The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll

I *almost* did not finish The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll. Here are the problems I had with this book: 1) it is slow to take off (at least for me); 2) there were so many women I couldn’t keep them all straight on who was who; 3) some of the characters were not developed well which contributed to remembering who was who; 4) the reality tv backdrop (I didn’t like it, but it could have been a VERY effective device if the story were told better); 5) I didn’t understand how these people knew each other in real life (I watch all of The Real Housewives and they are all friends in some way off the show); and 6) the preachy feminism, almost man-bashing, that occurs constantly throughout this book. 

But, I didn’t quit this book, so here’s what I liked about the book: 1) Layla, who is totally adorable if a little too good to be true, 2) the reality tv backdrop (while I didn’t love this story against this backdrop, in my heart of Hearts I LOVE reality tv); and 3) the huge twists in the last 25% of the book. 

Yes, you have to slog through a lot to get to the payoff, and honestly, I’m not sure the pay off is worth the time and effort, but sometimes a little payoff is better than none at all. Definite 3 Stars for me.

I received an advanced copy of this book by the publisher for an honest review.

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

 Julia Whelan has narrated some of my favorite books: Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane, The Best of Enemies by Jen Lancaster, and A Window Opens by Elizabeth Egan. Now she’s written one of my favorite books of 2018! I loved My Oxford Year. Though the story was slow to start, it took off 0 to 60 when it did! I loved all the characters in this story! Charlie, Maggie, Tom, Cecilia, Ella, Jamie, Antonia and William. I laughed; I cried. I truly did not want this book to end. A rich coming of age story, a story of love. That’s My Oxford Year. If you’re looking for a tear jerking, heart wrenching, redemption story, this is what you need. You’ll love it! and if this is Ms. Whelan debut novel, I am so looking forward to her next novel, and the next, and the next.

 I was provided an advanced copy by the publisher for an honest review.

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella surprised me. Not because I liked it; I figured I would since I’m generally a Kinsella fan. What surprised me was the direction this story took. It started off very light-hearted. Sylvia and Dan go to the doctor for physicals for their health insurance. Because they live fairly healthy lifestyles, and given that life spans are increasing, they learn that “til death do them part” is about sixty eight years. After reality sets in, they decide they need to do things to get through the next sixty eight years as a couple. Ultimately they decide to “surprise” each other, leading to a string of funny occasions as they each plan events for the other. All the surprises lead to a night of passion in a not-so-secret-to-Dan garden. This is when the story took a surprising, and somewhat dark, turn. Dan has an ex that he reacquaints himself with shortly afterward. Sylvia catches parts of conversations between Dan and her mother that concern her. She catches Dan and his ex, Mary, huddled in conversations. Finally, she discovers a hidden cell in a desk drawer that she thinks is one thing but really leads us, the reader, down another path. By the end of the story, the surprise is on Sylvia, who goes through a transformation from naive, sheltered woman, to a woman determined to be her own person, and make her own decisions. While I did enjoy the story, as well as the characters who live in Dan and Sylvie’s world, I feel slightly confused. What I thought the story was wasn’t what it was at all. But what it ended up being was still enjoyable. I guess the “surprise” was on me. I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher.

The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

 

I’m just going to start out with this:  I loved this book!  Why?  For numerous reasons:  the historical aspect of the book, the theme of le droit de choisir (the right to choose), and the education the reader receives on perfume making.  

The book alternates between Paris, 1955, and earlier locations such as New York, 1927, Monte Carlo, 1932 and Oxfordshire, England, 1935.  This is primarily Eva d’Orsey’s (or Dorsey as she is also known) story.  It is not a glamorous story.  We first see Eva as a young girl of fourteen, then follow her through her fall at approx. 15, to her relationship with a drunken gambler, Lambert, through her early 20’s, to her relationship with Andre Valmont, her bisexual lover.  She is a woman, who because she is used by almost every one and unloved by every man in her life, is a very cynical woman.  The one person to whom she is connected, Grace Munroe, is taken from her, and when she tries to form some sort of bond with her, she is again rejected and turned away.  Because of the shackles of her own life, Eva determines to give her own daughter the right to choose, le droit de choisir.

I am a huge fan of women’s fiction. I love books that give insight into the treatment of women throughout different times in history.  Set first in 1927, we learn that Eva is illegitimately born, and that her mother is deceased.  She was raised by an Uncle who didn’t want her, and who brings her to the hotel in New York where he is employed, to work as a housemaid.  After she is hired, we only see the uncle one more time; Eva has basically been abandoned by the only family she knows, and learns about life in the hardest ways possible.  The clientele of the hotel are actors and actresses from the “Follies”; people of low moral character.  Eva witnesses drunkenness and lewdness frequently in her early days as a maid in the hotel.  Actors and actresses at this time in history were not regarded highly; they were compared frequently to prostitutes.  In fact, they frequently acquainted themselves with prostitutes, and Eva, being young and innocent, falls prey to one of these women, who uses her to further her own acting ambitions.  Throughout the years, Eva is used by other men:  the English Lord who uses her to further his gambling addiction; Andre Valmont, who uses her in his quest to become the world’s best perfumer; and Jacques Hiver, her last lover.

Even Grace Munroe’s story shows the mindset of women, even in 1955.  Grace is married to a man who she discovers is cheating on her.  She goes to Paris, and bemoans the fact that the man doesn’t call her for days after she gets there, and when he finally does, dismisses the affair.  When he does show up in Paris, she seems to allow him to take over her business.

I love the theme of the right to choose.  Eva’s story is primarily one of hopelessness.  She is indebted to men; she is shackled to them, needing their protection throughout her life.  In fact, she dies a reject of society as the mistress of a very wealthy man. However, though Eva’s story is bleak, because of her innate ability to succeed, she leaves Grace a legacy of hopefulness.  Eva dies a very wealthy woman, due to her cunning, and ability to work well with numbers.  She demands stock from her lover’s wife, as payment for a perfume she sold to keep the company afloat during World War II, and she turns the stocks into a fortune that she leaves her daughter. This frees Grace.  She realizes that she doesn’t have to accept the behavior of her philandering husband; that she can choose her own path.  

Lastly, I love books in which I learn something I haven’t ever known before.  Ms. Tessaro, through Andre and Eva’s story,describes how perfume is made.  I was totally intrigued!  The sources of perfume, the many and varied ways perfume is created, was absolutely fascinating to me.  I loved every minute of these scenes.  The fact that the perfume creation was so integral to the story just added to my enjoyment.

If you are a lover of women’s fiction, or historical fiction, I highly recommend this book.  I can’t wait to read more of Ms.Tessaro’ s books.  I’ll be looking for them for many, many years.   

Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant by Veronica Roth

In preparation for the movie that opens on Friday, Mar. 21st, I read the entire Divergent trilogy.  So I’m going to combine my review of all three books.  I’ll start with Divergent.  I really enjoyed this first book in the trilogy, though some of it was hard to get through.  I will admit that I read the first three to four chapters a couple of times because it didn’t hook me right away.  This is the story of Beatrice “Tris” Prior, who lives in a world divided into “factions”. There are 5 factions:  Candor, Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation, and Amity.  Each person’s faction is determined during testing when they are sixteen.  Beatrice is raised in the Abnegation faction, and the story opens with Beatrice’s testing to determine which faction she belongs.  Beatrice’s testing is inconclusive; she is “divergent”.  This is a very dangerous condition to have since she will need to pick which faction she will go to, either Abnegation, the one she knows, or another.  Beatrice chooses the Dauntless faction, which didn’t surprise me because she has a fascination with the faction that foreshadows her decision. It is when she enters the Dauntless faction that she chooses a new name, “Tris.”

The initiation into Dauntless was very hard for me to get through.  Dauntless means brave; however, I just thought they were violent.  There wasn’t a lot of bravery happening during the dauntless initiation.  The one act that the faction population found “brave” was the suicide of an initiate. I, as the reader, found this more of an act of cowardice than bravery, but considering that the definition of dauntless is so twisted, it didn’t surprise me.  

Tris meets fellow Dauntless member, “Four”.  We learn in the book that “Four” is actually Tobias, a former Abnegation leader’s son who left the faction a couple of years before.   Tris and Four develop a romantic relationship, although he is her teacher (even though he is only 2 years older than Tris, as a mother this gave me the creeps.  He is her teacher after all).  

There is a lot of action in this first book.  The characters are very well written, though I will admit that it was sometimes hard for me to keep track of who was who, which faction they were in, etc.  

Book Two, Insurgent, continues Tris and Four’s story.  They have left Dauntless, and we see the other factions in more detail. Insurgent was my favorite of the three books.  In book one, Tris remains, for the most part, in Dauntless, training and preparing for her life as a Dauntless.  In book two, having left Dauntless, Tris and Four explore more of their world.  This leads to many surprises, and more interaction with the world around them.  There are themes of inclusion, diversity, love, politics, forgiveness, and loyalty introduced in Insurgent.  Overall, the best of the three books, in my opinion.

Allegiant, book three of the trilogy, was highly disappointing to me. That may be that my attention span to the third book of any trilogy is almost at an end.   I found this third book confusing, and honestly, a little bit too “out there” for me.  We, the reader, discover in Allegiant that the factions were created in order to keep genetically impure people separated from genetically pure people.  While Tris is told in book one that being “Divergent” is dangerous, we find out in book three that it is, in fact, the most superior genetic form.  That the factionless have the most “divergent” population because to be divergent means that you are the most diverse, genetically well rounded people.  The factions are watched by the “Bureau”, not to be confused by the “Capital” of the Hunger Games.  These people basically just watch the factions, like limitless reality TV. They have separated the factions, and are watching the evolution of the factions, with very limited involvement.  

This book was just confusing.  There was so much going on, with who was genetically pure, who wasn’t, who almost was, where the parents came from, were they genetically pure or impure, etc. that it just made the book not good.  Additionally, the way Ms. Roth chose to write the book, presenting each chapter from either Tris or Four’s perspective was off putting to me.  The first two books were written in the same format, and then she chooses to switch the format? I just found it weird (I hate to suggest that there was a ghost in there somewhere, but when formats change all of the sudden, it does make you wonder.)

Now, for some literary analysis: I have to say that there were some very interesting literary devices used throughout the trilogy.  Ms. Roth uses color exceptionally well.  Each faction dresses in a certain color:  Abnegation wears gray, Dauntless wears black, Erudite wears blue, Amity wears red or yellow, and Candor wears black suite with white tie.  As the faction system disintegrates, the reader sees the characters start wearing other factions colors and mixing/matching them.  I was fascinated with the use of color throughout the trilogy.

The faction system itself was very interesting to me.  Ms. Roth imagines a world which seems to me like a Myers-Briggs personality test gone very, very wrong.  Having taken a Myers-Briggs test myself, and understanding my personality type, I can’t say that I would enjoy a world with only my same personality types.  

That being said, Ms. Roth does an excellent job of conveying the atmosphere of each faction in her writing.  For example, while Tris and Four are in Dauntless, I felt very anxious the entire time.  The characters are very dangerous, and I was never really able to relax.  In Abnegation, I was also very uncomfortable, feeling much as Beatrice felt before she chose Dauntless.  In Candor, I felt somewhat anxious only because this faction is very free to speak, and somewhat tactless.  There is a sense that what they may say may be offensive, or hurtful.  In Amity, I felt the most at peace.  I pictured this faction much as a hippie commune.  It takes a talented writer to make the reader feel what the characters feel, and Ms. Roth does it very masterfully.

The theme of creating a genetically pure society was also very fascinating to me.  The thought that the more that we, as a society, combine our genes with others of different personality types, cultures, ethnicity, it creates a more genetically pure society was interesting to me.  

On a personal note, as a mom of two young adults, which these books are written for, I have to say that I find it sad that books like this, which are such a hit with our children, lack any idea of God.  Or rather, they insinuate the fact that God is absent in our society, or that he is watching from a distance with limited interaction with us.  The Bureau was representative of God.  He just watches, and when mankind becomes too rebellious, it is to be destroyed.

In fact, the whole dystopian society genre, very popular in today’s young adult novel, is sad to me.  This society lacks hope.  There is no joy.  They have faith only in themselves.  It is survival of the fittest, and that competition must be destroyed.  This is not how I want my children to view the world.  Hopefully, this genre will be short lived.  I can only hope that there will be a trilogy soon that presents the world as a hopeful place, where we should live in harmony with each other.  That it’s okay to have faith in God, and to believe that He is not just watching us from a distance, but that He interacts with us Daily.  That is my hope and my prayer.

Undaunted by Christine Caine

I enjoyed this book.  But I will admit, the beginning was tough to get through.  It starts off strong.  Mrs. Caine begins in a safe house in Greece where she meets with some women who have escaped from human sex trafficking.  Their stories immediately drew me in, but from there, she goes on to detail her own story:how she discovers in her 30s that she was adopted, and how her father is listed on her birth certificate as Unknown, and that her birth mother didn’t care enough about her to name her, instead she is identified by a number, Number 2508 of 1966. She also describes how she had to overcome years of abuse, and later after marriage, how she deals with a miscarriage.  Parts One and Two were a little dry and preachy, and I wasn’t quite sure where Mrs. Caine was heading with this.

She starts to pull it all together, though, in Part 3.  She describes having to overcome her fear of flying because of the opportunities God provided for her to travel the world preaching.  She tells us, “When you allow fear to dictate how you spend your days, you allow life to pass you by.” In doing this, you miss out on what God is providing to you.  She tells the reader, by loving Christ, we can overcome fear.  She points out, that the bible tells us to fear not 350 times.

Part 4 is where the book really grabbed me.  Mrs. Caine describes visiting Auschwitz, the Jewish concentration camp used by the Nazis in World War II to exterminate millions of Jews.  She describes how the Jews were given a number that was tattooed on their arms.  “The numbers dehumanized them, desensitized the guards to them. How much easier for the guards to ignore suffering when it did not have a name, when it was merely a number.” Just like she was, “Number 2508 of 1966.”Unwanted.  Mrs. Caine describes the awakening of her spirit as she walked the buildings of Auschwitz.  How we as a society tour places such as this, and think of it as history.  We wonder how the Germans who lived in that country closed their eyes and allowed the injustice of the concentration camps to happen.  But Mrs. Caine becomes awake to the fact that injustice is all around us every day.  It is there in the children who are hungry, in the people who suffer poverty, women and children forced into slavery, and many other social and political injustices.  

With this awakening, she describes being stuck in an airport in Greece, and while looking at the posters of missing women and children, she is convicted that God wants her to widen her ministry to rescuing those who are victims of human trafficking.  She describes how she begins this ministry in Greece, and though the consultants she hires advise her that they will fail, she moves forward because she knows that God is calling her to begin here.  She describes how through faith, and through prayer, her ministry begins in Greece, and that the first woman rescued is brought to them by a man who had paid for her services, but couldn’t go through with it after seeing her plight.  

This book paints a picture of one woman’s Undaunted, but not untroubled, walk with God.  It is a calling for all of us to awaken to opportunities God is providing to us, and to walk Undaunted with God.  She personifies difficulties, and excuses, as Daunt, but that in Christ, he has overcome all difficulties.  That Daunt will always try to stop God’s plan, but If we join with God, in his plan, we can walk Undaunted.  

Lynette on Life on Books!

I have been blogging for a couple of years now, and I will admit, I love it! So I thought to myself "How can I expand my blog? What do I love to do and would love to share?" The answer was fairly obvious-I love to read! I'm going to start sharing the books I read, and my thoughts on them. I'm currently reading "Undaunted" by Christine Caine. As soon as I'm finished with it, I'll post the blog. Happy 2014! And Happy Reading!