Tag: contemporary

Review: A Little Something Different

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Little Something Different, ASandy Hall, A Little Something Different

When Gabe and Lea meet in a creative writing class at their university, sparks begin to fly instantly. Everyone can see it, from the creative writing professor to their fellow students to the baristas at Starbucks — everyone, that is, except Gabe and Lea themselves. They’re both shy and a little awkward, and Gabe is dealing with some trauma from his past, so it’s unsurprising that they have a hard time interpreting each other’s mixed signals. Still, everyone else can see that they’re crazy about each other, and that’s why this novel is told from everyone else’s point of view. Parts of the story are variously told by Gabe’s brother, Lea’s roommate, the aforementioned baristas, a waitress at the local diner, and even a squirrel who lives on campus; in fact, the only characters who don’t address the reader directly are Lea and Gabe. Despite their mutual crush, will they ever be able to get together? And if not, how will their friends, acquaintances, and random observers cope with the disappointment?

This book is a sugary confection that I devoured in one sitting. At bottom it’s a classic boy-meets-girl story, but the various narrators provide an interesting twist on the tale. Overall, I was impressed with the author’s ability to switch between voices so skillfully. A couple characters were difficult for me to distinguish (particularly Gabe’s group of friends), but it was generally easy to keep everyone straight. (It doesn’t hurt that each new perspective is clearly marked with the character’s name and function, such as “Inga, Creative Writing Professor.”) I didn’t love every single perspective — the narratives from “squirrel” and “bench,” in particular, seemed unnecessary — but the author interview at the back of the book revealed that she had about twice as many narrators in the initial draft! So at least she cut back a little. 🙂 I also found it interesting to tell a love story in this way, giving everyone a voice except the two main characters; it seems to reflect a voyeuristic element in our culture (reality TV, social media, etc.). Ultimately, this is an adorable little romance with a cute gimmick attached, and I really enjoyed it!

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After

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Isla and the Happily Ever AfterStephanie Perkins, Isla and the Happily Ever After

Isla Martin has had a crush on Josh Wasserstein since their first year together at the School of the Americas in Paris. But because of his relationship with another girl and her own shyness, nothing has ever happened between them, and Isla is convinced nothing ever will. But then, the summer before their senior year, she bumps into Josh in a Manhattan cafe and actually finds the courage to talk to him. It soon becomes obvious that her crush isn’t as unrequited as she thought, and the two embark on a giddy, passionate relationship. But even the intensity of first love can’t blind Isla to the pitfalls ahead of them: Josh is an artistic slacker who might get kicked out of school despite his talent, while Isla is a bright girl who works hard but doesn’t know what to do after graduation. Can Isla and Josh stay together when everything, from geography to family issues to their own future paths, seems determined to keep them apart?

I’ve been waiting for this novel, the companion to Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, for YEARS, and I was definitely not disappointed! This book really captures the feeling of being young and in love, with its dizzying highs, despairing lows, and all the accompanying drama. Isla is a sweet but spunky heroine, and I personally found her more relatable than Anna or Lola: she’s shy and has a rich interior life, but she has a little more trouble turning her dreams into reality. I like that this book highlights the differences between a crush and a real relationship; even though Isla gets to date the boy of her dreams, their relationship is far from perfect! This book is full of all the swoonworthy romantic moments you’d expect in a Perkins novel, though it’s certainly more explicit than Anna and Lola. The book is definitely geared to a teenage audience (unsurprisingly, since it’s YA), so I did occasionally feel like I was a bit too old for the story. But I still really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who wants a dramatic, romantic read!

Review: Water for Elephants

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Water for ElephantsSara Gruen, Water for Elephants

Jacob Jankowski is an old man in his 90s living out the remainder of his days in a nursing home. His children rarely come to visit, and he’s both lonely and frustrated by nursing home life. But when the circus comes to town one day, it triggers Jacob’s memories of his youth and the years he spent with the Benzini Brothers Greatest Show on Earth. In the 1930s, Jacob was a promising veterinary student who was about to join his father’s practice; but after his parents’ tragic death, the practice had to be sold to pay the family debts. Bereft and with nowhere to go, Jacob hopped a train that turned out to belong to a traveling circus; and because of his veterinary skills, the ruthless circus owner decided to keep him around. At the circus Jacob met a variety of new people, including a sarcastic dwarf, a mercurial animal trainer, and the trainer’s beautiful but trapped wife. Eventually his involvement with the circus would trigger a series of shocking and catastrophic events.

I remember that when this book first came out, a lot of my friends were raving about it, convinced that I’d absolutely love it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that experience…maybe I’m missing something, but this book just didn’t resonate with me. I really enjoyed the setting; circus life in Depression-era America was fascinating, and I liked the photos of real historical circuses that preceded each chapter. It’s truly amazing to think about the amount of work (and food!) it took to keep the circus going! But I wasn’t that nuts about the plot or characters in this book. The main story is the romance between Jacob and Marlena, a performer who is trapped in an unhappy marriage. But while her menacing husband is an interesting (albeit repulsive), larger-than-life character, Marlena herself seems very bland, with no defining qualities other than her beauty and her misery. I also didn’t find Jacob particularly interesting; he acts like a stock character rather than an individual. Overall, the book is worth reading if you’re interested in the setting, but in my opinion it doesn’t live up to the hype.

Review: Exclusively Yours

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Exclusively YoursShannon Stacey, Exclusively Yours

Keri Daniels is a career-focused tabloid reporter who is determined to become an editor, but her latest assignment fills her with nothing but dread. She’s been commanded to get a hard-hitting (and preferably scandalous) interview with Joseph Kowalski, a reclusive bestselling author who also happens to be Keri’s high school sweetheart — a fact her editor wants her to exploit when she approaches him. To Keri’s surprise, Joe agrees to be interviewed, but he has conditions: Keri must accompany him on his family’s annual two-week camping trip in rural New Hampshire. For every day Keri can stick it out, Joe will answer one question. With no other choice, Keri agrees to the scheme, but her high-powered life in the city doesn’t translate well to living in a cabin, dousing herself with bug repellent, or riding an ATV through the mud. But the more time Keri spends with Joe’s big, loud, loving family — and with Joe himself — the more she enjoys herself. Can she and Joe rekindle their romance without encountering the same obstacles that originally tore them apart?

I’d heard good things about Shannon Stacey’s Kowalski series, so I decided to pick up this first installment. Overall, I liked but didn’t love it. My favorite part of the book by far was Joe’s rambunctious family, from his mother with her deadly wooden spoon to his noisy, irrepressible nephews. While the Kowalskis certainly have their share of dysfunction, ultimately it’s obvious that they love and care about each other. That said, I wasn’t particularly invested in the romance between Joe and Keri. I didn’t really buy their reasons for breaking up after high school, nor did I understand what was keeping them apart in the present. Keri wanted to focus on her career, but she certainly doesn’t seem to have a lot of pride in her current job as a tabloid reporter. And Joe didn’t want to follow Keri to the big city because he loved his family, but surely a bestsellng author could afford frequent trips back home to see them. So basically, I thought they were both acting stupidly, and I found myself dismissing their supposed obstacles. All in all, I’m not sold on this series, but I may pick up the next book sometime.

Review: Landline

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LandlineRainbow Rowell, Landline

TV writer Georgie McCool is at a turning point in her life. For several years, she and her best friend Seth have been working on a dumb but popular sitcom, but now they’ve been given a chance to create their very own show. Georgie is thrilled, but her husband Neal is less so: Georgie now has to spend Christmas in L.A. and wants to cancel the family trip to Neal’s mother’s house in Omaha. But instead of deferring to Georgie like he usually does, Neal takes their two daughters to Omaha without her. At first Georgie assumes this is just one of the many small fights they’ve been having lately…but then Neal stops answering his cell, and she can’t seem to get ahold of him. Stunned and grieving, Georgie goes to her own mother’s house for comfort, where she finds an old rotary phone in her closet. She soon discovers that the phone has magic powers: when she uses it to call Neal, present-day Georgie is able to talk to 22-year-old Neal the week before he proposed to her in 1998. Can Georgie use the phone to solve the problems in her marriage? Or will she learn that she was never supposed to marry Neal in the first place?

I’m a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell’s previous books, so it’s no surprised that I devoured this one in two days, albeit with a couple of quibbles. But first things first: I love that Georgie and Neal are already married when the book starts, and I love that they’re having such a common problem. Georgie wants her husband to support her career dreams, while Neal feels taken for granted as the stay-at-home parent, and I could really sympathize with both points of view. I also love the flashbacks to the beginning of Georgie and Neal’s relationship. They really lent a lot of weight to the story, because we know exactly what Georgie will be losing if she can’t find a way to reconnect with Neal. That said, I wasn’t a fan of Seth; he seemed to exist as “the other man” who comes between Georgie and Neal, yet he’s never really presented as a viable option for Georgie, so I just didn’t see the point. I also didn’t like the way that Georgie’s career ambitions seemed to be the sole cause of her marital problems. To me, the message was that she should be willing to give up those ambitions to make her husband happy. But aside from these grumbles, I really loved the book and would definitely recommend it, especially to fans of Rowell’s other books!

Review: Where’d You Go, Bernadette

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Where'd You Go, BernadetteMaria Semple, Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Bernadette Fox is a middle-aged wife and mother who is having so much trouble coping with daily life that she outsources all her errands to a virtual Indian assistant. Her loving husband, Elgin, has made a fortune working for Microsoft but is never home as a result. Her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, is always a source of joy, but the other parents at Bee’s school for gifted children drive Bernadette crazy. As Bernadette struggles with social anxiety, hostile neighbors, a house that’s falling apart, and an unexpected visit from the FBI, things slowly begin to slip through the cracks — until one day she vanishes. Devastated, Bee sets out on a quest to find her mother, compiling all the documentary evidence she can find that might give her a clue to Bernadette’s whereabouts. Bee’s search for her mom eventually takes her as far as Antarctica, and it also gives her a greater understanding of Bernadette’s personality by unearthing secrets from her past.

I was a little nervous to read this book, fearing that it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but luckily there was no need to worry! Normally I would have little patience for someone like Bernadette, who doesn’t seem to realize how priveleged she is, with a loving family and plenty of money. But Bernadette is just self-aware enough to realize the ridiculousness of her behavior, so I was able to look past the more obnoxious aspects of her personality. Also, this book is really funny; I especially enjoyed the e-mail conversations between Audrey and Soo-Lin, two of the other parents at Bee’s school, who both hate Bernadette. I loved the book’s quasi-epistolary format — it’s basically a collection of the documentes Bee finds while searching for her mom, with some narration by Bee — and I loved that there was a plausible reason for how Bee obtained all these documents. All in all, this book went much more quickly than I thought it would, and I’d definitely recommend it as a fun vacation read!

Review: Love Irresistibly

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Love IrresistiblyJulie James, Love Irresistibly

Brooke Parker is a smart, tough-as-nails lawyer with a very demanding job. As general counsel of an up-and-coming food & beverage provider, she works long hours doing everything from drafting employment contracts to wining and dining new clients. As a result, Brooke has no time to spend on other aspects of her life, especially not a relationship. Meanwhile, Cade Morgan is a former college football star who now works as a federal prosecutor after sustaining a career-ending injury. He dates a variety of women but doesn’t like to get serious with anyone. But when an investigation of a corrupt politician brings Cade and Brooke together, sparks immediately fly between them. At first, they seem to be on the same page, both wanting nothing more than a casual fling. But as they spend more time together, Brooke and Cade start to develop genuine feelings for one another. Will they be brave enough to go beyond the superficial and really commit to each other?

Julie James is the author who convinced me that not all romance novels are terrible, and she’s been on my auto-buy list for a long time. But for some reason, I wasn’t terribly fond of this book. It’s certainly a fun, quick read with a lot of good points. For example, I liked the fact that there were no contrived obstacles or Big Misunderstandings keeping Brooke and Cade apart; their hesitations seemed genuine and realistic. I also loved Brooke’s friend Ford (give him his own book, please!) and Cade’s FBI buddies. They may be there for sequel fodder, but they’re also fun characters in their own right. However, I just couldn’t get invested in the romance betwen Brooke and Cade. Maybe it’s because they’re both annoyingly perfect, with supermodel good looks and prestigious, high-paying jobs. Even though they each have a backstory that provides them with a smidgeon of depth, they just seemed like generic hot people to me. That said, I haven’t given up on Julie James and will definitely be reading her next book!

Review: In the Woods

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In the WoodsTana French, In the Woods

Detective Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, are two up-and-coming detectives on the Dublin Murder Squad. But Ryan is hiding a secret about his past: his real name is Adam Ryan, and when he was 12 years old, his two best friends vanished in the woods of Knocknaree without a trace. Ryan was even with them at the time, but he has no memory of what happened to them — or why they disappeared while he was found. Ryan has apparently done a good job of recovering from this trauma and moving on with his life, but he is deeply shaken when he and Cassie are assigned to another case in Knocknaree, where a young girl has been murdered. As Ryan returns to his hometown and is confronted with memories he didn’t even know he had, he wonders whether the girl’s murder is connected to his own past. Ultimately, Ryan knows that this case will have deep personal importance for him — but will it make his career or destroy it?

I’m having a hard time collecting my thoughts on this book. At first I thought I wasn’t going to like it at all — in fact, I almost gave up after the flowery prologue — but eventually I got completely sucked in. The strongest aspect of the book, for me, was the relationship between Ryan and Cassie. Ryan isn’t a particularly likable character, but the bond between him and Cassie is so strong that you can’t help feeling he must be a pretty good guy after all. The way this relationship evolves and changes throughout the book kept me riveted. The novel’s narrative structure also creates a lot of suspense: Ryan is the narrator, and he says right from the start that he tells lies. So I was constantly wondering whether he was lying about certain things, and I became really invested in both mysteries as a result. That said, the book’s ending drove me a little crazy: some things made me sad, others frustrated me, and others I actually liked a lot. So I’m still undecided about this book; but I am glad I read it, and I will certainly be reading The Likeness at some point as well!

Review: That Summer

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That SummerLauren Willig, That Summer

In 2009, Julia Conley learns that she’s inherited a house in England from a great-aunt she’s never met. She hasn’t even been to England since her mother died when she was little. When Julia reluctantly goes to London to get the house ready to sell, she teams up with her cousin Natalie and an attractive antiques dealer named Nick to sort through her great-aunt’s belongings. Julia is especially intrigued by a stunning painting that she finds in a wardrobe, which looks like it was painted by a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Her quest to learn more about the painting leads her to the story of Imogen, who lived in the house with her husband Arthur in the 1840s. Imogen thought her marriage would be like a fairy tale, but in reality her husband is selfish and distant. She finally finds the love she’s been longing for when she meets a struggling painter named Gavin Thorne, who has been hired to paint her portrait. But will their romance last, or is it destined to end in tragedy?

I’m a longtime fan of Willig’s Pink Carnation series, so I was excited to read this book, her second stand-alone novel. As an added bonus, I really like Pre-Raphaelite art and was interested to learn a bit more about the movement. But while this was a fairly good read, I didn’t love it quite as much as I was hoping to. Both Julia’s and Imogen’s stories had the potential to be really interesting, but because the book divides its focus between them, neither plot is as rich as it could be. I had a hard time connecting to Imogen’s story in particular; the romance seemed to happen very abruptly. Also, I personally have a very hard time with love stories that expect me to condone adultery, so while I sympathized with Imogen’s plight, I wasn’t exactly rooting for her and Gavin to get together. Finally, I missed the lighthearted tone and occasionally silly humor of the Pink Carnation books. This novel is much more somber, and I didn’t find it as enjoyable. Overall, I’d say the book is worth a read if you’re a Willig completist (like me) or if you are particularly interested in the premise.

Review: Since You’ve Been Gone

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Since You've Been GoneMorgan Matson, Since You’ve Been Gone

Emily and Sloane are best friends; they’ve been inseparable ever since Sloane moved to town two years ago. While Sloane is adventurous and outgoing, Emily is shy by nature and happy to be known simply as “Sloane’s friend.” But one day, Sloane and her family are simply gone, and Sloane isn’t answering any of Emily’s calls or texts. Emily is both shocked and completely overwhelmed — how will she survive the summer without her best friend? Then she finds a list from Sloane, a list of tasks designed to get Emily out of her comfort zone. Not knowing what else to do, Emily decideds to complete the list, hoping that once she does, Sloane will come back. Some of the tasks seem relatively harmless (“Apple picking at night”), while others seem impossible (“Kiss a stranger”). But with help from some surprising sources — including popular class president Frank Porter — Emily makes her way through the list and gains a new identity in the process.

This book is the perfect summer read! It’s got everything — friendship, humor, romance, ice cream, and a sense of infinite possibility. Reading it, I felt nostalgic for the summers I had growing up, playing with the neighborhood kids and feeling like the summer would never end. I found Emily a great, realistic character; she’s more of a follower than a leader, she’s a bit unsure of her own identity, and she relies on Sloane to provide the adventure and excitement in her life. I loved watching her grow as a person and have her own adventures. I also adored the sweet romance with Frank, who is the kind of guy I totally would have had a crush on in high school! But the relationship at the heart of the book is really the friendship between Emily and Sloane, who is an incredibly vivid character even though she’s barely on page. In fact, my only tiny quibble with the book is that I wasn’t satisfied with Sloane’s reason for disappearing on Emily. But I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great beach or vacation read this summer!