The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons

Amy   
Lynnie

contemporary fiction

Eudora Honeysett is a relatively healthy octogenarian who is ready to define when and how she will die. She has no family members and has led a life full of several disappointments which were beyond her control. She says she’s not depressed. She just wants her death to be comfortable and dignified. Then a couple neighbors start pulling her into their lives and her life routine is altered.

Amy's Review

While not a unique idea for a novel, The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons had a lot of heart and some charming characters. The novel is told in alternating time periods—the current day and Eudora’s youth in the 1940s and 1950s.  I really loved the people on the pages. It was a pleasant reading experience in these depressing COVID days. However, it makes me feel for those who are stuck indoors truly alone. I hope they are able to find some people with whom to share life virtually, at least.

Lynnie's Review

While I enjoyed Annie Lyons' The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd read this story before and honestly, I have (A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine are just two examples that come to mind). A character is cranky, judgmental, set in their ways, and all alone either by circumstance or by choice. They meet a neighbor or a co-worker and their life and world-view suddenly opens up and changes.

That's not to say Eudora Honeysett's journey is boring or unenjoyable. The characters between these pages were lovely to spend some time with, particularly  Eudora and the irrepressible Rose, but it all felt as if it was leading toward a foregone conclusion. I truly enjoyed Eudora as a character and learning about her backstory helped explain her circumstances and attitudes, but I could never get past my feeling of deja vu. 

 

   

The Conference of the Birds (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #5) by Ransom Riggs

Lynnie

young adult, fantasy, adventure, series

The Conference of the Birds is the fifth book in the Peculiar Children series and, while I have enjoyed them all, this felt like more of the same, more of the same, more of the same. The Peculiar Children/Peculiar World is in trouble- only Jacob & some of his peculiar friends can save them- again.

While I still enjoy the world that Ransom Riggs built, I am simply getting tired of the formula- everyone's happy, crisis happens, must travel through the loops to find the trouble/evil villain/new peculiar, return home, be happy, then go chase another crisis that, once again, only Jacob can solve which becomes another book. While the specifics are interesting, I can predict what will happen with increasing frequency which makes it much harder to enjoy the journey.

And of course, there's another cliffhanger and another book coming (how many books will there ultimately be?). I may or may not read the next book- I suppose it depends on whether or not it is an actual ending to the series or yet another cliffhanger. I would sincerely like to find out what the future holds for Jacob and his peculiar friends, but I'm not sure I want to know badly enough to read many more books.

 

 

The Cold Millions by Jess Walter

Amy  

historical fiction

Rye is 16 years old and trying to survive in Spokane in 1909 along with his older brother, Gig. After Gig is jailed for speaking out for workers’ rights, Rye ends up helping both those parties fighting for workers’ rights and those fighting against it. Up until this point, he’s not had the opportunity to contemplate his own desires beyond food and shelter. With influence from both good and bad actors, Rye navigates his life as best he can.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like The Cold Millions at first. As usual, I liked Jess Walter’s realistic writing style and his characters. But the story and topic wasn’t pulling me in. Thankfully, it became more interesting and I was hooked by the 50% mark. 

After reading three of his novels and a book of his short stories, I can say that Walter tends to write about the average guy just trying to get through life’s hurdles in his own way.  Money is a common concern. There are good and bad influences, good and bad decisions, and a few crazy curve balls.

This story is told from multiple points of view and narrative types (which is unusual--sometimes in first person and sometimes in third person). Also unusual is that some characters are killed off after their chapters. Additionally, some chapters end with an open, unfinished sentence which continues with the next chapter. I assume these switches and full stops and continuations are done for a purpose other than being unusual and sort of cool. Perhaps Walter wants to make the reader feel the uncertainty and fun-house mirror sensations that Rye is experiencing. The reader is being shaken up, sort of like Rye. That’s my guess and I’m going with it.

   

Fable and Namesake (Fable #1 and #2) by Adrienne Young

Fable

Amy          
Lynnie     

fantasy, action-suspense, young adult

Fable was abandoned by her father on an island to fend for herself after their ship was destroyed in a fatal storm. The novel begins four years later when she has accumulated enough savings for passage off the island in search of her father.

Amy's Review

While the story is not a page turner from page 1, it does immediately hold your attention and gets better the more you read. The characters are very well drawn. Adrienne Young does an excellent job of building the atmosphere. I easily pictured the islands, ships, and coastal towns.  The imagery is not overdone (i.e., it’s not too wordy and boring) but is real.  The small fantasy element related to Fable’s special ability is fun.  Halfway through the novel, the characters start letting down their guard and the reader is given more insight into their backstories. That’s when it really gets fun and the plot becomes compelling.

My biggest criticism is that the novel ends on a cliffhanger. I definitely prefer series novels to be more self-contained in their story arcs. Thankfully, the sequel comes out in two months so I don’t have to wait long for the continuation of the story. But it was a quick read that held my interest and I liked it.

I read some of this novel on Kindle and listened to some of it on audiobook.  The audiobook narrator, Emma Lysy, was a decent voice actor but really had no voice repertoire. I will give her a B.

Lynnie's Review

I enjoyed Fable right up until the ending--I hate a cliffhanger ending! But I am glad the second book will be released soon so I won't have forgotten what happened inbetween. I enjoyed the story, the adventure, and getting to know the characters even though their actions were predictable, particularly the cliffhanger which seemed really obvious to me (a great example of Chekhov's gun). I often had to remind myself of the ages of the characters--sometimes they would act much older than their ages and other times so much younger. But, overall, the character/crew interactions were probably the most interesting part of the book for me.

I'm eager to hear where this story ends up and hope that it's just a duology and not a trilogy.

Namesake 

Amy      
Lynnie   

fantasy, action-suspense, young adult

Amy's Review

Picking up exactly where Fable left off, Namesake continues at a good pace. The characters and situations leap off the page. But this finale wasn’t as good as fun as the original novel. I felt this one got a little too convoluted because there were so many different points of stress and strife. And the Roth storyline was frustrating because the reader is left out of Fable’s plans. I also didn’t love the way West was a hostage to his own feelings through much of it. It diminished him.

I don’t have much more to say other than you should read it to see the resolution of  the cliffhanger from Fable. But don’t expect as much from this one.

Lynnie's Review

An enjoyable end to this saga--I was happy to spend more time with Fable and the crew of the Marigold as the adventure continued. My only complaint is that the narrative got away from the boat for a good part of the book so we sort of lost touch with all those characters we'd met and loved in Young's first book of the series, Fable.

I still enjoyed the story, though, and the world that Young created throughout. Her characters were fun and well-written, and I was very glad to have that cliffhanger and the story wrapped up nicely.

Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy) by Robin Hobb

Amy   

fantasy, young adult

Assassin's Apprentice, an epic young adult fantasy, is about a boy who was fathered by the heir to the throne. At the age of 6, the boy’s mother’s family will no longer raise him and he is left at the castle with only an explanation of who fathered him.  There, he is kept and raised by the residents of the castle—primarily the prince’s stable hand.  The boy, Fitz, discovers he has special powers of communication and is taken under the wing of the king’s assassin. 

Fitz is a loveable character because of his unfortunate circumstances as well as his innocence, naivete, and sweet demeanor.  He makes the most of his situation and is a good person. Therefore, the reader is interested to find out how he fares.  As in any good fantasy, there are conflicts and troubles to overcome and the story is very engaging.  There is intrigue, adventure, and murder. The ending was gripping.  My main complaint is that Robin Hobb tends to ramble on with journey details much too long. I’d have skimmed several sections if I were reading the book. However, I look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy.

The narrator was Paul Boehmer and I felt he was cast poorly for this tale about a young man because his was the voice of an old man.  He always felt a bit pretentious in his reading.  He was a decent voice actor but had a narrow repertoire of voices.  I give him a B.

Amy  

fantasy

Royal Assassin was a great sequel which I really enjoyed. It had lots of action and intrigue. It moved the story forward and ended at just the right point. Fitz has grown up and enjoyed new experiences and responsibilities. I loved the fantasy elements of this series and the author explored more of them in this novel.  

As with many sequels, I don’t have much new to say. If you enjoyed the first novel, you will also enjoy this one.

This audiobook had the same narrator, Paul Boehmer, as the first one but I’ve grown to like him more. I feel he did a better job with distinct voices in this one and thought his voice acting was terrific.  I’ll give him an A.

Amy  

fantasy

Continuing where the last novel left off, we are given a helpful summary of the current state of things.  Since I have grown to adore Fitz, my heart broke for him often during this tale.  As the novel continued, I realized that Fitz is one of my favorite literary characters. I think I would read anything in which he appears. Although, I believe the author is long done with him. 

Despite my Fitz, Assassin's Quest had bizarre sections that made little sense or were contradictory to previous sections. Worse, sometimes it felt like a contrivance by the author--breaking her own story rules in order to make something she later devised fit the storyline. As with the other novels in this series, there were some boring sections having to do with painstaking travels. There were also times when Fitz was not using his head which infuriated me because, again, I feel the author was not allowing her character to be himself and act with his usual intelligence for the sole purpose of forcibly adding drama. But, for all that, I enjoyed the novel. There were some incredibly gripping, edge of your seat sections.  The ending, while not sad, had a great deal of sadness—mostly my heartbreak over Fitz’s conditions on which I cannot elaborate without giving things away. Yet, it felt mostly satisfying.  Several mysteries could have been explained more sufficiently. However, it was a fun ride with wonderful characters. I’ll miss them!

I listened to some of the audiobook and read the rest on my Kindle. Again, Paul Boehmer narrated the audiobook and he has truly grown on me through this long series. When I was reading on the Kindle, I heard his voice in my head!  He does invoke the love, heart, and spirit of Fitz and has a very wide voice repertoire.  I again give him an A.

   

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Amy  

mystery

Invisible Girl covers a few years of the lives of a couple with marital issues, a teenager obsessed with her psychologist, and a creepy neighbor in their British town. It is told from three different viewpoints of these characters.  When the teen disappears, the main mystery revolves around finding her.

Sadly, these characters are not likeable. They are insecure, flawed, and suspicious. I’m never going to love a book when I can’t appreciate any of the characters. The story itself did pull me in, though. There were enough questionable activities and mindsets to gain my curiosity.  In the first half, it was apparent that they were all guilty of something. Then, halfway through, the teen’s disappearance takes over as the big question. Lisa Jewell did a good job making the reader suspect many possibilities around her disappearance.  It was engaging but not as good as the other novel I read by Jewell, The Family Upstairs.

The audiobook was narrated by three different people—one for each of the viewpoints. Unfortunately, one of them, Katherine Kelly, had poor sound production compared to the other two (Donna Banya and Connor Swindells).  If she had been the only narrator, I suspect I would have gotten used to it and it wouldn’t have stood out as much.  However, her sections sounded like they were recorded in a big hollow room. It was disturbing enough that I almost returned the audiobook to the library to wait to get the actual book. I persevered but it was uncomfortable and distracting at times. For a well-known, successful author and a respected audiobook publisher (Simon & Schuster Audio), I was shocked that they actually let this get out into the world with such poor sound quality for her sections.  I’d recommend skipping this audiobook!  Aside from the sound issues, the narrators did a fine job with voice acting.  Kelly actually had the best voice repertoire. I’ll give them a B+ as an ensemble. I would have given Kelly a higher grade but her sound production was too noticeably sub-par.