I actually read the first two novels in this trilogy at the beginning of the year, and have had this one since February but have been hesitant to read this for two reason - I just wasn't sure if I was in the mood for this kind of commitment since it is a large book, and I didn't look forward to proceeding to this part of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine's marriage. Their story is just so sad and depressing. Henry conquered back the crown stolen from his mother, united his lands, married Eleanor, a powerful duchess in her own right, only to have it all crumble. Henry truly loves his sons and his wife, but he is also unable to share power. As a result, his family rebels against him as they try to assert their authority. This would be bad enough in a normal family, but in this case that means wars on the continent.
Showing posts with label CBR V. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CBR V. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Book 148: Devil's Brood
I actually read the first two novels in this trilogy at the beginning of the year, and have had this one since February but have been hesitant to read this for two reason - I just wasn't sure if I was in the mood for this kind of commitment since it is a large book, and I didn't look forward to proceeding to this part of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine's marriage. Their story is just so sad and depressing. Henry conquered back the crown stolen from his mother, united his lands, married Eleanor, a powerful duchess in her own right, only to have it all crumble. Henry truly loves his sons and his wife, but he is also unable to share power. As a result, his family rebels against him as they try to assert their authority. This would be bad enough in a normal family, but in this case that means wars on the continent.
Book 147: The Subjection of Women
I thought I'd read this in college but it turns out I'd only read a chapter of it. When I chose to focus on The Woman in White and gender, I thought this would be a good reference since Mill published it about ten years after Collins' novel, and both have things to say about women.
Honestly, for something that was written over a hundred years ago, it is rather impressive how much Mill's argument still holds up, and honestly, there are people that could still learn from his words. He argues for the vote for women and for providing equal opportunities. He basically compares marriage in its 19th century state to slavery and speaks out against property laws and rights. He argues against the idea of nature as a determinant in relationships between men and women because there is no way to know what nature looked like and if we go by nature, that would basically give strong men the right to rule over weak men based on might alone. Basically, he argues that nature is no longer used as a justification for anything unless it involves women.Book 146: Frostbitten
This novel returns to Elena as a narrator. Pursuit of a mutt leads her and Clayton to Alaska. This actually works out for them since former pack members Dennis and Joey Stillwell live in Alaska, and they have had reports of mysterious deaths. None of these three reasons alone would have been enough to justify a trip to Alaska but in combination, they do make for a worthwhile trip.
It quickly turns out that there is much more going on, involving a gang of criminal werewolves. While there are a few other things going on as well, such as an odd beast like creature and another strange werewolf, this is actually one of the more straightforward recent plots. Instead the focus is on Elena as she realizes she has not worked through some of her issues and vulnerabilities. The relatively simple plot gives Elena a chance to come to terms with her past fears and begin to grasp the idea that Jeremy has chosen her as the next Alpha.Sunday, December 29, 2013
Book 145: The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England
This was such a fun and clever idea. I have read various history books about people or events occuring in Medival England, but Mortimer focuses on the people and customs of the time, breaking it down in various categories to help bring the period and people to life.
His descriptions provide a helpful context for why people did what they did, and such small details for how long travel would take, thus explaining how fast news could possibly travel. The parts I enjoyed most were the ones about the customs, medical and hygience practices, and the law. While I also found the landscape, and how to travel parts informative, they were among my less favorite - for some reason, I can only take so much description before zoning out, and while some of the fact about travel were interesting, once we started discussing models of ships, I was a bit less interested - I wouldn't exactly be that interested in current day models of cars or transportation, either.
I think this is a great supplement for people interested in Medieval England - while he alludes to historic event, he tries to focus as much as possible on the customs, traditions and daily life. As a result, it provides whole different perspective on history. However, while I guess I am now prepared to go back in time, I can't say I'm ready to give up my medical access or running toilets. Or potatoes.
Book 144: Living with the Dead
The core of this story is very good. While it doesn't introduce a new group of supernaturals, it does introduce a hidden community of them, namely the kumpania for clairovoyants. In many ways, this community is rather cult-like but it also claims to have solved the problem of insanity that plagues most clairovoyants living on their own.
The main character is Robyn, a human friend of Hope's, who gets caught in the cross hairs of a supernatural issue. Adele is trying to sell herself to the Nast Cabal and leave behind the kumpania, but thinks that Robyn has some evidence that could get her in trouble. It quickly turns out that Adele is a psychopath who has no problem manipulating people and leaving a trail of bodies to cover herself.
The detective assigned to the case is a necromancer, though a fairly weak one, but he is not actually aware of the supernatural community and has never even heard the term necromancer until this novel. Given that Robin is a human and has no idea of the supernatural world, and Finn is a supernatural with no knowledge of the supernatural community, the novel is set up for a lot of confusion. For example, Paige and Karl assume that Finn is on the Cabal's payroll, and everyone else also assumes that the other characters are working for various agents and agencies. As a result of all this, there is quite some confusion which got a bit tedious.
The novel shifts between Adele, Robyn, Finn, and Hope, and like in the last novel, Hope barely has control of her powers. While her connection to Robyn was incredibly relevant to the novel, the Karl/Hope part was the least favorite part of the story for me. Oddly enough, none of the narratives are in first person, unlike Armstrong's previous novels. While I enjoyed this one, I'm looking forward to the next one which is an Elena focused novel because I need a break from Hope.
Book 143: Daughters Who Walk This Path
While this is mostly the personal story of Morayo, Kilanko also touches on a lot of different cultural and historical aspects of Nigeria. Morayo is the older of two daughters, and for the most part her family is rather modern - her sister is albino, and her parents recognize that this is the result of a recessive gene and not some superstition. However, they are also very strict in regards to what is proper, especially regarding their daughters and proper behaviors.
Morayo's parents have close ties to their families and as a result, her older cousin Bros T comes to stay with her family when he becomes too much for his mother to handle. At first, he seems to reform, but eventually he rapes Morayo.
Her aunt Morinke is the only one that Morayo feels comfortable talking to, and the novel explores the silence that surrounds rapes, the way that the women often feel like they are on their own, and how they respond as they get older. Kilanko, however, doesn't believe this has to be the way, and even shows one character who receives a very different reaction than Morayo following her rape.
In addition to Morayo's personal story where she struggles with the gender inequalities in her community, the novel addresses some of the political corruption in Kenya, and the difficulty of progress. She also makes a passing reference to different cultural stereotypes and prejudices since Morayo falls for an Igbo boy. While I don't know much about Nigerian history, I do know that the Igbo were one of the groups persecuted during the Civil War in Nigeria (read A Half of a Yellow Sun for more information on that time period).
I really liked this novel, and the characters that Kilanko created - Aunt Morinke is such a strong and interesting character, and she alone makes this novel worth the read.
Book 142: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
This wasn't a quick read by any means. It was definitely a good book, and Marra did a very good job of humanizing all his characters, providing background to all of them and showing how the war affected people with just little snippets, but it definitely wasn't something that I could just quickly read or get absorbed. It took me a few chapters to adjust to his style, to get to know the characters and to get invested. Having said that, it's one of those books that I was glad I read after I completed it, and it definitely pays off, so while there is so much that is dark, there is also hope in the ending.
After Dokka is taken, Akhmed finds Havaa in the forest, and decides he must save her life. Dokka was his best friend and he feels he owes him a debt. Due to the flow of refugees that has come through the village in previous years, Akhmed knows the name of a surgeon at a hospital over 11 kilometers away, and takes Havaa there for protection. This surgeon is a Russian in Chechnya, and trained in England but returned to her home because of her sister Natasha. When Akhmed appears at her hospital, Natasha has disappeared for the second time.
Akhmed is medically trained and convinces Sonja to let Havaa stay in return for his services even though he may be the worst doctor in the country (but a tolerable portrait artist). Though it takes a while to really get going and connect, eventually the cast starts to come together, revealing hidden connections, family secrets and betrayals. The story flashes back and forth over a ten year period, between the present day of 2004, and as far back as 1994. With his selection of characters, Marra is able to touch on a large variety of aspects of Chechen history, including relocation and the population of the area with ethnic Russians, the slave and sex trafficking that took advantage of the women of a war torn country, and various other stories and people, small and large.
Eventually, everything ties together rather poetically, and I ended up quite liking the novel, but I would say it took me over half the novel to really get into it. Basically, save this one for when you have the time and concentration and aren't just looking for a quick escape.
Book 141: Tales of the Otherworld
While this collection of stories was also fun, it didn't have the same unifying theme as Men of the Otherworld, and instead gives glimpses into some characters that seem more random as well as the main characters.
For example, it kicks off with a story about Aaron, which sheds more light onto how vampires are created (while there is more than one way, it starts out as a genetic mutation for Aaron). There is also a short story about Logan, Elena's friend from earlier in the series, who also plays a role in one of the longer novellas of this book: the story of how Elena and Clayton met. While Elena has already implied or revealed much of this, in this novella, the details are revealed, and it alternates between Elena's and Clayton's perspectives. While readers already know that Clayton bit Elena, in this book, that part is told from Clayton's perspective, and shows exactly what was going on in his mind.
There are also a few stories involving Lucas and Paige such as their wedding and another case, but the other highlight of the book is the story about Eve and Kristof, and how they met, developed a relationship and fell in love. Overall, the book is definitely worth a read but feels more like a collection of stories (which it is) than Men of the Otherworld did.
Book 140: Men of the Otherworld
As Armstrong explains in the foreword, she started releasing novellas and short stories related to the Otherworld series on her website every December, and this book is the first to take a selection of those and compile them into one volume. This focuses exclusively on the men of the Pack, and could really be described as Jeremy's rise to power. He only narrates the last of the four selections but it is all about him, and it is really perfectly set up.
The first story is told from the 3rd person limited, focusing on Malcolm Danvers, Jeremy's father, and Jeremy's conception and birth. The story reveals that his mother was a supernatural in her own right and she and her family chose Malcolm to strengthen their bloodline though she obviously didn't count on Malcolm tracking her and Jeremy down before she could escape with him. The next two novellas are told from Clayton's perspective and deal with his turning and Jeremy's "taming" of him as he becomes his guardian and gets him into the Pack. I love Clayton as a narrator. He is so matter of fact about so many things. Clayton's second novella chronicles Jeremy's rising star in the Pack and the eventual stand off between Jeremy and Malcolm for leadership of the Pack.
The fourth story is narrated by Jeremy, taking place after he and Jaime have gotten together, and brings the narrative full circle. After seeing Jeremy's supernatural origins on both sides, and witnessing his rise to power, this final story reveals more about his mother's origins. While it doesn't answer much of anything and raises more questions, at least it gives Jeremy something to research and I hope to see more about this in the next novels of the series.
I really enjoyed this collection, and am glad that she compiled them into a book because I'm not always very good about going out and looking for electronic versions of stories.
Book 139: Personal Demon
This one starts out very strong and interesting, but I wasn't enjoying it as much by the end. Hope Adams, chaos demon, tabloid reporter of the fake supernatural and council member, is recruited by Benito Cortez to pay up on a debt she owes him and infiltrate a gang of supernaturals in Miami. This gang has been disgruntled with the Cabal, but this is nothing new. However, Cortez is concerned because they seem to be taking more actions against the Cabal and causing more trouble. He wants her to pretend to be someone else to get into the group since given the rarity of her specific type of half demon they would surely be glad to have her.
I like Hope when she is in investigative reporter mode and she seems generally self reliant on her own in that mode. Parts of her powers are quite interesting since she can tell when someone has chaotic thoughts, such as when they might be planning to make a violent move against someone, and she can also tell where violence has occurred and what has occured. Those both seem like good skills to have. However, she is attracted by the chaos so once she gets to a place that can feed this hunger in her, she basically becomes useless and a liability. While Jaime might feel like she isn't that helpful and is a damsel in distress, at least she would be able to walk out of a scene. With Hope that isn't guaranteed. As a result, I think Hope may be my least favorite narrator.
Hope also had been flirting around with Karl, the werewolf, for quite a while but when they finally acted on it, it didn't go well. He is back in the picture now, and Hope is trying to determine what his intentions are. While Hope is investigating the gang, she is also in communication with Lucas to ensure his father plays it straight. Lucas actually narrates a few chapters.
Overall, I liked the story that developed, and there were quite a few threads to tie together as no one is ever quite sure who to trust when a Cabal is involved, so I enjoyed the story, I just didn't really enjoy Hope as a narrator. This is the first novel of the series that had multiple narrators, too (some of the others have had scenes from a different perspective but never to this extent). I can't believe that I'm already over halfway done with the series. I'm enjoying them so much, I'm actually kind of sad that I'm coming closer to the end.
Book 138: Time and Again
I'm not entirely sure why but I thought this novel was a bit of a minor classic for time travel novels. I was expecting something slightly whimsical and fun that would follow around the narrator as he enjoyed 19th century New York City, similar to The Little Book by Selden Edwards. Instead I got this thing with lots of descriptions and barely any plot.
Now, I know I've said this a few times when talking about historical fiction but one challenge that authors face and that the best overcome very well is how to incorporate their research organically without feeling like a data dump or them showing off - just because you learned how to make soap 17th century style doesn't mean I need all the details. A time travel novel faces this challenge as well, but to a lesser degree. After all, if the narrator is from the modern day, he is going to notice the differences and remark on them so the author gets to show off his research and knowledge more. However, that shouldn't happen to the detriment of the plot so when a four hundred page novel feels like two hundred pages of straight up, long and tedious description, something has gone wrong.
First off, this novel was first published in 1970, and is set in that time frame so I may have been missing a bit of cultural context, such as disillusionment with the government due to Vietnam as well as just local occurences in Manhattan, so my reaction may be a bit more critical as a result of this. Anyway, the novel begins in its idea of modern, so late 1960's/1970, when Simon, the narrator, is approached to join a secret government project. Simon is intrigued and becomes a member of a experiment attempting to test time travel. Their idea behind time travel is rather simple, and eventually, Simon successfully finds himself in 1882 Manhattan. It takes over a quarter of the novel to get to the past but at this point the novel wasn't irritating me. I figured it was a slow burn - I wasn't exactly excited to pick it up each evening but I also wasn't put off by it.
Now, the reason Simon went back to 1882 is because his girlfriend Kate has a letter that her guardian had kept from his father dated 1882, and the agency was willing to let Simon pursue his whim to find out more about the letter. So the whole plot of the novel revolves around Simon finding out more about the letter and its sender, Jake, which leads to him staying at the same boarding house and falling for Jake's girlfriend Julia. Eventually, Simon decides that Jake is evil, and Julia could do better, so he is willing to risk the course of history to prevent a woman from a bad marriage (this all happens within a four or five day period at most). Yep, that's the plot. There's also a fire and lots of other stupidity. And descriptions of store fronts. And a carriage driver that gives a page and a half speech about the horrible work conditions. Despite this speech, Simon continues to romanitcize the 19th century. Seriously, you know how everyone now is obsessed with the "good old days" of the 1950s? That nostalgia for a time that never happened - well, apparently in the 1960s this nostalgia was for the 1880s.
And I think that may be my biggest gripe about the novel - the past and history are interesting, but there is no such thing as the perfect time period. Look deeper and under the glitz and glamour there will be bad things. Simon may be disillusioned but escaping to the past isn't the solution. He has this whole rant about the evils of the 20th century, including World War I, World War II, the atomic bomb, pollution and the killings of civilians in Vietnam and how that shows that humans are just horrible. While that may be true, I'm not sure how that makes 1882 better - Simon says the evils of the 20th century may have their root in the past but he certainly has rose coloured glasses on. I'm sure the indigenous populations of Australia and America would have something to say about the concept of genocide as a 20th century invention, and I doubt that the victims of Wounded Knee would think that armies in the 19th century were kinder and gentler towards civilians. In fact, if I were to blame someone for World War I, I'm pretty sure I'd point to someone alive in 1882 over someone alive in 1970. But you know, whatever, the past is so much better! He basically thinks people in the past were more alive and interested in their surroundings. I had a similar problem with King's 11/22/63 because I thought he talked too much about the good of the past and neglected the evils of it, but King at least seemed to realize the trap he was falling into and tried to compensate. Finney just dives in head first. Basically, I don't recommend this one. At all.
Book 137: The Imperfectionists
I remember seeing this everywhere a few years back but it never quite caught my interest. When I saw it again on one of the tables at Barnes and Noble (it may have been the "buy two get one free" display), I recalled that denesteak had liked it (she's the first Cannoballer I had the opportunity to meet!), and picked it up, though it took me a few more months to actually read it.
While I don't like short stories, I enjoy the occasional novel that is a series of vignettes and chapters told from the perspectives of related characters. In this case, each chapter is told from the point of view of a different member of an English language newspaper headquartered in Rome, and each chapter ends with a few pages about the history of the paper itself which had its start in 1950s/1960s.
The thing is that while this has its amusing bits, it's a rather poignant and sad story. Most of the characters are not that happy, or if they are, they become less so over the course of their chapter as they deal with rejections and upsets in their professional and/or personal lives. Even the creation of the newspaper is sad as it is clearly an act of love on the part of a man that missed the chance to spend his life with the woman he truly loved, instead pursuing the life he should lead in favor of the one he wanted.
The characters I enjoyed the most include Arthur Gopal, the obituary writer, son of a famous reporter who is perfectly content with as a mediocre job performer because it gives him time to be with his family; Herman Cohen, the corrections editor, who realizes that he is happy and has lived his life to the fullest; Craig Menzies, news editor, a sweet and kind man who watches his personal life fall apart; Orenella, a loyal reader; and Oliver Ott, the publisher, whose family put him in this position despite knowing he did not have the proper skills, and who avoids everyone except for his bassett hound, his only friend and companion. There were a few other characters that just made me feel uncomfortable, such as Hardy Benjamin because I wanted so much better for her, and I couldn't help but feel bad for Winston Cheung who gets used and manipulated by a journalist in Cairo.
The novel documents the struggles of the newspaper industry in the world of the internet as they face cuts after cuts. Overall, it's definitely worth the time, and is a very engaging read about people, relationships, settling for less, the decaying newspaper industry and people's problems communicating.
Book 136: No Humans Involved
Jaime Vegas finally gets her chance to narrate, and as much as I love Elena, I think Jaime and Eve are definitely up there with her for my favorite narrators in this series. I like Paige but these others are just more fun - it might just be that I really don't like Lucas and Paige's whole playful reward system of sexual favors for successful spell casting. I mean I get what she is trying to do, but it makes them seem more immature in at least that respect than the rest of the couples.
I think one of the reasons I enjoy Jaime so much is that even though she is supernatural, she is still very relatable because her powers leave her vulnerable compared to the rest of the characters - she doesn't have spells, or super strength; she communes with the dead, and can raise them though she really tries to avoid that as much as possible. While Jaime is in California for her regular job as a celebrity medium, she stumbles across something that may require her involvement as a necromancer and a council member.
Since Armstrong intermixes a few short scenes from the villains' perspective, the reader already knows that the strange phenomena that Jaime is feeling are actually the result of human sacrifice. However, there is something off about these sacrifices and deaths because the spirits are not interacting with Jaime the way normal ghosts should. As Jaime tries to solve this case with the help of Jeremy who has come to visit, she must do so surrounded by other celebrity mediums (only she is a true necromancer) without raising any suspicions. After years on the celebrity circuit, Jaime has a shot at a television show if this current project goes well: she and two other celebrities are living in a house together to contact the spirit of Marilyn Monroe for a TV special. Jaime soon realizes that the producers are perhaps less interested in the seance part of this as much as pitting the three of them against each other for a celebrity medium version of The Real World.
The novel introduces a new character (well, I think she was introduced in a short story, but for the novel readers, she is new), Hope Adams, a tabloid journalist and half chaos demon, and while there are a few short scenes with Paige and Lucas, this is mostly Jaime's novel. I quite enjoyed the phone conversation with Elena and Clay, and how their two children, born in the last novel, are already developing distinct personalities for the readers based simply on phone conversations and stories from Jeremy and Jaime. Also, after years of crushing on Jeremy, he appears to finally have caught on to Jaime's interest and is even reciprocating though how he feels about the idea of a relationship and being the Alpha is another issue the two have to address over the progression of the story.
Book 135: Defending Jacob
Andy Barber, the novel's narrator, used to be the assistant district attorney in his community until his fourteen year old son Jacob was implicated in a murder he plans to try. Given his obvious conflict of interest, Andy is put on sabbatical or suspension as his family must deal with the repercussions.
As the novel progresses, Andy's family history comes back to haunt him, even though he has been avoiding his family's past for years. The parts of the novel that I found most interesting were the ones where Andy explains the legal process and what goes on behind the scenes. It becomes clear very quickly that simply being suspected or accused of a crime is enough to ruin a family and a life, especially if the family isn't rich to begin with. The loss of income and job alone have a huge impact on a family's finances and that doesn't even address the costs of a defense laywer, and whatever professional witnesses are used. Andy also makes the case that the system is less reliable than believed since the officers and lawyers soon focus on one specific scenario and find the witnesses and evidence that back it up.
Despite all these failures in the system, I was not at very convinced by Andy's case for his son. Andy loves his son, unquestioningly, but that also means he isn't the most reliable narrator. Or actually, it's less a matter of reliability or trustworthiness since he isn't trying to mislead the reader - he is trying to convince himself, or is in true denial about even the possibility of his son's involvement. He believes he knows who the killer is, and like the legal system he presents to the reader, he will not look at any other evidence.
I thought the things that the novel portrayed about the legal system were fascinating, and Landay did a good job of portraying a family on the verge of collapse. In the end the novel doesn't care about guilt or innocence, and while I certainly have my own beliefs, this book is much more than a whodunit, and much more of an analysis of family and the law. While the novels are nothing alike, The Dinner also explores the idea of how much a parent should believe in their child or protect the child. I had a huge issue with the parents in The Dinner because they knew their child was guilty and protected him anyway. In Andy's mind, that question never enters his mind. A parent that can believe no wrong of their child is certainly a problem but at least it's not nearly as reprehensible as one who would protect a murderer from all consequences.
Book 134: Joyland
While there is certainly a mystery in this novel, it is almost besides the point. It is much more about an older man looking back on an important summer of his life, about growing up, friendships and first love (or loss there of).
For the summer between his junior and senior year, Devin gets a job at an amusement park in North Carolina. He is both excited about this job, and a bit nervous about the separation from his girlfriend. It becomes clear over the summer that she has lost interest in him. The park is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young woman who was murdered and left behind in park's one scary ride. While most of the book and the summer concerns Devin's work and his friendship with Erin and Tom over that summer, he is fascinated by the ghost.
Devin ends up staying past the summer, deferring his senior year of college by a year, partially because of his continuing fascination with the ghost and partially to get over his heartbreak. While he remains in North Carolina, he interacts with a young single mother and her terminally ill son. The ill boy seems like many of the other children of King's novels - precocious, with some slight supernatural abilities - I would say he has a bit of the Shining, actually.
It is such a simple story about a young man's coming of age, but what really makes the novel work is that it is told from the perspective of a much older Devin, at least twenty to thirty years later. As a result, that adds a certain amount of wistfulness to the story and yearning for days gone by, friendships gone.
Given that the ghost and supernatural aspect are rather low, this would definitely be a good starter novel for anyone hesitant to try King. As far King fans, if they are anything like me, they don't read King for the supernatural or horror parts of the story, but because he can write characters and stories. Sometimes he may repeat himself a bit but it doesn't mean they aren't good stories.
Book 133: Scarlet
This is the second novel of the Lunar Chronicles, and while I preferred Cinder to this one, I have to say that Meyer avoids many of the pitfalls of a second novel. Yes, this does fill a bit like a bridge between novels since it combines characters and sets up the narrative for future books, but unlike many second novels in a trilogy or series (there are going to be four total), this one flies by. It doesn't feel like it's been padded out simply to create a series, but really takes up all its space and uses it to tell a fast moving story.
Since the chapters alternate between Cinder and Scarlet, Scarlet isn't quite as developed as Cinder who already had an entire novel devoted to her. Scarlet, the Little Red Riding Hood of this series, lives in France and is trying to find her grandmother who has gone missing, and used to be a pilot. Cinder, in the meanwhile, is escaping from prison and picks up a fellow prisoner on her way out because he has a ship that he stole from the American Commonwealth before relocating. Cinder is in search of more answers before agreeing to the doctor's plan to come to Africa, and she believes they may be in France.
Scarlet also picks up a companion on her way to saving her grandmother, though she can't decide how much to trust Wolf and whether or not this is a trap. He says he was once part of the community that has her grandmother but has left their ranks but Scarlet has some misgivings. To be honest, while I understood her distrust, I was also a bit irritated with her continued questioning since she didn't have much choice other than going with him.
I'm definitely enjoying the way the series is developing and am already looking forward to Cress which comes out next February. Cress is the one I compared to Rapunzel in my review of Cinder, so I'm also curious to see if it introduces the character for the fourth novel - or has she already made an appearance without my knowledge?
Book 132: The Chocolate Thief
There have been a few reviews of this over at the CBR V, and it sounded cute. Additionally, I was trying to find a title with a variation of "brown" in the title, so this was exactly what I was looking for. I'm not sure if this falls more into the "chick lit" or romance category of books but it certainly seems to work for both.
Cade Corey has always been the good daughter - her sister is off doing protests, while she plays her part as the Corey heir. Corey chocolates is basically a stand in for Hershey's, and Corey wants to expand into the European market. Cade also has a wish to start having a branch of the factory that sells gourmet chocolate, and in pursuit of this plan, travels to Paris to talk to worldfamous chocolatiers and see if any of them will give their name to her venture. Her first choice is Sylvain Marquis but he practically chases her out of his kitchen. While more polite, the rest of the chocolatiers also give her firm no's. Cade is flummoxed by these reactions, and doesn't understand why none of them are willing to partner with her.
While Marquis has no interest in the Corey empire, he is fascinated by Cade. He quickly discovers that someone is breaking into his kitchen and stealing his chocolates. Naturally it is Cade because she is so irritated and attracted to him. I was glad when the chocolate thiefing was over because it seemed so ridiculous, but it was an entertaining story. One thing that I really appreciated about this novel is that Florand did not throw in some stupid story line to keep the couple apart once they were together or to break them up. That isn't to say that everything is perfect once they are together as there are clearly still some issues as neither knows quite how much to trust the other's interest, and they still have work related conflicts but nothing is blown up so much that the two can't talk it through.
Between the fact that Florand doesn't throw in pointless contrivances just to expand the plot, and all the chocolate, this was definitely a fun breezy read, and I will pick up the next one in the series. Unfortunately, I've never had the same infatuation with Paris and France that many have so the setting really didn't do much for me beyond the generic "I'd love to be back in Europe" feeling. Personally, I would always choose London or Rome over Paris. Or Brussels if we're talking chocolate - I do love Godiva.
Book 131: The Language of Flowers
This novel! Oh my gosh. This is one of those novels I've been looking at and putting back down for at least a year, but I finally decided to take it home and read it and it was so good. Based on the description, it sounds like a novel that could easily turn into a cliche and be a very predictable Lifetime movie style tear jerker, but it was so much better than that.
Victoria grew up in the foster care system, and despite several placements, she never made it out of the system. There was only one time that she was close but even that one failed. Now she is 18, and she is on her own. After an initial few weeks at a halfway house of sorts, she is homeless and jobless. She is cynical, skeptical and doesn't trust anyone but she loves flowers, and the Victorian language of flowers. Her gift with flowers helps her get a part time job at a local florist, and her life seems to be coming back together.
Her work with flowers reintroduces her to a person from her past, the nephew of Elizabeth. Elizabeth is the woman that almost adopted Victoria, and was her last chance at a home, and she is also the one that taught her the language of flowers. The novel tells the story of Victoria's adjustment to life on her own, while also telling of her life with Elizabeth. As Victoria begins to figure out some things in her life, she also becomes overwhelmed by a secret from her past, and the relationships she is developing with the people around her, causing her to withdraw. As the reader, it is easy to both root for her, and be frustrtated with her decisions.
The author has worked with the foster system and youth in it, and has a son who was in the system so I think that definitely provides an air of authencity and depth to this narrative that could have easily become melodrama in less capable hands.
Book 130: I Am the Messenger
I appear to be in the minority in this considering that this book has over a 4 star rating on both Amazon and Goodreads, but I really didn't like this one very much. The first chapter is great and immediately caught my interest and attention, but as the novel progresses, I found myself caring less and less.
After Ed inadvertently helps stop a bank robbery, he begins to receive messages, written on playing cards. It takes him forever to actually being exploring the first card, which has three addresses written on it, but once he investigates the addresses he realizes that they are tasks for him to do. Some are easier done than others, but they involve helping the people on the cards with something big or small - one address leads to an old lonely woman whom Ed simply decides to spend time with while another leads to a woman and daughter terrorized by an abusive alcoholic husband and father.
The concept seems interesting enough - somehow given his previous good deed, Ed has been chosen to continue to act on behalf of his community. Ed is a self described loser, 19 years old, mediocre at sex, slacker, cab driver that lives with his ancient dog, the Doorman. He hangs out with his three friends, one of whom he is in love with. The thing is that after those first few chapters, Ed didn't quite do it for me as a character - he was so indecisive. I realize that was the point. Also, I was waiting on the big reveal but when it finally came it just seemed like such a cheap copout and pissed me off more than anything else. Seriously, that was the big ending? What the hell?
There was one other thing that bugged me so much about the novel and it has to do with Ed and his "dream girl." For the most part, they are friends, she knows he is in love with him, he knows she isn't ready for commitment due to her past, and as a result, chooses meaningless relationships and sex with guys that she won't get attached to. However, there is just enough of Ed acting like a "Nice Guy" to annoy me. For example, I can't remember how many times he sees his best friend, and says that she smelled of sex. If you're not going to make a move, stop pointing out that she's having sex with other guys. I don't like that phrase much to begin with (unless it's in a '90s song from Marcy's Playground), but for a guy to constantly be talking about how the girl he wants to be sleeping with smells of sex with other guys, is creepy and irritating. Anyone else agree with me on that one? That may be even one of the main reasons I didn't warm up to Ed - yes, he's a nice guy, but he's also a "Nice Guy."
Anyway, The Book Thief is amazing and magical, and while this one certainly had a lot of things that could have worked, overall it didn't click for me, and the ending really just ruined it.
Book 129: Songs of Willow Frost
While this didn't move me quite as much as his previous novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, this was still a very well written novel that takes place in Depression-era Seattle. The novel begins with William Eng's twelfth birthday. Of course, it isn't actually his birthday but the nuns have decided it is easier to have all the boys share a birthday, and as usual they go on an outing to celebrate. Since it is the Depression, many of the orphans aren't actually orphans - their parents could no longer support or feed them and saw no other choice but to give them up. As the only Chinese boy (the other one ran away) at the orphanage, William feels very estranged from everyone but he has two friends, Sonny, the only Indian boy (Native American, it took me a chapter to catch on to that) who is possibly even lower on the food chain than William, and Charlotte, a blind girl, whose father is in jail, and may have to leave the orphanage soon to go to a special workhouse due to her age and disability.
As part of the outing, the boys get to see a movie, and on one of the pre-movie clips, William recognizes one of the performers, Willow Frost, as his mother. He believed that his mother was dead, and even remembers seeing her in a bathtub, filled with bloody water, but this shakes up his entire world. As it turns out, she is scheduled to perform in the area soon, and William is determined to see her. Surprisingly, Ford doesn't prolong the narrative with any speculation about whether Willow is his mother or throw further obstacles in his course. Despite everything, William manages to be at the theater opening night, and he makes contact with Willow.
It is from here that the story shifts its focus to Willow, or Liu Song. Ford does a great job of portraying how slim the support system was for immigrants in Seattle, especially if they didn't have an extended family. After her father dies, her mother remarries to support the two of them, and her step-father is absolutely horrible and controlling. Liu has no way to protect herself though she befriends a former student of her father's. As the Depression begins, her options become even more limited as she loses her job and way to support herself. Liu faces various prejudices because of her race, her gender and her job. Rather than help, the social worker is clearly set against her, and the novel portrays misunderstandings, and an intolerant system that leaves Liu with little opportunity and options.
The utter failure of the system can also be seen at the orphanage as there are parents that truly shouldn't be parents, and yet their children have no say in whether or not they shall return home. While there is a bit of a love story for Willow, the main focus is on her and her relationship with her son. Everything else comes second to her which is obvious once the story turns to Willow's perspective. As a result, I was quite involved to see how the story would develop and how it would explain William's placement in the Catholic orphanage. While it didn't resonate in the same way as Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, it still had quite an emotional impact (I can't decide if one of the moments in the novel is emotionally manipulative or not - it made sense in the novel but that doesn't mean it can't still be manipulative), and I really enjoyed reading Willow's part of the story, which also discussed the 1920's movie industry and Hollywood.
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