Julie's Review: The Silver Star

Author: Jeannette Walls
Series: None
Publication Date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: Scribner
Pages: 304
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.75/5
Bottom Line: Coming of age story for adults
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Summary: It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, a woman who “found something wrong with every place she ever lived,” takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations. An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears many stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Because money is tight, Liz and Bean start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town — a big man who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Bean adores her whip-smart older sister — inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz. Jeannette Walls, supremely alert to abuse of adult power, has written a deeply moving novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love each other and the world, despite its flaws and injustices. ~powells.com

Review: The Silver Star is a interesting look at life in a small town during the 1970s. Bean and Liz venture to Byler, Virginia when there mom disappears for a few days. Where there mom, Charlotte, hated and couldn't wait to leave Byler, the girls adapt fairly easily to the slow ways of Byler. Sure, Uncle Tinsley is a recluse and a hoarder but at least he's trying to do right by the girls.

Bean and Liz want to do right by him as well so even though he tells them not to get jobs, they go around town until they find someone who hires them. That person is Jerry Maddox and well you already know he's not a good person. Since the girls are new in town they don't understand the history between their Uncle and Jerry but they do know enough to hide it from their Uncle.

My favorite part of the story was how Bean learned about her dad and bonded with that side of her family. I also loved that Uncle Tinsley encouraged it for her. It seems like if Charlotte had been there, she would have had a big problem with it. I adored how her Aunt Al just accepted her in immediately and she found a kindred spirit with Joe. Bean found where she belonged.

Ms. Walls does a good job of bringing social commentary into the book without it overshadowing the journey of the girls. While the girls were adapting to their changes, the US was going through it's own changes. I think that she captured that parallel extremely well.

I think the Jerry Maddox storyline was pretty easy to spot coming but I liked the way it helped to shape Liz. I like how Bean was there for her every step of the way. Even if some of her steps were missteps.

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Julie's Review: The Story Sisters

Author: Alice Hoffman
Series: None
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Publisher: Three River Books
Pages: 352
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Mystical Realism
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: A heartbreaking story about what lengths sisters go to protect each other
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Summary: Her new novel, The Story Sisters, charts the lives of three sisters — Elv, Claire, and Meg. Each has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination. Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart's desire, and a demon who will not let go. What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep can love go, and how far can it take you? These are the questions this luminous novel asks. At once a coming-of-age tale, a family saga, and a love story of erotic longing, The Story Sisters sifts through the miraculous and the mundane as the girls become women and their choices haunt them, change them and, finally, redeem them. It confirms Alice Hoffman's reputation as a "writer whose keen ear for the measure struck by the beat of the human heart is unparalleled". ~powells.com  

Review: Whenever I pick up an Alice Hoffman novel I am immediately transported to this world but only more magical. In The Story Sisters, the magic exists to block out the bad. It exists so that they can escape their troubles. It is Elv who is lost and who stays lost for most of the novel. She is troubled and we are given glimpses of why but it is never fully revealed. Ms. Hoffman doesn't have to spell it out to her readers, we can figure it out on our own. It is also Elv who is the most brave of the sisters. She is the one who protects Claire until it is Claire who tries to protect her.

Meg is the pragmatic sister, who ends up protecting Claire from Elv as she slips further and further away from her family. She is the one who ends up opening their mother's eyes to Elv's misdeeds. The misdeeds and aftermath will have lasting effects on her life.

My favorite character was Claire. She was the glue that kept the sisters together until she couldn't. She was the sweet, innocent one that knew there was evil in the world. She was the sensitive one. As she grew up, she withdrew into herself. It was art that saved her. It was within art that she found her voice.

Besides Claire, I loved their Ama, Natalia. She was always there for her daughter and her granddaughters. She was also very elegant and wise.

Ms. Hoffman always writes a novel that immediately pulls you in. She creates a world that you want to curl up in and get lost in. Her writing is poetic and lyrical. If you haven't read her, you should. I will be reading more of her books in the future.

The Story Sisters is about love, redemption and forgiveness. It is about figuring out who you are and who you are meant to be. It is about the bond of sisters, that can't be broken; even when it is.

Alice's Review

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Alice's Review: The Book of Someday

Author: Dianne Dixon
Series: None
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Pages: 335
Obtained:  Borrowed
Genre:  Women's Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Wonderful character driven novel with a surprising ending.
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Summary:  Three women. One stranger in a shimmering silver dress. Whatever binds them together has already destroyed one life. It just might consume them all. Someday, Livvi Gray will break free from her past. Someday, she will escape her recurring nightmare about that stranger in a shimmering silver dress. Someday, she will have a family of her own. Now she's found Andrew, and someday seems to be right around the corner. But there's so much Livvi doesn't know. Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, she will come face-to-face with the stranger from her dream-an encounter that will alter Livvi's future and crack open everything she knew about her past. Livvi is swiftly moving toward the ultimate turning point in her life-and she's not the only one. Linked by an unforgettable mystery, photographer Micah and young mother AnnaLee are also being rapidly drawn into a web of devastating secrets about the unexpected ways in which we choose to protect-and betray-the people we love. ~amazon.com

Review:  I am a lover of short stories. This novel reads very much like a short story. In fact, you could probably read each character’s story as a standalone as one is not needed to benefit the others. Yet, as they are told in alternating chapters, they are forever entwined, linked in a way I never expected. The only common factor is a woman wearing a pearl button shoe. I thoroughly enjoyed how this novel came together. I couldn't have guessed it and I was quite surprised.

The Book of Someday is the stories of three women. Livvi is a literary sensation, Micah a world famous photographer, and AnnaLee a young mother trying to hold her family together. Thinking about it now, I believe these women have something else in common besides the woman in the pearl button shoe. Each woman is beautifully damaged, broken in spirit and soul. As we get to know them, they reveal the depths of that damage. It’s difficult to describe them without revealing too much of the novel.

I like Livvi initially. She came from a broken home, had a father who was there but not engaged. She had a stepmother who was a monster to her. She carried her experience deep within her, hiding her truth from all who know her. It is only with the love a man that she begins to acknowledge her past. Towards the end of her arc, I didn’t particularly care for her. The decisions she made tarnished her character and turned her selfish and greedy. At least that is how I saw her.

Micah was a wonderful character. She was the opposite of Livvi: a horrible woman in search of absolution. I didn’t like her at all, with her black soul and narcissistic ways. As her story is exposed and we learn her truth, we can see why she’s that way. It wasn’t pretty, but it made sense. I didn’t like her any more in the end than I did in the beginning of the novel, but I appreciated her darkness.

I can’t quite figure out how I feel about AnnaLee. Sometimes I really liked her and how caring she was for her daughter and husband. Other times I saw her as this judgemental, bitter woman who was never happy. I covered both extremes on the spectrum.

Overall, I think this is a great novel. I love that it was told in alternating chapters. I love that I didn’t figure out the ending. I love that it truly made me gasp in shock. It was pretty darn awesome. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters but I was still invested in their story. I kept reading because of morbid curiosity. I had to know what was up with the woman in the pearl button shoe. The only flaw I found was the disenchantment I felt towards Livvi in the end. I expected more from her and was a bit disappointed at the outcome. I think I would have been happier with a real resolution.

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Alice's Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green
Series: None
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 352
Obtained: Purchases
Genre:  Young Adult
Rating: 5
Bottom Line: A tear-jerking powerhouse.
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Summary:  Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.  ~powells.com

Review:  Some reviews are easy to write, some a bit more difficult. This is one of the more difficult ones. This is hands down the best book I read this year. From the wonderful characters to the compelling story line to the great adventures the character’s experience, The Fault in Our Stars is perfect in everyway. The reason this is difficult is because I don’t know what to say to fully express how much I loved this novel and how this is a must read for everyone. It really doesn’t matter who you are or what your favorite genre is, this novel is wonderful. I believe the only readers who may struggle with this are those personally affected by the loss of a child to a cancer. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to experience that kind of loss again. That feeling of loss is what John Green masters. The Fault in Our Stars is so well written, I felt I knew Hazel and Augustus personally. They were not two literary characters, but two teenagers falling in love in the most tragic circumstances. Their story was deeply moving and so personal.

I just loved Hazel. Her courage was inspiring. She was everything a person should be when facing such tragedy. I am always amazed how well a man can capture such a strong, fascinating female character and Mr. Green does just that. Here is someone who has owned who she is without letting her illness define her. She’s brilliant. And Augustus...talk about a guy with many layers. On the surface, he is a happy go lucky guy without a care in the world. As Hazel gets to know him, we see he is much more than that. I loved how he reveals his true character to Hazel.

I loved how Mr. Green used humor throughout the novel. I loved how there were many funny moments, injected at the perfect time to diffuse grief. I loved how he give us a peek at what Hazel and Augustus’ parents were feeling. We understood what they were going through however, Mr. Green never fully shifted the focus to them. I think we truly saw them as Hazel and Augustus saw them. I especially believe that to be true with Hazel’s parents.

Overall, I know I’m just adding to the list of glowing reviews for this wonderful novel. This is one you can’t pass up.

Total Love Count: 6

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Julie's Review: He's Gone

Author: Deb Caletti
Series: None
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
Pages: 352
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction,Mystery
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Wow!
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Summary: “What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?” The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone. As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations — he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed — Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can — and cannot — remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth — about herself, her husband, and their lives together. ~powells.com

Review: He's Gone is such a thrilling ride. I savoured every page and yet I couldn't wait to get to the end of this book purely because I needed resolution, just like Dani. This book is so layered. It is a mystery, a love story, a psychological thriller and a study of marriage/fidelity. It is not a simple story. It is complex like Dani. It shows the different sides of a woman as she goes through the anger, grief and relief. We get into Dani's head as she examines every nook and cranny of her relationship/marriage with Ian. It isn't pretty. It shows the dark side of life and of some marriages.

Dani needed to be rescued from her marriage but what she doesn't realize is that she is the one that needed to do the rescuing. I really wavered back and forth on all different scenarios. There was a point that I really doubted Dani and her sanity. I felt she was going crazy. I couldn't decide if the blackout was real or if it was just something she was saying because she was guilty.

Ian is not a nice guy. He is the master of manipulation and feeling sorry for himself. At some point your upbringing needs to stop being an excuse for how you act. Your life and your behavior is in your hands. He was never going to be happy with anyone because he wasn't happy with himself. He might not have physically abused Dani but he certainly verbally and emotionally did.

I'm so happy that Alice put this on my List this year, otherwise I probably would have passed on this fantastic novel!

Alice's Review

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Alice & Julie's 2014 List Swap Challenge

It's that time of year again. Alice and Julie are doing their List Swap Challenge again. Although, this year it is slightly different. This year we just picked 5 books for each of us to read and one to read together. So, here they are:

Book Together:

The Time in Between by Maria Duenas  

Alice's Picks for Julie:

He's Gone by Deb Caletti
Parlor Games by Maryka Biaggio

The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffmann

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Julie's Picks for Alice:

Six Years by Harlan Coben

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

The Book of Someday by Dianne Dixon
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

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