Review: Caging Skies by Christine Leunens

Title: Caging Skies
Author: Christine Leunens
Format: Paperback ARC
Pub. Date: August 6th 2019
Source: Goodreads First Reads


Book Description:

The inspiration for the major film Jojo Rabbit by Taika Waititi

An avid member of the Hitler Youth in 1940s Vienna, Johannes Betzler discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl named Elsa behind a false wall in their home. His initial horror turns to interest—then love and obsession. After his parents disappear, Johannes is the only one aware of Elsa’s existence in the house and he alone is responsible for her fate. Drawing strength from his daydreams about Hitler, Johannes plans for the end of the war and what it might mean for him and Elsa.

The inspiration for the major film Jojo Rabbit by Taika Waititi, Caging Skies, sold in over twenty countries, is a work of rare power; a stylistic and storytelling triumph. Startling, blackly comic, and written in Christine Leunens’s gorgeous, muscular prose, this novel, her U.S. debut, is singular and unforgettable

Review:

★★★★

I really liked this book. I wasn't really quite sure what to expect, having read the synopsis and also having seen the trailer for the film based on it, Jojo Rabbit.

Leunens has a really developed sense of writing. She's good at delivering emotion and tone, even when you don't really want to be feeling the things you're feeling. For example, that you feel bad for a devoted member of the Hitler Youth, and that you continue to feel bad even as he's supporting the Reich and as he's continuing to keep a Jewish girl in his walls for his own personal fulfillment.

Johannes is flawed and in a lot of ways, just not a good person. But in other ways, he seems so aware and so caring. He takes care of his family and his home with one hand, but lies and bullies with the other. I wasn't quite sure what to make of him a lot of the time, but he was never a dull character. The way the author describes his hometown and what is happening after Hitler's regime is over, it felt like I was transported. When his feelings were hurt I felt them, even if I thought he deserved it (and he often did). Elsa too is well written. Leunens does a good job of making her hopeful and sad and appreciative and rebellious, all in one. There's a lot of complexities and sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad, and sometimes you find yourself laughing and then feeling like a bad person.

It would have been 5 stars for me until I started to hit the end. Then it seems to have turned into a completely different book. The tone changed, and the pacing wildly changed. It went from well paced (and maybe even a little slow) to zooming by, and then abruptly it was over. I actually reread a bit to see if I had missed something but, no, it wasn't me. It almost felt like when you are writing an essay for an exam and the proctor calls five minutes so you just write like mad. It's a shame that it ended on a rough note for me.

That aside, this book was well written and I am glad I read it. If you're easily offended, this might not be a good fit for you as there's a fair amount of dark comedy. If you're a fan of WWII or Holocaust books, than I think it's worth reading.

I have not seen Jojo Rabbit, so I have absolutely no idea how the two compare but going off of the trailer, I'm going to say that they seem like completely different animals, so, keep that in mind if you liked the film and are considering reading the book.

I received a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads in exchange for my honest review. Thank you.

Review: I'm Not Missing by Carrie Fountain

Title: I'm Not Missing: A Novel
Author: Carrie Fountain
Format: Paperback ARC
Pub. Date: July 10th 2018
Source: Goodreads First Reads


Book Description:

When Miranda Black’s mother abandoned her, she took everything—the sun, moon, and stars—and Miranda found shelter in her friendship with Syd, who wore her own motherlessness like a badge of honor: Our mothers abandoned us. We won’t go begging for scraps.

When Syd runs away suddenly and inexplicably in the middle of their senior year, Miranda is abandoned once again, left to untangle the questions of why Syd left, where she is—and if she’s even a friend worth saving. Her only clue is Syd’s discarded pink leopard print cell phone and a single text contained there from the mysterious HIM. Along the way, forced to step out from Syd’s enormous shadow, Miranda finds herself stumbling into first love with Nick Allison of all people and learning what it means to be truly seen, to be finally not missing in her own life.

Review:

★★★★★

I was absolutely blown away by this book. I was shocked to learn that this is Carrie Fountain's first novel. It's beautiful, haunting, and just straight up well written.

However, I definitely wasn't surprised to learn that her first two publications are books of poetry. It's clear that Fountain has a way with words. The way that the writing flows is beautiful. It's a bit slow paced, but I liked that. This book is set in the desert area of the US, so for me the tempo of the writing matched the slow, low heat of the setting that the author drew me into.

I like that all of the characters were multi-faceted and had depth to them. You learn who Miranda is both at the side of her best friend Syd, and rediscover her along the way when Syd is no longer there. You learn who Nick is both through the eyes of Syd, who hates his guts, and through Miranda, who yearns for him even after he makes some questionable decisions. Even her father, who isn't really a main character, you learn to see the fatherly, put together side that Miranda sees and the scientific genius version that the rest of the world sees.

I like that Miranda was a little weird, and that she's relatable. She's flawed, like all of us. She respects prayer because of her family roots, but she isn't into the praying thing herself. So when she needs to sleep, she recites a historical speech to herself aloud instead. She breaks a romantic tension moment by laughing. She struggles with friendship and loss in a way that I think is just so human.

And then there's the case of the missing friend. Well, "not missing" friend. I actually wasn't sure where this plot arch was going, in a sort of a "who done it" type mystery style. I won't give spoilers, but I will say that I did not see the book taking the twists that it did, and it took me by surprise. But in a good way.

My only real criticism of this book has to do with the ending. I felt like there was still a few loose ends left frayed by the time the book was over. I'm a little disappointed that Miranda's mother wasn't a bigger part of the plot line. I would have really liked to have followed that path to learn more about what happened and why.

This book is gritty and emotional, but also full of twists and even quite a few laughs. Reading the slow paced, flowing language made it very relaxing and soothing to read, despite all of the drama and issues that are presented in the book. Be warned, there's some hard to swallow for some topics, like sex, abuse, and abandonment.

I hope this isn't the last novel by Carrie Fountain, and I recommend this to anyone who likes realistic fiction with a darker, problematic side to it.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you.

HOLIDAY REVIEW: No-one Ever Has Sex on Christmas Day by Tracy Bloom

Title: No-one Ever Has Sex on Christmas Day
Series: No-one Ever Has Sex #3
Author: Tracy Bloom
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: October 24th 2017
Source: Netgalley


Book Description:

Don’t you always plan the perfect Christmas?
Don’t you always think it will be the best one ever?
And doesn’t something – usually one of your loved ones – always come along and screw it up?

Katy’s been spending too much time in the office and not enough time with her family so she wants it all: snow (fake or real), the Michael Bublé Christmas album, whatever it takes.

There’s only one thing missing as far as her husband Ben is concerned: another baby to complete their family. Katy isn’t so sure…

Ben may be playing the role of Master Elf in the pre-school nativity but he is struggling to master his own family life. With romantically-challenged friends, an ex who refuses to go away and Katy's mum's 64-year-old toy boy thrown into the mix, Christmas looks like it could be going off the rails… Never mind family planning, can Katy and Ben even plan to make it to the end of Christmas Day?

Review:

★★

Meh.

I didn't realize that this was the third book in a series until I went to update my Goodreads progress, as it wasn't advertised as a series. Maybe that's part of why I'm not into this book.

I don't get the humor. I understood the jokes and quips.... I just wasn't laughing. When the cover of the book says "The most hilarious romantic comedy you'll read this Christmas" - that's a big promise, so I had big hopes. I was left disappointed, with a few snickers here and there but not much else.

The rest of it was just.... Well, boring. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, nor did I particularly care for any of them. I found Katy rather selfish and irritating, while the others were kind of just... there. Not bad, not good. Just there. There was no big climax really, or much of a plot to follow. It was a light read that's easy to get through, because there's not too much to focus on.

Don't let my review dissuade you. I am clearly in the minority on this one. People are yucking it up and enjoying themselves, while I'm the lone scrooge who didn't care for it. If you've read other books in the series, maybe you'll like it more than I did. But, it's just not my cup of tea.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Mini Review: Conversion by Katherine Howe

Title: Conversion
Author: Katherine Howe
Format: Paperback ARC
Pub. Date: July 1st 2014
Source: Won


Book Description:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane comes a chilling mystery—Prep meets The Crucible.

It’s senior year at St. Joan’s Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian, deciphering boys’ texts: Through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they can’t.

First it’s the school’s queen bee, Clara Rutherford, who suddenly falls into uncontrollable tics in the middle of class. Her mystery illness quickly spreads to her closest clique of friends, then more students and symptoms follow: seizures, hair loss, violent coughing fits. St. Joan’s buzzes with rumor; rumor blossoms into full-blown panic.

Soon the media descends on Danvers, Massachusetts, as everyone scrambles to find something, or someone, to blame. Pollution? Stress? Or are the girls faking? Only Colleen—who’s been reading The Crucible for extra credit—comes to realize what nobody else has: Danvers was once Salem Village, where another group of girls suffered from a similarly bizarre epidemic three centuries ago . . .

Inspired by true events—from seventeenth-century colonial life to the halls of a modern-day high school—Conversion casts a spell. With her signature wit and passion, New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe delivers an exciting and suspenseful novel, a chilling mystery that raises the question, what’s really happening to the girls at St. Joan’s?

Review:

★

I had such high hopes for this one. I love American history, and have special interest in Salem. I have an entire shelf dedicated to books- both fiction and nonfiction- on the subject. So when a retelling young adult book caught my eye, I was so excited. Boy, what a let down.

The main character was the absolute worst. She's demeaning and shallow and so self obsessed it's ridiculous. If she's supposed to be relatable, then I don't want to meet the girl who sees herself in Colleen. Every word that left her mouth was either snotty, judgmental, or about herself. I couldn't take it for long. The more she talked the less I cared about her and the book.

And the other characters, as well as the plot, are so bland that I can't tell you anything about them. Other than it was set in a prep school, and there's your sterotypical "preppy girls" who show up in every other book that involves a private school in the young adult genre. There's some Salem outlines and references, but it wasn't chilling, or haunting, or anything else that I expected upon reading the blurb.

I don't recommend it. Props on the cover art though. It caught my eye and I really like the design of it.

Maybe if you went to a school like this, with people like this, you'll relate to it more than I did.

Mini College Review: A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In by Magnus Mills

Title: A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In
Author: Magnus Mills
Format: Hardcover, 276 pages
Pub. Date: September 2011
Source: Borrowed from professor


Book Description:

Far away, in the ancient empire of Greater Fallowfields, things are falling apart. The imperial orchestra is presided over by a conductor who has never played a note, the clocks are changed constantly to ensure that the sun always sets at five o' clock, and the Astronomer Royal is only able to use the observatory telescope when he can find a sixpence to put in its slot. But while the kingdom drifts, awaiting the return of the young emperor, who has gone abroad and communicates only by penny post, a sinister and unfamiliar enemy is getting closer and closer...A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In is Magnus Mills's most ambitious work to date. A surreal portrait of a world that, although strange and distant, contains rather too many similarities to our own for the alien not to become brilliantly familiar and disturbingly close to home. It is comic writing at its best - and it is Magnus Mills's most ambitious, enjoyable and rewarding novel to date.

Review:

★★★★

This was a book that I had to read for my Modern British Fiction in college. I'd like to note that I have not read any other of Mills' books.

My review of it is going to be short and sweet, because I'm lacking words to describe this book. It's very unique stylistically. The plot has dark undertones but the tone is so light and nonchalant, it's a very odd mix. If a satire mated with a fairy tale and based it on the British, it would be this.

The writing is a lot of political and social commentary about Great Britain, as an American I'm sure some things went over my head. But there was a weird (in a good way) cast of characters that all circle around a ruler that is never actually in the book. It's amusing and confusing but makes you think and all and all I liked it but I can't exactly tell you why....

This is not a very helpful review, but, I say give it a go if you're thinking about reading it. It's worth it, especially if you enjoy your fantasy with large helpings of commentary.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Series: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children #1
Author: Ransom Riggs
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Pub. Date: June 7th 2011
Source: Half Price Books


Book Description:

A family to heal him?

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Review:

★★★

Well.... This book is certainly peculiar.

I'm always a bit hesitant to read books that are crazy popular. This is an example. But with the recent movie release.... I just couldn't resist. At the end of the pages, this book left me feeling a mixture of disappointed, irritated, and mildly amused.

First, I'll go over what I liked about it. I can honestly say I haven't read a book like it before. I really enjoyed the photographs and letters that were included throughout the novel. It added a vintage feel of authenticity to the story. The descriptions of location were really well done- I felt like I could explore the house or the island alongside Jacob. It was enough to keep me reading and exploring.

But I didn't really enjoy the flow of the book. It felt slow until the last two chapters or so, as though this were more of a prequel or a primer for reading the next story. It made the story drag, and it made it take longer for me to get through reading it.

The book also felt a bit disjointing to me. I didn't really feel connected to any of the characters, other than Jacob and Emma. That's disappointing, because there's a whole house full of interesting, "peculiar" children that I would have loved to learn more about. But other than a name and a brief description of what makes them peculiar, I was left hanging. There's a half-attempt at a love story awkwardly placed in all the chaos. I don't mind romance in the slightest, but it came across as forced.

And then there's the ending.... Which is where I felt the most torn. On the one hand, it's where the book picked up speed for me. And that's good! But it also unfolded a bit like an episode of Scooby-Doo. A trusted figure takes off their face, ends up being the bad guy, and then a ragtag team of spooky teenagers/children jet off to save the world.

Overall, I'm not mad that I read this book. It held my attention well enough, and I really liked some aspects of it. I enjoyed the idea of the time Loops, the photographs, and the integration of history/the war throughout. Unfortunately, it fell short in some ways too. I don't think that I'll reread this one any time soon, but I might pick up the next book in the series if I come across it.

I feel like young adults and fans of Beautiful Creatures might enjoy this.

Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: Confessions of a Fat Girl by Holly Dae

Title: Confessions of a Fat Girl

Author: Holly Dae

Release date: August 4th 2015

Source: IFB Tours

About the Book:

Smart and ambitious Season Minett was homeschooled, got accepted into college at 16, graduated with a B.A. in English at 20, got a job at a prestigious magazine at 21, and isn’t afraid to go after what she wants. Twenty-two-year-old Season has it made and everyone knows it. Except Season herself.

People can gush over her all day long, but Season knows they’re just being nice. In reality, she’s accomplished nothing. She doesn’t work hard enough, can’t get her book published, and worst of all at 5’6, 180 pounds with a thirty-two inch waist, a forty-four inch hip, and arms too big for her body, she’s fat and ugly. She's such a disappointment that after her mother divorced Season's dad, she went to live with her new, younger boyfriend and left Season to mother the rest of her siblings. So Season is quite bewildered when the guy she sees every weekend at the bookstore shows serious interest in her. And she ends up liking him. A lot.

Season's not naive enough to think love will solve all her problems though. In fact, love seems to be making everything worse because her food obsession is growing more and more out of her control. But that's impossible. There's nothing wrong with counting calories and wanting to be thin. There's nothing wrong with trying to be as perfect as everyone thinks she is. A fat girl can't develop an eating disorder, let alone have one. Right?

Review:

★★★


I admit, the reason why I signed on to read this book is largely the title, no pun intended. I'm a bigger girl, so I figured I would relate to the characters and the premise. Overall, this was a fairly enjoyable read.

There's a growing concern and focus on appearance and health, and I think this story gives a pretty realistic look on the issues that come with having a low view of yourself. Season is moody and closed off. She's self-destructive as she battles with her calorie count and tries to keep in control of her body and her life, with a lot of drama and consequences surrounding her as she tries to get through it all.

Season was a really complicated character for me. I related to her at times, I'll be the first to admit that. I think we all go through a little self-loathing and self-pity at times, and I'm surely no exception. But similarly, I think she represented everything that I hate in myself. She bugged me. She was hard to sympathize with, and hell, maybe I'm hard to sympathize with too. This didn't put me off of the book or her story or anything, but made me think harder about myself whenever Season did something that particularly annoyed me.

The writing was pretty solid. I was engaged throughout the text, and I rarely felt bored. It was well paced and you learned to feel for the characters, whether you loved or hated them. It was a fairly quick book to get through, but it's not a subject to be taken lightly.

In short, I think this book does a decent job of covering an important topic. Eating disorders are a serious problem, and I think that people who have experienced problems with their weight or their self-image can take something away from Season's story. Fat or thin, we can all I think relate to Season on some level.

I was provided a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Get it Here:

Amazon

About the Author:

Stuck in the transition between graduating from college and starting a life called no job, Holly Dae spends most of her free time writing raw and edgy Young Adult and New Adult contemporary novels that deal with rape, drugs, sex, and general psychological ills. When she isn't doing that, she's writing fanfiction for fun and obsessively playing Mario Kart Eight and Pokemon Games.

Website | Twitter

Follow the rest of the tour here!

Giveaway:

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Review, Trailer, & Giveaway: Secret of a Thousand Beauties by Mingmei Yip!

Title: Secret of a Thousand Beauties
Author: Mingmei Yip
Format: Paperback, 320 pages
Pub. Date: November 25th 2014
Source: Author


Book Description via Goodreads:

Set against the vibrant and intrigue-laden backdrop of 1930s China, Mingmei Yip's enthralling novel explores one woman's defiant pursuit of independence.

Spring Swallow was promised in marriage while still in her mother's belly. When the groom dies before a wedding can take place, seventeen-year-old Spring Swallow is ordered to become a ghost bride to appease his spirit. Under her in-laws' protection, she will be little more than a servant, unable to know real love or bear children. Refusing to accept her fate as a "bad-luck woman," Spring Swallow flees on her wedding day.


In the city of Soochow, Spring Swallow joins a community of renowned embroiderers. The women work for Aunty Peony, whose exquisite stitching once earned her the Emperor's love. But when Aunty Peony agrees to replicate a famous painting--a lucrative assignment that will take a year to complete--betrayal and jealousy emerges within the group. Spring Swallow becomes entangled in each woman's story of heartbreak, even while she embarks on a dangerous affair with a young revolutionary. On a journey that leads from the remote hillsides around Soochow to cosmopolitan Peking, Spring Swallow draws on the secret techniques learned from Aunty Peony and her own indomitable strength, determined to forge a life that is truly her own.

Trailer:

Praise:

"A unique and enthralling style…flawless." –Baltimore Books Examiner on The Nine Fold Heaven


"Surprising and often funny….Part epic, part coming-of-age story, part modern fairy tale." --Publishers Weekly on Song of the Silk Road


"A serious, engaging story of faith, devotion, and the commingling of cultures." –Booklist on Petals From the Sky

About the Author:

Mingmei Yip was born in China, received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and held faculty appointments at the Chinese University and Baptist University in Hong Kong. She's published five books in Chinese, written several columns for seven major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on over forty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and the U.S. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City.

Review:

★★★★★

This book is beautiful. It lingers with you even after you've finished, set it down, and walked away. In part this is because of the plot, in which the main character Spring Swallow escapes her fate as a ghost bride after her arranged-to-be-husband's demise. This sadness, this ghost haunts the overall tone of the book, giving each layer of beautiful prose a melancholy undertone. But this book also stays with you because of the rich detail that's put into the writing. Like Yip's other books, there's something almost song-like about the way this was written.

Secret of a Thousand Beauties is a book that comes off as well informed. I learned quite a fair bit about the art of embroidery in this book, which is something that I have no shame in saying that I knew absolutely nothing about. In addition, it blends this old tradition with the cultures of China. It was fascinating to read about their daily lives and traditions and customs as I navigated along Spring Swallow's journey.

It sucks you in from the beginning with its alluring use of language and the shroud of mystery that hangs over it all. The more you read, the more characters you meet who have secrets of their own. You cannot help but to continue to read in the hopes that you'll discover all of them, and what makes them act as they do.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an appreciation for art, historical settings, Chinese culture, or beautiful, poetic prose. Thank you to Mingmei Yip who gave me a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

Giveaway:

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Review: Magnificent Vibration

Title: Magnificent Vibration
Author: Rick Springfield
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: May 6th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Touchstone

★★★

Three stars.

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I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I saw the name Rick Springfield and fangirled a little since I'm a fan of his music, and added it to my Kindle. I definitely wasn't expecting the reading experience that I received, which left me with torn, relatively neutral feelings about it.

This book follows the main character, Bobby, who calls an 800 number he finds tucked away inside of a self-help book, and discovers that the phone number reaches the one and only big man upstairs, God. He picks up a partner, the very pretty Alice, and together shenanigans and debauchery ensue.

On the one hand, I give Springfield credit. The book made me chuckle out loud quite a few times. There's some very funny one liners and comebacks that kept my interest throughout. I also really liked the concept of someone getting a phone number that belongs to God. Could you imagine? It got me thinking, admittedly, about what I would do. What would I ask for? Would I take it seriously? Would I act as hilarious and crass as Bobby does?

However, on the other hand, I had a bit of issue with the dialogue in this book. While some of it was really amusing, the parts that weren't came across as choppy and forced. It didn't always feel like a natural, real conversation and I had to reread a few lines a few times to make sure I was following correctly.

The blurb on this book's Goodreads page labels it as "over the top", and I have to agree. This book squeezes sex, religion, God, the Loch Ness monster, hot nuns, and saving the world into one adventure. Unfortunately for me, over the top wasn't necessarily a good thing. It was bizarre, and in some parts it really worked, but fell short in other bits, leading me overall to an in-the-middle rating of three stars.

This book is good if you want a strange, often funny read, but be warned that there's some sex and language. In a nutshell, this book made me laugh and had a great concept, but didn't always "click" with me as a whole. Thanks to Netgalley and Touchstone for my chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Bread and Butter by Michelle Wildgen

Title: Bread and Butter
Author: Michelle Wildgen
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: February 11th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Doubleday Books

★★★

Three stars.

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Bread and Butter is a novel that follows three brothers running competing restaurants in Pennsylvania. It shows what happens behind the scenes in restaurants, from drama between chefs to strange customers and everything in between while all the while demonstrating what it really means to be family.

I have to say first off, that I am a huge foodie. To the point that my girlfriend sometimes implies that I'm a snob. I'm always on the search for good eats, and I'm a sucker for a good chef story. This can be contributed to the fact that I was raised by a professional chef, who taught me how to love food. When I saw Bread and Butter, I knew I had to check it out.

Unfortunately, this fell a bit flat for me. I hate to use the b-word here, but when I was reading this, I was often bored. The interactions between characters felt forced at times, and at best seemed strangely put together. Though written fairly well, pages seemed to drag on at parts, and it made it hard to continue onward to the end of the book.

One thing I did love, however, were the author's descriptions and preparations of dishes throughout Bread and Butter. These were excellently written, though they were torture to read on an empty college-budget stomach. These were the shining moments in the text, and made the rest seem dull in comparison. Have a snack nearby for when you get to these vivid descriptions.

Plus, I adore the cover of this one. Isn't it darling? It's one made to lure you in from the start.

This is a solid book that is worth a read if you get it. Despite the lagging and characters at times, the overall story is interesting and the foodie bits are worth it alone. I didn't get much of a Kitchen Confidential vibe from it as the blurb suggests, but fans of chef reality shows would probably enjoy this one. Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for the chance to read this.

Review: Where the Stars Still Shine

Title:Where the Stars Still Shine
Author: Trish Doller
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 24th 2013
Source: Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

★★★★★

Five stars.

Only one thing about Callie's life is constant- her mother. The mother that took her away from her family over a decade ago. Now Callie's life consists of month-to-month apartments and hotels, food that she can get from a vending machine down the street, and clothes that she gets at local thrift stores boasting that town's names and schools to help her fit in. And let's not forget the slew of less than honorable men that her mother spends time with. But that life comes to an end when Callie's mother is finally arrested for her kidnapping... And Callie is taken to live with her father, in a proper home. She has to learn all over again what it's like to be in a family, to be loved, and to learn the roots she'd all but forgotten.

----

I'll be the first one to admit, I was a little leery about reading this title. I'd seen so many reviews raving and praising it that I was afraid that my opinions couldn't live up to the hype that it caused. Well, all I can say is that I was definitely not disappointed. This book is worth every bit of praise that it collects.

What might be the biggest pro of this book, in my opinion, is the protagonist, Callie. She's a refreshing heroine, who is strong and relatable while still being somewhat confused in her life and unsure of where she fits in to the grand scheme of it all. I think this juxtaposition is part of what makes the writing of this story so real. These conflicting traits work in harmony to represent a character with more depth, more personality. I was rooting for her from page one until the end.

This book also features one of my soft spots- Greek characters. Callie learns that the family she was forced to leave behind as a child is a large Greek one, and they live in a largely Greek community in Florida. The exceptionally handsome love interest, Alex, is also of this persuasion. I don't know why I have a thing for the Greeks (since I myself am Polish and Irish), but I do, and so I found this added level of Callie finding about where she's come from to be a pleasant surprise.

The writing itself is well detailed and pretty, while still having a layer of grit that I can't quite explain. But the narration allows for the story to seem pure and nonfiction, despite the fact that it is a fictional piece of work. I hate to use this word, because it's rather ambiguous, but it has a good "flow" to it that makes it easy to read in one sitting- the reader can easily lose themselves in the plot.

Plus, the cover work is gorgeous. It's definitely on my list of best covers for this year.

I've read quite a few books that feature a less-than-well mother/daughter relationship. Some of these I've liked well enough, and a few I didn't care for at all. Where the Stars Still Shine is the first that has blown me away entirely, perfectly captured the complexities of the emotions involved in a dynamic such as this, and has made me so adamantly support a female protagonist.

Where the Stars Still Shine is the first book that I have read by author Trish Doller, but it will most certainly not be the last. I recommend it to fans of YA romance, contemporary novels, or realistic fiction.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for my copy.

Review: The F-It List

Title: The F- It List
Author: Julie Halpern
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: November 12th 2013
Source: Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group

★★

Two stars.

Alex and Becca's friendship is strained, to say the very least. While Alex is faced with the loss of her father, Becca comes forward and confesses to sleeping with Alex's boyfriend. A bit of time passes, and Alex's anger is all but forgotten when she hears that Becca has cancer. Becca asks Alex to complete her bucket list as she starts chemo, so that's exactly what Alex does- sets out to complete the renamed F- It list.

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This book wasn't my cup of tea. I felt like it has a good base idea and concept, but tried to do too much.

-As my regular followers know, relatability to characters is something that is very important to me. Now, that doesn't mean I want all characters to think or act like I would were I in their shoes, but I at least need to be able to understand the choices that they make and why they made them. That wasn't the case with Alex. I found her unlikable and often questioned why she felt the need to behave as she did.

+The one aspect of Alex that I did like was that she is pretty much a walking encyclopedia of horror movie knowledge. I also have a love of all things spooky and macabre, so props to the author for including the references that she did.

+-That being said, if the reader has no previous knowledge of horror movies, I feel like the constant references will get old quickly.

-I was also pretty surprised at the amount of mentions of sex and obscene language. Keep in mind that I'm no prude, and in life away from the blog, I swear like a trucker. But I expected this book to be a more, well, young young adult than it was- it's from a children's publishing group after all. It threw me off guard, and while I personally don't have a problem with content of this sort, I know that other people will definitely be unhappily surprised with it.

+Another positive point is the cover. I'd definitely pick it up on a shelf. It looks edgy and very teen angst-y.

Overall, I think why I'm so disappointed is that I expected the story to be more focused on the pair of Becca and Alex as friends, and less Alex-centric. I wanted more story about Becca's battle with cancer and their friendship and less scenes between Alex and Leo. I am sure that a lot of people will enjoy this book. It's not badly written, and it has a great concept. But for me, this wasn't what I was expecting, and it left me disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for my copy.

Review: The Nine Fold Heaven

Title: The Nine Fold Heaven
Author: Mingmei Yip
Format: Paperback, 320 pages
Pub. Date: June 25th 2013
Source: Author, Mingmei Yip

★★★★★

Five stars.

The Nine Fold Heaven is a continuation of the novel Skeleton Women. In this next book, Camilla, Shadow, Rainbow, and even Jinying and the notorious gang leaders return. Camilla is left in the aftermath of the downfall of Master Lung, in a pool of uncertainty and speculation- Is Master Lung alive, and what of his son? To further tempt Camilla, she has heard rumors that even her own son may still be alive. Though once bitter rivals eager to claim the coveted spotlight in 1930s Shanghai, Camilla and the mysterious magician Shadow must now work together to free themselves from the seedy underbelly of the lives they lead, and nothing- not gangsters, superstition, or even the law- will stop Camilla from achieving her agendas, both hidden and in plain sight.

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I was ecstatic when Mingmei Yip contacted me to review The Nine Fold Heaven, since Skeleton Women was one of my favorite reads of last year. I have to say that I definitely was not left disappointed.

The author's gift for narration and prose is one that I rarely come across while reading, a cool and refreshing change from my normal books. It wraps around the reader's thoughts and demands attention in its beauty and detail. There is a melodic, dark tone to the entire novel that I cannot quite explain, leaving the writing with a vibe somewhere in a mixture of a song, a meditation, and a story. This work is also sprinkled with quotes from books and poems, as well as Chinese sayings and proverbs, that help give this book a tone of unique mysticism that sets it apart from others. And then there are the elaborate details that whip up vivid images of Chinese life. Whether in a five star restaurant or a slum of Hong Kong, I was easily able to lose myself in the world that Camilla lives in.

As an English speaking reader, I also greatly appreciated that non-English words were italicized. I was easily enough able to learn their meaning based on the context, but it was a simpler process because my attention was drawn to them.

The plot of this book takes many twists and turns, and often times I found myself utterly unknowing where it was going to lead me next. When Camilla is self-reflective or plotting, the writing appropriately slowed to a more leisurely, tranquil pace. But when gangsters, masterminds, and murder take their place in the story, the pace quickens to one full of action and suspense that left me quickly turning the page to find out what happened next. More often than I'd care to admit, I was pleasantly taken aback by a change in story development.

Like Skeleton Women, The Nine Fold Heaven is full of strong female characters, and I don't read nearly enough books where this is the case. Whether it is the meticulously trained Camilla, the cunning and elusive Shadow, or even the little orphan Peiling, each are headstrong and smart in their own ways. My personal favorite is the journalist, Rainbow, due in large part to her "army" of Pink Skeleton women, who obtain her information from the four corners of Shanghai and beyond.

Emotions run strong throughout the course of this book, and there are a lot of them. The love of a mother. The desire or romance of a lover. The desperation of one fallen on hard times. Even the wistful memories of love and memories long past. I felt so many things while reading this, sometimes more than I could name and definitely more than I could even comprehend at times.

Another aspect of this story that I thoroughly appreciate is that there is no cut and dry good versus evil. Everyone is a little bit of both. There are "bad" people who unexpectedly do good things, and there are "good" people that are forced to do bad things do to dire situations. Because there is no clear villain, this story has an added layer of realism and grit that give the story more depth.

Though this is a continuation, and I recommend reading Skeleton Women first, it is not required. Back story is provided throughout enough that this can work as a stand alone. For anyone interested in gangsters, strong female leads, Chinese history, or beautifully woven narration, The Nine Fold Heaven is a must read. This is adult fiction, and does contain brief profanity and adult situations. This is the second book I have read of Yip's, and it definitely will not be the last.

Thank you to Mimgmei Yip who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.