Curiouser and Curiouser by Melanie Karsak
I am not a fan of the Alice in Wonderland books, so I was not exactly thrilled when the theme for my August Lit-Cube was Steampunk Alice in Wonderland. The swag in my box changed my mind and so did this book.
This was not a Wonderland story in any way, though the characters were all characters from Lewis Carroll's classic novel. Being as I am not a part of the steampunk movement (although what I've seen is way cool), I am not sure what makes this a steampunk novel. That did not detract from the story for me though; meaning I didn't dwell on what made this steampunk.
Alice is a reformed criminal, if you will, in this book. She was a pickpocket and a thief in general. When she was ten, she and her younger sister, Bess, were plucked from a factory by a wealthy man called Jabberwocky. Bess was to be a companion for Jabberwocky's mother, but Alice was to be a part of his criminal enterprise because she was quick and smart.
At any rate, Alice had been away from this line of work for over a year, but gets brought back in to clear the debt of Henry, the man (the hatter) who is in love with Bess. Alice is brought in by William, also known as the Caterpillar, to steal a priceless gem for the Queen of Hearts. Alice is in love with William.
I don't want to say too much because this book is short and I am afraid it will give too much of the book away. Definitely one to read, and when time permits, I'll probably check out the other books this author has written.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Penance?
Faithful by Alice Hoffman
This book brought out all the feels. I was on the verge of tears many times.
In February of Shelby's senior year of high school, she was in a car accident with her best friend, Helene. Helene didn't die, but "lives" her life on life support. She never wakes up, and suffered brain damage, but her mother can't let her go. Shelby has a great deal of guilt over this, and for the next ten years, feels like their roles should be reversed. She doesn't see her worth in the world, and that is what this book is about.
After the accident, she tries to kill herself, so she is placed in a treatment facility. She won't or can't talk. She is raped every night by an orderly, and a few weeks in she receives a postcard that says simply "Say Something." This is what Shelby needs to be able to tell her mother what is going on, thus getting her removed from the facility. She then spends the next couple of years in her parents' basement, smoking pot and doing a whole lotta nothing.
One day, she moves to Manhattan with her pot dealer. They date, but she feels he is too good for her. She gets a job, steals some dogs, acquires a friend with three children, and makes something of herself. What makes her do these things? She keeps getting these postcards from her "angel."
Shelby's life is far from easy, but because of these postcards, she ends up finding out what (and who) is important. She felt like her life needed to be penance for what happened to Helene, and it kept her from truly trying to be happy. Once she realized it was ok to be happy, she started to be.
This book touched me, and it was a fairly quick read. I highly recommend it.
This book brought out all the feels. I was on the verge of tears many times.
In February of Shelby's senior year of high school, she was in a car accident with her best friend, Helene. Helene didn't die, but "lives" her life on life support. She never wakes up, and suffered brain damage, but her mother can't let her go. Shelby has a great deal of guilt over this, and for the next ten years, feels like their roles should be reversed. She doesn't see her worth in the world, and that is what this book is about.
After the accident, she tries to kill herself, so she is placed in a treatment facility. She won't or can't talk. She is raped every night by an orderly, and a few weeks in she receives a postcard that says simply "Say Something." This is what Shelby needs to be able to tell her mother what is going on, thus getting her removed from the facility. She then spends the next couple of years in her parents' basement, smoking pot and doing a whole lotta nothing.
One day, she moves to Manhattan with her pot dealer. They date, but she feels he is too good for her. She gets a job, steals some dogs, acquires a friend with three children, and makes something of herself. What makes her do these things? She keeps getting these postcards from her "angel."
Shelby's life is far from easy, but because of these postcards, she ends up finding out what (and who) is important. She felt like her life needed to be penance for what happened to Helene, and it kept her from truly trying to be happy. Once she realized it was ok to be happy, she started to be.
This book touched me, and it was a fairly quick read. I highly recommend it.
Saturday, August 26, 2017
The End of an Era
The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory
Allegedly, this is the last book that Ms. Gregory will write about the Tudors, possibly forever. Such a shame, as no one writes of the Tudor women like Ms. Gregory does.
This final installment is about the Grey sisters: Jane, Katherine, and Mary. I have always loved Jane, but never care much for Katherine or knew anything about Mary. This book changed some things for me-some in good ways, others, not so much.
The first part of the book is about Lady Jane Grey, the nine days' queen. I didn't find her story all that interesting, which is unusual because there was so much more to her than presented here. Nowhere does it mention the abuse that Jane endured at the hands of her parents when she refuses to do their bidding. If anything, the Grey parents are presented as loving in parts of this book, and I find that to be patently untrue, based on more factual accounts that I have read of Lady Jane. As a result, I was not as taken with her story.
Then there is Katherine Grey, who I always disliked because she willfully disobeyed Queen Elizabeth. This made me see that perhaps Elizabeth wasn't as wonderful as I thought she was. It made me see Katherine as a person who married for love, not trying to take the queenship from Elizabeth, which is how this situation has always been presented up to this point. I liked Katherine, and my heart broke for her and the things she had to endure, just for being the pretty cousin next in line for the throne.
Last there is Mary. I knew she existed, and I knew she was a little person, but that is all that is ever mentioned of her in anything I have read up to this point. Ms. Gregory even says she has taken liberties with her story, but it just made Mary more real to me.
In short, I hate what these three women endured, just for being who they were.
Allegedly, this is the last book that Ms. Gregory will write about the Tudors, possibly forever. Such a shame, as no one writes of the Tudor women like Ms. Gregory does.
This final installment is about the Grey sisters: Jane, Katherine, and Mary. I have always loved Jane, but never care much for Katherine or knew anything about Mary. This book changed some things for me-some in good ways, others, not so much.
The first part of the book is about Lady Jane Grey, the nine days' queen. I didn't find her story all that interesting, which is unusual because there was so much more to her than presented here. Nowhere does it mention the abuse that Jane endured at the hands of her parents when she refuses to do their bidding. If anything, the Grey parents are presented as loving in parts of this book, and I find that to be patently untrue, based on more factual accounts that I have read of Lady Jane. As a result, I was not as taken with her story.
Then there is Katherine Grey, who I always disliked because she willfully disobeyed Queen Elizabeth. This made me see that perhaps Elizabeth wasn't as wonderful as I thought she was. It made me see Katherine as a person who married for love, not trying to take the queenship from Elizabeth, which is how this situation has always been presented up to this point. I liked Katherine, and my heart broke for her and the things she had to endure, just for being the pretty cousin next in line for the throne.
Last there is Mary. I knew she existed, and I knew she was a little person, but that is all that is ever mentioned of her in anything I have read up to this point. Ms. Gregory even says she has taken liberties with her story, but it just made Mary more real to me.
In short, I hate what these three women endured, just for being who they were.
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Summer '17 Book 22
Cinderella.com by River Laurent
First of all, I would never have purchased this for myself. It's fluff, and has far more sex in it than I would like. I like things with a bit more substance, even if they are aimed at a younger audience. This, however, was in my June Lit-Cube, so I felt I needed to read it. (Which reminds me I still have a mermaid book from last summer to read)
Ok, Cass is our protagonist. She lives in Chicago. Her father is in hospice care, and she has gotten herself into debt with loan sharks to pay for his care. She has two jobs already, and it looking for a third to pay the bills. Her friend, Jesse, confesses to her that some time back, she signed Cass up on a site called Cinderella.com, which finds lookalikes of famous people. The lookalike fills in for the famous person and gets paid for it.
In this case, Cass looks like Tamara Honeywell, a Paris Hilton type person who is famous for pretty much nothing, but has made a sex tape. She's also into drugs and alcohol. She is being sent to Montana for a month to work on a ranch, but feels that is beneath her, so she hires Cass. Cass will make $30,000 for her time.
So, Cass goes to Montana. She finds she can't quite be the bitch Tamara is, and ultimately falls in love with Lars, a ranch hand. On the last day of her assignment, there is a masquerade ball, which is when Tamara comes back to show she's learned things on the ranch. Like I said, Tamara is a bitch, so her plan is to get Lars to sleep with her because she knows it will hurt Cass.
It's a Cinderella story, so you have a good idea how it ends.
Again, not really my thing. Also, they should have hired someone to edit this before publishing. There were a lot of misspellings and errors throughout the book. I mean she kept using pin as a place for animals, and it irritated me every time I had to read that.
So, if you like Cinderella stories and need a fluffy, fast read, this is for you.
First of all, I would never have purchased this for myself. It's fluff, and has far more sex in it than I would like. I like things with a bit more substance, even if they are aimed at a younger audience. This, however, was in my June Lit-Cube, so I felt I needed to read it. (Which reminds me I still have a mermaid book from last summer to read)
Ok, Cass is our protagonist. She lives in Chicago. Her father is in hospice care, and she has gotten herself into debt with loan sharks to pay for his care. She has two jobs already, and it looking for a third to pay the bills. Her friend, Jesse, confesses to her that some time back, she signed Cass up on a site called Cinderella.com, which finds lookalikes of famous people. The lookalike fills in for the famous person and gets paid for it.
In this case, Cass looks like Tamara Honeywell, a Paris Hilton type person who is famous for pretty much nothing, but has made a sex tape. She's also into drugs and alcohol. She is being sent to Montana for a month to work on a ranch, but feels that is beneath her, so she hires Cass. Cass will make $30,000 for her time.
So, Cass goes to Montana. She finds she can't quite be the bitch Tamara is, and ultimately falls in love with Lars, a ranch hand. On the last day of her assignment, there is a masquerade ball, which is when Tamara comes back to show she's learned things on the ranch. Like I said, Tamara is a bitch, so her plan is to get Lars to sleep with her because she knows it will hurt Cass.
It's a Cinderella story, so you have a good idea how it ends.
Again, not really my thing. Also, they should have hired someone to edit this before publishing. There were a lot of misspellings and errors throughout the book. I mean she kept using pin as a place for animals, and it irritated me every time I had to read that.
So, if you like Cinderella stories and need a fluffy, fast read, this is for you.
Summer '17 Book 21
Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
I bought this earlier this summer because my school librarians posted to Twitter that this was a good book. They have yet to steer me wrong, so I got myself a copy. So glad I did, even though there was some messy, snotty crying that went along with it.
Carver, aka Blade to his friends, has just lost his three best friends in a texting and driving accident. To make matters worse, Carver was the last person to text the driver, so he feels he is responsible for their deaths. Some others do too, and at one point, the district attorney looks into whether charges can be filed for negligent homicide. That's a lot to handle all at one time. And while all of this is important, it's not the whole premise of the book.
No, this book is about Carver saying goodbye to his friends, and find a little bit of closure so that he can move on. The idea of the goodbye days is presented to him by Nana Betsy, his friend Blake's grandmother. Because he was taken so suddenly, she didn't get to say what she needed to say, so she asks Carver if he would spend the day reminiscing about Blake with her. They did the things Blake would do with Nana Betsy, and she got to say what she needed to in order to gain some closure.
Then, Carver goes to have a goodbye day with Eli's parents. Eli had a twin sister, who thinks Carver should be held accountable for his death. Also, Carver has become good friends with Eli's girlfriend, Jesmyn, which does not sit well with Eli's dad.
The last goodbye day is with Mars' father, the judge who wanted charges brought against Carver. He didn't seem to understand that the goodbye day was to let the judge into aspects of his son's life that he didn't know about. It took some time for the judge to understand, and I do think he found some closure.
All of this was hard for Carver. He even had panic attacks and started to see a shrink. It was aggravating to me that people wanted to prosecute Carver for texting his friends. Yes, he texted them. Yes, he probably knew they'd be driving. The thing is though, no one villified the driver, Mars, for responding to the text while he was driving. That was a problem for me.
On the whole, I loved this book. I look forward to reading more from this author.
I bought this earlier this summer because my school librarians posted to Twitter that this was a good book. They have yet to steer me wrong, so I got myself a copy. So glad I did, even though there was some messy, snotty crying that went along with it.
Carver, aka Blade to his friends, has just lost his three best friends in a texting and driving accident. To make matters worse, Carver was the last person to text the driver, so he feels he is responsible for their deaths. Some others do too, and at one point, the district attorney looks into whether charges can be filed for negligent homicide. That's a lot to handle all at one time. And while all of this is important, it's not the whole premise of the book.
No, this book is about Carver saying goodbye to his friends, and find a little bit of closure so that he can move on. The idea of the goodbye days is presented to him by Nana Betsy, his friend Blake's grandmother. Because he was taken so suddenly, she didn't get to say what she needed to say, so she asks Carver if he would spend the day reminiscing about Blake with her. They did the things Blake would do with Nana Betsy, and she got to say what she needed to in order to gain some closure.
Then, Carver goes to have a goodbye day with Eli's parents. Eli had a twin sister, who thinks Carver should be held accountable for his death. Also, Carver has become good friends with Eli's girlfriend, Jesmyn, which does not sit well with Eli's dad.
The last goodbye day is with Mars' father, the judge who wanted charges brought against Carver. He didn't seem to understand that the goodbye day was to let the judge into aspects of his son's life that he didn't know about. It took some time for the judge to understand, and I do think he found some closure.
All of this was hard for Carver. He even had panic attacks and started to see a shrink. It was aggravating to me that people wanted to prosecute Carver for texting his friends. Yes, he texted them. Yes, he probably knew they'd be driving. The thing is though, no one villified the driver, Mars, for responding to the text while he was driving. That was a problem for me.
On the whole, I loved this book. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Summer '17 Book 20
The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda
I bought this because I liked another of her books so much, and then I found out it was a TAYSHAS this year too.
Kelsey is seventeen. Until she started high school, she had been homeschooled her entire life. This is because her mother is agoraphobic, stemming from being kidnapped when she was seventeen years old. Kelsey wasn't really allowed to do anything, or go anywhere because of her mother's fear.
One evening, Kelsey was headed home from school, and got into a car accident. The young fireman who helped rescue her, Ryan, is in her math class and has a bit of a crush on her. The feeling is mutual. The mayor of their town wants to honor Ryan for his efforts and Kelsey wants to go to this, but her mother forbids it. So Kelsey sneaks out. She runs into Ryan when she is coming home.
Things seem weird, as all of the "safety" measures that are on her house are not working. When Kelsey comes inside, she knows something is wrong. Her mother is missing. Then she and Ryan see people outside her house, and ultimately get into her house. Kelsey and Ryan and a couple of friends escape, but there's still no word from Kelsey's mother. The police don't believe she was kidnapped again, and Kelsey learns more about her mother than she planned.
Will her mother return? If so, where was she? What happened? Read this and find out.
I bought this because I liked another of her books so much, and then I found out it was a TAYSHAS this year too.
Kelsey is seventeen. Until she started high school, she had been homeschooled her entire life. This is because her mother is agoraphobic, stemming from being kidnapped when she was seventeen years old. Kelsey wasn't really allowed to do anything, or go anywhere because of her mother's fear.
One evening, Kelsey was headed home from school, and got into a car accident. The young fireman who helped rescue her, Ryan, is in her math class and has a bit of a crush on her. The feeling is mutual. The mayor of their town wants to honor Ryan for his efforts and Kelsey wants to go to this, but her mother forbids it. So Kelsey sneaks out. She runs into Ryan when she is coming home.
Things seem weird, as all of the "safety" measures that are on her house are not working. When Kelsey comes inside, she knows something is wrong. Her mother is missing. Then she and Ryan see people outside her house, and ultimately get into her house. Kelsey and Ryan and a couple of friends escape, but there's still no word from Kelsey's mother. The police don't believe she was kidnapped again, and Kelsey learns more about her mother than she planned.
Will her mother return? If so, where was she? What happened? Read this and find out.
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