The Water Cure

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh     288 pages

From Goodreads:


King has tenderly staked out a territory for his wife and three daughters, Grace, Lia, and Sky. He has lain the barbed wire; he has anchored the buoys in the water; he has marked out a clear message: Do not enter. Or viewed from another angle: Not safe to leave. Here women are protected from the chaos and violence of men on the mainland. The cult-like rituals and therapies they endure fortify them from the spreading toxicity of a degrading world.

But when their father, the only man they’ve ever seen, disappears, they retreat further inward until the day three strange men wash ashore. Over the span of one blistering hot week, a psychological cat-and-mouse game plays out. Sexual tensions and sibling rivalries flare as the sisters confront the amorphous threat the strangers represent. Can they survive the men?

Review:

Overall, it's a stunning book, very thought provoking, and I couldn't have imagined where it would lead me. Though I'm not normally a fan of multiple points of view, here, I think, Mackintosh has utilized this tool to the greatest effect. It really shines. I will definitely be recommending this book.

The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy     241 pages

From Goodreads:

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

My Review:

This book is not for me. It's a post-apocalyptic/dystopian world built around two characters, a father and son, as they make their way through the ruins of America looking for...I don't really know what. They don't know what. It's cold, it's desolate, it's nearly hopeless, and ultimately not a lot happens.

I'm sure that many people have found some sort of deep meaning in all this, but to me it was the same situation played out over and over again: traveling, running out of food, almost dying of starvation, finding a magical store of previously unfound food, rinse and repeat. Sure the father and son discussed the morals of good and bad, McCarthy explores the idea of what mankind will become if left to their own devices, but it was done in such a boring way!

I probably would have put this book down after the first few pages, but I am counting this book as my "Oprah Winfrey Book Club Book," for Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge, so I had to get through it. And I did. I just didn't enjoy it. Read it if you're into slow-paced, thought-driven prose and bleak dystopian landscapes

This House is Haunted

This House is Haunted by John Boyne     304 pages

From Goodreads:

1867. Eliza Caine arrives in Norfolk to take up her position as governess at Gaudlin Hall on a dark and chilling night. As she makes her way across the station platform, a pair of invisible hands push her from behind into the path of an approaching train. She is only saved by the vigilance of a passing doctor.

When she finally arrives, shaken, at the hall she is greeted by the two children in her care, Isabella and Eustace. There are no parents, no adults at all, and no one to represent her mysterious employer. The children offer no explanation. Later that night in her room, a second terrifying experience further reinforces the sense that something is very wrong.

From the moment she rises the following morning, her every step seems dogged by a malign presence which lives within Gaudlin’s walls. Eliza realises that if she and the children are to survive its violent attentions, she must first uncover the hall’s long-buried secrets and confront the demons of its past…

My Review:

The creepy atmosphere and the unanswered questions really set the spooky tone for this story. Following Eliza Caine, who i
s seemingly dropped into a completely blind into a manor full of secrets, you, the reader, are as desperate as she is to get to the bottom of the strange and treacherous happenings at Gaudlin Hall. With this story, Boyne parodies Dickens's style of story writing - slow paced, a bit creepy with a tinge of scary, and a cast of odd and mysterious characters embody the work. I loved ever bit of it - it's a ghost story, but one that slowly reveals itself. It's no thriller, and yet it still manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. I loved how each layer is peeled back carefully and in such a way that only bits and pieces of the story reveal themselves at a time. Yes, I was able to come to some conclusions earlier on than their reveal, but I didn't mind - the writing and the narrator, Eliza, are so well put together.

The one thing that really disappointed me was the ending - I understand why Boyne decided to leave the book on that particular note, but I didn't care for it. Perhaps it won't bother anyone, but for me, it was unsatisfactory.

While not scary, I enjoyed reading this through the month of October. It has spooky elements and it very much inhabited the spirit of spooky ghost stories. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a ghost story wrapped up in an historical era drama.

American Street

American Street by Ibi Zoboi     324 pages

From Goodreads:

On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life.

But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own.

Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream? 

Wow, this book really packs a punch! I did not have any idea the book would end up where it did. Zoboi does an excellent job of slowly building tension, of taking a single issue and branching it out, weaving it into a network of issues so tangled that you, the reader, can't imagine what the best path would be to take. You can only sit back and hope that Fabiola makes it out okay, and preferably gets her mother back. The writing is excellent, every character with strong, distinct voices creating a tightly woven fabric of family, because, after all, it's what you you do for fam.

I cannot say I enjoyed reading this book because it was so sad. I don't like reading sad books. But it's an important look into immigrant life in America, and of a particular city that has suffered much at the hands of gentrification. Fabiola's story is powerful, evocative, and it demands reading.

Rebecca

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier     441 pages

From Goodreads:

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

My review:

This book is a roller coaster of emotions. It's dark, it's a bit creepy/insidious, it has an air of the mysterious and disturbing. I was thoroughly engrossed, especially because this book provides a slow build to a rather late climax, and the falling action is so full of tension that you can't put it down.

I didn't like any of the characters - so it's out of character for me to be rating this book so high. But the writing is well crafted, the story is so strong, it grips you. I absolutely hated the narrator and her weird infatuation with a man who is twice her age, her longing for him and her willingness to put up with basically anything so long as she can remain his wife. I hated Maxim, the worst kind of snobby, wealthy Man with a capital M. He babies his wife, he definitely doesn't love her, and he's so obsessed with image, he literally doesn't care about anybody. I also hated Rebecca, but only in the way that she's presented by everyone (who knows what she was really like because everyone who describes her has a different bias - she literally has no voice, she's just a symbol, throw any context on her you want because it can't be called wrong). Perhaps the only person I didn't hate was Frank.

In the end, read this book for its writing - the symbolism, the mirroring, the cyclical story-line. The characters feel very much like caricatures, but they are very intense and fascinating in their own way. I can see why this book is considered a classic. I very much respect du Maurier's writing and her book should definitely be considered more than just a "romance" story (if you can call it romance, it's one-sided, whatever, I hated the romance).

Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys     189 pages

"Wide Sargasso Sea, a masterpiece of modern fiction, was Jean Rhys’s return to the literary center stage. She had a startling early career and was known for her extraordinary prose and haunting women characters. With Wide Sargasso Sea, her last and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction’s most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This mesmerizing work introduces us to Antoinette Cosway, a sensual and protected young woman who is sold into marriage to the prideful Mr. Rochester. Rhys portrays Cosway amidst a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind."

Ultimately, this book was very boringly written, there was no plot, and the characters were so bizarre and weirdly written so as to make them confusing. I couldn't really say there was anything I particularly cared for in this book, so I had to give it the lowest rating because I did not enjoy reading any part of it. I had tried reading this a year ago, but could not get into it. I only attempted it again because of Book Riot's challenge. I have succeeded in reading all of it but not in liking it any better than the first time.

Vox

Vox by Christina Dalcher     326 pages

"Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice."

My overall thoughts are that this book, whose premise was so intriguing to me, didn’t go far enough to match my expectations. I wanted it to be so much more than it was. In some ways, it felt like Dalcher was trying to write a “Handmaid’s Tale” read-alike, but Jean just cannot live up to the standard of Offred. The story is too short and doesn’t really explore the world too much. Like with “Handmaid’s Tale,” Jean has little interaction with the resistance, in fact she didn’t even realize there could be one, and so much of the story is focused on Jean’s own reception of and reaction to the Pure Movement. Since I didn’t care for Jean, I cared little for her comments or feelings on the whole situation and so the book was really just me trying to figure out how this movement would be brought down, or if it even would be. So, would I recommend it? Yes, to those who like reading dystopias or are interested in feminist literature. But otherwise, I’d say people could pass on it and they wouldn’t be missing much.

Reboot

Reboot by Amy Tintera     365 pages

Seventeen-year-old Wren rises from the dead as a Reboot and is trained as an elite crime-fighting soldier until she is given an order she refuses to follow

I’ve had this book on my to-read list for a while and now that I have a small fr

iend group book club, I’ve finally found the chance to do so and I’m glad I did. This book was a fun, action-packed read that is full of things I love: a bad-ass female main character, science-fiction/future setting, and an intriguing storyline.

That being said, I wasn’t wowed by this book. It was certainly enjoyable, but it had a few bits here and there that made this just a middle grade rating for me:

For one, I felt the romance was a bit rushed and sort of took over Wren’s bad-ass character style. I felt like she started the book as yes, a bit of a hard-to-like character, what with her enjoyment of chasing down humans and fighting them, incarcerating them, and/or killing them. But, I gave her leeway because she has been trained to do so since she was 12, an impressionable age. I like that she started breaking out of this shell once she meets Callum and realizes that she does have the capability to feel things (when up until this point she’s thought of herself as next-to being like a robot). I like that he helps her discover new things about herself, but I dislike that he so quickly falls for her (basically insta-love on his part) and that they go from begrudgingly friends to romantically involved. Suddenly Wren goes from being really in control of situations to being like most typical YA main characters: the boy becomes their whole center of being, from which the orient themselves and they suddenly become the incapable one in the relationship.

The only thing that saves it from being a total loss is that Wren is still mostly capable in the physical department: she is stronger (yes, partly because of her Reboot number), better equipped to save the day (and often is saving Callum’s butt), and she is often the one emotionally supporting Callum. I am glad that, though they are given an opportunity within the book, that Wren and Callum do not have sex (mostly because Callum would like for Wren to be more enthusiastic/on-board with it when the do). Many YA books these days seem to insist on having young, teenage couples have at least one sex-scene. While both Wren and Callum are virgins (and it’s stated in the book that Reboots frequently have intimate relations in the HARC facility), they know enough that they could do it, but choose not to. It’s a bit refreshing and it also gives them more time to get to know each other better and solidify their relationship (even though the both are clearly ready to throw their lives away for it – which was one of my issues with this couple).

I understand, when writing a YA romance, especially with teens, that things move quickly. Wren and Callum, however, seem to develop a bit of the Romeo/Juliet thing, more so on Wren’s side, where they don’t want a plan B in case one of them dies. Wren doesn’t want to think about any scenario in which Callum might die because if he does, their plans suddenly become pointless to her, as if her life will have no meaning after. I understand that Callum is the catalyst in her becoming more human and less robot-like, but it’s still irksome to see.

That brings me to my main issue with this book: Callum’s love for Wren is the main reason that Wren decides to break free of her bonds and escape. A relationship is the reason that the rest of the book becomes necessary because if she didn’t feel things for Callum and knew that he felt things for her, she never would have wanted to escape, would have continued living her life as a HARC slave. It’s disappointing, because Wren seems so awesome and competent, but I understand that Tintera is attempting to use her age and the length of her stay at HARC as the reason why Wren would never leave. But I say – write her character differently, then. I don’t like that she needs a love interest to be the reason for her to want to escape.

Right, so the good bits:

I like this world that Tintera has built: a sort-of post-apocalyptic United States, or more specifically Texas. Characters often refer to some Reboot vs. human war, which ended up destroying most things and which is the main reason why HARC exists. It sounds like an epic story and I enjoyed getting to read about this new United States, where children who get this disease KDH then come back as a weird kind of high-functioning zombie when they die. The whole minutes dead = how skilled a zombie you are is quite interesting.

I also quite like the tension between humans and Reboots – that most families are horrified by/don’t want to be around their undead children, that most humans are terrified of Reboots (mostly because of lies that HARC has fed the populace). I like the big bad company HARC and how it manipulates both the Reboots (telling them minimal information so they can use them as basically slaves that then further enforce their enslavement) and humans to be mistrustful of each other. If I end up reading the second one, I hope Tintera includes a plot of humans and Reboots breaking that cycle and learning to live alongside each other. In fact, I hope that’s one of the main plot points. I like that there are human rebels (yay, rebels!) who believe in a different world and attempt to rescue Reboots and take down HARC. I’m always in for a good underdog story.

All in all, the world is well built, the characters are pretty solid. Aside from me ragging on Callum’s and Wren’s relationship, I think Callum is a pretty cool dude (maybe a bit too good to be true), likable, kind, and super not into killing (like, my level not-into-killing, as in, I’d rather die than kill someone else not-into-killing). I think he and Wren balance each other well and they’re both good for each other – Callum helps Wren get in-touch with her feelings and Wren helps build Callum’s strength. I liked Ever, Wren’s Reboot friend, as well. Most of the other characters are a bit one-note, but they’re also not in the story very much.

The final conflict went a bit too well for my taste – the puzzle pieces all fell into place nicely for Wren, which didn’t leave much room for believability, but I still enjoyed the ride. I will probably end up reading the next book, just to see where things go and how Wren and Callum progress.  I would recommend this to teens looking for a good action-pact story and who like supernatural/sci-fi elements. This book, I think, could be of interest to boys and girls, which is a plus in its favor.

The Boleyn Reckoning

The Boleyn Reckoning by Laura Andersen     416 pages

Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, The Boleyn Reckoning heralds the triumphant conclusion of Laura Andersen's enthralling trilogy about the Tudor king who never was: the son of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn--Henry IX--who, along with his sisters and those he holds most dear, approaches a dangerous crossroads. 

Meh. The ending of this series was overly dramatic and ultimately blah. It just solidified my dislike of love-triangles. Not only was a love-triangle the sole plot of this book, but it ends up taking over every character's actions and what you get is a sopping mess of drama, rage, revenge, grief, despair, and on and on. It gets a little tedious.

I absolutely love Tudor history, but this story makes it less interesting when it focuses on indirect Tudor characters - Minuette and Dominic are nice and all, but their love is not as interesting as the rest of this alternative history unfurling. And the ending - I don't know what to make of <spoiler> Elizabeth threatening Minuette about her child's probable lineage (as William's) to get her to do what she wants. That seems oddly out of character for this series so I don't know what Andersen was trying to do there. And she couldn't have just left it a mystery as to who the father is? I'm just dissatisfied with it ultimately being Williams.</spoiler>.

Dissatisfied and not likely to pick up Andersen's follow-up series about Elizabeth I.

A Spark of Light

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult     352 pages

The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

This was a fascinating story, and well crafted, as it weaves together the stories of several lives as they intersect on one particular day at a woman's reproductive health clinic.

Some are there to get an abortion, some are there to get the pill, some are there because they work there, they are the abortion doctor, or that is where they receive they're gynecological exams. Whatever the reason, on this fateful day all their lives are thrown together when an anti-abortion activist starts shooting.

This story was a bit difficult to follow, at first, as it traces the story backwards. Immediately you're thrust into the story, amongst the hostages, the negotiator, and the gunman. It's always difficult for me when a story jumps back and forth between perspec

tives, and this story followed ten different people, and it jumped rather frequently.

The thing that Picoult is so skilled at is revealing the story, bit by bit, until all the pieces begin to come together, finally, into a whole, at the very end. And when you finally get a major reveal you've been waiting for the whole time you've been reading, often you end up making some audible sound, like a gasp, because you just didn't see it coming. At least, that's how it was for me, though not as strongly this time, as I predicted the sort-of big reveal before it happened, though not until I was at least half-way done.

The parts I loved about this story were the different character's stories and how they all fit together to tell this overarching story about abortion from all sides. Going into this story, you might just think it's a pro-live vs. pro-choice struggle. But there are so many facets that make up the abortion discussion, that aren't as often brought up. Picoult makes sure to touch them all. I learned so much just reading this book - and I highly recommend reading Picoult's "Author's Note," as well, where she speaks personally about her thoughts on abortion.

That being said, what kept this from being higher rated for me were the numerous times that this story felt less like a story and more like a "covering all the bases" blanket statement about abortion. As much as I appreciated all the information about abortion, sometimes the story element was lacking and a character became a mouth-piece to tell me a specific fact or point of view about abortion rather than me feeling link this was something heart-felt by that character. This story is definitely coming in at a time where these kinds of discussions are raging and abortion is painting a wide swath in a political landscape. This notion unfortunately colors my enjoyment of the story, a bit, as it feels like a PSA rather than a story.

But otherwise, I really felt like this was well done and is definitely up there in my list of favorite Picoult books. I would definitely recommend it to anyone because perspective is necessary when it comes to topics like these. Empathy is an amazing eye-opener, and getting an idea of what someone facing such a choice might be thinking or feeling or even knowing what their life is like is important and humanizing, a point that Picoult is emphasizing, underlining, and exclaiming with every word. So read it.

milk and honey

milk and honey by rupi kaur     204 pages

milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. It is about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain, heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

Though I'm sure this would be categorized under confessional poetry, to me a lot of it read like motivational poster captions or something inspirational someone would probably tattoo on their forearm.  Though I have read enough poetry to know that almost anything can be considered poetry, it doesn't mean I have to agree. I would consider Kaur's writing as more of a diary/memoir of her reflections on her life, particularly the most traumatic moments and how she was able to get past them. I can see how this work is inspirational to some, and Kaur definitely deserves to be called brave because she does not hide the fact that this is a work of deeply personal emotions and experiences. I just can't get past how simplistic most of it seems. But then, a lot of people might really need someone to tell them, "You matter," or "Love yourself first," and I don't mean that in a sarcastic way. This is definitely something I would give to someone I knew was going through a rough patch and really needs some advice on self-care. That being said, I did not enjoy the majority of this book. A handful of "poems" stuck out to me, but most of it seemed derivative of works or quotes I'd seen or heard before. I'm very picky when it comes to poetry and none of these poems really spoke to me or made my skin prickle or caused me to feel a rise of emotion. Perhaps I'm not the intended audience, I'm not sure. Either way, for me, this was mostly just an "eh" book and I probably won't read it again. If you got something out of it, great. I think Kaur is justified in sharing this piece of herself because there are lots of people out there who need to hear the things she's stated in this book.

The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken     488 pages

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for

kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.

If there was any book I would recommend for those who have read and liked The Hunger Games series, this is IT (aside from telling them they have to read Battle Royale first). It's got kids fighting for their lives (against other kids and adults, really), it's got an over-arching governmental bad-guy, it's got betrayal/suspicion vibes all over it. It really fits right in there, so I'm surprised I'd never heard of this book until I started seeing movie trailers popping up for it.

Honestly, this book is probably even better written than The Hunger Games - Bracken has a strong writing style that grabs you and doesn't let go. This book made me so anxious the entire time I was reading it. It's a very on-the-edge-of-your-seat type read. The plot is hard hitting, a bit slow on take-off, but once it takes off, BAM! You're in the thick of it and it doesn't slow down, not even at the end. It really rolls you right into the next book, you feel you have to keep reading to get to the bottom of this story.

Ruby is certainly a more likable figure than Katniss will ever be (but for those who are fans of Katniss, I say this not to diss her). Ruby is softer than Katniss, but she has that hard-hitting, fueled-by-anger-fighter in her that, when unleashed, could definitely rival Katniss. Ruby fights for the ones she loves, she is not going to roll over and take it lying down. But she is also fragile in this book, probably the most fragile she will be in the entire series, but Bracken doesn't make that seem like a bad thing. In fact, by the end of it, Ruby recognizes that her gentle side, her loving side, is a real, valuable part of her, one that she has to put away for the time being to get things done. But when it's all said and done, that rougher, monstrous side of her is not something to be proud of, only a necessary evil. Like Katniss, Ruby takes up the gauntlet for her friends, her family, and she will fight to protect those she loves. She is willing to play the game.

This is a great, action-paced YA dystopian book, full of amazing characters and well-written dialog and character development (and it's diverse, which is nice!). Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and Zu feel like a family and it's such a great thing to see develop. I can't recommend this book more, it's so good.

The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis     171 pages

Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food.

As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner.

This book was hard to read - the atrocities happening in Afghanistan seem unbelievable in our modern time: women's freedoms being limited to just their homes, unless accompanied by a man, having to cover up in full while out, not being able to go to school or hold jobs, not allowed to make noise or have a voice, etc.

But this book does important work shedding some light on the experiences of Afghans at the hands of extremists. It's an important work that children and adults should be exposed to and I'm glad I was able to read it. 

The Hate U Give

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas     444 pages

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

This is a read that reflects the troubles of our modern times, including racial profiling, injustice, and police brutality. It was a hard read, but I am glad I did read this book. It's important to understand and to reflect on the words of those closest to these troubles, to listen and to think of ways to be a part of the solution, not the problem.

I think teens will get the most out of this novel - it speaks with a teen voice and the characters people-ing it are mostly teens. This is there story and it is a powerful one.

I think for her first novel, Thomas did very well. The story is compelling, its characters are well-rounded people who feel like they could be out in the world, living there lives right now. I appreciate that the story ends on a hopeful note, even as it challenges the reader to continue to fight: your voice is your weapon - use your weapon.

I listened to the audiobook of this story and it is read well. I very much enjoyed listening to it.

Queens of Innis Lear

Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton     575 pages

The erratic decisions of a prophecy-obsessed king have drained Innis Lear of its wild magic, leaving behind a trail of barren crops and despondent subjects. Enemy nations circle the once-bountiful isle, sensing its growing vulnerability, hungry to control the ideal port for all trade routes.

The king's three daughters—battle-hungry Gaela, master manipulator Reagan, and restrained, starblessed Elia—know the realm's only chance of resurrection is to crown a new sovereign, proving a strong hand can resurrect magic and defend itself. But their father will not choose an heir until the longest night of the year, when prophecies align and a poison ritual can be enacted.

Refusing to leave their future in the hands of blind faith, the daughters of Innis Lear prepare for war—but regardless of who wins the crown, the shores of Innis will weep the blood of a house divided.

The book is long, so I'll keep my review brief: Writing: amazing. Story: well constructed, based off of King Lear but retold in a clever way, slow going. Characters: Well rounded, flawed, full of angst (every last one) Overall, I can say I liked the book, but definitely not as much as I was expecting to. It was much too long, or the story took too long to grab hold. Lots of flipping back and forth from past to present and so much narration of people, places, things that it took a long time between moments of action. This book was 50% peoples inner thoughts and monologues, 40% people talking to each other but not doing anything, and 10% things actually happening. It was slow, but well written. Is that enough for me to give it four stars? No. For some, this may be a four star or even five star read. Not for me. I don't regret having read it, but I'd only recommend it to people who like long, methodical world building and character development in their high-fantasy.

The Window

The Window by Amelia Brunskill     338 pages

Anna is everything her identical twin is not. Outgoing and athletic, she is the opposite of quiet introvert Jess. The same on the outside, yet so completely different inside--it's hard to believe the girls are sisters, let alone twins. But they are. And they tell each other everything.

Or so Jess thought.

After Anna falls to her death while sneaking out her bedroom window, Jess's life begins to unravel. Everyone says it was an accident, but to Jess, that doesn't add up. Where was Anna going? Who was she meeting? And how long had Anna been lying to her?

Jess is compelled to learn everything she can about the sister she thought she knew. At first it's a way to stay busy and find closure . . . but Jess soon discovers that her twin kept a lot of secrets. And as she digs deeper, she learns that the answers she's looking for may be truths that no one wants her to uncover.

Because Anna wasn't the only one with secrets

The premise of this story is what got me to read it - a twin dies, the living twin is sure it wasn't the accident everyone thinks it was, she goes on a stealthy detective quest to find the answers to her sister's death. Do I think that the book played this out realistically? Yes and no. I can believe Jess wanting to get to the bottom of things, especially since she has come to the realization that there were huge secrets that her sister kept from her. What I don't understand is how easily her parents went along with the accident idea, especially since this was out of character behavior for their daughter. I don't know, maybe I've watched to many crime shows where parents are always determined to know the exact reasons behind what happened to their children. This was not the case in this book.

I also didn't like how there was lots of hints brought up about how Jess was the "messed-up" twin, that she went to therapy as a child, and lots of lines were given about how she couldn't stand to be touched. I'll give the main example my confusion about Jess's character: "they'd always remember the time when someone bumped against you in the grocery store and you screamed and screamed, or how, back in kindergarten, the teacher's aide had to come with you to the bathroom so you didn't spend thirty minutes washing your hands," (p. 14). This is just dropped into the story and is never discussed again. Jess appears to have some serious mental problems, but throughout the story, the closest the author comes to reinforcing this idea is to mention how Jess doesn't like to be touched - and yet she overcomes this fairly easily at one point in the story, with no negative repercussions or thoughts. I guess I'm just confused about what the point of bringing up Jess's past issues has to do with her character, if it doesn't seem like she has these problems currently.

Lastly, it bothered me how non-teen-like the majority of the characters are. It surprised me that Anna could end up keeping so much a secret from Jess, especially since they are twins and Jess is so oblivious, believing that they have no secrets, that she had absolutely no idea that her sister had this secret other life.

Aside from all that, I did not expect the twist at the end, so hats off to Brunskill. I enjoyed the slow build of Jess's investigation. I thought, aside from the weird health inconsistencies, that Jess's character felt very real - her grief, her determination, her fierce love for her sister. She was a good narrator and I enjoyed her perspective. I feel this would make a good mini-series or movie, because the tone of it is very melancholic, but has moments of beauty and suspense wrapped up in it. I could easily picture it in my head as I was reading. So, I gave it three out of five stars. It was a good read, I enjoyed my time with this book, and I don't regret picking it up. Just a little let down by the execution. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a suspenseful teen mystery. 

Heart Berries

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot     142 pages

Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II disorder; Terese Marie Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries , a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father--an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist--who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame.

I believe this genre of writing is not my cup of tea. Mailhot's writing style reminded me a lot of Maggie Nelson's book, The Argonauts, where everything is related out of time, in a stream-of-consciousness style, and addressing a specific person ("you") throughout. The book is deeply personal, but at the same time, it is meant to be shared with everyone, her story finally being told on her terms and in the way she believes it should be shared.

I don't like reading books that are sad or depressing - and Mailhot's memoir is both. She jumps from one bleak moment of her life to the next, which in itself does not warrant me rating this book two out of five stars, but only relates to my personal feelings about reading such material. It's not something I enjoyed, I felt a lot of it went beyond my understanding - so much of it was metaphorical that I could find no anchor to ground myself with. Everything was symbolic or told in a poetic style that made it difficult to find the reality of it. I was mostly left shrugging my shoulders and thinking maybe if I read this in a classroom setting and was prompted to discuss it further, then maybe I'd get something more out of it.

I read this as a book club selection, otherwise I'm not sure I ever would have picked it up for myself as a personal interest. I am counting this book as my one-sitting book for Book Riot's Read Harder challenge. I don't know that I'd recommend this book, unless I was sure there'd be an interest in the memoir genre or I knew the person enjoyed reading from diverse authors.

Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories

Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill     288 pages

When Mrs. Sorensen's husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in "Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch." In "Open the Door and the Light Pours Through," a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved. "Dreadful Young Ladies" demonstrates the strength and power--known and unknown--of the imagination. "The Insect and the Astronomer" upends expectations about good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, love and longing. The World Fantasy Award-winning novella The Unlicensed Magician introduces the secret, magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead . 

Having only read one book by Barnhill previously (and a middle-grade book, at that), I can say I wasn't nearly prepared for the strangeness of her fiction. Each story is full of bizarre creatures that are not quite fully formed - you only get a hint of what it is you're actually reading. I guess that's just part of the whimsical/psychotic style she prefers, and by that I mean as you read each story, you feel the narrator is somehow a bit cracked, not to be trusted, but even more so, they seem like they're experiencing some sort of psychotic break with reality. Some of the stories are pure fantasy, others are more magical realism (more magical than real, though), and the point of each story is a bit hard to define, though with some stories it's more clear than others. I can't say I had a favorite amongst these stories, but I can say I had a least favorite. Most of the stories are pretty forgettable - their weird, creepy, or off in some way, but most don't really stick because they don't seem to have a particular point to them. I can see strong ties between "The Unlicensed Magician" and her book that I had read, "The Girl Who Drank the Moon." She seems to have a very particular vision of what magic is and how it manifests itself. In the end, though, I end each story wondering "What have I just read?" I don't regret reading this collection of short stories, but I don't think I'd recommend it very freely. I think this book is best reserved for those who really enjoy short stories, but particularly of the kind that are ethereal or of the bizarre. Barnhill does have a knack for descriptive prose and some of the visions she creates are quite lovely, but I will definitely proceed with caution the next time I consider reading one of her books.

Beartown

Beartown by Fredrik Backman     418 pages

The saga of a small town and the ripples that one action causes all unfold from the various viewpoints of the grownups and children in Beartown.

This is a deep story, iceberg deep. On the surface is the story of the Beartown hockey team. Below it are all the different stories, complex and intricately told, of the people and children who make up the town and the team. Watching the different story lines unfold is one of the beauties of Backman's writing. Every character has their own voice, their dreams and their fears, and together, each voice paints a picture of the town. It's sad and it's bleak, it's hopeful and it's full of love. 

If you're into realistic fiction, especially of the small-town variety, this book is for you. Even if you don't appreciate or know anything about hockey, Backman draws you in, because this is not just about a hockey town, it's about the people that make up this hockey town. I found it infinitely frustrating, yet valuable, to read each character's reactions to/handling of rape, from the parents on down to the children. It will break your heart, but in the end, it's important because this story is build on empathy. 

The writing is beautiful, heartbreaking, and so well done. Though it was painful to get through in some parts, in the end, I feel it was worth the struggle. I highly recommend it. I listened to the audiobook of this story, which was very well done, and I'd recommend it, too.

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower     256 pages

Viking marauders descend on a much-plundered island, hoping some mayhem will shake off the winter blahs. A man is booted out of his home after his wife discovers that the print of a bare foot on the inside of his windshield doesn’t match her own. Teenage cousins, drugged by summer, meet with a reckoning in the woods. A boy runs off to the carnival after his stepfather bites him in a brawl.

Just a whole bunch of stories about sad, sometimes pathetic people, whose lives are a train wreck. There were bits and pieces that I enjoyed - some clever prose popped in and out - but I really didn't much care for the stories. 

This had been on my to-read for a while, so I can only imagine I put it on my shelf when I saw there was a story about vikings in it. Sadly, the viking story was my least favorite out of the whole compilation. 

I really don't like reading sad stuff, so that's probably why I didn't enjoy Tower's stories. There was also a lot of meat butchering and general icky things that I just don't enjoy reading about. Most of the stories were told from a male perspective, which is fine, except that it came to be another blah story about a sad, depressed middle aged white man after another and yes, I'm going to say it: if you've read one, you've read them all. Boring, done.