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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The Fault In Our Stars - Sadness Alert!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5*

THE low down...

Hazel is a teenager with terminal cancer who has been given the "gift" of an unknown amount of borrowed time by an experimental drug that she seems to be the only person having positive results from. Augustus is teenager with cancer that is in remission and a type that has something like an 85% survival rate. Hazel meets Augustus and he pulls her out of her life that has been defined by cancer in the 3 years since her diagnosis. You're on your own from here because the spoilers involved with saying any more would be a mine field!

MY low down...

This one was a roller coaster for me! The big uphill, I started to love it, as much as you can love a story that you know before you even start that it will break your heart. The scream inducing down hill, I wanted to punch Hazel and Augustus for seeming to be incapable of speaking like teenagers. So many times I felt like the only way these conversations could have ever happened was by scripting them out ahead of time, like they were in a play that was confused about the time period it was in. The nauseating loopity loop, I wanted to punch myself for wanting to punch kids with cancer.

The story was poignant, the characters likeable most of the time and a few twists and turns to keep you interested. The overall quality though still left a bit to be desired and was only 3* as I just couldn't fall in love with the writing. Overall it was a good book, but to bring up the often mentioned "cancer perks", I think the "kids with cancer" storyline was the only reason it was memorable since the characters weren't particularly exceptional other than the fact that they were cancer patients. Don't get me wrong, they are far more exceptional than me for what they've been through, I just didn't get a connection to them other than sadness for their struggle.

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Silver Orphan - A social commentary on a heartbreaking fact of life that all to many choose to ignore

Silver Orphan by Martine Lacombe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a galley copy of this novel for my review.

Simply put, this book packs a punch. Enough so that it is 1:00am on a weeknight and instead of sleeping as I should be, I am sitting in front of the computer because I'm pretty sure I will not be able to sleep until I write something down.

With each passing year, more Americans are reaching their golden years, and many of them without friends or family. Whether this is due to geographic separation, a lack of family members who care, or a lack of family members at all, the result is the same - these seniors who have often worked hard and cared even harder for their families throughout their lives are now alone. This is a heartbreaking subject, and one that Martine Lacombe tackles with grace.

Part story of unlikely friendship and changing self awareness, part history lesson and social commentary, this novel takes us rhythmically through 3 time periods - the younger life of first generation Italian-American Frank Moretti, the time of developing friendship between him and raging narcissist Brooke Blake, and the present day timeline of Brooke searching for the family of her lost friend following his death. The vastly different viewpoints and expectations of themselves, each other and the world were a central piece to this novel, and these 3 alternating time periods allowed the authors points to come through by comparison rather than coming across as preachy or overly analytical. This novel is well written, thoughtful and poignant.

There are only 2 pieces that held this novel back from 5* for me. (view spoiler)[ First, I can't bring myself to fully believe that Brooke truly changed. Yes, we see her reaching out and given up her precious time to others in the end, but that still does not cancel out the fact that she was utterly irritated at the thought of having to deal with Frank's remains rather than being saddened by his passing, despite showing him such love and care so soon before his death. Second, I am sad to not know more of Sofia's story, or that of Frank's son and granddaughter after Brooke discovers his family. While this piece of the puzzle does serve excellent commentary in terms of apathetic family members, I do so wish we had learned more of the story. (hide spoiler)]

Overall though, an excellent and worthy read, and I applaud Martine Lacombe for tackling this equally heartwarming and heartbreaking story!

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Beautiful Creatures - Not quite a beautiful novel, but at least it's pretty

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5*

Through the much less used perspective of a teenage boy, Beautiful Creatures takes you to a small South Carolina town with the usual mix of suspects - southern belles, holier than thous, intelligent and open minded academics, ecentrics - but also an "underworld" that most people will never know exists. When Ethan meets Lena, he only knows that he is drawn to her for some unknown reason, but has no idea that the new girl in town will not only show him this underworld, but also alter his future and view of his own world in one basic fell swoop.

While an overall engaging and easy read, there are definitely aspects that keep it from being great. First, it is a little slow in places - I found myself doing quite a bit more skimming than I probably should have (and hopefully didn't miss anything good), basically trying to get to said good stuff. Second, I'm not entirely sure I bought Ethan's perspective, as there were a few too many times that I found myself wondering if a 16 year old boy would actually do or say that. However, this one isn't overtly obnoxious because I can see how some of the situations might be influenced by the paranormal elements thus altering how he would have normally behaved.

Not quite a great book, but definitely good enough to catch my attention to continue the series at some point.

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Between Shades of Gray - A gut wrenching piece of history that I'd bet most of you didn't even know about

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Put most simply, a wonderful and moving book!

This novel follows a Lithuanian family, through the eyes of 15 year old Lina, who were deported to Siberia during WWII. First, this is a part of WWII that I must honestly admit I knew nothing about. And I literally mean NOTHING. All of my education regarding the treatment of different groups has revolved around the Holocaust and the interment of Japanese-Americans, but I was completely in the dark regarding the injustices Stalin and the USSR inflicted upon so many from the Baltic states.

This novel is clearly well researched, and that research was well portrayed in a story that was heartwarming and engaging while still be honest about the horrible experience people like Lina's family would have endured. I was also very surprised to learn, after finishing it, that this was a YA novel - I honestly would not have guessed it, and was even more impressed after learning this. Despite many graphic and gruesome situations and mature writing, it was also written in such a way that I think it would definitely reach a younger audience, without making adult readers feel like they had to dumb down their thought processes to appreciate it. Truly reaching both audiences can be difficult, and it was done so well here.

A landmark of a great historical fiction novel for me is whether I want to learn more about the subject after reading it, and this one definitely made the grade there!

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Fifty Shades Darker - Mommy has grown up into an actual plot a bit this time

Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, #2) by E.L. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5*

Writing still mediocre, bordering on outright terrible? Definitely. However, this second installment was also definitely better than the first and I'm glad I kept going. In part #2, there is actually some semblance of the plot that I wanted more of in Fifty Shades of Grey, so much more so that I wish more of what we learned in the second book had been in the first book. But, fewer books in the series would have of course been fewer total books sold, so apparently dollar signs won out over logical separation of the books on this one.

On another note, the narrator seems to have gotten at least a tiny bit of a hint on how utterly obnoxious her rendition of the first book was, because Ana's voice was much better than the ditzy airhead tone that came across in the first book.

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