Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

"Halloo!" I'm done. Six months later, I finally finished this book. Or 30 years later. I've started and stopped this book so many times I can't count. The deconstruction of the romance novel, unique structure, wicked villain, and unconventional female characters make it worth the effort. I have always struggled with the start of the book and I didn't understand Lockwood's ironic unreliable narration as a teen. Not to mention Joseph's befuddling Yorkshire dialect. Google helps with that nowadays. Joseph says to Lockwood:

'What are ye for?' he shouted. 'T' maister's down i' t' fowld. Go round by th' end o' t' laith, if ye went to spake to him.' 'Is there nobody inside to open the door?' I [Lockwood] hallooed, responsively.

Joseph is asking what Lockwood wants and to speak to the master who is by the barn. In a nutshell, Wuthering Heights is about the relationships between Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, and Edgar Linton and their children. When Catherine chooses to marry Edgar, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights, returning years later as a wealthy gentleman. He exacts revenge on those who have wronged him. Catherine's brother, Hindley, bullies and abuses Heathcliff when they were young because his father favored the adopted Heathcliff over his own son, Hindley. Heathcliff seeks revenge on Hindley and their son, Hareton, by being abusive and making Hindley dependent on him. Later Heathcliff goes after Edgar and him and Catherine's daughter, Cathy, in an effort to own both homes.

Lockwood begins the narration of the book giving way to Nelly, the housekeeper's narration. They both present interesting perspectives. Lockwood's narration reveals his shock at the manners displayed by Cathy, Catherine's daughter, who is unconventional like her mother. When Cathy first meets Lockwood she doesn't use the usual manners of inviting someone in. She stares at him in a "cool, regardless manner" that he finds "embarrassing and disagreeable." He describes her beauty but manner as being "singularly unnatural." She snaps at him and asks if he was invited to tea. He tries to tell her she is the "proper person to ask me" which upsets her and she refuses to give him tea. Her disregard for conventions makes him think she is unnatural and he is repulsed by her behavior.

Lockwood can't make sense of who of the domestic help or relatives and their roles in the house and much of the humor is him bumbling along making incorrect assumptions about everyone he meets. When Heathcliff and the others are in the house they are so rude to each other that Lockwood can't deal with their inability to make "sociable conversation" much less speak civilly to each other. When he asks Cathy to show him home she says to follow the path and again he is struck by her rudeness. However, her comment that she cannot show him because "they wouldn't let me go to the end of the garden wall" reveals limitations for women at this time.

Lockwood views Cathy and women as objects and reflects conventional aspects regarding marriage, looks, and domestic roles. He comments on Cathy's beauty for him to admire: "....an admirable form, and the most exquisite little face that I have ever had the pleasure of beholding..." He discusses another woman he was interested in when visiting a sea-coast town: "...a real goddess in my eyes, as long as she took no notice of me." He says he was in love with her and when she finally noticed, he rejected her. Lockwood reveals society's patriarchal views where the man is in control and dominant. He is clear that he rejected the "goddess" and his comment "I confess it with shame—shrunk icily into myself, like a snail" shows a man who avoids love and engaging with his feelings. When Lockwood is faced with a woman like Cathy that he can't control and who doesn't fit into the status quo of how women should act, he rejects her and claims she is "unnatural". 

When Nelly tells the backstory of Cathy's mother Catherine, the tale unfolds of a woman interested in two men: Edgar, who can give her a higher social status as he is wealthy, and Heathcliff who is wild and unconventional like herself. She is described as "A wild, wicked slip..." or a "savage" and Heathcliff as "... a fierce, pitiless, wolfish man." Catherine wants both men and struggles with self-identity. When she tells Nelly that she is Heathcliff, it shows a child-like love that never matures. Their relationship is not sexual but dependent: "My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary". When Edgar tells Catherine after they are married to choose between himself and Heathcliff she tragically chooses self-destruction that is foreshadowed when Nelly questions her about her love for the two men. She replies to Nelly that Heathcliff is "More myself than I" and that her love can't be separated from him even in marriage to Edgar. She describes her love for Edgar in a cliched way that deconstructs the romance tropes of perfect love: "I love the ground under his feet and the air over his head, and everything he touches and every word he says. I love all his looks, and all his actions, and him entirely and altogether." While she says that she knows Heathcliff more than herself, she is self-centered and assumes everyone loves her. At one point she expresses to Nelly her confusion saying she thought "everyone loved" her. She says her love for Heathcliff is like "foliage in the wind" and there is no consideration for others happiness, only her own. She is clear with Nelly that she is marrying Edgar to gain social position and wants both men; thus, when Edgar says she must choose, she can't separate her self-love as represented in Heathcliff with the love between a husband and wife. Her lack of self-identity and inability to embrace marriage conventions make her choose death.

Heathcliff has been abused as a child and he spends his whole life seeking revenge on those he feels have wronged him. He is vindictive, vicious, abusive and his actions become more monstrous as time goes by. He hits children, men, and women. He hung his new wife's dog from a tree to show his hate for her. He forces Cathy (Catherine and Edgar's daughter) to marry his son so he can obtain all of Edgar's possessions and get complete revenge on the family that took his Catherine away from him. While he is like "the rake" in a romance novel who is dangerous and charming at the beginning, he ultimately has no redeeming qualities and gets nastier as the novel progresses thus going against the trope. Heathcliff's love for Catherine is off-kilter too. He digs up Catherine's body 18 years later and dreams of lying next to her. He, like Catherine, challenge the institution of marriage, love, and family breaking taboos and conventions. Lockwood reacts with shock to these discoveries as Nelly narrates the backstory and cannot handle wanting to avoid his emotions and their unconventional behavior says, "I felt irresistibly impelled to escape them again." His narration gets the story down while Nelly's reflects a woman's position.

Nelly is described as "a poor man's daughter" who reads books owned by her employer. She is a servant who is told to narrate the story of Catherine and Heathcliff by a bored Lockwood: "I desired Mrs. Dean, when she brought in supper, to sit down while I ate it; hoping sincerely she would prove a regular gossip, and either rouse me to animation or lull me to sleep by her talk." He keeps Nelly up until the early hours making her complete her narration at his convenience. Eventually, he takes over  ...in her own words, only a little condensed." Nelly is subtlety marginalized in the narrative structure, unable to write her own words or narrate in her own voice. However, the disengaged Lockwood says it is "her tale" and it is shaped by her words. It is also told like a romance story by Nelly: "I remember her hero had run off, and never been heard of for three years; and the heroine was married." Her gothic comments regarding "ghosts, ...ghouls, ...and vampires" shows a matronly woman on the sidelines who cannot engage in the story's passion but knows how to tell a romance story. Scholar Bette London suggests that Nelly was in love with Hindley from this sentence: "...a gush of child’s sensations flowed into my heart.  Hindley and I held it a favourite spot twenty years before." Nelly is attached to Hindley's son, Hareton, and is forced to leave him when Catherine gets married. Her distress is evident: "Little Hareton was nearly five years old, and I had just begun to teach him his letters.  We made a sad parting; but Catherine’s tears were more powerful than ours." Nelly has no control over her low social status. Her desire to love Hindley does not materialize and her lack of choice with Hareton reveals an oppressive narration that reflects her class and gender.

The structure of the story of Hareton and Cathy's romance is one that does follow the romance trope. Again, it is told in Nelly's voice. She weaves a love story that is undermined by her status and lack of choice; thus, making the story more a comment on the exploration of love versus a romantic tale the reader takes on the surface. Hareton and Cathy hate each other at first and Cathy ends up civilizing him in the end. One chapter has Cathy laughing at Hareton trying to say, "Chevy chase". I thought that was a more modern word... but I digress. Cathy seems to have adopted some of the qualities of her father, Edgar, and it leads to decisions where she learns from her mistakes.

The Lockwood and Nelly dual narrative shows the amoral and moral ambiguity of the characters and adds depth to the story as it reveals societal restraints and conditions. Women during the Victorian times had less choice than women today and the characters nonconformity to the status quo is what I found fascinating about this novel. So much scholarly work is written on this book examining the psychological, historical, social, and other aspects of the work that I am just scratching the surface. While it took me forever to finally read and finish it, I can see why it is a classic.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah's plot is driven by the overarching romantic relationship between the protagonist, Ifemelu and Obinze, who fall in love as teenagers, but are separated for fifteen years when she moves to America during college. Ifemelu is traumatized by an event in college that makes her no longer communicate with Obinze, but both have idolized their relationship over the years and think of it as pure, equal, and intellectually stimulating. Ifemelu has other serious relationships but they are lacking in some way and Obinze has married for convenience. The exploration of romantic relationships is portrayed in other characters but they are unequal, materialistic, unhealthy, or lacking in some way. Mixed in this overarching plot is social commentaries on racism in America, corruption in Nigeria, and xenophobia in Britain. Self-identity, mental illness, and cross-cultural experiences are explored as well. A bonanza of events and themes keep the pace hopping for the most part creating a thoughtful and worthwhile read.

Ifemelu goes to college in America and struggles with depression, employment, and making her way in an immigrant's harsh world. She gets a break nannying a wealthy couple's two children and starts a blog critiquing liberal white Americans that use charity to make themselves feel better, racism, and more. Ifemelu becomes friends with Kimberly, the wealthy white mother, who has false assumptions about immigrants and Africans; however, Ifemelu recognizes Kimberly as a decent, caring woman who is unhappy and unable to stand up to others. They become friends in spite of differences.

During her time nannying, Ifemelu dates Kimberly's cousin, a wealthy man named, Curt, who actually cares for her but he represents a privileged class that makes Ifemelu restless with him. While he genuinely cares for her, his use of privilege and entitlement creates gaps in their relationship. For instance, he gets her a green card manipulating the process to speed it up because he is wealthy while Ifemelu's other friend works three jobs trying to get his visa. Curt also turns the story of Ifemelu's experience with a carpet cleaner, who is disgusted and angry when he mistakenly thinks Ifemelu owns Kimberly's mansion to acting relieved and nice when he discovers that she's just than nanny, into a funny anecdote with his friends versus a dehumanizing experience. Even while dating Curt she thinks of Obinze and idolizes their romance. Ifemelu's blog becomes successful and she dates another man, Blaine, but again does not connect with him. She decides to leave America and go back to Nigeria. While there she tries to write fluffy pieces for a magazine that caters to rich Nigerian women but cannot do it. Each move she makes gives her more peace with who she is and what she wants in life. She decides to fight the corruption in Nigeria and becomes active in a cause. She couldn't do this in America because of the lack of cultural history but she can in her own country. She rekindles her relationship with Obinze.

The notion of being an outsider in a new culture, Ifemelu's internal restlessness, and characters searching for self-identities kept my interest more than the unequal romantic relationships - although I did find the tension and misunderstandings in cross-cultural relationships fascinating. The story addresses false assumptions that people have in different cultures not realizing that they are embracing stereotypes or racist attitudes. Africa is not a poor country that needs to be rescued by white people, black women don't need to wear their hair straight like white women, and women don't have to marry just for wealth, to name a few. The author provides a different narrative that looks at the history of America that lacks the post slavery anger and outrage. She also shows through characters such as Ifemelu's mother and a co-worker the dangers of being blinded to truths through religious fundamentalism. Adichie does not become preachy or single out any country and while Ifemelu could become too judgmental or point the finger, she retains empathy for others making her statements thoughtful. All places have issues and all have good aspects too. By having the protagonist be a successful blogger, the author is able to create snippets of biting, light, heavy, and humorous commentaries that add depth to the plot.

One of Ifemelu's blog posts examines cultural aspects of race that are not existent in Nigeria: The post's title is, "To My Fellow Non-American Blacks, in America, You are Black, Baby: Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop arguing. Stop saying I'm Jamaican or I'm Ghanaian. America doesn't care. So what if you weren't black in your country? You're in America now. We all have our moments of initiation into the society of former negroes. Mine was in a class in undergrad, when I was asked to give the black perspective, only I had no idea what that was. So I just made something up." Ifemelu doesn't consider race until she is forced to by complicated racial politics ingrained in American society.

When Ifemelu is dating Blaine, an African-American professor from Princeton, the cultural misunderstandings on race become even more pronounced. Blaine is outraged when the University of Princeton's police accuse a black man of drug dealing through racial profiling and organizes a protest. Ifemelu skips the protest; she can't relate to the history of oppression that makes Blaine so angry. This along with other incidents such as Blaine's sister Shan and his friends show the gap in her and Blaine's relationship revealing why they could not connect on a deeper level and move beyond dating.

The hair salon is an important symbol and foreshadows or reveals the struggles immigrants face dealing with white privilege, fitting-in, and racism. Ifemelu doesn't mask her Nigerian accent and the women look down on her for it. She used to speak with no accent but felt it was false and made her want to fit into America's definition of being a citizen. She watched her aunt and friend try to assimilate like this and didn't like that they were not being true to themselves. She develops her own American identity and later a Nigerian one. She grows more mature along the way and by the time she meets up with Obinze she knows what she wants and who she is. She also wants her hair natural, not artificially colored or flattened. Her identity crises are symbolized in her hair choices and the setting of the hair salon frames the story in a well-crafted way. I've only touched on a few themes and messages in the book that is ripe for many different kinds of discussions. A terrific story.

5 Smileys

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Students chose this for book club and the snappy dialogue and defined characters make it a well-done interracial romance novel. Set in New York City, Natasha Kingsley, is being deported to Jamaica and trying to find a way to stay in America by contacting the US immigration office. Korean-American, Daniel Bae, is on his way to a college interview for Yale when their paths cross. When the two teenagers meet, the poetic Daniel tries to convince the logical Natasha that love at first sight is possible by asking a series of scientific questions. The author adds historical context that engages the reader whether it is an explanation of why so many Koreans own salons that cater to African Americans, immigration facts, scientific paradoxes, facts, theories, and more. 

Natasha is smart and has a clear view of the world. She won’t be patronized by adults and she’s blunt with people. At the immigration office, an adult tries to tell her the future will work out. “Don’t tell me I’ll be all right. I don’t know that place [Jamaica]. I’ve been here since I was eight years old. I don’t know anyone in Jamaica. I don’t have an accent. I don’t know my family there, not the way you’re supposed to know family. It’s my senior year. What about prom and graduation and my friends?” When Daniel meets Natasha he appreciates her direct, no-nonsense quality. Natasha is so science-driven that she explains the scientific chemicals that are released in the brain when a person falls in love trying to remove all the unexplainable romantic elements. 

Most of the alternating points of view are Natasha and Daniel’s, but there are side characters interspersed to round out the themes of self-identity, culture, love, science, and racism, to name a few. The poetic Daniel describes meeting Natasha and his love-at-first-sight is as follows: “It’s like knowing all the words to a song but still finding them beautiful and surprising”. While Natasha thinks of meeting him as definitely connecting with Daniel, but her practical side sees the moment and distrusts the “poetic heart”. “They’re not talking about the real heart, the one that needs healthy foods and aerobic exercise. But the poetic heart is not to be trusted.” Natasha doesn’t want to fall in love with Daniel.She will be deported in 24 hours. When Daniel saves her life and breaks her pink head phones that she's owned most of her life, it symbolizes her break with the past and all she has known. Her new cultural identity now involves interracial love and living in a new culture. 

While Natasha and Daniel don’t have a problem with their different cultural backgrounds, their family members do. Both struggle with self-identity, while at the same time being self-confident and happy with themselves. They must learn to deal with parental expectations intertwined with different cultures. When Natasha's dad first meets Daniel, his face shows his displeasure. Her dad wants to be an actor but is rejected for roles because of his ethnicity making him insecure and depressed. He misses his home country to the point that he tells a policewomen he is an illegal immigrant. He says that he doesn't know why he did that but it is obvious that he subconsciously wants to return to his home country. 

Similarly, Daniel is dealing with parents who expect him to speak Korean and marry an Asian girl. When Natasha first meets his brother, Charlie, and his dad they make racist comments. The brother brings up the stereotypical African American that shoplifts and the dad tells her to buy some relaxer because her hair is too big. Natasha responds that she likes her big hair and Daniel responds to his brother by giving him the finger. Both Natasha and Daniel are confident with themselves even though life is uncertain; whereas, the parents of both have to deal with disillusionment and unhappiness.  The feelings of alienation for immigrants is captured in the complexity of finding not only self-identity but an American or Korean or Jamaican identity as well.

Another motif explored from Daniel’s point of view is names. Daniel’s mom ponders that America names signify the individual; whereas, Korean names point to the importance of family ancestry. Daniel’s mother “agonized” over what to name her children showing her struggles with cultural identity. She decided on both American and Korean to show them where they’d been and where they were going. Daniel’s brother Charlie, however, with all his intelligence doesn’t understand the power of his past and tries to erase all that is Korean in him. He’s on probation from Harvard college and Daniel reveals that when he is grown-up and has a good job he goes by Charles Bay not his given, Charles Jae Won Bae. He refuses to speak Korean, eat Korean food, or date a Korean. This prevents him from finding true happiness in life because he doesn’t like himself and is rejecting part of his cultural identity. The result is a shallow, alienated, and self-absorbed character who is unable to have a close relationship in marriage or with family members. 

The ending is a bit convenient or forced regarding how the two meet, but it will satisfy the romantic heart. Or should I say, "poetic heart". I particularly like how this author puts words together. The cadence and rhythm of the chapters make it fast-paced and the back-and-forth dialogue between Daniel and Natasha is funny and smart. I did try the audio tape first but sort of lost track of who was speaking. I switched to the book and got more out of it in the end. But since listening is my weakest learning style, I'm biased. A fun, well-written, and enjoyable book. 

Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King #1) by Tricia Levenseller

This pirate adventure tries to use an unreliable narrator, but it doesn't work on several levels. I like unreliable narrators because it means a fun plot twist; however, if the reader guesses the twist the fun feels like a dampened conversation. Readers will recognize familiar pirate characters in this tale: cruel, brutish pirates, humorous pirates, or rogue ones that follow a code of honor. "Bloody Jack" by L.A. Meyer has a woman pirate who uses her wits against men because she knows she can't compete in the area of strength. This story has a woman pirate, Alosa, who seduces and uses her inhumane strength against men. Yep, this petite kickass woman can subdue three men twice her size. Alosa's super speed, flexibility, and physical power in several plot situations let me guess her true nature pretty quickly.

Seventeen-year-old Alosa is on a secret mission to find a blimey treasure map for her father, the universally feared King Pirate, who other pirates pay tributes to for safe sea passage. Alosa lets herself get captured aboard a ship whose cruel Captain, Draxen, represents the brute pirate archetype while his brother and second-in-command, Riden, has a sense of honor that keeps bro in check. Riden is the brains of the twosome and becomes attracted to Alosa when she is held captive aboard their ship. Alosa's regular cell guards represent stupid pirates that add comic relief. Alosa seems overly-confident that she can control the men in authority and have a successful mission. Failure is never an option when it comes to her father. When things fall apart, she must align herself with her enemy.

The character development can be contradictory. Alosa, is an assassin who can kill without hesitation. She also has a code of honor where she lets people live if she respects them or they've shown her kindness. Sometimes she's noble, other times base. The background story reveals that her father has tortured and trained her to be a ruthless pirate. She has more strength than several men combined and she fears her father. The complexity of this trait is not really captured in an authentic way making her lacking depth and superficial. She'd be tough, manipulative, seductive, and hard-core sometimes and soft, sentimental, naive, and educated other times. I would have liked more internal struggles and less romance.  The unreliable narrator works against the plot because her actions are implausible and her edginess came and went like the tide. Plus, if she was so superior to others, why wait to break out from under her tyrannical father? The motivation given is money related, but she has her own ship and crew. Seems like she's already come into her own; hence, the premise seems weak.

The romantic subplot dominates the pirate plot and works against it with quite a bit of sexual banter between Alosa and Riden with characters mainly being motivated by love. Romantic novels are often interpreted as either showing women challenging societal norms or upholding them in a patriarchal society (Linda J. Lee, "Guilty Pleasures: Reading Romance Novels as Reworked Fairy Tales"). Common tropes are sexual desires, danger, violence, gender dominance, to name a few. Romance stories in the 70s and 80s by authors such as Kathleen Woodiwiss used captivity and rape motifs in a historical setting. I thought perhaps the author was trying to mock these motifs because the protagonist, is never afraid in captivity of being raped even though the threat is there. She lets herself become a captive and she knows that a man can't rape her. She is so sure of her power over men and claims to always be in control of them (which gives away the unreliable narrator) that the danger is not imminent. Later, when she is dominated by men, it is her love interest that frees her. While the protagonist seems strong and independent she is ultimately saved by men supporting the romance that Lee describes; the plot that upholds societal norms rather than challenges them.

Lee points out that the 90s romance novel shifted where women enjoyed their sexuality and were more equal with men versus the traditionally timid women conquered by a domineering man. Alosa represents the modern heroine who knows how to manipulate mens' desires but can't manipulate her father and is afraid of him. Alosa has her own ship, she's more powerful than the men around her, but she is always seeking her father's approval. She plans to be the pirate queen and the current mission of finding the treasure will help her do this; however, she seems to lose that focus near the end. I thought she needed more internal dialogue on her goal of being free from her father which gets lost in the romantic subplot. The end made it seem like she'd forgotten that goal and instead, she is dominated by fear of what her father will do to her if she doesn't accomplish the task at hand and saving her love interest.

The romance subverts the message of Alosa looking for power over a social system that denies women to be female pirates. She has her own female ship and crew; yet, is under her father's rule. The romance seems to confine the ability to hash out this theme and the overarching message blurs. I would have liked more backstory. Sometimes first person point of view makes the readers view too narrow and mucks up the protagonist's motives.  The story shows a woman who appears to be fighting the status quo to be her own person, but succumbing to her father. She wants to challenge the existing social structure but doesn't succeed. Her plan of what to do with the treasure of money is not worked enough into the plot to show where the story her ambition. Instead, she has fallen in love and seems more interested in Riden than freedom.

Many romance novels hearken not only to Victorian authors, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, but to the more ancient fairy tale genre. I wondered if the author was going to go that route with her plot and she does not work in those motifs in any depth. The abrupt ending left me wanting more and there is definitely a sequel for readers. Maybe the next book will show more character and plot development. This story just came up short for me.

2 Smileys

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It's hard writing about classics, especially if you don't particularly like the story. Even with its elegant phrasing and kooky characters, Pride and Prejudice is mostly dialogue, romantic, and full of irony - which was amusing at times, but I got bored with the lack of action and just felt bad that the only prospects for women during the ninteenth century were marriage or spinsterhood. But in all fairness, I had to stop listening to this audiotape with modern sensibilities and employ some empathy for its historical time period. The limited choices of Victorian women made for an interesting glimpse into the past and much of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet's, dialogue is ironically against the Romantic notions and trend of her times; her female protagonist is an intellect instead of a highly emotional being with great natural beauty. Jane Austen is admirable in that she pushed against prevailing winds creating unique characters. Once I focused on the irony I was able to enjoy the humor and extremeness in the characters and able to finish listening to the audiobook.


Twenty-year-old Elizabeth is second child of the Bennet's five daughters. She has the choice of being married to a man she doesn't love or refusing him. She is witty, judgmental, and independent. Elizabeth can't get a job and if she doesn't marry she is dependent on other relatives to take care of her. Because her father only has daughters his estate will be passed onto his nephew and his daughters' futures are uncertain unless they marry for financial stability. Elizabeth's mother sees marriage as the only solution, and when the unappealing Mr. Collins makes her an offer that will keep their home in the family, Elizabeth forcefully turns him down; she wants to marry for love. Prospects for women during this time period were to marry, manage a household, and education was not a priority. Elizabeth has educated herself from her father's library and has enough impertinence to show her intellectual wit but not be offensive.


Elizabeth prides herself in her ability to judge other characters but is quick to reach conclusions based on gossip and heresay. The result is a prejudiced character that shows a lack of moral wisdom in an otherwise bright person. She's not exactly likable but she also mirrors how people can judge others quickly with first impressions and how class divisions can lead to prejudices. The object of her prejudice is Mr. Darcy, an upper class wealthy man that acts too good for others when she first meets him. She is of a lower class with her less rich family and money is a strong theme that streams throughout the story. Mr. Darcy's pride at his wealth causing him to snub one of Elizabeth's sisters at a dance and later he is gossiped about negatively by most people Elizabeth knows in her social circle. The gossip is extreme and turned me off until I realized Austen was being ironic.


Elizabeth changes by the end and addresses her pride and prejudices as does Mr. Darcy. Their character arcs show irony in their foolish behavior and hypocrisy. The supporting characters are almost allegorical in their support of Elizabeth's prejudice and Mr. Darcy's pride. From the first time we meet Mrs. Bennet she reveals prejudices in her preconceived opinions of others that are not based on reason. She's a buffoon and adds humor with her obtuse behavior. Lydia, Mrs. Bennet's favorite daughter is just like her mother. She runs off with a man of questionable intentions and doesn't even realize the risk she incurred by living with a man for two weeks. A woman with a ruined reputation can be disowned leading to financial and social ruin. Lydia doesn't even realize the precipice she was on when she gallivanted off with Wickham. Lady Catherine is prejudiced against Elizabeth's lower class and self-absorbed.


Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, detaches himself from his wife's mission of marrying off his daughters. He represents pride and is satisfied with his own achievements not worrying about his daughters' future. Mr. Collins represents pride in himself and his money to the point that he plans on "buying" his bride whether she loves him or not. Elizabeth refuses his marriage proposal and he is so full of himself he thinks she's playing hard-to-get. These are just a few of the many characters that embody the moral implications of displaying pride and prejudice; except Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are the two that actually change their ways. A richly layered book, great study of irony, foils, and easy to see why it is a classic.


5 Smileys

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

From the get-go you know this is going to be a different story with the first line of chapter 1: The corn was talking to him again. A mix of fairy tale, Greek myth, mystery, science and realism, Laura Ruby creates a tale of her own that doesn't quite adhere to any one genre. I'm not sure how my realistic, non-fantasy reading buddies would like it (Angela and Karen). It worked for me and reminded me a bit of a young adult version of "Breadcrumbs," by Anne Ursu. Layers of meaning are honeycombed throughout the plot making for discussions on abuse, bullies, definition of beauty, treatment of women, disabilities, parental absence, peer pressure, and more. The imagery, word choice, and symbolism found in the bees, names (or lack of), agrarian setting, and myths of past literature enrich the plot and make for a page-turner targeted toward middle school, high school, or adult readers. This goes on my burn-the-dinner list.

Eighteen-year-old Finn O'Sullivan doesn't look anyone in the eye, but the small town of Bone Gap accepts his idiosyncrasies until the day Roza disappears. As the only eye-witness, Finn watched her leave and is not sure if she went of her own free will or was kidnapped. Finn along with his older brother, Sean,  try to cope with two people abandoning them in their lives. Their mother had left them for an orthodontist a few years earlier spoiling Sean's plans to go to medical school and leaving Finn in his care. Finn can't describe the man Roza left with in great detail and blames himself for letting her go or not rescuing her.

The various points of view include Roza's story that takes a magical turn when her abductor does the impossible of creating alternate worlds and answering her any wish, (except the only one that matters which is to set her free). The author shrouds Roza in mystery slowly unveiling her past, providing good pacing and tension. When a magical black horse shows up and Finn takes interest in Petey, an unattractive peer, the mystery or myth starts to unfold and take shape drawing all the different elements and genres into a satisfying ending.

*spoiler* I'll try not to reveal too much of the plot.

Comparisons with the Greek myth of Persephone and Roza are obvious. Persephone represents the harvest and fertility of vegetation. Much imagery is devoted to Roza who can grow anything in the boy's garden, goes to school for botany, and whose plants wilt and die after she leaves. In the myth Persephone's beauty draws unwanted attention from other gods and when Hades kidnaps her she becomes Queen of the Underworld. Roza's preternatural  beauty causes her to be abducted by a man in a black SUV who gives her anything she wants but won't let her leave his domain; there is even a reference to pomegranates. Roza has had to deal with unwanted attention from men in the past and she reflects on it while imprisoned.

When a magical black horse shows up at Finns house, he and Petey take some midnight rides that don't seem quite real as the horse leaps distances that are impossible. I knew I was missing the significance of this reference and it wasn't until I read a Maile Meloy's New York Times article  did she remind me that Persephone's mother, Demeter, went in the form of a black horse. She's referring to the myth where Poseidon raped Demeter when she was searching for Persephone; they were in the form of horses and she became pregnant from the episode. The river in the book is surreal too and reminded me of the River Styx.

The subplot of Finn falling in love with Petey and the idea of beauty evolves throughout the story. Roza and Petey are judged by their appearances but the two do not let the world define them as such. Roza is competent and practical. She can stitch up a gash, grow enough food for the three, and jump out of a moving car to save herself from unwanted attentions. Petey, who is considered ugly, determines that she is interesting, even beautiful, inside. The way Petey reflects about this through the science of bees is fascinating and not overly technical.

Finn and Sean, as characters, must deal with male expectations. Sean is expected to be a conventional hero and save Roza, but he is broken and hurt inside from being abandoned by his mother. Finn, being good-looking and "pretty", is attracted to what society would label an unattractive girl. Both boys have to come to terms with societal versus individual expectations and find the courage to be true to themselves. The author's deft character development is one of many elements well done in this tale. Don't miss it.

5 Smileys

All Our Yesterdays (All Our Yesterdays #1) by Cristin Terrill

This had potential but the focus on the romantic subplot over the time travel weakened it and made for some slow reading, particularly in the beginning. Marina is sixteen and comes from a rich family where the dad works all the time and the mom is unhappy with her inability to be successful as an artist. Marina makes friends with James, the neighbor, a couple of years older than her, whose parents died and is being raised by Nate, his Congressman brother. James has a 168 IQ and is working on his Ph.D. He struggles with relationships except with Marina and Finn, a friend from school. When a tragedy happens, Marina and Finn are there for James as they try to unravel the mystery.

I would have liked more focus on the mystery or time travel than the romance. There are too many gaps in it and the end rushes the answers rather than slowly unveiling them throughout the plot. The beginning pacing with Em was good but it went from clues into the romantic subplot. Marina has a girl crush on James but by the end it is supposed to be deeper, only it doesn't make sense after all he's done to her. In the beginning Marina's storyline as a young and shallow person is weak compared to Em's that is full of tension. I thought the tension got lost during the romantic subplot and some of the plot twists obvious. Except the ending. That was confusing and poorly done with flashbacks. Finn's background relationship with James isn't really explained. James is out of school but the two met in school? Except he's a new friend. Perhaps I missed something.

There are some stereotypes that left me uncomfortable. Marina's parents are one dimensional self-centered people, while Luz is the motherly type in Marina's life. This is not developed. Marina wears dorky pajamas Luz gave her over to James house that shows actually how much she loves Luz. There are more instances but they are few and far between. Also, the author tells the reader how Marina feels more than shows and it works against creating a complex character. The first person point of view also works against giving rounded characters. James becomes a one dimensional character and Finn isn't developed enough to understand his motives except being in love with Em. Time travel books and movies are found in abundance and when done well can be very interesting, but this one misses the mark for me.

3 Smileys

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

This book fell short of its potential in so many ways for me. I can see that the author was trying to pay homage to Victorian Romanticism, its writers and craft, and romance, and it is an ambitious attempt to create a saga, but it falls victim to a messy predictable plot, lack of voice, and flat characters. The plot follows three women: Eliza in London during 1913, Nell in 1975, and Cassandra in 2005. The jumps in time and flashbacks were awkward at times and I found myself rereading sections to try and follow the story thread. Eliza was more interesting than the other two making me skim through some sections to get on with her story. The mix of fairy tale, "Secret Garden" plot, and mystery didn't work particularly well either. The mystery was easy to figure out and the fairy tale foreshadowed the plot and while it was written well, it gave away too many clues and was clunky how it was worked into the plot. The time changes were jarring at first and the voice would change making parts inconsistent. This got better as the story progressed. Sometimes the Victorian voice of the characters was distinct and then they'd sound modern or alike. I thought the three characters sounded alike at times and didn't represent the different time periods well. This got really high ratings on Goodreads and I have some friends who really liked the time juxtaposition of the characters and how the stories intertwined. I'd describe this emotionally charged book as romantic with a weak mystery and few historical details.

The mystery surrounds a woman trying to discover her biological parents. It was easy to figure out even though the author tries to add different suspicions, particularly at the end, but they were illogical choices. Some might like the mystery but there weren't enough plot twists for me. I did like the twist with the doctor and would have liked more along those lines. The story begins in Australia in 1975 with a woman, Nell, full of regrets. I disliked the beginning the most because the premise is absurd. It doesn't make sense that Nell would react so strongly against her adoptive parents and family. She goes from a happy person to an isolated woman that creates her own suffering. The plot here felt forced to setup for the rest of the book.

Her granddaughter, Cassandra, bored me the most. All three women have something tragic happen to them that changes their lives forever and Cassandra is a prop that is supposed to represent hope for the future. I found Eliza from the Victorian period the most interesting of the threesome, but she never comes to life as the reader is not privy to her inner monologue. There are some plot points left undotted as well. The brother-niece deal is not explained. Eliza needed a clearer character arc along with Nell. Cassandra's is the only clear one but her story held my interest least and her dialogue with Christian was dull. The stepmother is your one-dimensional fairy-tale stock character while her daughter, Rose, has more depth. The minor characters with the author of "The Secret Garden" showing up was fun. The nod toward Victorian writers and their craft is throughout. I liked it when the author tried to imitate the writing of the Romantics with their emphasis on nature and its healing nature. The orphan section of the plot is mimicking Dickens and there are nods to the Bronte sisters, Grimm and Andersen fairy tales, and more. I thought it was too much and enhanced an already choppy plot making it lack cohesion. I tried to like this one, but the author tries to do too much and it doesn't have enough focus for me.

2 Smileys

Ash & Bramble (Ash & Bramble #1) by Sarah Prineas

This is a story about storytelling. It is a mixed-bag of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. It is a romance. It is metafiction. It reminds me of "Inkheart" as the protagonist is trapped within a story and Gregory Maguire's adult fairy tale twists. The power of fairy tales is explored by expert Jack Zipe's in his book, "The Evolution of Storytelling and Fairy Tales." He says fairy tales offer readers alternative patterns of action to social behavior as people adapt to changing environments. The lasting fairy tales that become classics like "Cinderella" are remembered and retold over and over again, but they also evolve to reflect the culture and social norms. Grimm fairy tales reflected class struggles and social behaviors of the times. Sarah Prineas reflects 21st century modes of thinking that cleverly incorporate fairy tale traditions with modern text narratives and changing norms. Fairy tales have clear morals and Sarah Prineas incorporates this in "Ash & Bramble." Her moral is that stories shape lives and readers don't have to accept the status quo, such as a princess having to marry a prince, but they can change it by making their own choices.

Pin is trapped in the story of Snow White, except there is no Snow White and she is enslaved as a seamstress by the despotic Godmother. Obsessed with escape, she does all that she can to break out of her ground hog's day storyline. She meets other repressed characters along the way and the terror of Godmother's reign over the castle is revealed in how she murders or abuses those that oppose her. Fear keeps people chained to the occupations Godmother has forced them to perform. When Pin plans and executes an escape with Shoe, a shoemaker in the castle, with the help of her magic thimble, she discovers that she cannot escape her story to an alternate world but must work within it to change it.

The Godmother erases peoples memories and turns them into puppets that serve her, but there are some that fight or resist the amnesia. Pin ends up being inserted into a new story after her failed escape where her name is Pen. The names in the fairy tale are a nice mirror to how names have been created in fairy tales over hundreds of years; that is, characters seldom had names of their own and usually they represented an occupation or social position or way they were clothed, such as Hunter, captain, princess, Little Red Riding Hood, maiden, king, nobleman, etc. Prineas does the same thing but also enhances the metafictional subplot about character, writing, storytelling, and the story's moral, particularly with Pin's name. Pin's personality is prickly and she rebels against authority from the onset. When her name changes to Pen in the second part, she is trying to rewrite her story and make her own choices in life versus the predestined one that Story has chosen for her. She wants free will and is going to fight the system (which is Story) to obtained it.

It is hard to create a villain that never speaks nor shows up in a tangible way in the storyline; yet, the author attempts to do just that. Story is silenced at the end and the protagonist, Pen, has changed the story. She's strong. She rescues boys. She wants to make her own choices who she marries, not a prince that has to protect her. In fairy tales, the storyteller has the power because he or she wants to influence social practices and must be able to tell effective stories if he or she wants those stories to become a part of a tradition where people will adopt or subvert the morals being espoused by society. Is the new storyteller, Pen? Has the power shifted from Story to her? Or is Story dormant? Or destroyed? I'm not sure.Or perhaps Pin who uses first person is the narrator or storyteller. Her voice alternates with Shoe who uses the more objective third person; thus, telling the reader that Pin is the storyteller and she has the power not Story. Perhaps it will be explored more in depth in a sequel. I wanted this message to come through stronger than it does. Perhaps it will be explored more in depth in a sequel.

Themes are layered in this story from Pen finding her identity to the characters having the freedom to control their own destiny. It is about power and the corruption of it and the strength of stories. Characters were forced to play parts in the story they didn't want to. I just finished reading a book about the despot Stalin and he did much of the same thing to Russians forcing them to play parts many did not want to. The subplot involving romance and friendship explores the theme of loyalty and courage. The fact that the characters have no control or authority reflects the condition of being a child and this will resonate with young readers as well. Pen is outspoken, bold and brassy and I liked her voice and strong character.

Another nod by the author toward fairy tales is Shoe being punished for making a fur instead of a glass slipper. According to Philip Pullman in "Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm," there is a rumor that when Charles Perrault published his fairy tale book with Cinderella he mistook the French word vair (fur) for verre (glass). In Jack Zipes translation of the Brothers Grimm's first edition of folk tales Cinderella had gold slippers. Time has settled on glass slippers it would seem, but it this was not always the case. The action scene with Shoe and Pin is a clever nod by the author toward these contradictions that I appreciated as a reader of fairy tales.

Fairy tales have changed over time. When the Brother's Grimm printed their first edition, they were terse, short and characterized by conventional stock figures that revealed little interior life in their characters. The Godmother is a stock character except at the end where it is implied she had no choice. This seemed contradictory or maybe the author was just showing the humane side of Shoe who can forgive even tyrants. The original Grimm fairy tales showed class struggles and while most women accepted their role in a traditional patriarchal society there were some that were not satisfied with their life. One has sisters that didn't want to spin flax all day and they outwit their father, the king, to get out of the task. Another has a queen who has more wisdom than the king and she continually outwits him while respecting and maintaining his patriarchal status; thus, not threatening the social norm. Here Prineas explores the female being forced unwillingly into a role she does not want. The Grimm fairy tales consistently have underdogs that prevail in difficult circumstances and Prineas uses the same archetype in her work. While the target audience for this book is young adult, younger readers reading at a high level can tackle it and enjoy its complexities.

4 Smileys

Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

Book 3 explains the world in which Tris lives and answers many of my questions from the previous two books, clearing up confusing parts. This story reminded me of Margaret Haddix plot for "Running Out of Time" with an unaware population being experimented on by an outside government and a significant shift from historical to realistic genre. Roth's book felt like the focus shifted from dystopia to romance, exploring the theme of sacrifice. While I liked that Tris and Tobias's relationship finally moved in a forward direction, many of the chapters end on them kissing versus some tense moment and the action slowed down. Loose ends were tied up, but I wasn't very satisfied with the ending with so many characters getting killed off and felt let down with the direction the novel took in this final installment. I understand why it went that way to flesh out the theme of love and sacrifice but I lost interest in it. The repetition of tyrants showing up in each ruling party just got old and lost its freshness. Roth does a nice job with internal character development which was enough to keep me flipping the pages. And there is action. Maybe not as much, but there's definitely fighting. I know many students will like the trilogy, but I don't think it rises too much above the average young adult books out there. Book one was my favorite and I kind of wish I had stopped there.

Tris, Tobias, Uriah, Christina, Tori, Peter, and Caleb follow Elizabeth Prior's advice and leave the city outside the fence. They discover the remains of the government and piece together information on why their city and factions were created after people destroyed each other throughout the world. While they have more freedom outside the fence, they soon discover that it really isn't much different than inside the fence. Tris decides to do something about it with her friends, but it is a dangerous and risky plan. 

Spoiler Alert*

Roth adds Tobias's point of view and uses first person narration. I really prefer third person point of view because there are so many "I's" with the first and the alternating voices can sound alike at times, especially in the scenes that involve Tris and Tobias's sexual attraction for each other. I understand that the structure of the novel needed Tobias's thoughts in the plot, especially for the ending, and I liked a different point of view. I did notice that Tris always seems right in these books and I prefer my characters flawed. She always knows when someone is lying or always makes the right decision. When she martyr's herself it should make me feel more sad that this wise and special person died, but I felt manipulated by the storyline more than empathetic with the character. It didn't make her as authentic as she could have been if she'd made some mistakes. I prefer the character that grows into a better person, not the character that seems perfect most of the time. I struggle daily with being a better person and find I connect more with those conflicted characters. This is my bias. 

The theme of labeling people and oppression is explored but again it felt like a rehashing of the faction oppressions and nothing new. People in power want to blame others for problems in society. One thing that was different was the exploration of how people not only blame others but accept the limits others place on them in society. This actually made me think of the Asian culture that doesn't really believe that you can't do something because you lack talent. Instead they believe that you are not working hard enough at the task at hand to improve. I was actually thinking of sports and how Westerners can say they have no "natural talent" at a sport and therefore are no good at it. They've placed limits on themselves without trying. I know I do that with learning a foreign language saying "I'm too old" or some other lame excuse when in reality I really have no interest learning it or putting the mega amount of time required to learn it. 

I think Caleb's point of view would have been interesting. Perhaps the sacrifice would have been explored more in depth rather than the romance. She does tie in love and limitations with Tris and Tobias having each of them believe more in the other. Tris believes more in Tobias's worth than he and Tobias believes more in her strength than she. The two bring out the best in each other and their love grows as a result. If you like tragic love stories and heroes who save the world, then you'll enjoy this series.

3 Smileys

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

This book is supposed pay homage to Jane Eyre. I haven't read Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece, but even not knowing that plot I thought this novel predictable and boring in spots. The beginning held my interest the most. The high-spirited eight-year-old Gemma Hardy is living with her aunt and uncle, the latter having just died. She is no longer considered a member of the family and when she fights with her step-siblings she is sent to a boarding school where she is a working girl student. Work takes precedence over being a student and she gets very little done in way of her studies until she is befriended by Myriam, a regular student shunned by classmates because of her limp. The two form a close bond and help each other survive school. Gemma is bullied and protected by one of the older working girls and the dynamics of Gemma struggling to see the pros and cons to this arrangement make for some tense and dramatic moments. When the school closes Gemma gets a job as an au pair to an orphaned girl who lives with her uncle, Mr. Sinclair, on the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland.

Mr. Sinclair is twice her age and a romance ensues that struck me as unbelievable; hence, I lost interest in the middle of the story. I also struggled with Gemma overreacting to Mr. Sinclair's story. It is the catalyst for her running away, but seemed silly because his grievance took place so long in his past and had nothing to do with her. If she had doubts or cold feet about marriage, it would have made more sense. I didn't really see what she saw in Mr. Sinclair. When Gemma has another romance with a different man, the reason for them splitting actually made more sense to me. Their romance was a series of misunderstandings and the man not really being honest with his feelings toward woman in general. An entertaining read but forgettable in the mountain of books I read each month.

Adult 

3 Smileys

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Yesterday, I got on my workout clothes and was heading out the door with my husband when I said to him that the floor was uneven. He looked at my tennis shoes, quirked his eyebrows, drily replying, "You have two different pairs of shoes on dear." I looked down with round eyes at my white, errr.... blue-striped-left versus gray-striped-right shoe and responded, "We really need better lights in the bedroom." He quipped that there were five lightbulbs in the overhead fixture, but I had already slammed the bedroom door on him on my way to the closet. Honest-to-Pete, do I have to live everyday with this numbskull brain of mine? I tell you this because when you read my reviews, you have to understand my lightbulb doesn't glow in the dark. It doesn't really shine. At best it casts a hazy illumination on surrounding objects which is a round-about way of saying my wishy-washy brain can't figure out whether or not to give this book a 4 or 5 star. If I can't even get my shoes right, how can I decide on book review stars?

Sixteen-year-old Seraphina is plagued by self-doubts too, except unlike me, the light-emitting diodes (LEDS) in her brain shine brilliantly as one of the best musicians in the court and teacher to the high-spirited Princess Grisselda. When Prince Rufus is found headless after a hunt, Seraphina gets swept into an investigation that suggests a coup in the government. The mystery threatens to expose Seraphina's terrible secret, one so awful that if revealed, it would lead to her immediate execution.

The writing is exquisite with a unique retelling of familiar fantasy conventions and tropes. The author obviously put in quite a bit of research on medieval history creating a world of clothes and instruments representing that time period. I kept coming across words I didn't know; take for instance, "garderobe" is a medieval privy, "hypocaust" is a roman heating system, "hennin" is a 15th century hairdo, and "sackbut" (love that name) is a precursor to the trombone. My notes contain a symphony of historical details that create a rich setting. The glossary at the back contains a mere fraction of what is inked on the pages.

The first person narrative is necessary for the subplot of characters who exist in Seraphina's dreams. This alternate world called, The Garden of Grotesques, changes as the story progresses and it is unclear if the characters are going to help or hurt Seraphina until the end. I appreciated this surreal plot twist that kept me guessing in its unpredictability. Rachel Hartman explains that she based this on the memory palace. Oh ironies! I have checked out a book on the memory palace two times in the past four months, only to have it twice expire on my eReader because I forgot about it.

The romantic subplot between Lucian and Seraphina is predictable; however, I didn't find it boring because Hartman's writing is so gorgeous. Some writers leave me basking in their words and what might be tedious in less capable hands feels like a flower unfolding in the sunlight in expert hands. For instance, Lucian is a bastard and the concept is built on and explored by he and Seraphina in a satisfying way up to the end, "Bastard equals monster in our hearts' respective lexicons; that's why you always had such insight into it." Other themes such as truth, art, love, and more, are probed in similar ways. While the plot structure is conventional, the rest is not, and that, is what elevates this above your average, enjoyable fantasy.

Actually, the plot is what held me back on giving this book 5 stars. Many readers will not agree with me, but avid fantasy or romance readers might. The political investigation was fairly predictable with only one delightful twist that I didn't see coming - and while it was a great twist - I would have liked a few more. Not that it matters. Rachel Hartman creates terrific characters from the Spock-like Orma to the spoiled, kind-hearted Princess and infuses the storyline with tense life and death situations that ooze into many relationships and social structures. Dragons (in human form) and humans live together but theirs is a tentative peace. Humans cannot marry dragons and they do not commingle at the dinner table or at dances or socially. Prejudice and hatred are rampant creating suspense that made it hard for me to want to participate in the living, breathing, real world once I hunkered down with this book. Consider yourself warned.

I'm just poking fun at myself in the first paragraph. Actually, that isn't how it happened. My husband and I were going to the club, I noticed my shoes were uneven, and stopped pointing at them. "Unbelievable!" My husband snorts and says, "Kind of like different colored socks?" referring to our second date thirty years ago when I accidentally wore two different colored socks, drank too much beer and chucked a dart in his friend's expensive speaker hanging close to the dart board. "You knew exactly what you were getting," I snapped. He gives me his irresistible smirk while I stomp off. I had just burnt the granola I was cooking and wasn't in the mood for my dippy dim-witted brain clowning with me. So I fictionalized my story. I call it the art of writing. Or maybe it's author's prerogative. (Hey, I heard that... no it's not stupidity.) I do know that I resort to stretching the truth when I have writer's block. Usually uncataloging something stupid I've done melts the ice. Hartman explores the notion of art and truth in a much more intelligent way than me and the above paragraph is me connecting those ideas with my life. Dragons envy humans for the ability to create art and Kiggs and Serphina use it as a way to test philosophical theories. For them, art is a way to question life and look for different possibilities.

I am passionate about reading books, just like Rachel Hartman loves music. Her music passages contain so much emotion that it makes me want to pick up a flute and toodle some notes. Actually, her writing has such an exquisite rhythm and melody, it is easy to argue that it carries the plot forward at a steady beat. "I began too quietly, unsure of the melody, but the notes seemed to find me and my confidence grew. The music flew from me like a dove released into the vastness of the nave; the cathedral itself lent it new richness and gave something back, as if this glorious edifice, too, were my instrument. There are melodies that speak as eloquently as words, that flow logically and inevitably from a single, pure emotion."  Now you can see my inspiration to pick out some notes on the keyboard and write a review that began with uncertainty but ended on a clear note. Read "Seraphina" and discover your own song.

4 Smileys

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

I am always on the lookout for higher level books that I can give to high readers in grades 4 & 5. This book got some high reviews on Goodreads so I checked it out of the library to see if it was an okay YA book to purchase for an elementary library. It isn't. But it is a well-written book with great pacing and character development. It is a romantic fantasy and explores themes of love and religious fundamentalism during the historical period when Christianity replaced the mythological gods.

Ismae's mother is dead and her step father hates her. He is abusive and is marrying her to another man just as violent as himself. The villagers regard her with fear and persecute her as well as her step father, because her real father is Mortain or the god of Death. On her wedding night she is horribly abused and rescued by the village herbwitch who sends Ismae to the Convent of St. Mortain where she is safe and trained as an assassin. She hates men and is willing to embrace the convents ideology that killing is okay as long as it is ordained by St. Mortain. This is done by seeing the mark of death on a victim and Ismae discovers that not only has her father, Mortain, endowed her with this unique gift, but others as well.

Her assignments embroil her in a plot to stop overthrow the duchess of Brittany, which would lead to a French invasion. She is forced into a partnership with Duval, a man she doesn't know if she can trust. She relies on her gifts from her father to lead her through the duplicity of the court but when Duval questions her murderous actions she begins to question the convent's training and wonder if what she is doing is right or wrong.

The convent section is skimmed over with not much depth on the martial arts training. It mainly setups the minor characters of the Abbess, Crunard, Sybella and Annith. It shows more of the friendships and a little brainwashing as the girls spew doctrines and doxologies. The girls seem a little too nice to be assassins but then I probably wouldn't connect with the characters if they were psychopaths. Sybella is probably the most believable assassin because she is the most unhinged. I would have liked to have seen more of her character in the story. I thought she was interesting.

The first person narrative focuses on Ismae resisting her emotions and trying to not fall in love. She's really likable, sensitive, and kind which makes her somewhat unbelievable as an assassin and because of those qualities I kept expecting some trauma or deep regret after killing her first victim she doesn't have an emotional breakdown. She questions the killing but I thought she'd pray to St. Mortain or do more. It doesn't take from the story but it did cross my mind. I couldn't put down this fast-paced, fun read. Not easy to do with a 550 page story.

Similar to Graceling, Eona, Trickster's Choice, The Demon King.
Young Adult
4 out of 5 Smileys

Kitchen Chinese

Kitchen Chinese: A Novel About Food, Family, and Finding Yourself, by Ann Mah, did NOT pass the grilled cheese test.

If I'm completely riveted by an awesome book, I burn the grilled cheese.

Either the smoke sneaking out the kitchen door or the smell of burning bread snaps my head out of my dreamy alternate world into reality.

I didn't burn the bread.

While Kitchen Chinese was a pleasant read, the plot was predictable and parts unbelievable. Isabelle, an American born Chinese is from New York and gets fired from her magazine job. She goes to live with her sister, Claire, in Beijing. I liked the author's description of China, the food and living as an expat.I found myself shaking my head in agreement at some of her observations and I learned about some Chinese medicine techniques that no one has been able to translate for me such as moxibustion. When I workout I see women in the locker room with perfectly round, ugly looking bruises all over their backs. This form of Chinese medicine, Mah explains in her book,  is when toxins are sucked out of the body using hot glass cups.

I also liked the descriptions of food and the city: "I continue down the street until I reach a small street that's lined with ramshackle storefronts. Here each step brings a different smell, first an acrid wave of cigarette smoke, then the reek of garbage, then the cozy wafting scent of fried dough. It's a reminder of how closely packed life is here, where generations share bedrooms, neighborhoods share bathrooms and stacks of Napa cabbage are stored next to trash heaps." p. 62

Isabelle is single and dating and has several men interested in her. She's working for an expat magazine and is a food columnist. Everything goes right for Isabelle. She gets a huge scoop, attracts a pop-star, freelances an article for a famous newspaper, always seems to write "amazing" articles and doesn't struggle with writing except for the occasional writer's block.

Yeah right.

It doesn't work that way in journalism. As a freelance writer it is a guarantee the writer will get rejection notices. I would have liked to see Isabelle struggle with this part of freelance writing because it is very difficult and hurtful to get rejection letters. All writers get them. And all have to deal with them in their own way.

Gone with the Wind was rejected 38 times.

A Wrinkle in Time was rejected 26 times.

This book is more of a fantasy for a writer. No rejections, little criticism, only success. I preferred how the authors, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, portrayed the struggle of creating a story in the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

The title of the book suggests it is like Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert but there isn't enough reflection or humor compared to Gilbert's book.

I would describe this book as a light romance novel that captures the foods and sights of China.

Don't expect to burn your grilled cheese.

:-) :-) :-) 3 Smileys