Review: The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. A woman named Lucy needs a heart transplant, which she gets. She then becomes involved with her doctor, Alex. Somewhere along the way they’re pulled into a mystery that involves Alex’s brother, Will,  John Dee (circa the original Queen Elizabeth’s time), riddles, roses, labyrinths in churches, angels, Shakespeare, and the Rapture. If you can make sense of the plot and it’s circumnavigations, then by all means, have at it, my friends. For me, it was way too much. The riddles on the papers that Lucy and Alex find have much potential, but are SO numerous the reader is inundated trying to figure them out. Eventually they become so overwhelming you start skipping over the details to just get to the meat of it all. With all the clues and mystery there should be a grand finale at the end, but it’s over so quickly it’s as though it was all a dream and the reader just woke up to a hollow sensation that none of it is real.

A wonderful effort, brilliant idea, but for me, The Rose Labyrinth was completed mired down in it’s own mystery.

3 stars

Review: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

I’ve been so busy editing and mothering lately that it’s not often I’m able to read anything purely for pleasure. Not that editing and mothering aren’t incredibly beautiful and fulfilling each in their own ways, I just haven’t been able to sink into a book without an ulterior motive since before Avery was born. (Looking back I realize I reviewed Kamala Nair’s The Girl in the Garden at the beginning of the month, however that book clearly left me underwhelmed since I can’t remember being satisfied with it as a reading option.) Finding something to represent reading for that “just-a-hobby” reason was like drinking a cool glass of water on a hot, humid day. I literally feel as though my soul has being quenched of thirst.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon is not Sarah Addison Allen’s best novel, but that doesn’t make it awful. I’ll get the bad parts over with quickly: partially cheesy dialogue, semi-cheesy romance, predictable plot and outcome. Done. Moving on.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon contains all the magic and sparkle of Sarah’s previous novels, this time in the form of the sweetness of cake and the glow of young love. Emily Benedict moves to her mother’s hometown following her death. Greeted with cold shoulders and dark glances, Emily has no idea that her mother’s legacy is not one the town is willing to forgive. With her eight-foot tall grandfather choosing to spend more time in his bedroom than explaining her past to Emily, she is forced to fend for herself and find out why Mullaby, and a boy named Win, are so mysterious.

Julia has returned to Mullaby for her own parent’s death. Left with her father’s barbecue restaurant and costly mortgage, Julia counts the days until she can leave again and return to the life she’s created since she left Mullaby when she was a teenager. But fate has a different plan for Julia, and the love of her teenage life refuses to let her go so easily.

Surrounding these two stories are the secrets of Mullaby: the lights that glow in the woods every night, the strange townspeople, the Coffey’s and why they don’t leave the house after sunset, the ever-changing wallpaper in Emily’s mother’s room. Each nugget of mystery is almost as magical as Sarah’s other novels, and just as delicious as the cakes Julia bakes every day and night.

While The Girl Who Chased the Moon is not as effortless as Garden Spells or The Sugar Queen, it’s still a delicate, magical morsel of a read. Part of it feels as though the author was grasping at straws, trying to repeat her earlier success with a carbon-copy type of novel. It’s not as original as her earlier works. Still, I do love Sarah Addison Allen’s hold of magical realism; it’s fantastical without being pure fantasy, and seductive without hitting you over the head with its obviousness. She’s still one of my favorite magical realism authors, and I hope The Peach Keeper is a better representation of her skill.

4 stars

Review: The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair

For most of her life Rakhee has locked away a summer of her childhood spent in the hot, dry climate of India. Having harbored this secret from her fiance, The Girl in the Garden is Rakhee’s letter to him as she leaves to confront her past and the lives that intertwine with her own back in India. Deep in the forest behind her ancestral home, a garden with a dark mystery lies shrouded under a canopy of foliage. We are transported to Rakhee’s childhood and the summer she discovered the garden in Kamala Nair’s debut novel.

For a debut, The Girl in the Garden is fairly accomplished, but that is mostly due to the last quarter of the novel. Everything leading up to the end is averagely lukewarm, predictable and uninspired, until Rakhee makes the decision to follow her head and heart instead of her relative’s orders. Her actions deeply affect the lives of her relatives and the novel becomes the dark and  mysteriously lush tale it claims to be.

The Girl in the Garden is a swift read, but it leaves me perplexed as to how I truly feel about it. It’s enjoyable, but doesn’t leave me in awe. With one exception, I could see the plot twists coming from a mile away. The writing is fine, but again, nothing notably unique. I didn’t hate it, but I would be hard-pressed to recommend it to other readers.

3 stars

(I received this novel from the Amazon Vine program.)

Review: One-Day by David Nicholls

I haven’t had any time to blog lately but it feels wrong not reviewing a book when I’ve finished one, no matter how busy I am these days.

One-Day by David Nicholls. I received a reprint-advance-copy of this book last year when the publishers were building hype for the upcoming movie. I had grand plans to read it at that time and life got in the way. It sat on my shelf waiting for the day when I would be in the mood for a love story. That day came sometime within the last two weeks as my body reeled from the utter exhaustion of moving apartments while prego (GOOD times, let me tell you).

On my way out the door to work one day I grabbed One-Day (hardy-har-har) and slid it in my bag. Peeled back the covers on the train and was absorbed into the lives of Dexter and Emma. One-Day is unique in that each chapter is July 15 beginning in 1988 when Dexter and Emma meet and ending in 2006. Since each chapter is a year apart, things change dramatically each time and it’s quite fun and exciting to see where our protagonists will be each time a new chapter starts. Nicholls has portrayed two equally empathetic characters who feel and read real and each year pulls us forward into their lives.

Witty and charming, British, beautiful and fun. That’s One-Day. Definitely recommended and very much looking forward to the movie in July.

4 stars

(I received a reprint copy from the publisher for review)

Review: The Looking Glass Wars (The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy, Book 1) by Frank Beddor

Princess Alyss Heart of Wonderland leads a charmed life at the young age of seven. Poised to begin her own training to be the future queen, with White Imagination skills ripe for development, Alyss doesn’t know how good she has it until her evil aunt Redd strikes a fatal blow to Wonderland’s Queen, and Alyss’s life as she knows it.

Forced to flee, with only the vigilant Hatter Madigan to protect her, Alyss jumps into the Pool of Tears to save herself by leaving Wonderland, quite possibly forever. When she is separated from Hatter and finds herself in Victorian London amongst street urchins, Alyss must adapt and overcome. And so she turns her back on her memories of Wonderland and loses her skills at Imagination. Years later when she’s created a life and future, a deadly Wonderland assassin known as The Cat tracks her down and Alyss is forced to face the world of her youth.

Slightly darker and more science-fiction than the original tales of Wonderland, The Looking Glass Wars is an enjoyable reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s beloved classic, with a bit of an edge for action lovers. The trials Alyss must overcome are intriguing, and the ways Beddor recreated the original characters are fanciful and fun. Hatter Madigan is a skillful protectorate, a member of the feared Millinery, known for their deadly skills with hats. The chess pieces are loyal friends to all true Wonderlanders. Redd is evil and loathsome, as all villains should be. Fairly predictable for a first book, I did enjoy seeing how Beddor would play everything out. I do recommend it as a light and fun fantasy read for those of you who have been thinking of picking it up. I look forward to the next installment, Seeing Redd, to find out where he takes his version of Wonderland.

4 stars

Review: The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry

I’m sad to say it, folks, Mr. Berry has let me down. Something about The Paris Vendetta, the fifth book in the Cotton Malone series, did not catch me as his previous books have. I wasn’t hooked, I wasn’t excited or thrilled or anticipating the next turn of events.

The Paris Vendetta follows former agent Cotton Malone as he’s rudely awoken in the middle of the night by a stranger who says his good friend Henrik sent him. So begins a European cat-and-mouse game between Cotton, Henrik, and a dangerous group of wealthy semi-terrorists called The Paris Club who are searching for the lost riches of the Emperor Napoleon who hid the location in riddles in books before he died. Intriguing? Most definitely. A classic Steve Berry idea? For sure. Executed with his usual swagger and panache? Not this time.

Too many twists and turns and a convoluted plot map made the novel meander at times, tripping over its own ideas and details. A regular series character was not present, and several references were made to some trip or project Cotton had been working on over the last two weeks, but we’re never told what that project was, nor what resulted from it and why it effected Cotton the way it did. If they were making veiled references to the previous book in the series, they were strange and a little less opacity would have been nice. Likewise, Cotton’s son is mentioned but completely abandoned later in the book.

I’m really disappointed in the way The Paris Vendetta fell flat for me. The pulse and energy I’ve come to associate with his books was lacking. I usually adore Berry’s books and I can’t say the same about this one. Hard to know what to expect from his next, The Emperor’s Tomb.

3 stars

Review: The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Seledreorig…. The word came into my head like a whisper.
Sadness for the lack of a hall.
The Distant Hours – Kate Morton

This is the first book by Kate Morton that I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and I wasn’t disappointed. A thick literary mystery with layers of intrigue and clues to be discovered.

Edie Burchill, a present day publisher, stumbles across a decades old mystery surrounding the decrepit and ancient Milderhurst Castle in the English countryside. Little does she know that the aged Blythe sisters who live there, twins Percey and Saffy, and their younger sister Juniper, are each hiding secrets from themselves and the village. When Edie discovers that her own mother spent some time at Milderhurst during the evacuation of children from London in World War II, she’s bound by a sense of duty as well as her own curiosity to visit Milderhurst and learn more about the women who live there, and their father who wrote a famous children’s story which Edie herself once adored.

The Distant Hours is a good mystery, page after page pulls you in, and Morton deftly layers plot on plot, tying all the strings together at the end. There’s more to the scene than just Milderhurst and the women who live there. There’s the mystery of the two wives of their father, and how they each died. What happened to the man who was supposed to visit Juniper? Why won’t Edie’s mother talk about her time at the castle? Morton is a master at the multi-plot book. She leaves no loose ends.

At times the plot lines did become predictable and plodding, however I still found myself pushing onward enjoying the heft and length of the book in hand. A satisfactory read, enjoyable; charmingly odd, like the Blythe sisters and their secrets.

4 starts

(I received and advance copy for review)

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I’m seeing the movie today, so it seems appropriate to post my review of the book!

What can I really say about this The Deathly Hallows except that I love it? I think it’s amazing? I wish I had never read it so that I could read it again for the first time?

This is the second time I’ve read The Deathly Hallows and it was almost as wonderful as the first since I really couldn’t remember much of it. Harry is on a mission to hunt down Voldemort’s horcruxes and he, Ron, and Hermione must camp out in various English countryside locations since they can rely on no one and Death Eaters are chasing them down. While the plot slows down a bit as the three rack their brains trying to figure out where Dumbledore’s clues are leading them, and where the horcruxes might be, the last third of the book is the best, most thrilling, most adventurous and breathtaking thing I’ve read since the last time I read it.

Harry Potter may be a children’s series, suitable for ages nine through twelve according to Amazon, but it’s amazing for people of all ages, and that’s what makes it timeless. I will pass it down to my future children when they’re old enough and hope they appreciate it for all the same reasons I do. That it keeps them up late into the night, hidden under their covers with a flashlight trying to hide the fact that it’s way past their bedtime and they’re still reading, because it’s HARRY POTTER and you just can’t put it down.

I look forward to forgetting everything about this series so that I can read them all again in five years.

5 stars

DNF Review: The Lucifer Code

Y’all know I hate giving up on books, but I’ve done it again. It’s a shame too, because I really enjoyed the plot of The Lucifer Code, it was thrilling and promised to be unique, but I know the second I got to the part where Lourds makes out with his kidnapper on one page, and his ex-girlfriend on the other, I would be sick. It’s what happened in The Atlantis Code, and the first pages of this sequel proved that Charles Brokaw has not changed his character tactic at all. Too bad, but I’m sure I’ll survive. For those of you that don’t mind horrible one-liners and a main character with a libido as big as the ocean that cares not for whom the bell tolls, you may like both of Brokaw’s books. But for those of you with higher expectations, perhaps a ten-page streak or more without gagging on the sexual innuendo, these books are not be for you.

Thus ends my second chance with Charles Brokaw. Visit my review of The Atlantis Code here.

Review: Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye

When Noah and his sister were young children their lives were forever changed when their father’s ore ship burned and sunk in the tormented waters of Lake Superior. Though their father survived, much of him was left behind when the ship went down, and Noah’s relationship with his father would never be the same. Decades later, when Noah is grown man with a wife living in Boston, his father becomes ill and Noah faces a tough choice: should he go to his father’s side? The man who shut him out and all but left him so many years ago? Journeying to the northern Minnesota town of his youth, Noah faces more than just his father when he arrives. History comes back as Noah confronts the man who changed so many years ago.

Safe from the Sea is heartbreaking and sad, but also cathartic. Noah must deal with many issues by choosing to face his father again: guilt, blame, and a deeply rooted anger. The bond of family, for better or worse, makes us who we are, and Noah is the man he is today because of his relationship with his father. This is the story of a man facing his past, for both Noah and his father.

It’s hard for me to review this novel because I’m torn in two directions. First is my loyalty to my own past, which also came from Minnesota. Geye’s writing of the north and the harsh winters carries true emotional weight. Likewise, my whole family is also in Minnesota, while I am also in Boston, much like Noah and his family are parted. Though I didn’t leave under the same circumstances and return often, the bond Noah has to Minnesota touched my heart.

The other direction I am pulled in is that of a reviewer analyzing a novel. It’s not because this is Geye’s first novel that I feel why I do, because I read many first novels, but the writing of Safe from the Sea didn’t grab me the way I wish it had. The topics did, the scenes and places, but the dialogue felt forced, and parts of Noah’s relationship with his father and wife seemed contrived. Here is a situation where a man is facing the person who destroyed him and tore him apart. I see the word “anger” but I do not feel it. I see a scene of “longing” and “regret” but do not feel those sensations. There was more true emotion in the description of snow and ice than in the setup of Noah and his relationships, and that’s the one fallback of the book.

3 1/2 stars

(I received an advance copy from the publisher)