Tag: contemporary

Review: First Frost

4 Comments

First FrostSarah Addison Allen, First Frost

***Warning: Spoilers for Garden Spells.***

It’s been ten years since the events of Garden Spells, and the Waverley clan has changed in unexpected ways. Claire has given up her catering business to run a much more profitable and far-reaching candy company. But while the candy company keeps her busy and brings in good money, Claire finds herself anxious and uneasy most of the time. Meanwhile, Sydney is married to Henry and desperately wants to give him a son, but so far she’s been unable to conceive a child. Meanwhile, her daughter Bay is now a teenager balancing her desire to fit in with her unique Waverley gifts. She has also fallen in love with local golden boy Josh Matteson, whose parents have big plans for him — plans that certainly don’t include Bay. As the Waverley women prepare for their annual celebration of the first frost, all these tensions continue to rise; and the arrival of a traveling magician with a sinister secret may break apart their family forever.

I love all of Sarah Addison Allen’s books, so it’s no surprise that I really enjoyed this one! Part of me wishes she hadn’t written a sequel to Garden Spells, which I think stands very well on its own. But on the other hand, it was nice to follow up with the Waverleys and see what happened after the happily-ever-after. One thing I really liked was that SAA doesn’t rehash the conflicts from the first book. Garden Spells mainly dealt with the development of Claire and Sydney’s relationship from near-strangers to close sisters, and in this book, that relationship remains solid. At the same time, the past definitely informs the present — for example, Bay’s relationship with Josh is certainly affected by Sydney’s prior relationship with Josh’s father. So in my opinion, this book is a really good sequel: it has certain themes in common with its predecessor, but it doesn’t tell the same story. I wasn’t a big fan of the traveling magician, who didn’t really add very much to the novel. But overall, I liked this book and would definitely recommend it to fans of Garden Spells!

Review: The Green Man

Leave a comment

Green Man, TheMichael Bedard, The Green Man

O (don’t call her Ophelia) is a 14-year-old girl who is visiting her Aunt Emily for the summer. The plan is for Emily to take care of O while O’s father is off researching Ezra Pound in Italy; but O will also be taking care of Emily, who recently suffered a heart attack. When O arrives at Emily’s bookstore, the Green Man, she immediately senses something unique about it. The place is disorganized and covered in dust, but O learns that it was once a site for weekly poetry readings and that it may just be haunted by some literary ghosts. As O gets used to the Green Man and to her stubborn aunt, she eventually discovers that Emily is tormented by a secret from her past. But what does this secret have to do with an ancient flyer for a magic show, a collection of valuable old books, or the mysterious boy O befriends at the bookstore? Together, O and Emily must uncover the secret and allow their poets’ souls to believe in magic and mystery.

This book was apparently written in 2012, but it has a timeless quality that reminds me of the books I read in childhood. There are no references to computers or cellphones, and aside from one use of the word “hipster” (which was actually quite jarring), there’s nothing that really anchors the story to a specific place and time. I also think the book would be most enjoyed by a younger audience. Protagonist O is 14 or 15, but based on her actions in this book, she could be much younger. There’s a hint of romance with her mysterious male friend, but certainly nothing overt, and O’s main internal conflict involves her desire to write poetry. I personally found the book well-written and interesting, but I also found it easy to put aside. That said, I think 12-year-old me would have loved it! So I would recommend this book to teens and pre-teens who enjoy reading and magic, but I don’t think it’s a particularly great read for adults.

Review: The Rosie Effect

Leave a comment

Rosie Effect, TheGraeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

***Warning: SPOILERS for The Rosie Project***

Genetics professor Don Tillman and his wife Rosie are finally beginning to acclimate to their new life in New York. Don is a visiting professor at Columbia, and Rosie is enrolled in their medical school. Their biggest problem is that their laundry was accidentally dyed by a careless neighbor in their apartment building — that is, until Rosie gives Don some news that changes everything: she’s pregnant. Don immediately begins to panic, worrying that his brain’s atypical wiring will make him an unsuitable father. But in an effort to reduce Rosie’s stress levels, he conceals his own anxiety and commences the Fatherhood Project. By reading pregnancy books, researching the healthiest diets for pregnant women, and buying the safest (and most expensive) stroller money can buy, Don hopes that he can overcome his perceived deficiencies as a father. Eventually, his project becomes so all-engrossing that he and Rosie begin to drift apart. Will Don’s preoccupation with the Fatherhood Project cause him to lose the most important people in his life?

The Rosie Project was one of my favorite 2014 reads, so I was excited to see that Graeme Simsion had written a sequel! Overall, I think fans of the first book will really like this one as well. Don Tillman is still a wonderful, (unintentionally) hilarious narrator who, despite his “different” brain, is struggling with a fairly universal experience. I imagine every expectant parent has the same doubts and fears about how to provide and care for their children, and in Don’s case these fears are amplified by his autism. So I found the main plot of the book to be very relatable and touching. The subplots, involving the financial and romantic woes of Don’s friends Gene and Dave, are a bit less interesting, and I thought they could have been streamlined a bit. I also found Rosie pretty unlikeable in this book, frankly. It seems to me that she deliberately isolates herself from Don instead of telling him what she needs. She doesn’t recognize his efforts at all, nor does she make any effort to help him understand how she’s feeling. Still, I enjoyed this book overall and would definitely recommend it to those who loved The Rosie Project!

Review: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

2 Comments

Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, TheGabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

A.J. Fikry is going through a rough time. He is still grieving the loss of his wife, who died in a car accident two years ago. His small independent bookstore on Alice Island (somewhere off the coast of New England) is steadily failing. And someone has just stolen his most valuable possession, a first edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane. A.J.’s current method of dealing with these problems is to isolate himself from everyone, even Ismay, his sister-in-law, and Officer Lambiase, a compassionate policeman. But everything changes when someone leaves a baby girl in the bookstore, along with a note placing her in A.J.’s care. At first, A.J. wants nothing to do with this situation, but he eventually bonds with the child and decides to adopt her. The more time he spends with baby Maya, the more cracks appear in his cantankerous facade. He slowly opens up to Ismay, Lambiase, and the rest of his community, even finding the courage to fall in love again. A.J.’s story ultimately illustrates that good friends and good books make a good life.

I actually started this book on New Year’s Eve, but I stayed up past midnight to finish it, so I’m officially counting it as my first book of 2015! For obvious reasons, I’m drawn to books about bookstore owners, especially cranky ones with very particular literary tastes. As a result, I really liked A.J. as a character, even when he was being rude and obnoxious (which was often). His romance with publisher’s rep Amelia Loman is absolutely adorable, especially in its early stages when he’s being tentative and embarrassed. Their teasing, slightly awkward banter is a pleasure to read. I also liked Maya’s character, which surprised me a bit, since I usually find children in novels tiresome. But I enjoyed watching her grow up and absorb her father’s love of literature, which culminates in her own desire to be a writer. The book is somewhat disorganized, jumping into the heads of several different characters, and the stakes aren’t particularly high. But for a pleasant read about people who love books, I’d definitely recommend this novel!

Review: Trust Me on This

Leave a comment

Trust Me on ThisJennifer Crusie, Trust Me on This

Reporter Dennie Banks has just stumbled upon a story that could make her career: A renowned professor and marriage expert is about to get a divorce. Dennie learns that the professor will be attending a popular literature conference, so Dennie gets herself a ticket also, hoping to meet the professor there and pitch her story. Meanwhile, Alec Prentice is a government agent specializing in fraud prevention. Currently he’s on the trail of Brian Bond, a con man who’s been running a real estate scam for years. Alec learns that Bond will be at the same conference looking for his next victim, so Alec goes undercover to catch him in the act. Bond always works with a woman, so when Alec walks into the hotel bar and sees him talking to a beautiful brunette, he assumes that she’s Bond’s partner. Of course, the woman is actually Dennie, who was merely making polite chitchat with Bond. As both Alec and Dennie try to focus on their missions, they become increasingly distracted by their mutual attraction. But will their career ambitions get in the way of romance?

I’ve read and enjoyed some of Crusie’s books in the past, and this one was billed as a screwball comedy, so I was hoping to like it a lot more than I did. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the book, but there’s just nothing original or interesting about it either. I couldn’t really relate to Alec or Dennie, both perfect physical specimens whose intelligence is frequently mentioned but never actually shown. Their relationship seems to be based entirely on physical attraction, and neither character really changes in the course of the novel. The “comedy” aspect of the book also fell very flat to me; frankly, the witty banter just wasn’t that witty. The basic plot is fun and might make a decent movie, but it’s too flimsy to sustain an entire novel. I suppose the novel does touch on some deeper themes, such as the potential conflict between career ambitions and romantic relationships, but it doesn’t really say anything innovative about the issue. Overall, even as a fan of romantic comedies, I’d say skip this one.

Review: My True Love Gave to Me

Leave a comment

My True Love Gave to MeStephanie Perkins, ed., My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

This anthology of holiday romances contains stories from some of the biggest names in YA right now, including Rainbow Rowell, Kelly Link, Jenny Han, David Levithan, and editrix Stephanie Perkins. All twelve stories involve a romance and a winter holiday, but each one is different. There are Christmas stories and Chanukah stories, real-life settings and fantasy worlds, characters who find love and characters who find themselves. Rainbow Rowell’s “Midnights” tracks the friendship of Mags and Noel over the course of several New Year’s Eves, until the night their relationship changes forever. Jenny Han’s “Polaris Is Where You’ll Find Me” is narrated by the only human who lives at the North Pole. Myra McEntire’s “Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus” involves a bad boy, a preacher’s daughter, and a Christmas pageant gone horribly awry. The variety of stories in this collection guarantees that any lover of the winter holidays will find something in it to enjoy.

Short story collections are usually hit-or-miss for me, but because of the impressive list of contributors to this book, I was hoping for more “hits” than I got. I would say I quite liked about half the stories, with Rowell’s “Midnights” being my favorite by far. By spreading the story over several years, I really got a sense of the depth of Mags and Noel’s relationship, and the climactic scene was pitch-perfect. By contrast, I felt like a lot of the stories actually needed to be full novels in order to make a real impact. For example, “The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer” by Laini Taylor had lovely writing and an interesting world, but because the story is so short, there wasn’t really enough room to develop that world. I was also underwhelmed by Stephanie Perkins’ story, which surprised me because I love her novels! But again, I think the issue is that she didn’t really have enough space to develop her characters and make me care about them. As I said, I did like about half the stories, and I’ll be checking out more work by some of these authors (Kelly Link and Kiersten White in particular), but this is not a must-read collection.

Review: The Rosie Project

5 Comments

Rosie Project, TheGraeme Simsion, The Rosie Project

Professor Don Tillman is a brilliant geneticist, but his professional success is offset by his lack of luck in the romance department. Attacking this problem with all the force of his logical brain, Don comes up with the Wife Project: a questionnaire for prospective mates designed to weed out undesirable or incompatible qualities. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this does not go well…but then Don meets Rosie. Rosie is the exact opposite of the woman described by the questionnaire: she’s disorganized, spontaneous, and perpetually late. She also needs Don’s help to find her biological father, whom she has never met. Interested in her problem, Don agrees to participate in the Rosie Project. But the more time he spends with her, the more he begins to rethink his list of strict requirements for the ideal woman. He also re-examines his own life and discovers some surprising things about himself — including the fact that he just might have a chance at love after all.

This book was a huge hit when it came out last year, and I can absolutely see why! It’s a charming romantic comedy about two people who couldn’t be more wrong for each other — except, of course, they’re exactly right. Don is a great protagonist and narrator, and he’s unique for a romantic hero in that he has Asperger syndrome. I can’t speak to whether the author’s portrayal of a person with Asperger’s is authentic, but it rang true to me. I like that the book shows both the benefits and drawbacks to having a brain that works differently from most people’s. Don approaches the world in a very logical, structured fashion, which makes him a great scientist. But by the same token, he doesn’t always pick up on social cues or body language, which makes his courtship of Rosie difficult. Rosie herself didn’t make as much of an impression on me; she’s a quirky free spirit who doesn’t really rise above stereotype. But I loved the book for Don’s unique voice and for the sheer sweetness and humor of the love story. This is definitely one of my top reads of the year!

Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue

1 Comment

Blue Lily, Lily BlueMaggie Stiefvater, Blue Lily, Lily Blue

***Warning: SPOILERS for previous books in the series!***

Blue Sargent and the Raven Boys are approaching the end of their quest to find the long-lost Welsh king Owen Glendower. But as always, there are complications. First of all, Blue’s mother is missing, and the cryptic note she left behind says only that she is “underground.” Is she one step ahead of them in the search for Glendower, or has she gotten involved in something more sinister? Then there’s the fact that Colin Greenmantle, the person who hired the Gray Man to kidnap Ronan in The Dream Thieves, is in town — and he’s the boys’ new Latin teacher. Worst of all, when Blue and the boys finally locate the cave where Glendower rests, they realize that their troubles are only just beginning. For there is more than one entity dwelling in this cave, and some things are better left asleep…

As a fan of the previous books in the Raven Cycle, I pretty much devoured this installment. I think it might be my favorite book yet in the series, because it’s finally starting to pull together the various plot threads and character relationships that have been simmering since the first book. More secrets are revealed, the plot continues to twist and turn, and various characters’ motivations are slowly uncovered. I really like the fact that Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah have become this inseparable unit now. In the first two books, there was a lot of tension between various members of the group, with everyone trying to figure out whom to trust. But in this book, they have finally accepted each other and decided to work together. I also love how certain characters (Blue and Adam in particular) are thinking about their futures: Even if they do manage to find Glendower, what happens then? So I’m very excited to see how things will turn out, and I can’t wait for the release of the fourth and final book next year!

Review: In Your Dreams

Leave a comment

In Your DreamsKristan Higgins, In Your Dreams

Emmaline Neal is one of three police officers in the tiny town of Manningsport, New York. She’s a tough, no-nonsense woman who knows her way around a Taser, but she’s also dealing with the fallout of a broken heart. Her first love is about to marry the shrew he dumped Emmaline for — and even worse, he’s invited her to the wedding! Emmaline knows she can’t go alone, so she reluctantly asks Jack Holland to be her date. Jack is friendly, popular, and drop-dead gorgeous, and he can’t say no to a damsel in distress. Em is aware that she’s definitely not Jack’s type, so she’s determined to keep her distance. But after a little wedding-related humiliation and a few glasses of wine, her practical resolutions fly out the window. After one amazing night together, Em tries to fight her growing feelings for Jack — even though he actually seems to be interested in her, too. But Jack is dealing with his own problems, including the sudden reappearance of his dainty ex-wife, who is not-so-subtly trying to get him back. Will Jack and Em be able to overcome their respective pasts and finally find happiness together?

As a Kristan Higgins fan, I’ve been reading and enjoying each new book that comes out, but I have to say that this is definitely my favorite of her recent books! Jack and Em both feel like real people to me, and they each have very specific baggage that prevents them from immediately falling into each other’s arms. I also — contrary to my expectation! — really liked the presence of the Evil Ex in this book. Having an ex-lover resurface is often a tedious, contrived obstacle to keep the hero and heroine apart; but in this book, the presence of Jack’s ex illuminates certain aspects of his character that show why he works with Emmaline. Here, the Evil Ex isn’t actually evil, but she is very needy and can be selfish. By contrast, Jack and Em are both giving people who are willing to sacrifice a lot for the people they love. I do have a few issues with the ending of the book, though; everything seems to work out a little too perfectly. For example, even Emmaline’s ex is redeemed in the end, which I don’t think was necessary. But even despite the magically perfect ending, I’d definitely recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance!

Review: The Winter Long

3 Comments

Winter Long, TheSeanan McGuire, The Winter Long

***Warning: SPOILERS for previous books in this series!***

Things finally seem to be looking up for October Daye. Now that the malevolent, usurping Queen of the Mists has been dethroned and the true queen reinstated, Toby’s biggest problem is having to dress up for court functions. But of course, this pleasant state of affairs can’t last, as Toby learns when Simon Torquill — the man whose spell once turned her into a fish for 14 years — suddenly re-enters her life. Shockingly, he doesn’t seem to want to harm Toby this time; in fact, he claims that he’s only trying to protect her from another, more powerful enemy. Toby knows she can’t trust Simon, but the more she investigates his allegations, the more it seems he’s actually telling the truth. Someone from Toby’s past is out to get her, and it’s the last person she would ever expect. Can Toby once again protect her loved ones, defeat the bad guys, and live to fight another day?

Seanan McGuire actually wrote a little intro to this book in which she said, “Everything I have done with October’s world to this point has been for the sake of getting here.” And indeed, this book is a game-changer for the series, shedding a whole new light on the events of previous books. I love the fact that McGuire has plotted this series so meticulously, and it really shows in this installment. Now I want to go back and re-read the entire series, so I can pick up on all the little clues I missed the first time around! So plot-wise, I really loved this book, and I’m very intrigued to see what’s next for Toby and the gang. At the same time, though, I’m a little nervous about the future of this series. With every new installment, it seems that the stakes get higher and higher, and Toby becomes more and more important in her Fae world. In the first few books, she seemed refreshingly ordinary, but now it seems that she’s some kind of Chosen One, which is a trope that often bugs me in fantasy novels. I’m definitely still hooked on the series for now, but I hope that I will still be enthusiastic after future installments!