May Mini Reviews

Here's the rest of the book reviews that I have been so behind on! Again, just because the review is short doesn't mean I didn't like the book. 

Me Before You
by Jojo Moyes
★★★★☆
Louisa Clark finds herself with no job and no prospects. She finds a position as a caregiver for a paralyzed, depressed man named Will. I knew the premise of this one and honestly it didn’t sound appealing. It sounded depressing and a bit gimmicky, but it was so good. The story has a way of getting under your skin though. The characters are struggling to make things work in their own lives and don’t realize how much they need each other.

BOTTOM LINE: A fast beach read that defied my expectations.

Sisterhood Everlasting
by Ann Brashares
★★★★

The Sisterhood series was one that I loved in college. The girls’ ages corresponded with my own in most of the books. I loved that they faced big issues, like divorce, suicide, self-doubt, death, but they also dealt with the joys of growing up and falling in love for the first time.

This is the fifth book in the series and I wasn’t really drawn to it when it came out. When I finally read it I realized that the girls’ ages still almost corresponded with my own. They are all about to turn 30 and the issues they’re faced with are big ones that I recognize.
The book takes an unexpected turn right from the beginning, but it’s a rewarding story by the end. Brashares has never shied away from tough subjects in this book and I loved the way she handled the situations each girl went through.

BOTTOM LINE: I loved returning to their lives and I was so glad I got to see how they were all doing. I don’t think the series needs another sequel, but this installment provided a wonderful conclusion to their journey.

Backseat Saints
by Joshilyn Jackson
★★☆
Rose Mae is a minor character in Jackson’s Gods in Alabama. This novel tells her story. After a childhood filled with abuse, she finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage. She decides it’s time to take action after a gypsy reads her fortune in an airport. Rose Mae’s situation is a familiar one for many women. It’s also terrifying to think about being trapped in a life like that.

BOTTOM LINE: I didn’t enjoy this one as much as Gods in Alabama. It was a quick read, but the characters didn’t ring true for me in the same way. It felt more like a Lifetime movie.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone
by Laini Taylor
★★★

I wanted to like this one more than I did. It’s a fascinating concept. Karou is a girl living in Prague with a few strange chimera as friends. She runs errands for them, collecting teeth and getting information. She’s an art student with an extraordinary skill. An angel named Akivia sees Karou and is enthralled by her. Soon their paths cross and everything she knew about her life begins to unfold.

The first half of the book was interesting, but I was never fully invested. When we switched the telling the older tale I was really hooked and fascinated. Unfortunately at that point I’d already been struggling to want to keep reading.

SPOILERS
I felt like one thing that really held me back was the relationship between Karou and Akivia. For quite a while I thought the big reveal was going to be that he was her father. They whole thing felt icky to me. It made sense when it was revealed, but early on she’s still a 17-year-old girl, while he is quite old in actual years.
SPOILERS OVER

BOTTOM LINE: Good in concept and a very unique story (not in overall theme, but in the details). For that reason I’m tempted to keep reading the series, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

Night of Cake & Puppets 
(Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy)
by Laini Taylor
★★★★☆
My favorite character in Daughter of Smoke and Bone was Karou’s best friend Zuzana. This short story gives readers a look at the first date that’s mentioned but not described in the novel. It’s told from the point of view of both Zuzana, who makes puppets, and her love interest. She creates a series of clues for him to follow throughout the city of Prague on a snowy night. It’s sweet and offbeat and I really loved the whole story.

The Irregulars and Gods in Alabama

The Irregulars
Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
by Jennet Conant
★★★★

As a huge Roald Dahl fan, both of his children’s books and adult short stories and memoirs, this nonfiction piece was a no-brainer for me. After being injured during his stint as an RAF pilot Dahl is sent to America to insinuate himself into the political society in Washington D.C. He’s been recruited to work for an obscure British intelligence agency that gathered information in America during World War II. 

Conant tells of Dahl’s liaisons with a gossipy intimacy that makes the book read like a novel. He was a bit of a rake, unfettered by marriage and able to find friends and lovers wherever he went. A wealthy publisher, Charles Marsh, took Dahl under his wing and helped him along in the publishing world, which eventually led to Dahl’s career as an author. Fellow spy and friend Ian Fleming went on to write the James Bond novels.

I love that this book fills in an important gap in Dahl’s life. It picks up where his first two memoirs, Boy and Going Solo, leave off. It explains how he became a writer while also giving the readers fascinating details about his work as a spy.

BOTTOM LINE: A must for fans of Dahl, Fleming or spy novels in the style of John le Carré. It’s not an action packed story, but a look at what went on behind-the-scenes during WWII.



Gods in Alabama
by Joshilyn Jackson
★★★★

For some reason I thought this book was the basis for a Melanie Griffith movie (Crazy in Alabama in think,) so for years I avoided it. It wasn’t until I finally took Sandy’s recommendation and picked it up that I realized the two were completely unrelated. Instead of finding some kooky story about a wannabe actress, I found a thoughtful tale of woman who rebuilt her life after a childhood trauma.

Lena Fleet left her small town home in Alabama after high school and never looked back. After a horrible thing happens to her as a teen, she makes a promise to God and she believes that if she holds up her end of the deal He will too. Lena lives in Chicago and the story of her past is slowly revealed throughout the book as she journeys back to Alabama with her African American fiancée. 

I was so impressed with Jackson’s ability to deal with heavy subject matter; racism, rape, jealousy, abuse, and regret and yet maintain a sense of humor throughout the book. Lena’s relationship with her aunt and her farfetched reasoning behind some of her actions work well because we feel like we know her. We make allowances for people in our lives because we understand that everyone is flawed. Lena is the same, we take her actions with a grain of salt, understanding all the while that there is a bigger story that we don’t understand yet.

Burr, Lena’s boyfriend, is one of my favorite characters in the story. He knows how to push her just far enough without making her shut down. He wants what’s best for her, but he has priorities too and he won’t let me get away with as much as others will. Her Aunt Florence is the same; both individuals are good for Lena because they love her enough to push her.

BOTTOM LINE: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It’s a great piece of southern fiction, entertaining, with well written characters and a fast-moving plot.  It reminded me quite a bit of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

“God gave us crying so other folks could see when we needed help, and help us.”