The Arsonist by Stephanie Oakes

Amy    

young adult, historical fiction

I did not love this one. I received the ARC of The Arsonist (Stephanie Oakes) from the ALA Midwinter Convention.

The story was told from three points of view in two different time periods--the late 1980s right before the Berlin Wall came down and the early 2000s. Ava's parts were the most interesting. It was told via her diary entries. Her story was intriguing. Molly's parts were told in letters she wrote to the third character while he was in a coma. Sadly, the ridiculous premise that Pepper was failing school and needed to write essays on various school subjects in order to graduate, including the fact that these essays did nothing to prove his academic knowledge, was weak and unrealistic. I wish the author had some better device for his thoughts. The three points of view were intertwined yet convoluted enough to make me have to keep working at remembering the connections. Werner's changing attitude and relationships with the characters, while to be commended, seemed unlikely. And the whole "journey" in which Molly and Pepper had to take part in order to solve the mystery seemed far-fetched…talk about improbable luck.

It had its positive moments and it was unique and creative. But, the characters all bugged me and never seemed real. And the overall storyline was clunky to read and slow-going at times.

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

Amy      
Lynnie

contemporary fiction

Amy's Review 

At first, I was annoyed that Moriarty was copying the general structure of her previous novel Big Little Lies. That is, some event had happened and we were reading about it from the various viewpoints of players, peeling back the story in layers to finally get to the crux of the event. These viewpoints took place in fragmented pieces both leading up to the event and after the event. I had loved this crafty structure in Big Little Lies but feared it would be tiresome in a second novel. Sometimes, it was a bit tricky to figure out my position along the timeline. But, it was generally followable. And, by the time I was a quarter of the way through the book, I was hooked and really enjoying it.

In my opinion, it’s not quite as good as Big Little Lies. I’m sure the fact that the general structure is not unique is part of my lower opinion because I highly value creativity. I think the main reason it’s not as good is that the “event(s)” in this story aren’t as shocking as the murder in Big Little Lies. Also, while I enjoyed the more realistic (less outlandish/extreme) characters in Truly Madly Guilty, the main relationship in the story is a fairly sad one—a friendship which isn’t really a friendship. So, the undertone is not happy and I did not really appreciate that dysfunction.

The narrator of the audiobook was terrific. There was even an interview at the end of the audiobook between the author and the narrator which was interesting. So, I learned that this voice actor has read a few of Moriarty’s novels and I can see why they keep asking her do them. I give her an A.

Lynnie's Review

I love Liane Moriarty, but I didn't love Truly Madly Guilty. The good news is that I didn't hate it either.

Once again Moriarty has crafted a story full of layers that are slowly peeled back to reveal the main event in question. Unlike Big Little Lies where we know what happened, just not how, in Truly Madly Guilty we don't find out WHAT, exactly happened until more than halfway through the book. It's just a strange dance back and forth between how blissfully ignorant everyone was before the barbecue and how spun up & remorseful they were afterward. Bliss, remorse, repeat. Meanwhile, with all the suggestions and hints by the time the barbecue arrived and the events unfolded, I had figured out what was going to happen so that when it was revealed it was very anti-climatic.

Still, I like Moriarty's writing and her characters are interesting even if this story fell flat for me.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Lynnie    

Amy       

contemporary fiction

Eleanor lives a lonely life with minimal human interaction. And that’s completely fine with her until she decides to start experiencing more that life has to offer.

Lynnie's Review

I really wanted to love Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, as a few friends have really enjoyed it, but I thought it was just, well, fine. It has an extremely slow start- the first quarter of this book is painful to read in its awkwardness. It's not an adorable awkwardness either, it's just slow and not enjoyable.

The main problem is that Gail Honeyman has written Eleanor Oliphant as a rather horrible person. She has no social skills, is very judgmental and set in her ways and while I understand WHY she has developed this armor and routine, it didn't make me like her any better. It's clear from the beginning of the story that Eleanor has endured incredible trauma and while the story of her childhood is eventually revealed, there were so many hints and insinuations along the way that the revelation itself was anti-climactic.

I'm glad I finished it & that the relationships between Eleanor, Raymond, Sammy and Sammy's family helped Eleanor, but as slow as the first quarter of the book was, the last quarter felt oddly rushed. It is an interesting story, but didn't live up to the hype.

Amy's Review

I really enjoyed this novel!  I wanted to keep reading to find out what Eleanor endured as a child that had caused her to become so ambivalent about life.  She was obviously intelligent and functional but socially inexperienced and stunted. It was evident that she had both some very unusual experiences and not enough usual experiences. The more I read, the more I feared her past had been truly terrible. It made me want to protect her. I couldn’t turn away.

The characters were easy to picture and Eleanor’s outlook on life was sometimes refreshing and sometimes devastatingly naïve. I was charmed. I appreciated the warm fuzzies it ended up creating in my heart.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Amy  

mystery

Well, THAT was depressing. Mystic River has been made into a successful movie which I never saw. It was a short novel and the story caught me in its grips fairly quickly. The characters seemed well-drawn despite not having the details of their childhood drawn out more than necessary. I appreciated the efficiency of Dennis Lehane's writing! But, man-- what a downer. I suppose the moral of the story is to be more conscious of your children and more present in their lives. And don't leave guns lying around.

The narrator of the audio book was an actor with whom I am vaguely familiar, David Strathairn. His voice acting was not overly impressive. He often used a monotone voice, sometimes mumbled, and was sometimes hard to hear. This was all the worse because the general audio level of the recording was low. I had to have the volume all the way up and, even then, it sometimes wasn't loud enough to drown out the street noises during my walks. I give Strathairn a B.

Not much else to say about this one. Would have liked it more if ANYONE in the story ended up better off than they were at the beginning. 

The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall

Amy     
Lynnie  

fiction, young adult

Polly is almost 60, has 2 grown children, was recently widowed and is a new mom to baby Willow. The story follows Willow's attempts to learn more about her family, particularly her mother whose secrets run deep.

Amy's Review

It's really a bittersweet story. Polly gave birth to Willow at the age of 58 and Willow spent her young life worrying that her mother was going to die.

I'm not really sure why this one is not officially rated YA. The protagonist is a teenager and the story revolves around her thoughts and actions. So, I'm calling it YA. I got this ARC from the ALA Midwinter Convention and wasn't sure whether I'd read it or not. But, my sister read it and enjoyed it so I gave it a go.

It had wonderful, quirky characters. Polly was a real pistol. In fact, she reminded me of my own crazy mother sometimes--her hatred of outdoor garden-ruining critters and of neighbors; her love of gardening. The story itself had its moments. But, really the characters themselves were better than the storyline. It was nice to get to know them and spend a little time with them, especially Phoenix. 

Lynnie's Review

The characters in this book are the entire reason to read it- they are a southern, sassy, entertaining bunch who will keep you laughing and shaking your head long after you've put the book down. I was in love with all of them from the start and Hepinstall creates a fantastic world for her characters- quirky, fun, sad, and exuberant all at once. I loved every minute of it of this story and am glad that some questions remain unanswered in the end.

Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1) by Renee Ahdieh

Amy   

young adult, fantasy, historical fiction

Mariko escapes a murder attempt while she is on the way to be married to the emperor's oldest son.  She attempts to find out who was trying to kill her to save her family name. Adventures ensue.

For the most part, I enjoyed this new novel, Flame in the Mist, by Renee Ahdieh. I enjoyed the Japanese setting and the texture of the backdrop. I liked the characters, especially Mariko and her intelligence and bravery. And the story kept me interested throughout. However, the ending seemed a bit anti-climactic and there were many mysteries involving magic which were never explained. And, ugh, another sequel. I hadn't realized it was the first in a series. I probably would've waited to read this until closer to the time the next one comes out.

I liked Ahdieh's The Wrath and the Dawn better but I'll read the sequel when it comes out. Sorry, I don't have anything else to say about this one.