added to the story. It ended too soon for me. However, I am happy to say that the other books I have of hers are a bit more generous with the page count, and I am slowly making my way through them so they can last just a little longer.<br />
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Talented writer with a great sense for stories. I am grateful to have found Heather Lyon's books and hope to read more in the future.<br />
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Rating on my Blog Scale: 9 Stars. I've read this several times since I first bought the book. One of my definite favorites. <br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-24835840448280116752018-05-09T22:56:00.000-07:002018-05-10T00:33:55.690-07:00Book Review: Vassa in the Night<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28220892-vassa-in-the-night" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Vassa in the Night" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452803823m/28220892.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28220892-vassa-in-the-night">Vassa in the Night</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4579328.Sarah_Porter">Sarah Porter</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1462855331">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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This book was weirdly beautiful and strangely tragic all at once. It's the story of a girl struggling to understand her worth and where she belongs in a world with magic creeping in around her. And I loved it more with each passing page.<br />
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Vassa has the kind of snippy bravado and quiet strength that makes for the kind of lead character to root for in a book as strange as this one. Her life is sprinkled with magical facts, like her small wooden doll Erg, who has a habit of stealing, a convenience store that dances on chicken legs, a father that paid good money to become a dog, and a night that is stretching seconds into hours each time it gets dark until it seems almost neverending. All of that is only the more obvious bits of magic in this book.<br />
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When Vassa makes the foolish decision to buy light bulbs from her local BY's one night, knowing that her life could be forfeit if she's caught stealing from the store, she manages to hook herself into what appears to be a simple enough bargain: pay off her supposed debt by working 3 nights in the store. The plot slowly builds from there because as in any traditional folktales, nothing is as simple as it seems. Vassa has to deal with walking hands hell bent on making her mess up, a boss that is determined to break her and then work to understand the hold that the store seems to have on the city.<br />
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There is so much going on in this book that it's hard to believe that it wrapped up in just under 300 pages. I'm half convinced that Porter pulled the same trick that Babs did with night in the book, cramming at least 500 pages of a beautiful manuscript into what seems to be 296 pages. It just baffles me otherwise to feel like I've been given so much detail and world building in so few pages. The book is just so expertly written, nothing is out of place, every bit is important, the development is wonderful and it feels complete once you reach the end.<br />
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It might help to read <i>Vasilisa the Beautiful</i> just to understand the twists and development that Porter developed in her book. However, if you're familiar with folktales, you should be able to appreciate the writing and the characters without it. In the end, I loved this book and when my copy arrives in the mail, it will live on a shelf with the rest of my favorite books.<br />
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Rating on my Blog Scale: 10 Stars. I loved this so much, I searched for the best option to buy the hardcover edition of this book. Luckily for me, an awesome independent bookstore I like to order from, <a href="http://www.parnassusbooks.net/" target="_blank">Parnassus Books</a>, had a signed copy available to buy and now it lives on a special favorites shelf with other treasured autographed editions I own.<br />
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Check out their site for other autographed books that they currently have in stock or even check out what authors are going to visit them in the future. I hope to one day visit the store in person but until then, I will content myself with ordering awesome books from them when I have the option.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-30930464554827349462018-05-09T22:47:00.000-07:002018-05-10T00:33:17.629-07:00Book Review: Do You Want to Start a Scandal?<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27067876-do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Spindle Cove, #5, Castles Ever After, #4)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1457268468m/27067876.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27067876-do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal">Do You Want to Start a Scandal</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2752928.Tessa_Dare">Tessa Dare</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1487523076">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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<i>Charlotte Highwood has a problem. She must find out who had a scandalous tryst in the library at the ball she attended because everyone believes it was Charlotte in the library the night of the ball. If she doesn't find out who the couple was, she'll be forced to marry Piers Brandon to save her reputation.</i><br />
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<i>As they work together though, Charlotte is faced with another dilemma, the fact that marrying Piers might not be as bad as she thought it was going to be, after all. </i><br />
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This is more of a 3.5 Stars for me but it's Tessa Dare, and I adore her books, so I bumped it up to 4.<br />
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BUT there were a few things that bothered me about this book.<br />
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First of all, let me say that I have been waiting for the last of the Highwood sisters, Charlotte, to get her chance in the spotlight. I loved her sisters' stories and the bits she had in other <i>Spindle Cove</i> plots, and darnit, she deserved her happy ever after. Just not with a guy who couldn't figure things out until the very end of the book. For me, it just took too long for Piers to get his act together. Charlotte deserved a little more, considering what a saint she had to be throughout the book.<br />
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Which brings me to my next point. Who is not a fan of Mrs. Highwood? ME; that's who. I have to give Charlotte credit for lasting so long under her mother's intense scrutiny but honestly, having that character so close for the duration of the novel just didn't work for me. Have to give Dare credit for creating a woman that works a little too well at showing the worst, obsessive, "I only want what is best for you!", character traits of the dreaded proper society mother. That character made me disgruntled.<br />
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Finally, the gall-darned mystery. Fine, watching Charlotte prove herself as she worked things out was fun but honestly, when things escalated and Charlotte ended up in harm's way for what I felt was not a good reason, it just didn't cut it for me. Poor Charlotte suffered a lot and it could have been cleared up easily. I just felt that the <i>fairness</i> of the situation should have been addressed at least a little. They deserved a little more admonishment after everything poor Charlotte went through in this book.<br />
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Overall, this was still a good addition to the series. I read this really fast. If you love Tessa Dare's <i>Spindle Cove</i> series, be sure to give this a shot, at least to see Charlotte have her chance at fun.<br />
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Rating on Blog Scale: 6 Stars. I've gone back and read Minerva's story over and over, and Diana's story as well. But I haven't gone back to read Charlotte's story since the first time I read it. Still love and adore Tessa Dare's books and currently have pre-ordered her next release, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36111620-the-governess-game" target="_blank"><i>The Governess Game</i></a>, which will be released on August 28, 2018.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-56675189948317124822018-05-09T22:28:00.001-07:002018-05-10T00:33:00.535-07:00Book Review: Goldenhand<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29414640-goldenhand" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Goldenhand (Abhorsen, #5)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464522152m/29414640.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29414640-goldenhand">Goldenhand</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8347.Garth_Nix">Garth Nix</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1606567272">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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When I was fifteen, I finally decided to buy the book I'd seen sitting on the shelf of my local bookstore for at least a month. I finished <i>Sabriel</i> in a day, ignoring everything around me in order to do that. I found the book in time to learn that a second book in the series was set for release and I bought a brand new perfect hardcover of <i>Lirael</i> a few months later. <i>Abhorsen </i> was released when I started my senior year of high school.<br />
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I say all this now so that everyone can understand, I've waited YEARS for this book to finally exist. My heart almost stopped when I saw it on the shelf at the store. I even got a little misty-eyed because darnit, I have wanted this book for so long. I admit, I haven't sat down and read <i>Clariel</i> yet because I wanted to know more about Lirael and Sam and Nick and Sabriel and Touchstone and while I do have that book (autographed, which makes it precious), I couldn't sit down and read it because it wasn't the story I'd been hoping for.<br />
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But now, NOW, I have <i>Goldenhand</i> and in so many ways it was perfect. Over the last dozen(!) years I have pulled out the original trilogy and read them again, from beginning to end, never getting tired of the story. I have all of the books in hardcover and in mass market paperbacks, which makes them easy to carry and conceal in my bag when I want them around. So believe me when I say that reading this book was like coming home. I have read the books about this world so many times and once I started this one, it was so familiar, so poignant, everything I wanted to see and new things I didn't know I wanted.<br />
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I knew what I was going to read about in this book, the threat that would be dealt with, and it was wonderful to see my favorite characters move and breathe while racing towards the end of this story. Lirael was better than I remembered and I was almost giddy with the developments for her character. She has stepped into her role as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting with strength and a new understanding of her importance in the world and within her new family. Lirael shares the story with a new character named Ferin, a young woman on an important mission to deliver a message before it's too late. Both women are strong, willing to do what is needed to save lives, and their stories are delivered with skill while the world is filled in around them.<br />
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My only quibble is that it ended too soon, too fast. I can only hope that there is more to come for my favorite characters. Garth Nix has to know that these characters are special to so many people, so I truly, desperately hope there might be one or two more books to come. I already know that I'll wait years just to see all these people again.<br />
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Rating on my Blog Scale: 10 Stars!! One of my absolute favorite series of all time. Still no word on more books but I mean, I waited this long for <i>Goldenhand</i> without knowing for sure if it would exist, so I can continue to wait and hope for more books in this world. <br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-85761578832850716912018-05-09T22:20:00.000-07:002018-05-10T00:32:42.313-07:00Book Review: Queen of the Tearling<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18712886-the-queen-of-the-tearling" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling, #1)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417685148m/18712886.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18712886-the-queen-of-the-tearling">The Queen of the Tearling</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6953956.Erika_Johansen">Erika Johansen</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1314794584">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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I am going to be generous here and give this a solid 3 stars. In the end, I didn't feel like I had wasted time reading this book. Was it brilliant? No. Was I incredibly impressed, overwhelmed by the world? No, can't say that I was. BUT, eventually, this book started to show some merit, and that is why it gets 3 stars. It is a solid middle of the scale book.<br />
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First off, it started slow. When the book was originally released, I tried reading it immediately, but I never made it past the halfway point of the first chapter. I didn't connect with Kelsea's voice and I didn't care for the sulky, disgusted Queen's Guard that had traveled a long way to fetch the missing princess and bring her home to be crowned Queen. Kelsea was boring, the guard was whiny, and it all made me a little bored and tired. It was a gambit to drop the reader at the start of a journey, and while it was different at least for me, it didn't allow for the right amount of connection to develop for me with the characters. I didn't care for a lot of them so the beginning felt like I was slogging my way through some boring development.<br />
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At the same time, the writing had a habit of contradicting itself. One moment, some of the guards are handsome enough to make Kelsea blush, the next they are all OLD men, the next moment they are obviously handsome. BLEH Just stick with one sentiment, otherwise your lead starts to look like she can't think straight which makes the fact that she is meant to be Queen a very disappointing prospect. The contradicting eventually disappeared but the fact that it appeared so early on in the book definitely detracted from the interest in the story. Who wants to read about a girl who changes her mind so fast, not because it is the <i>character</i> that changes her mind with a snap but that it is actually the <i>author</i> who didn't keep her writing straight?<br />
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It came off as a mistake that could have been fixed before publication or at least properly expanded so that the flow of the sentiments made sense. I'm sure the author and her editors probably read this so many times that they did not see the problem, but it ended up being very noticeable to readers because it happened during the establishment of a key character. As a result, Kelsea is a little blargh and the book has to work to bring her back to a level where the reader can like her before moving on to establish why we readers should care to finish her story. Again, at least it was weeded out later in the book. I don't like talking back to books, telling them to make up their minds already. It defeats the purpose of reading for me.<br />
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Now for the story. For the first nearly 100 pages, the bulk of the plot seemed to be simply this:<br />
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<i>Everyone: You must be a better Queen than your mother!<br />Kelsea: What kind of Queen was my mother?<br />Everyone: *SILENCE*<br />Everyone: .........You must be a better Queen than your mother!</i><br />
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Not the best hook to get to the rest of the plot. Basically, Kelsea has been hidden away, raised by foster parents until it is safe enough for her to reclaim her throne. Her mother sent her away but Kelsea, having learned nothing of her mother over the course of her life, believes that her mother had to have been a brilliant woman. Even when faced with the undeniable fact that the truth would better suffice, no one would tell Kelsea the truth. Now, I guess I'm old hat at this by now, but I knew the previous Queen had to have botched things up pretty badly. It was obvoius from the get-go.<br />
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The fact that it took so LONG for those revelations to hit made it seem like it was dragged out for non-existent tension. Again, it didn't help my interest in the book. After that, Kelsea works to establish herself as a different Queen, one that will protect her people. She is ashamed of her family, unsure of who her father is, wary of the nobles in her court, hostile to the church that wants to control her and determined to gain the respect of her guard. The rest of those plot points are interesting, it just took a while to get there and the hiding of the info about the previous Queen was just too obvious to have real impact on the story and the reader.<br />
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And now for the world-building, or the weird mish-mashed bits of it we readers got. Now, I had read other reviews that warned me about the supposed references that suggested that this book takes place in OUR future, but I had hoped they were wrong. Once I started reading the proof for myself, I hoped the book would expand and explain. If not for those references, I could have accepted this as a solid fantasy addition, set in a country called the Tearling. The fact that those references were added in was disappointing. I did not want to read a book with a future in which the whole of our society had managed to slide back into the values of the medieval era for no apparent reason.<br />
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Carts, horses, farms, slaves, disease, lack of education, almost no rights for women, swords, archers, armies, towers, and apparently magic. Yup, sounds exactly like what I figured our future would turn out to be. It just made more sense that it was a world different from our own or at least a possibilty in our past. The fact that it seems to be set in our future just doesn't make much sense and it definitely does not inspire hope for ourselves. Fingers crossed that this has some development in Book 2. <br />
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So why 3 Stars? The <i>characters</i>. At some point in this book, the characters started to draw me in. I am not too impressed with Kelsea, but I think Andalie is interesting. I want know more about Marguerite and the Mace and the Fetch. Somewhere in this book, the characters began to shape themselves into interesting enough <i>people</i> that I wanted to learn more about.<br />
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Plot can be fixed, world-building can be expanded in the next book, but if the characters don't breathe, the whole book doesn't work. There is nothing of merit to work with. But the characters did begin to make sense enough that what little there was of the plot (a young Queen must save her country from forces of evil?) didn't matter as much as the way the characters moved in each scene. <br />
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I hope to see more of what I liked about this book in the next one.<br />
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Rating on my Blog Scale: 6.5 Stars. To be honest, I remember liking this book, but it took reading my review over again for me to really remember this first installment. I still have yet to read the rest of the series but that doesn't mean I will not ever read them. I just have so much I want to read, I haven't gotten to these books yet.<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20357387-kristina">View all my reviews</a>maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148708569444032900.post-35577457218006369542018-05-09T22:06:00.004-07:002020-11-02T22:52:53.484-08:00Book Review: The Butterfly Garden<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29981261-the-butterfly-garden" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Butterfly Garden (The Collector #1)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461392121m/29981261.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29981261-the-butterfly-garden">The Butterfly Garden</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5805694.Dot_Hutchison">Dot Hutchison</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1765969711">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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<i> Maya has a story to tell. It's a horrible, frightening tale about a garden, filled with butterflies, cared for by a gardener.</i><br />
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<i>Except the garden isn't some beautiful oasis. It's a prison. The butterflies are girls, kidnapped and tattooed with butterflies on their backs, renamed by a sick, twisted man they call the Gardener, who likes to keep pretty things for his own pleasure. No one knows where they are, no one knows what he does, until one day it all changes and the girls are set free.</i><br />
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<i>The girls survived the horrors they faced but now comes the next part of their lives, trying to work to fit into a world that isn't sure where they belong anymore. Maya has survived the garden but now she has to face
the task of telling the FBI about what happened to them, all the while
trying to understand it all for herself. Is she telling them the truth, or is she only telling parts of it, and why, if she is, would she hide anything at all?</i><br />
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That was frightening and beautiful and disturbing and very nearly heartwarming.<br />
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But this book is probably not for everybody.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The main drawback I see readers struggling with is the pace and the writing style. This book is SLOW, it is a steady burn, like watching a match set a candle wick aflame and then watching the candle as it melts entirely until the only bit left is the sputtering flame. It will drive some readers batty because the action of the plot is in the discovery of past events, it is the slow, meandering unveiling of a horrible history for a terrified group of girls. The reader has to deal with the long, twisted riddles that lead character Maya offers as answers during an investigation. For some, the payoff at the end won't be worth it.<br />
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And that's just about the pace. The writing style goes hand in hand with it. The story unfolds with Maya in a room telling her story to two FBI agents. They ask her questions and then the story shifts to showing the reader Maya's answers as if they are happening in the present. Some of the answers don't make sense at first, many of the stories drive the agents crazy with frustration, but in the end, that framing of a story within a story allowed for the layers to be peeled back just enough, again and again, until the rhythm sucks you in. Either you will love this book, hate this book, or you won't have any sort of opinion for it at all, and it all depends on whether the answers Maya gives everyone make the reader care enough to hear the rest of the story.<br />
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Despite the subject matter of this book, which left a sour taste in my mouth, the characters are the real draw to this story. Every girl in this book was so well created that even though many of them were only in the book for a short time, they left deep impressions on the story. I found myself laughing at certain points in the end because I cared for these girls, and seeing that they were coming out of their despicable circumstances with pieces of themselves still intact made me smile. I felt relieved. That's unique for a book like this.<br />
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I loved that Hutchison didn't try to romaticize any element of her harrowing tale. Nothing was sugar-coated, or glossed over. The reality of this book was harsh, losses were suffered, pain was to be had from almost every direction. But the takeaway was hope and family. I might never actually read this book again but I will always think of it as a brilliant book.<br />
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If readers haven't already done so, and if they liked this book, they should go read <i>A Wounded Name</i> also by Hutchison. Her Ophelia is one of the best I've seen in print or film. I look forward to her next book, <i>Roses of May</i>, out in 2017 and tentatively suggested as a companion and a somewhat possibly continuation to this book.<br />
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Rating: 10 Stars. Nothing else to say about that I haven't already written in my review. <br />
<br />maire.grimm13http://www.blogger.com/profile/12045544245368642915noreply@blogger.com0