The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic #2) by Alice Hoffman

Amy         

fantasy, historical fiction

In this novel about a family of witches, the characters were charming and their lives were intriguing. I was disappointed by the one part in the middle where, like with most of her novels, Alice Hoffman diverges from the story line and halts the momentum in order to give a history lesson. Understand, I am all for describing the setting and the atmosphere as appropriate.  However, Hoffman does not do this smoothly, cleverly, or seamlessly. Rather, she makes me want to skim ahead out of the boring “textbook” part of the novel. And this is a trend with her novels. Sigh.  Thankfully, this section was relatively small in The Rules of Magic. I will definitely read the sequel or, rather, the original novel for which this prequel was later written.  I love a good magical realism novel!

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Marin Ireland. While she is a good voice actor and even had the ability to differentiate the voices of female characters and give them individual personalities, her performance was reduced by the fact that she sounded like she had a cold or allergies. It was a nasal issue that wasn't overly gross but still drew my attention to that issue and away from the story. Therefore, I have to drop her a grade and give her a B+.

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1) by Melissa Albert

Amy           
Lynnie       


fantasy

Alice and her mother, Ella, are always on the run.  They move frequently—whenever they start experiencing “bad luck”.  Then, her mother is kidnapped and Alice teams up with a friend to find Ella in her grandmother’s world of fairy tales.

Amy's Review

I was absolutely loving The Hazel Wood up until about the 75% mark.  Then, it went from charmingly creepy to absurdly ridiculous.  It was suddenly ludicrous and infuriating.  Granted, it was creative.  But, the story suddenly lost my interest and failed to pull me back in enough to care about the characters any more. I skimmed from that point on.  I finished the novel to see how Melissa Albert would manage to pull us all out of fantasy crazy town.  She went with The Matrix on meltdown.  The disappointing ending left me feeling spent.  I’ll give it 3 stars since I enjoyed most of it.

Lynnie's Review

I have mixed feelings about Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood. Overall, I enjoyed the story--I enjoy fairy tales and was not particularly disturbed by the similarities to well-known fairy tales or stories.  The characters were interesting, if not always enjoyable, and I enjoyed that I often felt unbalanced reading the book which kept me from predicting too much of the outcome. The first half of the book is all set up and most of the action happens in the back half; I honestly can't tell you which part I found more interesting.

What tripped me up, though, was the ridiculous purple prose which often had me rolling my eyes as I read. In that way, it reminded me of Caraval (by Stephanie Garber)--another book with excessively flowery language. The Hazel Wood's words were often nonsense and riddles which I guess went along with the fairy tale motif, but generally left me unimpressed. 

Still, if you enjoy an odd fantasy tale I think you'll enjoy this one.

How Not to Get Shot by D.L. Hughley & Doug Moe

Lynnie

non-fiction, humor

I was almost embarrassed reading How Not To Get Shot: And Other Advice from White People- not embarrassed by the book, but simply due the fact that it was necessary to write it. Geez this stuff should not still be going on and the fact that Hughley and Moe can look at it through a lens of humor just shows how much better  they are at being humans than I am. Overall, this book gives new meaning to the phrase, "it's funny because it's true" but it is heartbreaking in its humor.

Honestly, the people who need to read this book and have their eyes opened to the injustice that goes on around them, particularly when it comes to interactions between police and people of color, are never going to read it. But Hughley can preach to this choir anytime.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Amy        

fiction

Nine Perfect Strangers arrive to spend 10 days at a transformative health resort.  Their time together involves a variety of experiences—some that were expected and some that were quite surprising.

Liane Moriarty did it again!  I was all set to not like this novel, despite the fact that I’ve enjoyed four of her other novels, because a) the story description did not interest me, b) her last novel was not as good as the others I’d read previously, and c) my sister, with whom I usually agree about books, was unable to finish it she disliked it so much.  So, I went into it with a level of dread but had to give it a try.  After all, I had recently met Liane and gotten her signature in my copy of this novel.  Thankfully, I loved it! 

Liane had me at page 56 when she described a character as “chronically loquacious”.  Hilarious!  As is typical with her novels, things did end up getting a bit out of hand and it was all in a good way!  It completely worked for me.  I adored the quirky characters who, despite their quirkiness, were all relatable.  I became invested in their individual issues and paths to transformation.  And I was so interested to find out how they all managed in the end that I wanted to keep reading and listening.  (I listened to the audiobook and also read the hardcover book, alternating the media based on my circumstances—listened in the car, on walks, and while working around the house and alternately read the hardcover while at home.) I was concerned at the beginning that getting to know so many characters was going to be exhausting but it was easy to get to know them all the way Liane crafted the tale.  I also loved reading about how all the characters fared after their stay ended.

The audiobook was narrated by Caroline Lee.  I also heard her narration of Liane’s novel Truly Madly Guilty and she, again, did a terrific job.  Her Australian accent was easy to understand and she pulled off a reasonable Russian accent for the voice of Masha.  Her voice acting was fun—she has great comedic timing.  However, she didn’t distinguish the other characters’ voices very much so I’ll give her an A- on this one.

P.S. Lynnie and I rarely have a large disagreement of opinion on novels.  So, this is quite notable!  Amy's 4 stars vs. Lynnie's not finished! It is the largest variance we’ve ever had!  Of the 226 books we've both recorded on Goodreads, we differ by more than 1 star on only 10 books.  All 10 of those differ by only 2 stars (and most of them are older novels that fall under the situation where Lynnie read them when she was younger and Amy read them when she was older).  But this is our first 3+ star discrepancy.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Amy      
Lynnie   

young adult fiction

Ghost was the most recently published novel to make the Great American Reads 100 list. It is an inspiring middle-grade story told through the eyes of a very realistic 8^th grader nicknamed Ghost who decides to join a local track team.

Amy's Review 

This novel has a lot of heart and a moral. I can see why this story is beloved but there isn’t much to say about it because it’s not a surprising or unique story.  It’s about real life, growing up, and tests of character.  I enjoyed Jason Reynolds’ writing and also enjoyed Guy Lockard’s narration.  His voice acting and different character voices were terrific.  His enthusiasm really brought Ghost to life.  My only complaint is that his voice was too deep for Ghost’s.  It’s not his fault for being mis-cast in this role and he was outstanding with all the adult voices.  So, I’ll give him an A-. 

Lynnie's Review

This is a lovely book, but I am not the intended audience. At all.

Ghost is a great book for young readers, I think 4th - 6th graders would really enjoy it and relate to the characters. Me though? I found my old lady self "tsk-ing" at Ghost and his antics throughout the book despite the fact that all of his choices and actions seemed completely realistic and authentic. I would not hesitate to hand Jason Reynolds' book (and I imagine its companion books to be just as engaging) to young readers,  though, as they will love it. 

Belleweather by Susanna Kearsley

Amy   

fiction, historical fiction

As with all Susanna Kearsley novels, Bellewether is told from two different time periods. In the current day, Charley has just moved to Long Island, NY to care for her newly-orphaned niece.  She accepts a job at a historical site undergoing renovations.  Here, she attempts to identify the family history of one of the former owners of the house.  The novel switches to the points of view of two people from 1759 living at the house during the time period Charley is researching.

This is the 10^th novel I’ve read by this author and it’s not one of my favorites.  Unfortunately, I did not find the historical storyline overly compelling.  It was often slow-paced and I would get bored and wish we could get back to the contemporary storyline.  This is unusual for a Kearsley novel!  However, I found the ending gratifying and really enjoyed the ghost in the novel.  I enjoyed these characters and was pulling for them.