The Longings of Wayward Girls - 2013

The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown
My rating: 3/5

THE Low Down

Sadie is your typical New England stay-at-home mom – a nice house in her quiet hometown, successful and loving husband, young and adorable children. But when Ray moves back to town shortly after she suffers an emotionally crippling late-term miscarriage, “that summer” comes flooding back. From the childhood prank that may or may not have led to the unsolved disappearance of a neighborhood girl to her conflicting feelings for her mother, Ray and the relationship she suspected they once shared, the once long lost memories of her 12th summer reek havoc on her already weakened emotional state. As she struggles to deal with the reemergence of details in her past she may have rather left forgotten, she questions how those memories really have guided her present...and whether she likes where it is going.

“Morality and its victim, the mother - what a terrible picture! Is there indeed anything more terrible, more criminal, than our glorified sacred function of motherhood?”
Emma Goldman

MY Low Down

For some reason this particular review is drawing out a bit of writer's block in me – it's essentially a conundrum. On one hand, the knee jerk reaction to finishing this story was an easy 4 stars, but due to some life circumstances it has taken me over a week to get my review down. In that time, I was surprised by how quickly a seemingly 4 star read left my psyche – I honestly had to reference the book to remember a couple of characters names. Unfortunate.

Despite various story lines being driven in from many different directions, this story to me was essentially about motherhood – how our mothers affect who we are, and in turn how we mother our own children. As you move through the novel, the perspective alternates between 12 year old Sadie and 36 year old Sadie, highlighting the stark difference between the two but also the aspects of her young life that have followed her into her adult life.

At it's core, the insights did their job and drew you deep into many of the psychological aspects that even the smallest life events can have an impact on, but in many places they got mired down by the story line going in more directions that necessary. How did the disappearance of the first young girl factor into the lives of the girls several years later? Not really. Sure, the jacket tells you that it made the parents more diligent, but in reality the concept never came to fruitioon and the lack of resolution just made it frustrating and annoying. And why exactly was it necessary for Sadie to be suspicious of a past relationship between Ray and her mother? Not at all. He could have simply been girlhood crush of her past who returned to help turn things upside down and it would have had the same impact. None of the details such as Beth's strange behavior, Sadie's mother acting strangely (that seemed to be her norm, after all) ultimately seemed to me like they mattered to the overall theme of the story, but were basically just there to make everyone seem just one notch more screwed up.

Overall the writing was wonderful, particularly the alternation between the time periods that provided a great contrast to Sadie's life, but story itself just didn't do it for me quite as much as I'd originally felt like it would.

*NetGalley ARC*

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Gone Girl - Don't even try to figure it out!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5*

I'm glad I took a while to write my review of this one, because a little time and more thought earned it another 1/2* - I can't bring myself all the way to 5, but it's close!

THE Low Down...

Nick meets Amy. Nick and Amy get married. Happy couple moves to boring (her) and wonderful (him) small town mid-west. Amy disappears. Chaos ensues. End result - You will not believe it until you read it!

MY Low Down...

Yowza! Talk about twists and turns. Not only was I constantly guessing and questioning, but it evoked every emotion from giggly romantic to pure hatred. I managed to both love and hate both Nick and Amy at times, and the emotional jumps sometimes had just a page or less separating them as every curve ball imaginable was thrown into the mix. The writing was fluid and concise, with just the right amount of detail in just the right places. There was enough foreshadowing to have the "duh" moments pop up later, but not enough to spoil anything. Flynn clearly has an amazing imagination and knack for timing and details that just cannot be taught - I will definitely be looking into her other titles!

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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - I should have read the book first!

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In a rare moment of potential insanity, I am going to say it...I liked the movie better!

Please do not think that I did not enjoy the book, as I really did. Also, it should receive a good deal of credit for the very reason that I enjoyed the movie better - the book was a more realistic picture of both how the Marigold residents would come to be in India in the first place, and also of the country itself, whereas the movie definitely portrayed it in a more romanticized light. Both have their merits, and the book itself is actually well written and enjoyable. Quite frankly, I must admit that I may have given the novel a higher ranking had I never seen the movie. I know this is quite unfair to the author, but at the same time I can't help but think she had a role of some kind in the creation of the movie (please forgive me and accept my apologies if I am incorrect) so should have realized there would be such comparisons.

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Sleeping in Eden - Be Careful What You Plan For.....

Sleeping in Eden: A Novel by Nicole Baart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*NetGalley ARC*

The premise of this novel seems at first be a mystery with a few emotional entanglements thrown in for good measure, but it really is so much more than that. It explores young love and survival of marriage, the truth and consequences inherent in the expectations that we set for ourselves and others, and how the choices we make can connect us to others both near and far.

Lucas Hudson is a small town Iowa doctor with a struggling marriage; Meg Painter is a small town teenager struggling with being a teenager. Through parallel story lines, we get to know these two characters with seemingly nothing in common.

Many of the emotions and lost connections that have led the current state of Lucas' marriage can be drawn back to the disappearance of Angela Sparks. As a social worker, Angela was the first case that Jenna Hudson took on when moving to the small town of Blackhawk, IA - she grabbed Jenna's heart, and took a piece of it with her when she disappeared. Eight years after her disappearance, Lucas is drawn into a mystery that he feels can change his world when Angela's father commits suicide and the remains of a young woman are found buried in the clay floor of his barn right beneath his hanging, lifeless body. Absolute in his mind that he has found Angela, and that this discovery can alter the course of his wife's grief, and in turn his marriage, Lucas consumes himself with putting a name to the bones.

In a different world, Meg Painter is going through the growing pains of being a teenage girl. She falls in love with her best friend, Dylan. Her neighbor, Jess, falls in love with her. Lies, jealousy and missed opportunities cobble together the path that each of their lives take, shaping the adults that they will become, and sending Meg directly into the path of Lucas' investigation.

These characters are well written and developed with surprising detail in such a short period of time, and the situations are raw and believable. Unfortunately though, I felt like the amount of time devoted to character development pulled away from the story in some cases. Several areas felt as though the actual situation was rushed through in order to get back to the emotional details, and the culmination of the story a bit anti-climatic after such a beautifully written and intriguing build up.


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The Sinners and the Sea: The Untold Story of Noah's Wife - Biblical History Without Being Preachy, Creative Without Being Cheeky

The Sinners and the Sea: The Untold Story of Noah's Wife by Rebecca Kanner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*NetGalley ARC*

Even the most challenged in knowledge of biblical history such as myself have heard the story of Noah’s Ark, but Rebecca Kanner takes the story much deeper by imagining the actual personalities of Noah and the sons who are typically mentioned only in brief, and introducing us to the wife who, until now, we have been left to wonder about her actual existence.

Told through the eyes of Noah’s wife, left unnamed by her family due to a birthmark on her face that was considered by the people of that time to mean her marked by a demon, she lets us join her life from her scorned childhood through the aftermath of the flood. The hardship of life in biblical times is not glossed over, and each and every character is portrayed with a strong sense of self and purpose. Noah comes across as brash, the sons all unique in their personalities ranging from loving and caring to methodical and brutish and “Wife”/”Mother”, as she is called in absence of a name, is entirely honest about all of it. There were several times that I very much disliked some of the characters, but I always still cared for them because they seemed truly human.

The biggest downfall to this book though is unfortunately the beginning and first impression. The story starts out much too slowly, as though Kanner had not found the rhythm yet. It also came across as quite preachy - I doubt this was her intention, but my earliest impression was unfortunately to wonder whether this book I thought would be along the genre lines of The Red Tent was actually a Christian novel. I mean not disrespect to the genre of Christian novels, but it is not my preference and was not what I expected when I picked up the book. Chance was on my side though, and in an unexpected spare 15 minutes I decided to give it one last chance to catch my attention and that little amount of time took me just far enough.

But please don’t be dissuaded by the roughish start, it is definitely a worthy read!

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The Aviator's Wife - Mesmerizing, Intriguing and Making Me Add Too Many New Books to my TBR List!

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5*

Loved it! I very much enjoy the fictional bio/autobio style and Melanie Benjamindoes it so well! A pretty significant number of people are already familiar with many aspects of the life of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, but so much of it just the most basic details, since they tried so hard to shield the details of their lives from the world. In this novel, Benjamin helps us to imagine what the intimate details behind the events might have been. And I ADORE the fact that she doesn't let little details like facts get in the way. Sure, she does diligent research and gives you the accurate essentials, but she also lets her imagination run amok in the name of a good story. She puts it out in the open that she does not mean for her works to be taken as non-fiction, so she doesn't let her stories be weighted down if it is going to take away from the interest and intrigue. I read a quote from Benjamin at http://www.biographile.com/good-prose... where she says "My biggest reward as an author is when I hear, "Now I have to go buy more books about this person!" and she certainly succeeded with this one...I have spent several hours both while reading and since finishing this asking the Google machine more questions about the Lindbergh's, as well as looking up her novel (Gift from the Sea), his memoir (The Spirit of St. Louis and several of his biographies to add to my reading list. For facts and figures, I will read those...for good, intriguing storytelling I'll stick with Benjamin. I am excited to see who her next subject is!

My only boo on this one, and what kept it from 5*, is that I felt a bit drawn down by how severely Anne was portrayed as the martyr at times. Yes, this is the point and I get that the story would have gone a completely different direction had it not been for these details, but I definitely had to stop the my internal dialogue from falling into a case of the "blah, blah, blah's" on a few occasions. I think all of the events and descriptions involved with these times were important and worthy, but just that they could have been summarized a bit and not drawn out quite so much, quite so many times.


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Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have only read a few Jodi Picoult books but they never cease to please me. This was a thrift store score that I hadn't heard of and didn't know what it was about, and it did a great job keeping me guessing.

The story centers on Cassie and Alex, an intelligent but naive anthropology professor and a Hollywood star, and their "fairy tale" love and marriage. They seem perfect and say they are "made for each other" but in reality have a troubled and abusive relationship that no one would believe if they actually did tell anyone, without actually seeing the proof.

Through the storytelling, you feel as though it's autobiographical, as it seems so knowing and insightful that you wonder how anyone could make this up. I also found myself cheering for Cassie and Alex to make it, despite him being abusive. You get to know the good in him, the damaged childhood that he truly seems like he wants to overcome, that he truly does love her, and you want to say "give him one more chance, maybe he really won't do it again..." when you know logically that you should be telling her to run for it. Picoult's imagination and formidable skills at weaving an amazing story make you feel as though if, having never been in an abusive relationship, you are given a while new insight and appreciation for the situation, and why even the strongest of woman have had difficulty leaving such situations. It is an eerie feeling - there were so many times that this novel made me incredibly uncomfortable admitting what I was feeling about what was going on but never able to stop reading. I have never hesitated for a moment to help a friend get away from an abusive situation, but also never had nearly so clear and idea of how they may have felt as I do after reading this novel. Once again, Picoult asounded, intrigued and educated me.



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Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I loved this book for the writing, as it was skillful, beautiful and intriguing. I didn't, however, love the book itself. I did enjoy it, but don't share the sentiments of it's "ironic beauty" and "straightforward poignancy" quoted by critics and friends alike.

I imagine the subject matter was quite controversial considering the time of it's publication, and can potentially see myself having a different take were I from a different time, or in a different time. Now though, I can respect it, but don't feel an attachment to it. The most difficult part for me was it's anti-thesis of much of what I believe in. We are in charge of our own happiness. Life isn't about what you do, it's how you do it. The Golden Rule(my vision of this: give what you take, take only what you give, don't owe or allow yourself to be owed). The Wheeler's were against all of the above. They wallowed and only half-heartedly did anything remotely realistic to make their own happiness. They worried more about what they did than living a good life and doing it well and happily. They looked as others as though they were beneath them, and put their children anything but first.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike them. They were human, and a beautiful part of this book is that the writing and presentation is exactly that: beautiful, human, flawed. The problem for me is actually that I didn't dislike them, because I never could find it in myself to like them either. With no feeling of like or dislike for them, I found it hard to care too much about what happened to them. I feel like the ending should have had me either in tears of sorrow, or saying "see? That's what you get. Shoulda listened to your karma a bit". But I felt neither.

I definitely recommend this book for wonderful composition and bravery in subject matter(if you can appreciate this from the perspective of the setting and time it was published), but probably won't hold a place in the heart of my bookshelf....



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