Tag: Review

Review: The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Hi all! We’re excited to kick off 2019 with a review of a book that we were kindly sent (two copies, too!)

Alexis: Read 12/29/18

The Crowns of Croswald is a fast-paced, solid middle-grade fantasy read. The fantasy world is well-developed and detailed. It’s very Harry Potter-esque, in a good way: the world has creative and alliterative names, a castle-school full of magical students, and fantastic beasts. I enjoyed learning about the history of the world and the crowns.

I found Ivy to be a likable and interesting main character. This is the first book in a series, and I’m interested to see how her relationships with Rebecca and Fyn continue to grow. Besides Ivy, my favorite character was Humboldt.  

I only have a couple of criticisms. The plot is pretty predictable; however, this is middle-grade and it was still a fun read, so it wasn’t a deal breaker. I’m a harsh critic of dialogue, and I found the dialogue to be weak at times. I also wasn’t a fan of Night’s use of exclamation points and question marks together (?!).

All in all, this was a fun read that I definitely recommend for middle-grade readers who love Harry Potter.

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 books

 

Anna: Read 12/27/18

The Crowns of Croswald made me remember how good middle grade can be! I loved the worldbuilding in this. Alexis is right; it is slightly reminiscent of Harry Potter. I thought Professor Fenix a thinly-veiled Flitwick, and Woodley Butterlove. But I know it’s difficult to write anything fantasy without being compared to Harry Potter.

I loved the little details that made Ivy’s new world so magical and creative. Ivy’s allergen-ridden porcupine and her dim hairies are adorable, and they added to her overall scrappiness. There are also some hilarious scenes that made me literally laugh out loud, and I haven’t had that reaction to a book in a while.

Like Alexis, I guessed beginning, which is pretty standard for middle grade. I thought the beginning, when Ivy works as a squaldron maid, was a little rushed, and we don’t quite get to see much of Ivy’s unhappy situation before her world is changed and she goes to The Halls of Ivy. But we get the idea.

I’m confused by Ivy’s age. She is supposed to be fifteen, but reads as much younger. I think the intended audience would also be significantly younger than fifteen, so I don’t know why she wouldn’t be younger.

Overall I enjoyed this. It had all the elements of magic, innocence, and creativity of middle-grade fantasy that I didn’t realize I was missing.

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 books

 

Thank you to Stories Untold Press for sending each of us a copy to review!

Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Alexis: Read 12/16/18

I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but this is a really hard book for me to rate. Is it 3 ½ stars? 4? 4 and ½? I had a hard time deciding. I will confess, I skimmed a lot of Goodreads reviews and was relieved to find that a lot of other people felt the same way.

I loved aspects of this book; I was confused by aspects of this book; I disliked aspects of this book. I understand the major hype surrounding it, and maybe I went in with too-high expectations.

Morgenstern’s writing is beautiful and lyrical. The best part of this book is how her descriptions of the circus launch you into a wonderful, atmospheric world. She uses all four senses to describe the circus, and I loved the recurring descriptions of how the circus smelled: like popcorn, caramel, and bonfire smoke. I loved the black and white theme of the circus, the intricate clock, and the minute details Morgenstern includes about each tent.

The circus itself is almost the main character as much as it is the setting, which actually fits perfectly when you reach the ending.

As for the characters, both Celia and Marco’s characters start out strong, but seem to flatline as the book progresses. It doesn’t help that the book switches perspectives every chapter. This creates a snapshot effect. Each chapter almost feels like a character study, interspersed with short circus-character studies. Not only does the book jump back and forth in perspectives, but it jumps back and forth in time. Because of this, the first hundred pages or so were a bit of a drag for me. Not much is revealed, and the book’s plot progresses slowly.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that this book doesn’t have much of a plot. Whenever the perspective deviates from Celia and Marco, I found myself feeling annoyed. I wanted them to be more present characters than they were, and I wanted them to do more actions than they did. I found myself gravitating more towards Bailey, Poppet, and Widgets’ storylines, as their characters felt more lively and real.

Despite the skimpy plot, my other issue with the book is the romance. I’m not a fan of the love at first sight storyline unless it serves a good purpose. It would make sense that Celia and Marco would have an outright connection, due to their similarities. However, for a 500 page book, there was definitely room for more of a romantic build up so the reader could actually see them falling in love instead of just being told that they fell in love. Their relationship didn’t feel as deep and real as I wanted it to, and a certain speech by Marco (on pages 419 and 420) didn’t help; Marco and Celia’s dialogue with each other often felt too flat.

Thankfully, I was pleased with the direction the ending went, and I’m glad that it tied up some of the many loose knots tied throughout the book. I just wished there was more of a plot. 

VERDICT: 3 ½ out of 5 books

 

Anna: Read 12/25/18

Like Alexis, this book was so hyped that I expected a lot of it. Also like Alexis, I loved the descriptions of the circus and its different tents and inhabitants. I was also intrigued by the magic in the beginning, as well as the mystery of the circus, and the competition, and think I lost some interest as more of the rules of the competition are revealed (even though the reader never really gets a fully satisfactory explanation of the competition, which frustrated me.)

Honestly, I would have rated this four stars if not for the love story, which I found both cliche and tedious. Though the romance between Marco and Celia added more tension to the competition, I felt that there are more interesting and imaginative ways to raise the stakes. There is also the troubling fact that Marco and Celia’s relationship is shallow, which makes it hard to root for or even believe. I enjoyed reading from Bailey’s perspective more so that any of the others, and I liked that his storyline grounded the circus in reality. I also agree with Alexis that there are WAY too many unnecessary perspectives in this, which bogs down the pace. Perhaps with the perspectives Morgenstern is trying to show that there are many moving parts to the circus, but I think she relayed this with the sheer amount of characters.

Can I also point out that the way that Marco treats Isobel is that of a misogynist pig? I had a big problem with that.

The melodramatic romance automatically knocked it down one star, as did the resolution of the competition, which I found wishy-washy. Despite the fantastic and magical circus scenes, I’m honestly disappointed!

VERDICT: 3 out of 5 books

 

Hopefully in future dual reviews we have more varied opinions from each other!

Review: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Alexis: Read 12/10/18

This is a hard book for me to rate. The story, as are all Holocaust stories, is dark, harrowing, and resonant. This is a story of survival and love. It focuses on Lale and Gita, who manage to fall in love amidst the horrors of Auschwitz.

Parts of the novel hit me hard. It’s impossible to read a book about the Holocaust and not come away emotionally affected by it. The knowledge that this was not only based on a real historical event but also on the lives of two very real people played in the back of my mind as I read. I liked that it was written in present tense, which propels you into the story.

But how do you rate a book like this? The perspective is one of the most interesting parts of the book. Lale, as the Tattooist, has a higher position than most of his fellow prisoners. I was wholly involved in his storyline of using his position in order to barter jewelry for food, help feed other prisoners, and help save other prisoners’ lives. His feelings of revulsion at tattooing his own people conflict with his instinct to do what he must to survive.

Yet chunks of this book still fall flat. The writing style is awkward in places. Half of Lale and Gita’s relationship feels real and raw, and half feels stitled. In the “about the author” section of the book, it’s mentioned that Morris originally wrote this story as a screenplay, and this seems to fit with the style of some sections of the book. Near the end, it’s mentioned that Lale’s way of dealing with the horrors of his imprisonment is emotional detachment. This could be the reason for the stiltedness, as the writing could reflect Lale’s repressed emotions. However, I don’t think this was a purposeful choice on Morris’ part.  

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars

 

Review: The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Alexis:

I liked the first half of The Light We Lost—not the prologue, but I’m not really a fan of prologues unless they give important historical/background information.

The book is written in first person in the eyes of the main character, Lucy. Throughout the book, she addresses a “you,” which refers to her first love, Gabe. Each chapter ends with Lucy posing a question, or a series of questions, to Gabe. At first, I liked this formatting, but it got repetitive and old fast.

The beginning of the book focuses on their relationship, which lasts just over a year. Their relationship is a classic first love relationship. Lucy and Gabe are infatuated with each other, and their relationship mostly focuses on their physical chemistry. They share their hopes and dreams with each other while living in New York City.

Then they break up. I liked reading about Lucy’s grief and seeing how she deals with her loss. Lucy moves on; Lucy meets another guy. Yet Gabe is ever-present, whether in the back or the front of her mind. Even five, ten years down the road, all Lucy can think about is Gabe, and this begins to feel repetitive and, frankly, annoying.

I kept yelling (metaphorically, of course), “Lucy, you are a grown, married woman! Get a grip and stop only thinking about yourself!”

And, ultimately, this is what I have a problem with in the second half of the book. The characters become self-absorbed and predictable. I simply didn’t care about them anymore. The plot rambles, and most of it deals with Lucy’s feelings of insecurity in her relationship and her life.

Of course. That was my first thought about the ending: of course that’s how it would end. I might have been on board if Lucy finally changed at the end, if she grew up and accepted what wasn’t meant to be, but she didn’t.

VERDICT: 3 out of 5 books

Review: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Anna:

This is a spoiler free review!

It’s 1859, and English nurse Lib Wright takes on a mysterious case in rural Ireland. She’s assigned a devout little girl, Anna, who claims to be living without food, under God’s will. Lib’s job is to watch the girl at all hours and report to a committee if she is sneaking food or not. Lib arrives expecting to catch the girl sneaking food within a matter of hours. But as Lib becomes more involved in the girl’s life she begins to see that this religious family is far from what it seems.

I picked this book up in the $1 section of the Strand when I was living in New York. I haven’t read Donoghue’s wildly successful book, Room, but I both love and am horrified by the movie. I found myself picking up the British edition of The Wonder when I was studying publishing in Oxford, England after college. It has one of those semi-vague descriptions that somehow is totally intriguing. I’ve had this book on my radar for a while. I was excited to also read an Irish author for the first time.

I think good historical novels are such an accomplishment, and this one captures religious tension between Catholics and Protestants, as well as the cultural differences and prejudices between the English and Irish. One of the biggest endeavors this book takes on is exposing hypocrisy in religion and and warning against the danger of extremism. The protagonist, Lib, does not identify with any faith or God herself, which alienates her, but also often allows her to act as one of the only characters to think and see clearly. As a nurse, she also represents science and rational thought.

This book doesn’t portray Catholics in good light, to say the least. Anna’s family is devout to the point of desiring sainthood over the health and life of their own daughter. Though Donahue exposes the dangers of religious extremism, she doesn’t completely criticize against religion as a whole. Anna herself becomes a dear friend to Lib, who has never allowed herself intimacy with a patient before. Lib recognizes and admires Anna’s good character and extreme bravery and strength. Lib’s love interest, Byrne, identifies as a deeply religious man, who is still able to see the dire consequences of the family’s extremist behavior. These two good characters prove that Donoghue does not condemn all faith as a whole, which I appreciate.

Donoghue also scrutinizes men in positions of power. Both the town’s head doctor and the priest are exposed as self-serving and using Anna’s publicity for their own means. They both are privy to ghastly and private information concerning Anna’s physical health that they conceal for the sake of town peace.

Another overarching theme is the question of if a mother/parent always has the child’s best interest at heart.

One of the things I love about The Wonder is that it kept me guessing up until the end. I didn’t think Lib’s own backstory is as compelling as it could have been, and it’s also easy to guess from the beginning. This book is so unique, and I would recommend it for a suspenseful, intelligent, and atmospheric read.

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 books

Review: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Alexis: Read 11/22/18

Yesterday, I finished The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.

I loved the first half. It reminded me of a mix between The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: the Last Airbender. On her website, R.F. Kuang even mentions that ATLA and Game of Thrones were some of her inspirations.

This brutal book deals with every heavy theme you can think of: genocide, addiction, experimentation, rape, death. Despite being a high-fantasy book, I found many aspects of the war in the latter half of the book to be extremely realistic.

This is because Kuang is a genius. She graduated from Georgetown and is now studying at Cambridge. She’s studying Chinese studies, and you can tell. I was amazed at her worldbuilding. Kuang knows everything about the world she’s created. The book describes the hierarchy, the history, the mythology, you name it. She talks about it. She describes it in detail. She fully understands the world she’s created, and I admired that from the very start of the book. I love the way she based the world off of Chinese history. This includes fascinating aspects like martial arts and mythology. But it also includes the dark side of history. And I love a good dark book.

I generally like the main character, Rin. She is established out-right: we know what she wants and how she’s going to get it. We know her motivation. But Jiang is my favorite character. His personality is the most well-defined, and I love all of his quirks. I love a good quirky, underestimated character. To be honest, I didn’t really care about any of the other secondary characters, though Altan annoyed me in the second half of the book.

Something is lacking in the second half. Even though the plot is still well-defined, too many new elements are thrown together too fast. A whole new crew of characters are introduced. Characters from the first half come in and out. And some huge decisions are made. It isn’t rushed; it takes place over a couple hundred pages. Yet for some reason, it feels jumbled. To be fair, the entire second half is war. War is a mess; war is a jumble. This Poppy War is brutal and messy and isn’t for the fair-hearted reader. But the way Rin acts in the second half almost turned me off from her (I mean that was kind of the point, but still). Her actions and way of thinking are justified in the world, but that doesn’t mean I like the direction her character is going. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I loved the messy history and the mythology of the world. I will definitely read the rest of the series in the future, but it just wasn’t a 5 star read for me.

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 books

 

Review: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Anna: Read 11/16/18

In Salvage the Bones, Esch and her three brothers help their alcoholic brothers prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina with their father, who is often drunk. Esch’s mother died giving birth to her youngest brother, Junior. Her brother Skeetah’s dog, China, gives birth to puppies, who he hopes to sell as prized fighting dogs. The oldest brother Randall is distant but protective, and Junior is always getting into trouble. But Esch has her own problem—she’s pregnant.

I loved this book! This is my second Jesmyn Ward book after Sing, Unburied, Sing. Her writing is so atmospheric that you can almost feel the sticky Southern humidity as you read. Ward is hands down one of the most lyrical writers I’ve read, and it’s amazing how she can make something as devastating as the destruction of Hurricane Katrina into something beautiful and even hopeful.

The pacing in this is fantastic and mimics the calm before a storm. As the tension builds and builds and the storm approaches, Esch’s pregnancy becomes harder to hide. I loved Ward’s foreshadowing in China’s motherhood to her puppies, the approach of the storm, and all the water/flood imagery.

I also loved the narrator, Esch, and her family, despite their many flaws. Esch’s memories of her dead mother throughout her day to day life make her as present as the other characters, and these descriptions were some of my favorite parts of the book. You can feel their mother’s love in the family by the way they remember her moving around the house, which they ultimately have to fight to save from the hurricane. Esch’s relationship with her brothers and father shifts as the events of the hurricane play out. This is a fantastic story of family and brotherly sacrifice.

Despite the fact that China was a fighting dog, I enjoyed reading about the bond between China and Skeetah. Even though I’m ethically opposed to dogspotting, I found Ward’s ability to write such calm scenes alongside the bloody ones of the dogfights, and then the destruction of the hurricane, impressive.

A word of warning: don’t read this if you can’t handle dogfighting, or other bad things happening to dogs, if you know what I mean. Honestly, this might be the reason I’m not giving it 5 stars/books. 

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 books

I highly recommend checking out Jesmyn Ward. I’ll definitely be reading the remaining two books on her backlist very soon!

Review: The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Nov 13 The Child Seekers

Anna’s review: Read 11/12/18

In The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld, Naomi, a private investigator, specializes in finding lost children. She returns to the snowy landscape of her home state of Oregon to take on the case of a young girl, Madison, who went missing in the forest where her family went to find a Christmas tree. But as Naomi learns what happened to Madison, the events of her own traumatic past begin to come to light.

I’m conflicted by this. There were so many beautiful and harrowing parts of this book. Obviously it deals with difficult themes like abduction, pedophilia, rape, and death, which were all handled respectfully by the author. Denfeld herself is a licensed investigator, and you can tell she knows what she’s writing about.

The biggest problem I had with this book is the huge discrepancy in the quality of writing. Half of the writing style was beautiful and lyrical, especially the scenes from the point of view of the snow girl. I found this sections horrifying but masterfully written. You could feel the coldness creeping into your bones, as well as the desperateness of the child’s situation.

The other half was written so differently that it didn’t even feel like I was reading the same book! For example, there is a line on page 72 that reads, “Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she soon would be hungry.” There are other lines like this that are so jarring that I kept noticing them as I read and this impacted my overall opinion of it.

I found the romance between Jerome and Naomi particularly cringey. Their dialogue was cheesy, and Jerome’s character is as flat as a pancake. This is where I felt the most distracted by the different writing style, since the rest was so dark.

The other problem I had is Baby Danforth case that Naomi randomly takes on in the middle of the book. Though I know, realistically, a investigator would probably be working on multiple cases at a time, I found this whole case horribly distracting. The only reason I can think to include this is to show that Naomi’s searches can end badly.

Then there’s the characterization of Naomi herself. Naomi is also a “snow child.” She was abducted as a young child and, as a coping mechanism, she has repressed the memories of the traumatic events. As a result, Naomi is reserved and often cold. She left the safety of her foster home, the only place she felt love, because of her fear of closeness and intimacy. Throughout the course of finding out what happened to Madison, Naomi finally remembers the events of her own abduction. I understand that Naomi’s acceptance of Jerome’s love represents part of her healing, but I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if the romance hadn’t been included at all. There’s also Ranger Dave, who fell in love with Naomi within days of meeting her, which I found completely random.

Something I really enjoyed was the aspect of fairytale retelling, especially the ones that turned childhood innocence on its head. This dark play with cruelty and innocence is one of the biggest successes of this book. Snowy rural settings are typically my favorite books settings, and The Child Finder was satisfyingly atmospheric.

Ulitmately, I was disappointed by this. I loved the parts with the snow child but was disappointed by some of the rest. This had so many great reviews that I expected to love it. I just can’t look past the discrepancies in the writing and the cheesy romance.

VERDICT: 3 out of 5 books

Alexis: Read 9/2/18

I read this book a couple months ago. I had read one of Denfeld’s books before, The Enchanted, which I had a hard time getting through, but which ended up stuck in my mind. I prepared myself for a dark read with The Child Finder and dug in.

Denfeld’s writing style and descriptions struck me. I even took the time to write down a quote: “Like a leaf that drank from the morning dew, you didn’t question the morning sunrise or the sweet taste on your mouth. You just drank.” Denfeld’s descriptions always surprised me, whether from her word choice or from the contrasting, stilted way she delivered them.

While, like Anna, I found some of her sentences to be a bit off, ultimately the writing style served the purpose of the book. Denfeld was descriptive where she needed to be and off-putting when she needed to be. Three of the main characters deal with life-altering issues, and the writing style reflects their troubled thoughts and feelings.

I agree that Naomi and Jerome’s adult relationship feels forced; however, their relationship as children made sense. But was the distance felt between the two adult characters because of Naomi’s isolationist behavior, or was it because Denfeld’s characterization didn’t step up to the plate?

The chapters from Madison’s point of view, when she’s being held hostage, are brilliant, and I agree with Anna that Denfeld obviously knows what she’s talking about. The realism of the kidnapping, mixed with the almost dream-like quality of the snow child, left an impact on me.

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 books