WWW Wednesday – September 29, 2021

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

Welcome to new week of WWW Wednesday! I’m a bit behind at the moment. I still have one of my reviews to catch up on, and I unfortunately haven’t finished anything this week. So this is going to be a pretty short post! Eek! WWW is a weekly series hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. In it, bloggers share their reading progress and plans for the coming week. Let’s get started!

The Three Ws are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What have you just finished reading?
  • What will you read next?

What am I currently reading?

Same two books as before. I have made a lot of progress on Obama’s A Promised Land. I am on track 19 of 33. I really have to spend a lot of time on this, because it’s an overdrive audio and it will expire soon. Since it’s on such a long hold list, they won’t let me renew it. I’m committed to finishing by the time my checkout expires in 10 days. Forge on, I will! I’m already terribly late turning in my hardback copy of The Sweetness of Water, but I’m determined to finish and pay whatever fine it is I owe.

What have I just finished reading?

What Will I Read next?

I am going to start the same book I planned before, Apples of Stone by Philip Marsh. I saw his brother yesterday at work and verified I would be picking it up soon, so I am really truly committed now. Until next time, happy reading! Hopefully I’ll have more to share next week.

What’s going on with you? Feel free to share your posts or comment with your reading progress this week. And look for my review of The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer to post soon.

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Verity by Colleen Hoover – a Book Review

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

This is an incredibly different book than the last Hoover novel I read, It Ends With Us. There are some similarities. Again with the odd naming conventions, though I do rather like the name Verity Crawford. There is also a very intense undercurrent of abuse, though in this case it is pretty intense child abuse versus the spousal abuse from the first, so be warned. Otherwise, whereas It Ends With Us is a pretty straightforward plot, this one is twisty and intriguing with more than a few curve balls.

Synopsis

Lowen Ashleigh has been down on her luck for some time. Her mother has just died after a long illness, her career is floundering, and she’s completely broke and on the precipice of homelessness. When the enigmatic and handsome Jeremy Crawford enters the picture to make an employment offer, she has no choice but to take the job despite it making her uncomfortable. She moves into Jeremy’s home to sift through the papers of Jeremy’s wife, the famous author, Verity Crawford. After an accident, Verity is in a vegetative state and Lowen has been hired to take over authorship of Verity’s famous book series. When Lowen uncovers a secret autobiography penned by Verity, she uncovers secrets that could hurt Jeremy and his son, two people Lowen has grown to care for deeply. Things get worse for her when strange things start occurring in the house, leading Lowen to believe things are not actually as they seem.

Review

This is a wild ride. This book is extremely dark and disturbing. I loved the setting. The house has such a creepy, gothic vibe which is just accentuated by the anxiety-fueled plot. This is a book you do not want to put down, even though each subsequent chapter brings more and more shocks that will disturb you to your core. Honestly, as a mother, the really intense chapters involving such blatant and severe child abuse were a lot to take in. I would urge anyone who finds such subjects in literature traumatic to steer clear of this book. But if you can stomach it, this is a worthwhile read.

The character development in this book was pretty strong. I didn’t necessarily LIKE Lowen, but she was a solid character. She was complex with a lot of depth and nuance. Jeremy was an extremely effective character. Through the entirety of the book, I couldn’t really figure out if I should trust him. I wanted to like him, but there was just something about everyone who lived in that household that pushed me to believe there was more going on in the story, even with Jeremy. Is he a hero or a villain? I won’t spoil anything by telling you which way his character went. But I will tell you that it’s very difficult to gauge the actual pulse of this book. Hoover does an excellent job keeping you guessing and an even better job of throwing in some shocks even after you’ve thought you’ve figured everything out. It all culminates in a final chapter so explosive it leaves you in utter disbelief.

If I had one thing to quibble with, it’s the exact same thing I had against the last Hoover book. Colleen Hoover really likes to write sex scenes. These, on the whole, don’t bother me so much. But literally everything can become tedious when employed to an excessive degree. Frankly, I’m more interested in the story and where we wind up. Just a small smattering of sex scenes that illustrate how great Jeremy is in bed would have sufficed. And yes, I realize there’s a whole genre of book devoted solely to the idea that sex sells, but I guess erotica just isn’t really my thing.

Frankly, I think I’ve said about all I can without giving away too much. This is definitely a suspenseful read that will keep you guessing, and it’s a very effective work of fiction. Overall, I give it 4 stars.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Posted in General fiction, thriller, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

WWW Wednesday – September 22, 2021

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

Welcome to a new week of WWW Wednesday! I’m happy to have some progress to report today. Also, I’ve posted two book reviews today and still have two more to write! I’ve obviously fallen a bit behind in that department, which is why this is a nice to post to do to catch my breath. WWW is a weekly series hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. In it, bloggers share their reading progress and plans for the coming week. Let’s get started!

The Three Ws are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What have you just finished reading?
  • What will you read next?

What am I currently reading?

I am currently reading my Oprah’s Book Club selection for the Reading challenge, The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris. I’m not very far into this, but I’m kicking things into high gear today because I need to get it returned to the library ASAP. It’s overdue and on hold so I can’t renew it. Oops. I also just started A Promised Land by Barack Obama and I have literally listened to this every chance I could possibly get over the past two days and have already made my way through a full third of the book. It’s very engaging and I’m enjoying it very much, so that helps. I hope to have it finished by this time next week if things keep going the way they have lately.

What have I just finished reading?

I just finished reading the book club selection on audio. It was called The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer. This was an exhilarating read, for sure! It could be really difficult to read, at times, due to the nature of the murders. I should have a review for this one in the next couple of days. I also finished my other Colleen Hoover book, Verity. My word, that was a wild ride. It’s a completely different book from It Ends With Us. I will find it difficult to review without getting into spoilers, so it might be a short review.

What Will I Read Next?

Honestly, I don’t really want to pick an audio to do next because I’m always changing my mind anyway. In hard copy, I’m going to pick up another selection by a local author, because it’s a book loaned to me by the author’s family and I’ve already been sitting on it too long. Since I’ll have caught up on library books, it’s time to pick up Apples of Stone by Phillip Marsh. Odds are you have not heard of this book or the author until now. I have no idea what to expect, and I hope to have something to share soon.

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The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake – a Book Review

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

Audrey Blake is the pen name of not one author, but of two. Authors Regina Sirois and Jaima Fixsen teamed up to write this riveting and intelligent work of historical fiction about a young woman who develops a passion for medicine after being orphaned in the cholera epidemic and growing up in the home of the eccentric doctor who saved her life. This book is a tribute to the real life pioneers in medicine, not only the women who defied the odds to follow careers in a field that barred them on the basis of sex, but to the men who championed the intellects of their female peers, risking damage to their reputations and careers for their principles against sexism.

Synopsis

Nora Beady, after being left an orphan when cholera raged through London, is raised in the home of Horace Croft, a fiercely intelligent but eccentric physician. In 1845, Nora quietly cultivates her own secret career in medicine, assisting Dr. Croft with treating patients, surgical procedures, and autopsies. She reads the same literature as he does, and voraciously feeds the appetite of her curiosity, knowing full well the damage done to both her own future and Dr. Croft’s if she were to be exposed. When a young doctor arrives unexpectedly to join Dr. Croft’s practice, it threatens to bring about the demise of everything Nora has built for herself.

Review

This novel is full of intensely well researched medical information. The two collective authors who are Audrey Blake did an impeccable job of researching this. It’s also exceptionally exciting despite all the detail. I never really found myself getting bogged down, as I typically feel I would with something so scientifically detailed. The characters are rich and compelling. I especially liked Dr. Croft, a man whose genius is only marred by his distraction from mundane matters of life and propensity toward laser focus on his career. He is muddled, cluttered, and still infinitely charming. Nora is a complex woman of character. She’s both stubborn and genuine, and her intelligence is unrivaled, even amongst those male peers who would never stoop to seeing a woman as their peer.

Another fascinating and wonderful character is Daniel Gibson, the young and inexperienced doctor who joins Dr. Croft’s practice in order to learn from the master. I loved his story arc, and it was incredibly believable and authentic. Here is a man stuck between his adherence to things as he’s always been taught they should be and a niggling suspicion that what has always been acceptable isn’t necessarily what is right. Daniel is a fabulous figure representing progress. With an open mind, prejudice can be replaced by enlightenment. History is shaped by these heroic people. If it weren’t for the Nora’s and Daniel’s of the world, we wouldn’t have come as far as we have today. Progress is contagious, but only if we spread the seeds of intellect.

What Blake has written is a story that isn’t often told. In the world of historical fiction, this is a unique work of literature, and I’m so glad they undertook the task. I would highly recommend this book to fans of authors like Geraldine Brooks, a well researched work of historical fiction that is detailed, compelling, and well paced. The driving force of the novel is the fabulous character development, which leads the reader to truly care about the fate of Nora and her friends, leaving us on the edge of our seats as their world seems to come crashing down around them. I also applaud the fierce and unapologetic feminist undercurrent from which the authors never sway. While there is a tad bit of romance in the story, it never distracts from the more important narrative driving Nora’s story.

I give this one 4 1/2 stars. Exceptional historical fiction novel, and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Posted in Historical Fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover – a Book Review

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

This is the first book I’ve read by Colleen Hoover. I picked it up spontaneously. I saw the audiobook on Overdrive and remembered a friend talking about it, so I downloaded it then and there. In order to get a good idea of what Hoover’s books are really like, I don’t believe this is the best one to start with. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just that this book comes from a much deeper, much more personal place for Hoover. In the afterward, she details how she grew up watching her mother suffer the abuses of her father. This novel was, in a way, Hoover’s way of working through the complex web of emotions surrounding her childhood and her relationships with her parents.

Synopsis

Lily Blossom Bloom (no, I’m not kidding) has just about everything she could ever want. She’s an independent entrepreneur with a fledgling business (flower shop… nope, still not kidding) that’s proving to be quite successful, she has a great new best friend, and she’s dating an incredibly sexy and successful neurosurgeon who seems positively smitten with her. As is often the case, however, things are not always as they seem from the outside. The handsome and charming Ryle has a dark side, and Lily will be further tested with the return of her first love, Atlas Corrigan.

Review

If there’s one thing Colleen Hoover does well, it’s build and keep suspense. She’s gifted in a certain regard, in that her books are intensely readable. So readable, in fact, you really don’t want to stop reading. Despite whatever faults her books may have, you simply can’t put them down. As far as character, I did like Lily. I couldn’t really identify with her much, but I found her charming and likable. I enjoyed the little tidbits of the past we got through Lily’s journal, which she adorably penned to Ellen Degeneres, which was a nice touch. She wrote to Ellen instead of herself, as her favorite thing to do when she was younger was to watch the Ellen show. As an adult, Lily rereads her journal and revisits the moments she first met and fell in love with Atlas, including the tragic and awful events that caused the demise of their relationship.

This will sound strange, but the one character I had issue with was Ryle. I know, I’m supposed to have an issue with Ryle. It’s complicated. First of all, I feel like I was supposed to like him at first, but I was initially put off. Where some people saw him as initially charming, I saw him as way too assertive and almost sleezy. My spidey senses were immediately tingling and I was mentally begging Lily to run in the opposite direction. Sure, he was intriguing, but I didn’t understand how Lily could have fallen for him at all. Therefore, I couldn’t understand the intensity of her feelings for him later in the novel when she’s desperately holding on despite all the new information she’s gleaned. All that being said, I do understand that’s sort of the point. Let me explain.

Hoover’s entire point with this novel is to enter the mind of an abused spouse. Most of us on the outside looking in to a relationship like this can’t understand why the person stays. It’s completely unfathomable for most of us to allow someone to treat us that way, but it’s so much more complicated than we could ever fathom. This novel is her exploration of that relationship dynamic. I do believe it’s effective, though I still can’t understand Lily’s initial attraction to Ryle beyond the physical. Her relationship with Atlas was much more easy to grasp. If anything, Atlas was a little too perfect. He needed a flaw of some sort. Honestly, he didn’t seem human.

There are ways I can identify with Ryle’s story. His backstory is so heartbreaking and tragic and, while it doesn’t excuse his behavior at all, it does provide a little context for the mental and emotional turmoil he faces which lead him to act the way he does. But here’s the thing. How does no one in this book think to encourage him to seek mental and emotional help? Full disclosure, in my own relationship, I recognize aspects of Ryle. My own husband deals with anger issues, though they don’t manifest in the same way. He never has physically harmed me or my children. If he had, I wouldn’t still live in the same home. But he does struggle with anger and intense frustration, and all of it goes back to his constant struggles going back to childhood, and the same can be said of Ryle. Alcohol seems to be a trigger for both men, lifting the restraints on their anger and unleashing something they no longer can control. This is the reason I’ve always had an issue with my husband drinking. He’s not the kind of person who should ever lose control. That and his family’s propensity toward truly toxic alcoholism. Drinking is a very slippery slope for them, so it should honestly be avoided completely.

Considering all of this, this book became pretty profound for me. I can understand Lily making excuses for her husband. Though not as severe, I have literally done the exact same kind of rationalization. I have conveniently changed stories, lied about how something got broken or damaged, because I didn’t want anyone to know what had really happened. They would judge him. They would judge me for putting up with it. C’est la vie. This book gave me a lot to think about, to be honest.

Totally shifting gears to something a bit lighter, I’m probably going to profess a pretty unpopular opinion here. The sex got annoying. Yeah, I know… go ahead and laugh. I am not one to shy away from eroticism and when used effectively, it can be nice. I just felt like it was a bit much in this book. Sometimes it overpowered the narrative, and I felt like sex was really the only tie between Lily and Ryle. They didn’t seem to have much else besides a truly explosive love life. Like rabbits, really. Ryle had a propensity toward getting a bit… well, riled… in more ways than one.

Overall, I felt this was a very readable book with a very important message. There were some petty annoyances. The odd naming conventions, for one, and Hoover’s habit of over-doing certain things. In addition to the sex, I got really tired of hearing about how rich Ryle’s sister and her husband were. Seriously, I get it. They have money. In the grand scheme of things, I’m inclined to give this one a 3.

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Posted in General fiction, Romance | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

WWW Wednesday – September 15, 2021 #wwwwednesday

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

Well, I’m back. Last week I missed WWW Wednesday due to the sickness in our house that kept me at home. The kids keep me a bit too busy for blogging so I tend to not get anything done. Thankfully, that means I have nothing but progress to report this week.

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme where bloggers share weekly progress and plans for future reading endeavors. This meme is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What have you just finished reading?
  • What will you read next?

What am I currently reading?

I’m currently reading the book club selection on audio. It is The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer. So far this is an incredibly exciting book and its kept me on the edge of my seat. Things are really starting to get moving at this point. I’m also reading Verity by Colleen Hoover. It’s a very fast read, and I also find this one very exciting. It’s been difficult to put down, which has caused me to get a bit less sleep this week because I keep staying up late to read more. I hope to finish it today.

What have I just finished reading?

Speaking of Colleen Hoover, I just happened to read two books of hers almost simultaneously. And that was really just a coincidence and not something I did purposefully. They are two very different books. The one I just finished is It Ends With Us. I haven’t yet gotten my review finished of this one. I listened to it on audio, and it was a really enjoyable read despite the heavy subject matter. I also finished the historical fiction novel I was reading, The Girl in His Shadow. I really enjoyed this one and I’m glad I stumbled across it. I have both of these reviews to work on this week, but I’m doing a lot more reading due to due dates at the library for books that I can’t renew.

What Will I Read Next?

Next I will read The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris. I’m finally getting back to the reading challenge. This one takes the place of the Oprah’s Book Club pick for the reading challenge. I really need to get cracking on the last few categories or I won’t get finished despite surpassing the 52 books for the end of the year. I’ve done a lot of duplicating, especially lately. I will also probably get the chance to pick up A Promised Land by Barack Obama. It came available for me on Overdrive but I put a freeze on it until I get the book club book finished. I anticipate it will be ready for me again in a few days, hopefully just enough time for me to get done with the other one. Then I’ll be able to tackle this monster of a book, which will also take a place on the reading challenge as the Nonfiction New York Times bestseller.

That’s it for me! What have you accomplished this week? What do you plan next! Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!

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Sunshine Blogger Award

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

I am here with my first every Sunshine Blogger award! Thanks so much to Leslie at Books are the New Black for the nomination and some seriously great questions. It took me a few days to get to this. One of the kiddos got sick so my routine got seriously messed up this week and I spent a few days doing everything but blogging. What a great post to come back with.

WHAT IS THE SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD?

The Sunshine Blogger award is given to those who are creative, positive and inspiring while spreading sunshine into the blogging community. Each blogger chosen is given questions by the nominating blogger, and they will then:

  • Thank the blogger(s) who nominated them in a blog post and link back to their blog.
  • Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated them.
  • Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
  • List the rules and display the award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

Here are Leslie’s questions:

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading a historical fiction book called In His Shadow by Audrey Blake, which is actually a pseudonym shared by two different women, Regina Sirois and Jaima Fixsen. I’m really enjoying it despite the fact it’s very full of medical jargon. From the cover, it sort of has a softer vibe more similar to a romance novel, but it’s quite intricate and has a really strong feminist undercurrent. I was really expecting something completely different and I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’m enjoying it. Looking forward to finishing it today. I’m also listening to Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us, which is a novel recommended by a friend. Honestly, I’m not really sure how I feel about this one yet. I’ll get back to you.

What is your most anticipated read this year? If you’ve read it… did it live up to your expectations?

My most anticipated read I haven’t read yet. It’s Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. I look forward to any new Moriarty read and have so far been through them all. This one I should be able to read soon.

Have you read a book that surprised you this year (good or bad)?

Unfortunately, this isn’t a good surprise. I found myself pretty surprised by how disappointed I was in The Nature of Witches. I wasn’t very nice to that one in a review, and I’d had high hopes for it. I was seeing good reviews come in for it and the cover was extremely appealing. Sadly, it did not live up to my expectations.

Which book has the nicest cover on your bookshelf?

Oooh, this is a good question. I’m going to have to say the nicest cover is for my leatherbound Yale Shakespeare collection. This isn’t a very readable book. I’ve never actually read out of it because it could be used as a murder weapon if dropped from a certain height, but it’s more decorative and I keep it on the top shelf of my bookshelves with the other nicer books.

What are your favorite blog posts to read?

I would say I’m a bit more traditional, in that I love a good book review. I enjoy reading spoiler free reviews for books, that is, as this is where I get a lot of my TBR’s. I also like the WWW Wednesday posts where I get to see the progress of my colleagues and get a quick overview of what they liked/didn’t like throughout the week.

Do you judge a book by its cover?

Yes, absolutely. And as I alluded to in my post about the surprise, this can sometimes bite me in the ass. Some books look incredible based on the cover and then wind up being a letdown. I will say this… I won’t usually NOT read a book because the cover isn’t extremely compelling. But I will sometimes read one because the cover draws me in. I guess what I’m saying is it takes a lot more than a cover to get me to read something but if I’m just walking through the library or a book store, I will allow a cover to grab me and pique my interest. I hope that makes sense.

What is the most recent book that made you laugh out loud?

Oh my… Hmm… good question. I’ve done some mild chuckling to some recent reads, but the last book that left me in stitches was probably Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. That book was positively delightful.

Do you have any hobbies besides books and blogging about them?

Hmm… while I’ve really let myself go by way of hobbies lately, I have recently started playing piano again. I used to do it a lot and after getting married and having kids I let it slide. My husband seems to be going through some kind of mid-life thing where he’s decided to pick up the saxophone as a new hobby at age 40, so I decided it’s about time for me to get back into music as well. Boy am I rusty, but I’m bent on getting back into the swing of things. I also really enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles from time to time. And I often allow myself to get way too frustrated with Bingo Blitz on my phone. It’s a problem, and I’m working on it.

What was your last 5 star read?

I have read a book I gave 4 1/2 stars to (One Two Three by Laurie Frankel) but the last full-on 5 star book I read was Project Hail Mary back in May. I positively adored that book and couldn’t really think of anything that Weir could have improved upon. I can’t wait for the movie, despite the fact that I think Ryan Gosling is a terrible choice for Ryland Grace simply because he’s not at all what I see in my head. No offense, Ryan, but boo…

What was in your last book haul?

Ok, here’s a terrible truth. It has seriously been a minute since I’ve done a book haul. I haven’t bought a book in ages. Perhaps it’s Covid or just the busyness of life but I just haven’t been to a bookstore at all. I think the last time I received books that were actually purchased was when my husband gifted me two books for my birthday, I Am Mahala and Becoming. And that was for my birthday two years ago. I’ve also bought a couple of books online from authors I follow. They were Night Witch in Berlin by Joanna Brady and The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell and both were several months ago, at least. EEK! Maybe I need to plan a trip somewhere.

What is your favorite color?

My favorite color is green. I think that’s because, to me, green represents life. Without green things in this world nothing would be possible and we wouldn’t be here at all, so I think it’s the most beautiful and most important color.

Hope you’ve enjoyed visiting with me for my first Sunshine Blogger Award post.

For the bloggers I tag, here are your questions:

  1. Do you have a book or author that first got you into reading? If so, what or who is it?
  2. What book do you find yourself recommending the most to other readers?
  3. To which character in a book do you find yourself identifying with the most and why?
  4. Do you have a book in mind in which you actually wound up liking the movie adaptation better than the book? *GASP, I know, but I find that we all usually have at least 1 (Looking at you, Forrest Gump)* lol
  5. To which Hogwarts house do you belong, or is HP not your thing?
  6. What’s one food that you could eat every day for the rest of your life and not get tired of it?
  7. If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you not be able to live without?
  8. Unpopular opinion time… name a book that you seemed to have the opposite reaction to than the majority of other readers. Either they loved it and you hated it or vice versa…
  9. If you could live anywhere other than where you do right now, where would it be?
  10. What’s the perfect place for reading? comfy chair at home, coffee shop, outdoors? What do you think?
  11. What do you find to be the most surprising aspect of having a book blog?

I’m nominating the following bloggers for the Sunshine Blogger Award. These are all bloggers who have wonderful, inspiring bookish content and they are a joy to follow. Check them out! Amy Leigh Reads Tessa Talks Books Charley with Books and Bakes Jolie with Read With Me Lori at Fifty-Two Books Adira with Introvert Interrupted Molly with Silver Button Books Laurel-Rain Snow Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies Jess at The Booked Reader Ahaqir at Books of Brilliance

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The Comfort of Monsters by Willa C. Richards – a Book Review

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

I’m so torn on this book that I went to goodreads first to get a gauge of what other readers thought of it before putting my thoughts together. I’ve come to the conclusion that readers either love or hate this book. I find myself in that rare position of being somewhere in between, which is an odd place to be. I’ll do my best to explain that. I feel like I was able to respect the very human story Richards created without actually enjoying the book. I will also include fairly minor spoilers, in which I don’t discuss how the book ends but how I thought the book SHOULD have ended, so if you don’t want to know how it DOESN’T end, stop reading. Weird enough for you and slightly intriguing? Let’s get started.

Synopsis

It was the summer of 1991 in Milwaukee, the summer that Jeffrey Dahmer was discovered as the monster guilty committing of unspeakable horrors against young men, victims the media and law enforcement would later turn on due to their “lifestyle choices.” It was a time of community fear and intense shame for those who should represent every member of society no matter class, color or social status. That same summer, a young woman known as Dee would go missing, her disappearance relatively unnoticed due to the distraction of a more titillating crime spree in their midst. Thirty years later, the young woman’s family still has no answers and they’ve exhausted nearly every dollar they have and every ounce of strength on uncovering the truth. All they’ve been told for thirty years is “No body, no crime.” When they hire a psychic with wide national acclaim, they believe this might be the moment they will uncover the truth of what happened to Dee.

Review

First of all, this book hasn’t exactly been marketed well. It is not, as described, an exciting thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn. Yes, I agree that it mirror’s Flynn in an important respect, as Richards spends a lot of time developing her characters. It’s very much a dark story about inner turmoil. Where it diverges, however, is there really isn’t much mystery. There’s merely frustration, frustration that never really gets abated. There’s no harrowing conclusion. There is a conclusion, but it is far from a satisfactory one. Flynn goes out like a lion. This book whimpers in the corner like a frightened and neglected dog.

I don’t mean for that to sound harsh. My point is this book is purely psychological. It’s about a community and a family that has been irrevocably damaged. It’s about a character who will never be whole. Peg, the surviving sister of Dee and the last person to see her alive, is not an enjoyable protagonist. She’s angry, bitter, and more damaged than you can ever imagine. Even before her sister disappeared, she struggled with her own identity. She had an odd relationship with her sister that seemed too close. She was almost obsessed with her, often really strangely sexualizing her, wanting to touch her, calling her “baby.” The flashback scenes where they were together were extremely uncomfortable. Honestly, I think with all the weirdness surrounding their relationship there was only one way to end this, and it’s not the route the author took. Peg needed to be the killer. Her intense jealousy over not being able to own Dee the way she desired pushed her over the edge. Peg was unhinged. This was a missed opportunity, I believe, especially considering how many clues were included in the narrative to make me think Peg was hiding something. For that to go nowhere was a major letdown, but it didn’t calm my uneasiness about Peg’s character. It just left me feeling confused.

If you think Peg’s relationship with her sister sounds unhealthy, don’t even get me started on her relationships with men. That is an absolute freaking train wreck. I wanted to shake some sense into her. But, honestly, there’s something so desperately authentic about Peg’s story. It’s heartbreaking, but there are so many women caught in the cycle of abuse that Peg experiences. Not just women, but men too. There’s an intense psychological hold some people are able to assert over significant others, and it’s really difficult for those of us on the outside to understand how someone could stay in that situation.

Now, I don’t want to make it seem like I feel completely negative about this book. It’s well written, for sure. While it’s not exactly satisfying, it does make a profound statement about society and its treatment of victims, especially the glorification of perpetrators at the expense of those victims, which merely causes more harm to come to the families left to pick up the pieces.

I liked the incorporation of the Dahmer case, and I understand why she included it. Many people thought it was a useless distraction, but I completely disagree. There was a definite relationship, and it played a part in the main story. I was 7 years old in the summer of 1991. I distinctly remember this case and how shocking it was. I will say, however, that I didn’t understand or pick up on the details or the context of the effect it had on the gay community. I definitely appreciated that part of this book. Richards made me look at this case in a completely different light, and it wasn’t a good light. It was a representative of a deep social sickness that permeates our society even today. I thought the psychic was the completely useless distraction. Honestly, I don’t really see what the point of his presence was besides maybe further commentary on the types of capitalization that come from crimes that shock the nation. Just one more person preying on the desperation of sad people with nothing to lose.

Really, this book is bleak. It’s not an easy read because it’s just depressing and uncomfortable. Trigger warnings out the wazoo for abuse, rape, and… geez, just everything I guess. You have been warned. This book is very sexually graphic but not in a titillating way. Sex in this world is grotesque. It’s more likely to make you cringe and give you deep anxiety. Honestly, there wasn’t a heterosexual man in this book who wasn’t either guilty of or capable of some kind of atrocity. They were scum, plain and simple. I certainly hope there’s not a community out there in which that’s an accurate representation. Yikes.

Overall, this book just left me feeling despondent and unsatisfied. The writing is great. The character development is good but extremely odd. It was an effective character study for a deeply damaged individual, but I don’t think I’ll find myself recommending it to anyone, and I certainly won’t reread it. Once was plenty. Two stars.

As an aside, I want to commend Richards on the title which is incredibly apt for this book. On the one hand, the comfort of monsters could allude to the comfort experienced by the monsters themselves. Dahmer and others receive glory and attention. As white men, they are often afforded privileges others aren’t allowed. Their victims are either forgotten or dissected by the media while they receive what is akin to adoration. They become mythic and legendary. It can also allude to the false comfort a woman like Peg finds with an abusive monster of a man, a slow relinquishment of power on the part of a woman to the whims of a cruel man. It’s a multi-purpose title and I really like it.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal – a Book Review

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

A while back I read my first Jaswal novel, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. I seriously loved this book. It was charming, witty, and more than a little bit raunchy. If you’d like to read my detailed thoughts, you can see my review here. I didn’t find this novel quite as enjoyable, but it’s still a very worthwhile read.

Synopsis

The three Shergill sisters – Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina – have long had an immense gulf between them. On her deathbed, their mother asks of them one thing. She wants them to take a pilgrimage to their homeland of India. They must follow her instructions precisely and make a final journey up the mountain to lay her to rest. Along the way, the sisters will battle each other and their own emotional turmoil as they attempt to fulfill their mother’s final wishes without allowing their own fragile lives to fall apart.

Review

I will admit, this novel started a bit slow for me. I didn’t really like any of the sisters, to be honest. Rajni is infuriatingly severe and stubborn, and more than slightly neurotic. Jezmeen is flippant, silly, and spoiled. Shirina is so meek it comes across as a pathetic kind of weakness. The first third of the book feels like it’s merely the sisters bickering constantly. There is, of course, a purpose for all of this. If there’s one thing Jaswal does well it’s creating a very authentic portrait of life. People are annoying. People are complicated. And most of us are stubborn as hell and completely incapable of reaching across the aisle to understand each other unless we’re forced. And if we don’t know how to communicate, we do it with a vacillating mixture of vociferous argument and pure silence. Basically the first part of this novel is her showing us that this family has some serious healing to do.

Jaswal does a very great job of building suspense. She leaves little hints along the way of things than have come to pass, but she makes us wait before revealing all of it. This is, at once, intriguing and maddening. Ultimately, I like it. It definitely serves its purpose and she has placed herself as one of those authors who knows how to make the mundane aspects of life interesting through adept storytelling. Honestly, when I finally found out what was going on, especially with one of the sisters, it made my blood boil.

I was so wrapped up in the story by the end, I didn’t realize I had actually grown to like and respect these three sisters. All three of them had extremely difficult obstacles in their lives, and the things that made them stand out as irritating or weak were actually those parts of them that proved their resilience. Honestly, life for women can be so difficult. No matter your country of origin or culture, it’s full of socially constructed difficulties that shouldn’t exist and shouldn’t be condoned. Women either respond by bending to the will of the oppressor or risking their own health and safety to defy the oppressor. Either way, there are usually disastrous consequences. Each of the Shergill sisters dealt with different obstacles, but she responded in a completely different way.

Honestly, by the end, I felt like I understood each of them. It’s similar to when you meet a person and you just really don’t click initially. This happens to me a lot, because I’m very socially awkward. If you pair me with a person much like myself, it’s a great big ball of awkwardness and we really don’t know what to say to each other. But after enough time, if we’re able to connect the ways we are alike, something magical happens and those people could become my closest friends. If an author can do this with a character in a mirror of life, that’s an effective narrative. Characters should never be perfect, because perfect is not authentic. They should be effective. They should generate some form of raw emotion in the reader besides either liking or not liking them. We should deeply understand exactly WHY we do or don’t like them. We don’t honestly have to LIKE a character to think they are a good character. Honestly, sometimes it’s more fun if we don’t. I think Jaswal has mastered this in her craft.

As far as pacing goes, I really don’t have any complaints. Yes, I mentioned it started slow, but it started slow for a reason. I actually think we needed to slog through the initial stages that set up the context for the family dynamic. Once this book got going, it forged ahead at the perfect pace. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Soneela Nankani and Deepti Gupta. It was very well done and highly enjoyable, so I recommend this format. It exceeded the average length I usually choose for audiobooks at just over 13 hours, because if I have a longer book I’d rather read it off the page, but I honestly didn’t notice because it was such an engaging read. Overall, I highly recommend this book. It’s mostly light and breezy, but it brings in some very difficult themes, especially toward the end. 4 Stars.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Published April 30, 2019 by harperAudio. ASIN B07NY9TB61. Narrated by Soneela Nankani and Deepti Gupta. Runtme 13hrs 10 mins.

Posted in General fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

WWW Wednesday- September 1, 2021 – #wwwwednesday

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Amy @ A Librarian and Her Books

Holy crap, it’s already September! I can’t believe it. Welcome to another week of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme where bloggers share their weekly progress and plans for their future reading adventures. This meme is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. This week I’ve made a bit of progress but not as much as I’d have liked.

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What have you just finished reading?
  • What will you read next?

What am I currently reading?

I’m still reading The Comfort of Monsters by Willa C. Richards. It’s been hard to stay focused on this one. Number one, it has a pretty unlikable main character who I have a really difficult time connecting with. Number two, not a whole lot actually happens. It’s definitely a character-driven story without a whole lot of action. I do hope to finish today, however.

I did get to start a new audiobook. I’m reading It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. A friend recommended this one recently so I added it to my TBR. It is a fairly quick audio, so I should finish it in a few days.

What have I just finished reading?

I just finished The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, which was the second book I’ve read by Balli Kaur Jaswal. I really enjoyed it, as it picked up in the second half after starting a bit slow. I will try to get my review posted either today or tomorrow.

What will I read next?

Next I’m going to pick up The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake. I had been planning to pick up Harry Potter again on audio, but I had the book on overdrive come available so that’s why I replaced it with It Ends With Us. And then after I finish that, I will need to start the new book club selection, The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer. THEN… I will get back to HP. If I really storm through audios this week, I might be able to get to them both. We shall see.

That’s it for me this week! Have you been productive this week? Read anything fabulous?? Feel free to share!

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