The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Amy  

mystery, fantasy 

Thirty-five years ago, Carly’s Aunt Vivian disappeared from her overnight shift at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, NY. Carly, now the same age that Vivian was when she disappeared, 20, travels to Fell to investigate and see if she can solve the life-long family mystery.

The Sun Down Motel was a ghost story within a mystery.  It shifted points of view between Vivian in 1982 and Carly in 2017. This structure worked well to help the reader learn about Vivian and her family dynamics and to learn about Carly’s investigation progress alongside Vivian’s actual experiences. I was never bored and found the mystery interesting. 

I enjoyed Simone St. James' realistic look back to the early 1980s and the reminder that, while women’s rights were expanding, they still had a long way to go, especially in a small town. The lack of technology back then inspired the perfect backdrop for the crimes perpetrated at the time under the nose of a small police force. The current-day story was, perhaps, a little less believable. From the start, the fact that Carly seemed fairly careless and fixated on solving a mystery that had been mostly ignored her whole life had to be accepted in order to enjoy the story. She was willing to do things that others probably would not have done. And Heather’s personality as Carly’s sidekick was too convenient. But it was still a fun story despite the feel of the somewhat forced construction of Carly’s parameters in Fell. I liked learning new things as the story went along—some expected and some not. I loved the surprising parts.

The audiobook narrators were Brittany Pressley and Kirsten Potter.  They both have terrific voice repertoires and are great voice actors. Overall, they did a fantastic job. Kirsten had a few areas that you could tell were inserted after the main recording and Brittany had a few mispronunciations that bugged me. I’ll give them an A- as an ensemble.

   

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

Amy  

fiction

The Death of Vivek Oji begins at the end, with Vivek’s body appearing at the front door of his parents’ house. The novel then describes the highlights of Vivek’s and his family members’ lives in Nigeria.

Vivek’s story was a sad one. As a person figuring out his gender identity, he encountered many difficulties when it came to other people’s expectations and interpretations of his behaviors. His personal relationships were complicated and he struggled with some sort of unexplored health issue as well. I must be careful about what I divulge in this review because, with such a short novel focusing on the mystery of his death and his brief life, I run the risk of ruining any surprises.  

I’d not read anything like this from an African perspective which made it especially interesting. I felt that there were many topics raised—some, perhaps, more applicable to Africa than elsewhere. But the story highlighted ways in which people can hurt each other which made me sad. True, it showed some beautiful, accepting relationships. But it was the lack of compassion and people behaving badly that stood out to me.  I questioned why Akwaeke Emezi brought up some character backgrounds and tangential stories that had nothing to do with the main storyline. But I enjoyed the recurring theme of photographs and the way the author evoked imagery through her writing. It was a beautifully-written, tragic tale.

   

This is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey

Lynnie

young adult fiction

Jess is a 17-year old doing what 17-year olds do in 1998--go to school, hang out with friends, watch the latest music videos, crush on Scott Wolf--you know, the usual. Except that Jess' life is not usual. One day she sees something small, shiny, & black, with an apple on it, fall out of a friend's backpack and when her friends and family start evading her questions, she begins to realize that all is not normal in her world.

This is Not the Jess Show was far more entertaining than I thought it would be. Anna Carey gave the book a slow start, but then as the intrigue ramped up, scenes flew past & I found myself wanting to know what would happen next. Like a YA version of The Truman Show, Jess must face the reality that her life has never really been her own and what that means for her own identity, for her friends and family, and for her community.

This was a quick read that I enjoyed much more than I expected to. Jess is a very earnest character and while those around her may not be who they seem on the surface, it's the deep truth of who they are, and what that means for her future, that Jess must discover.

 

 

 

The First Girl Child, The Second Blind Son (The Chronicles of Saylok #1, #2) by Amy Harmon

Amy  

fantasy

Set in a land created by and devoted to the Norse gods, a new mother curses the population with no female babies born until her son grows to save the people.

Amy Harmon does it again with a fun fantasy novel.  I loved the world as she laid it out in The First Girl Child  and I found the story and characters charming. She based the framework in Norse mythology and clan politics but made it her own.  This novel is very different from all the other novels of Harmon’s that I’ve read and she is constantly amazing me at her diverse repertoire.

While much about the outcome is easy to guess, I really enjoyed riding the waves and watching everything play out. You’ve gotta love brave, intelligent, humble characters set against an evil ruler.  Harmon’s creativity was on full display when it came to the characters and their situations.

If you enjoy royal fantasy and good vs. evil, you’ll enjoy this book.

Amy  

fantasy

As a blind youngster, Hod is left in the care of the temple keepers by his ill mother. The Highest Keeper recognizes the child’s affinity with runes and is sure his appearance was prophesized. He entrusts Hod’s care and upbringing to a keeper who lives in a remote cave location. When Hod is a teenager, Ghisla is washed up on the beach near his home. She is the sole survivor of her people who died from illness. She is a “songer” and Hod is amazed that he can see in his mind the things about which she sings. However, Hod’s guardian feels that Ghisla’s singing distracts Hod too much and he sends her to the Temple Mount to serve as one of the six daughters of Freya. What will happen to Ghisla? Will Hod ever see her again?

The events in The Second Blind Son take place at the same time as those in the first novel in the series and are also based on Norse Mythology. However, while many characters and situations are referenced from the first novel, this one focuses on Ghisla (aka Liis, a minor character in The First Girl Child) and Hod (a brand new character). Their story has its own joys and tribulations and is just as gripping as the first novel in the series.  The overlaps are perfectly crafted yet this novel is certainly good enough to stand on its own. It’s full of danger, uncertainty, warring clans, prophecies, and friendship.

I fell in love with the characters Amy Harmon created. She is such an outstanding storyteller and I couldn’t help but care for her characters and their worlds. It would be easy for Harmon to continue this series, focusing on different people with future novels. I would gladly read them.

The audiobook narrator, Rob Shapiro, was fabulous!  His voice acting was perfect and he had a decent repertoire of different voices. He imbued so much personality into the characters and so much compassion into their situations, he made the novel even better than I could have read it to myself. A+!

   

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

Amy  

fiction

In A Good Neighborhood, the Whitman family moves into a newly built home within an older, established neighborhood directly behind the Alston-Holt family. When the new construction damages a historic oak tree on the Alston-Holt’s property, trouble ensues. But this novel is really not about the tree trouble. It’s about people trouble.

The neighborhood of Oak Knoll is similar to my own neighborhood. My house was built after demolition of the old 1950s ranch that was previously on this ¼ acre property. Even though I’m a newer neighbor, I can empathize with the Alston-Holt family’s concerns about neighborhood changes and tree health. I, too, have been angered when too many trees have been removed by builders. I had read some reviews that this novel was slow or boring at the beginning but I didn’t find it so. I suspect this is because of my own neighborhood similarity and the fact that the Whitmans and Alston-Holts are of my generation with similar home and family considerations. I found it very relevant.

What I didn’t like was that Therese Anne Fowler chose to make the narrator be a neighborhood entity, like an HOA or book club, referring to themselves as “we” throughout the novel. It really bugged me. I would have preferred an omniscient narrator since there’s no way this group of people would have known all the thoughts and actions taken by the characters about whom the story is written. There were a few times the author tried to make it seem like this group was self-aware of the fact that they had limited information but then she would plunge ahead and write about the characters’ inner-most thoughts anyway. It didn’t jive and rubbed the wrong way.

What I did like was the way the author casually dropped several bombs during the story.  I thought I knew the characters fairly well and then I’d learn a new, critical fact about a person. Those “Oh!” moments were fun and kept the story moving in directions I hadn’t expected.

What I didn’t know was how emotional I was going to get with this story! I didn’t know exactly what would happen but I knew something was destined to go very wrong. I got so ANGRY and heartsick when this story took a tragic turn. The cruelty, derangement, and stupidity displayed by the person who caused the most trouble was terrible. I had to walk away from the audiobook and stop listening several times (!) because I had become so tense and upset that I was stressed out on behalf of the sweet character paying the price. I was FURIOUS!  A novel hasn’t gotten me this worked up in a very long time.  I kept having to remind myself this was fiction and these were only characters.  But I know this sort of thing has happened and continues to happen to people in real life. GRRRRR!  IT WAS SO UPSETTING!!!!!

I feel this is an important novel that people, especially overbearing out-of-touch parents, should read. Of course, those people are too out of touch to even consider reading it, sadly. Sigh. People can be horrible.  And our justice system can also be horrible. It’s infuriating.

The audiobook narrator, Ella Turenne, wasn’t the right choice for this novel, in my opinion. I mostly didn’t love the robotic, slow delivery. I didn’t think her voice fit most of the characters. I also wasn’t impressed with her limited vocal repertoire and disliked her use of emphasis within many sentences. She kept pulling me out of the actual story every time I was offended by something on the recording. I give her a C+.

   

Graphic Novels- House of M, Secret Invasion, Jupiter's Legacy Vol. 1

I recently went on a little graphic novel/comic spree, so I'm combining the reviews into one post. - Lynnie

   House of M by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel

I read this a while back but wanted to revisit it after watching WandaVision.

I enjoyed House of M, but there are times in this book that there are SO many characters mixing in, I kind of got lost in keeping track of everyone. Still, I can't
deny that it's a lot of fun to see so many Marvel characters thrown in to one storyline together as they try to figure out the changes in reality and what may have caused them. 

I loved the art throughout & the story is solid. 

 

Secret Invasion by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinel Francis Yu  

Read this on a lark and it was a fun, if often confusing, book. The premise is that the Skrulls want to take over Earth and in order to do so have shapeshifted their way into taking the places of prominent super heroes throughout the Marvel
universe. And, of course, no one knows who is real and who is a Skrull--sometimes including the Skrull themselves--as they had their memories wiped. So really, seriously, ANYONE can be a Skrull. It's very confusing and a little too convenient which is why it only gets 3 stars. But, it was fun to read and the art is fantastic, so 3 stars it is. 

   Jupiter's Legacy, Vol.1 by Mark Millar, Wilfredo Torres,       
   Davide Gianfelice, Frank Quitely

I read this because I'd heard good things about it & wanted to read it before it appears on Netflix. Marketed as "Jupiter's Legacy", it appears this is actually a prequel to the real Jupiter's Legacy series titled "Jupiter's Circle" which was released AFTER the initial Jupiter's Legacy. (Someone please feel free to correct
me if I'm wrong). Because of this- a good bit of this book makes NO sense. There's no introduction of characters, or how they got their powers, etc. The 1950s styling of the art is really interesting but, again, doesn't do much to help differentiate characters when they are not in their super suits.

I'll try to hunt down the actual Jupiter's Legacy Vol 1 & see if I can make more sense of it. Bottom line, if you're new to this series, I would not recommend starting with THIS book. It might be labeled Vol. 1, and perhaps it is the first chronologically (taking place in the 1950s), but it clearly makes the assumption that you already know these characters.

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Amy  

fiction

Penn and Rosie have five sons after trying so hard for a girl. Then their youngest, Claude, really wants to wear dresses to kindergarten.

This heartwarming story made me laugh and smile SO much!  I literally would have categorized the first part of this novel as a comedy. So, so funny with adorable, witty characters. Laurie Frankel wrote about such an emotional and controversial topic with humor and compassion. I loved the people in this book and all of their dilemmas—both commonplace and extraordinary.

I had previously questioned how small children are able/equipped to decide that they are not oriented as their birth gender. This Is How It Always Is has opened my eyes to how this might happen.  Claude’s consistency and insistence about his feelings and interests made me see how his parents would come to the difficult decision to allow him to be himself or, rather, herself. It was heartbreaking to watch the family deal with the initial hurdles only to discover there are more difficult hurdles ahead. But everything felt mostly genuine and believable. I thought the side trip to Thailand was a bit extreme (and went on for a bit too long) but, then again, no one can predict how families will handle extremely stressful situations.

The narrator was magnificent. Gabra Zackman is one of those rare narrators who has a massive voice repertoire—male, female, young, old, and accented.  Additionally, she was even able to present different children’s voices. Amazing!  I do have a complaint about her mispronunciation of two words (each mispronounced twice) which definitely would have lowered any other narrator’s score, but her repertoire and voice acting blew me away so much I’m not going to dock her any points for this criticism. A+! My favorite narration of the year so far!

   

The Knife of Never Letting Go / The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking #1 and #2) by Patrick Ness

Amy      

Lynnie   

fantasy, young adult, action-suspense

Todd is about to age into manhood in a town on a new planet. But he encounters something strange in the woods and, suddenly, his life is endangered. His parents force him to flee without warning.

Amy's Review

WOW! What an incredibly off-putting, upsetting story from the very first page. Todd’s world is immediately completely crazy fantasy, but stunning and creative. You have to dive in and accept the premise that this town of men can all hear each other’s thoughts and the thoughts of the animals! But you do it so you can enjoy the ride. You learn basic facts about Todd’s world along the way and the more hidden secrets too.

I really appreciated Patrick Ness' writing style and misspellings given that Todd, the narrator, is a mostly uneducated 12 year old. The Knife of Never Letting Go swept me away almost immediately. It’s funny, scary, sad, and heartwarming. And the action and turmoil for the characters never gives up! It was exhausting sometimes to read! It was intense, gritty, and meaningful. It made me angry quite often too!

But the ending killed me. I know it’s the first in a trilogy but I do not like series novels ending in cliffhangers. Thankfully, this trilogy was written many years ago so I can read the next one as soon as it’s available at the library. But I’m not sure that I want to go through the stress of what is coming next for Todd. I can only hope that the “hope” sought after in the novel is going to be found in this trilogy.

Lynnie's Review

I'm a fan of Patrick Ness having read two other books by him (A Monster Calls and More Than This) and I enjoyed most of this novel as well. The idea of having your thoughts broadcast to everyone around you is a fascinating part of this novel and I found myself thinking about that more than anything. What would it be like to live in a world in which you couldn't even keep your thoughts private?

The Knife of Never Letting Go is filled with non-stop action. I truly had a hard time putting it down.

I would have given it four stars if not for the awful cliffhanger ending. But I did like the story and the adventure and the idea.

Amy   

fantasy, young adult, action/suspense

Picking up right where The Knife of Never Letting Go stopped, just as Todd and Viola's luck runs out in Haven, the story continues.

As I suspected, this novel was worrisome and stress-inducing. It was, perhaps, even more upsetting and infuriating than the first novel in the series. The cruelty and senselessness was terrible at times. The dimming of Todd’s spirit was depressing. The manipulation and mental abuse was horrible. This was all exactly as the author intended. But it was often hard to read—especially before bed time. Therefore, it took me a long time to get through it. I just didn’t want to go to sleep being so angry.

The new and old characters were just as great as in the first novel and the situations were just as compelling. Definitely a brutal story but intriguing at the same time.  There is one more novel in the trilogy. Again, I’ll need a little time to recover before reading it.

   

Beneath the Keep (The Queen of the Tearling #0) by Erika Johansen

Amy  

fantasy

This prequel to The Queen of the Tearling trilogy follows Kelsea’s mother, Elyssa, when she was the princess under Queen Arla’s rule. It also includes many other characters from the trilogy and fills in their backstories.

Beneath the Keep was grittier and darker than I remember the trilogy being. But, then again, I do recall saying that I didn’t think the trilogy was really for young adults due to the adult themes. So perhaps I had just forgotten the level of pain and cruelty inflicted on the characters in the trilogy. I did go back and read summaries as well as my reviews of the trilogy before starting this novel because I had already long forgotten all the characters and stories. This helped remind me of those characters Erika Johansen had introduced previously. But I think I would have enjoyed this more if I’d read it closer to the trilogy (which I finished 4 years ago).

This novel was full of conflict and good vs. evil. The characters jumped from the page and the story never lost momentum between the differing characters’ points of view. It was full of tension and action and bravery.  I really enjoyed it but would have enjoyed it much more if I’d read it closer to the trilogy. If you read the trilogy, you should definitely give this one a try. Just be ready for the brutality contained within.

I appreciated the author’s note at the end about the value of resistance and how our current world is in a time of trials that are different, yet similar, to the Tearling world.  I wish we had more brave people in leadership positions too.

   

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Amy  

psychological thriller

Jess needs some extra money and hears of a university psychologist paying for research study subjects. She sneaks her way into the study and greatly appreciates the doctor’s financial generosity and the freedom of feeling unburdened. But things eventually begin to feel off.

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen was well done. The anonymous girl of the title seems like the perfect candidate for whatever the psychologist has in mind. But what, exactly, does the psychologist plan? That is the main mystery that keeps the reader glued to the pages as we learn more about Jessica and the psychologist. Then, after the study hypothesis is divulged, the reader thinks they know how this will play out.  But there are plot twists! I was compelled to keep listening. The thriller part didn’t happen until late in the novel, but it got to the point where I was fully consumed with wondering how things would turn out.

The audiobook is narrated by Julia Whelan and Barrie Kreinik. I’ve listened to a few books narrated by each of them before and they both are awesome narrators. I had to wonder why the choice was made to use two narrators for this novel, though. Both have a sufficient voice repertoire that two narrators should not have been necessary. And the tones of the two women are similar enough that it took me a very long time to even realize there were two of them. I feel either one could have handled the entire novel alone. I would like to state that I disagree with the producer’s choice to use two of them but they both did a great job with their parts, had ample vocal repertoire (differing voices/accents), and great voice acting. I give them both As for this book and am only holding back the “+” because of choice to use two of them.