Alice's Review: Lost Edens

Summary:  For Jamie Patterson, the end of her marriage is signaled by betrayal and abandonment. When estranged husband Ben asks to live with Jamie again, she ignores her instincts, her family's concern, and her friends' doubts and sets about making a perfect home in a California beach town. What follows in 33-year-old Patterson's debut reads more like a mystery (or a horror story) than an account of a relationship ruptured by infidelity. As Jamie's carefully titrated efforts walk a tightrope between wishful fantasy and cruel reality, we watch: enraptured, enraged, and endeared by this fearless yet fragile young woman who must end one way of life to forge a new one. ~ www.lostedens.com

Review:  Sometimes, the hardest review to write is one in which I love the book. I loved this book. This is a short memoir about the abandonment and betrayal of a husband written in his wife’s point of view. It’s also a memoir about domestic abuse. I can’t remember the last time I read a memoir in which the writer was so brutally honest about herself, about what she went through. It takes a lot of strength to admit your weaknesses; it takes a lot to ask for help. If I had to describe Jamie Patterson in one word, it would be courageous.

I can’t begin to tell you how wonderfully raw and honest this book is. This book was especially personal to me. I have the upmost respect for Ms. Patterson for taking an experience that was so personal and sharing it with us. Those of us who have felt it understand her. Those who have not experienced it for themselves, or sadly are there now, will see that there is healing. There is hope.

For me, this is a must read. I love the way it is written, short and factual. She doesn’t sugar-coat the truth. It’s startling how from the outside looking in, you can see how controlling and abusing her husband is. What I respect about Ms. Patterson is in her honesty about his behavior and words, she is truthful about her beliefs, reasoning, and feelings. On the inside looking out, I can wholly understand her need to make her marriage work, to fight for her husband and their relationship, to honor the commitment, and to blame herself for the failure.

I loved this book because there were so many morsels of goodness. I loved that she wrote, “My pain is too big for these enclosed woods.” I love that she found a way to elucidate the feeling of a pain that is much larger than she is, the kind of pain that consumes her, stealing every thought and emotion.

Finally, I will leave you with this, her words on the end:
“Endings rarely announce themselves. They steal in and go nameless until long after their work is done.”

Final Take:  5/5

Julie's Review: Never Knowing

Summary: From the acclaimed author of Still Missing comes a psychological thriller about one woman’s search into her past and the deadly truth she uncovers. All her life, Sara Gallagher has wondered about her birth parents. As an adopted child with two sisters who were born naturally to her parents, Sara did not have an ideal home life. The question of why she was given up for adoption has always haunted her. Finally, she is ready to take steps and to find closure. But some questions are better left unanswered. After months of research, Sara locates her birth mother---only to be met with horror and rejection. Then she discovers the devastating truth: Her mother was the only victim ever to escape a killer who has been hunting women every summer for decades. But Sara soon realizes the only thing worse than finding out about her father is him finding out about her. ~amazon.com

Review: I know it's no mystery to you guys that I love thrillers and so when I kept hearing about Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens, I knew it was up my alley. I also knew it would be the perfect fall, creepy read. I have to say that this book knocked me out of breath a couple times. Throughout the book you feel terror and fear in step with Sara. You can understand what she's going through and yet there are times you want to shake her to put the lid back on the can of worms that has been opened. Yet, she can't. You see her life is at stake, the lives of people she loves are at stake and innocent people might be put in harm's way if she doesn't do something. The question is...Should it really be up to her? Can she out wit a murderer and psychopath?

I really liked Sara and I understood where she was coming from, she just wanted to know her adoptive parents, so she could maybe understand herself better. She never really fit in with her adoptive family and besides her mother, she always felt like an outsider. To say that her father is a jerk, is quite the understatement. He was cold towards her and loving towards her other sisters.

Sara is an excellent mother to her headstrong 6 year old daughter Ally and has a wonderful fiance Evan. They have the seemingly perfect life but we all know that nothing is perfect. Her birth mother doesn't want to have anything to do with her and until Sara digs into her birth mother's past she doesn't understand why. This is when the roller coaster of terror begins and doesn't let up until the end of the book.

What I loved about the book was the way it was written, journal entry but in a therapy session format. You were definitely on the outside looking in but I felt I had insight into Sara's thoughts.

There are a couple twists during the course of the book and I saw one of them coming but it still freaked me out. I liked the ending because I knew that Sara was going to be ok but that she still has a lot of issues to come to terms with and will still have to deal with them.

If you love crime novels, love being terrified and don't mind a main character being a serial killer then you should read Never Knowing.

I haven't read Ms. Steven's debut novel, Still Missing, but it is definitely on my list for January.

Final Take: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel.

Alice's Review: Remembering You

Summary:  35-year-old Ava Andrews' dream job is interrupted by an unusual request, fulfill her 84-year-old grandfather's last wish by joining him on a battle site tour of Europe. Ava is sure her boss will refuse her request. But, instead, he gives her a directive of his own, to videotape the tour and send it back as mini-segments for the show she produces.

As if juggling these two things isn't hard enough, Ava is soon surprised again ... twice. First, Ava and Grandpa Jack arrive in Europe, only to discover the tour is cancelled. Unwilling to let down her grandfather or her boss, Ava and Grandpa Jack head out on their own. Then, while they're on their way, the pair soon meet up with Paul, her grandpa's best friend, and his grandson Dennis. The same Dennis who just happens to be Ava's first love.

Before she knows it, Ava and Dennis are swept down memory lane as they visit the sites that are discussed in the history books. And even though Ava's videotaping old soldiers, she can see their youth, their hopes and fears, and their pride in their eyes. Soon Ava learns the trip isn't just for them ... it's for her too, especially for her heart.

Review:  Remembering You is a sweet and powerful story about a woman’s journey through remembrance of her grandfather’s World War II experience. I am a bit of a World War II buff. I love reading stories, fact or fictional, set during that time. What starts as a way to get closer to her grandfather while resurrecting her career, becomes a journey of love and the rekindling of faith for Ava.

I enjoyed this novel very much. The highlights for me are Grandpa Jack and Grand-Paul. I believe Ms. Goyer did an excellent job in embracing both characters in a very realistic way. They could be anyone’s grandfather. A part of me wishes they were mine. I enjoyed their camaraderie, it was very believable. I loved that their friendship stood the test of time and distance. There was a bit of humor in Grand-Paul. Of the two, he was the one with more spunk while Grandpa Jack was the more thoughtful one.

I enjoyed the journey the four main characters, Ava and her Grandpa Jack along with Grand-Paul and his grandson Dennis, who just so happened to be Ava’s first love. I got a real sense of the emotion building between the grandfathers especially during their travel from Paris to the Concentration Camp in Mauthausen, Austria. Ms. Goyer interviewed countless Veterans of WWII and her research shows. There is an authentic feel to her writing. There were times I had to remind myself this was fiction.

Sadly the lowlights of Remembering You were Ava and Dennis. I thoroughly enjoyed their backstory and the hint of a possible romance. What I did not enjoy were the characters themselves. In the beginning, Ava was too self-centered and a bit whiney. Dennis was a little too self-righteous for my taste. I don’t want to seem too harsh with them, both had redeeming factors that made me root for them in the end.

Ms. Goyer is an incredibly gifted writer. There were quite a few morsels of goodness in this novel. My favorite was this:
“Ava could picture that. She felt the same way. Not looking back because of the pain. Afraid to look ahead. Maybe she was just watching her feet too.”

I think that captured the essence of who Ava was at the moment her journey started. I could relate to it because I’m just watching my feel. The hope of this novel is that Ava does begin to look ahead. And what a journey it is.

Final Take: 4/5

And the Winners Are...

Josi S. Kilpack has announced the winners of the iPad contest and you can find a list of them on Josi's site:  Winners List

Also, congratulations to Michelle of “Michelle Tells” who won a runner's-up prize of a $30 Amazon Gift Certificate by entering on our blog!  

Jenn's Review: The Berlin Boxing Club

Summary:  Fourteen-year-old Karl Stern has never thought of himself as a Jew. But to the bullies at his school in Nazi-era Berlin, it doesn't matter that Karl has never set foot in a synagogue or that his family doesn't practice religion. Demoralized by relentless attacks on a heritage he doesn't accept as his own, Karl longs to prove his worth to everyone around him.

So when Max Schmeling, champion boxer and German national hero, makes a deal with Karl's father to give Karl boxing lessons, Karl sees it as the perfect chance to reinvent himself. A skilled cartoonist, Karl has never had an interest in boxing, but as Max becomes the mentor Karl never had, Karl soon finds both his boxing skills and his art flourishing.

But when Nazi violence against Jews escalates, Karl must take on a new role: protector of his family. Karl longs to ask his new mentor for help, but with Max's fame growing, he is forced to associate with Hitler and other Nazi elites, leaving Karl to wonder where his hero's sympathies truly lie. Can Karl balance his dream of boxing greatness with his obligation to keep his family out of harm's way?

Review:  I have always found the period of WWII fascinating, historically so usually, when I read non-fiction it tends to relate to that era.  While I don't read a lot of historical fiction, it stands to reason that if I am do, it will relate to the WWII era as well.  The Berlin Boxing Club is a fictional tale skirting the life of German boxer Max Schmeling.

I won't pretend that I understand the sport of boxing, but I didn't find it necessary to appreciate this book.  Boxing is important to the story only in so much that's important to Karl.  It's how he uses it to cope with his ever shrinking world. For him, it promotes courage, strength of character, and independent thought and gives him an outlet that is rivaled only by his comic strip drawings which are scattered throughout the chapters.

Although, Karl's story was interesting, I didn't find it consuming. The stories behind the ancillary characters seemed far more compelling. I'm not sure whether this is because they were well written or because that, compared to the rest of the Jews in Berlin, Karl had things pretty easy -even compared to other members of his family. Sometimes Sharenow obliged with tiny glimpses into the lives of the supporting cast, mostly as plot exposition, but I would have loved to know more.  Even the ending felt a little unresolved.  On the whole, though the story is very solid as it is, I just wanted more.

While there are many non-fiction books available to more mature readers on this topic, I think The Berlin Boxing Club is a great introductory novel to the atrocities of WWII, the duplicity of human nature, and survival instincts.

Final Take:  3.75/5.0

**This one is certainly male centric making it a good 'guy book'.

Julie's Review: The Reservoir

Summary: On an early spring morning in Richmond, Virginia, in the year 1885, a young pregnant woman is found floating in the city reservoir. It appears that she has committed suicide, but there are curious clues at the scene that suggest foul play. The case attracts local attention, and an eccentric group of men collaborate to solve the crime. Detective Jack Wren lurks in the shadows, weaseling his way into the investigation and intimidating witnesses. Policeman Daniel Cincinnatus Richardson, on the brink of retirement, catches the case and relentlessly pursues it to its sorrowful conclusion. As the identity of the girl, Lillie, is revealed, her dark family history comes to light, and the investigation focuses on her tumultuous affair with Tommie Cluverius. Tommie, an ambitious young lawyer, is the pride and joy of his family and the polar opposite of his brother Willie, a quiet, humble farmer. Though both men loved Lillie, it’s Tommie’s reckless affair that thrusts his family into the spotlight. With Lillie dead, Willie must decide how far to trust Tommie, and whether he ever understood him at all. Told through accumulating revelations, Tommie’s story finally ends in a riveting courtroom climax. Based on a true story, The Reservoir centers on a guilty and passionate love triangle composed of two very different brothers and one young, naive girl hiding an unspeakable secret. A novel of lust, betrayal, justice, and revenge, The Reservoir ultimately probes the question of whether we can really know the hearts and minds of others, even of those closest to us. ~otherpress.com

Review: The Reservoir has received a lot of buzz by bloggers and when my co-worker offered it up to me to read, I took him up on it. While I found the novel to be an interesting take on a true life case, I'm not sure I ever connected with it. I know I certainly didn't connect with Tommie but I'm pretty certain that was the idea. Even after finishing the book I'm fairly uncertain about what really happened that night out at the Richmond Reservoir. Again, I think that's pretty much the point.

What I did like was the time period setting. I loved that it was set in the late 1800s and I loved how Richmond was becoming a bustling city. Mr. Thompson got the language and the mood right. He wrote the book in a such a way that you felt you were really a spectator to the whole story.

Tommie as a narrator isn't exactly reliable or particularly honest but I'm not sure who else could have to told the story since it really was his to tell. I didn't particularly like Lillie either, she seemed to be a pathological liar. I never trusted what came out of her mouth.

I enjoyed the first part of the book much more than the 2nd or trial part of the book. I felt that the trial took up too much of the book, when I would have rather more flashbacks to his relationship with Lillie and with Willie.

For fans of historical fiction and particularly those who like legal cases, you should pick up The Reservoir.

Final Take: 3.75/5