This is Not the Real World (This is Not the Jess Show #2) by Anna Carey

 

Lynnie

 

young adult

 

A sequel to This is Not the Jess Show, I admit I hadn’t really decided whether or not to read This is Not The Real World, but I enjoyed Anna Carey’s novel about a young girl raised in a Truman Show-esque TV show set in the '90s where she was the only person who was unaware of the reality around her. As the book cover says, "18-year-old Jess is out for revenge as she confronts the corrupt media empire that documented every moment of her childhood."

Looking for an audiobook I noticed this was available, and I’m very glad I did. While the start was a bit slow, and I admit it took me a few chapters to remember all the characters, I enjoyed the story quite a bit. Learning how Jess navigated her newfound knowledge and how it affected her relationships was compelling. Once again, I couldn’t help but empathize with her throughout the book.

The ending is just open enough to leave room for another sequel, but also ties the story up well enough that I don’t think one is necessary. Mia Hutchinson-Shaw was an excellent narrator and I enjoyed her variety of voices. She gets an A+.

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland

Amy  

historical fiction

Florence Adler Swims Forever is about a family affected by tragedies. The Adlers live in Atlantic City in 1934.  Their older daughter, Fanny, is living at a birthing hospital for the later stages of her high-risk pregnancy. They have Fanny’s daughter staying with them until the baby arrives. They are also sponsoring and housing a young woman who has escaped Nazi Germany and is trying to get her parents to the United States as well. And then tragedy strikes.

The novel is told from multiple characters’ viewpoints to keep things interesting and to keep the new discoveries coming. It was well written.  It wasn’t fast-paced but was never boring. It detailed people’s real lives—the ups and the downs, the good and the bad.

Rachel Beanland based this fictional story on her own family’s real history, which she described at the end of the novel. I thought she did a great job expanding her family’s truths into a full novel. I wanted to find out how things would turn out for the characters.

Several of the family members’ actions in this novel were controversial.  Choices were made to save Fanny from further trauma but I was not convinced they were the right choices.  One choice was to hide the death of someone so that Fanny’s pregnancy would not be jeopardized by the devastating news.  Later, another choice was made by Fanny’s father which, I felt, was truly overstepping.  However, the buy-in by other people served as counterpoint my thoughts. There is room here for great discussion around these tactics.

I was kind of disappointed with Beanland for letting herself off the hook by not including Fanny’s reactions to these controversial choices.  Her parents never faced the music in the novel and I felt that weakened the ending. I suppose the reader is to assume that these choices were eventually accepted.

The audiobook was narrated by 7 different voice actors: Jonathan Davis, Tim Paige, Carly Robins, Jonathan Todd Ross, Tara Sands, Jesse Vilinsky, and Gabra Zackman. Some were better than others but, overall, they did a fine job. I'll give the ensemble cast an A-.

 

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

Amy  

fantasy

Wallace is dead. He is having trouble believing it when he finally encounters Mei, his Reaper, at his own funeral. She helps Wallace transition to his next post-death stage by bringing him to his Ferryman. Hugo makes Wallace feel welcome at his tea shop where  Wallace is to remain until he is ready to move on.

Under the Whispering Door was a slog for me.  After reading two of his novels, it’s obvious that T.J. Klune has negative opinions about office work and bureaucracy. That’s all well and good but made this novel too reminiscent of The House in the Cerulean Sea at the very beginning. (And, as an homage, Klune mentioned the color cerulean three times that I counted in this novel, by the way.) 

Unfortunately, this novel focused on the hateful protagonist, Wallace.  After his own Ghost of Christmas Future moment, Wallace moved on to a sort of purgatory which was held in a tea shop. It was a very slow process for Wallace to accept his own reality and learn to appreciate the many facets of his new lifestyle...er, deathstyle.  It turned out Wallace was a better, happier person after he’d been dead a while. How sad. I mean, I suppose it’s good that Wallace became more likeable as he finally saw himself for the jerk he’d been and started making the effort to do better. But I still had trouble really getting behind this character. I have a feeling most other readers were won over by his new attitude, resulting in the high ratings for this novel. To me, the only interesting section was about 2/3 of the way through the novel and then it lost steam once again.

While this book was summarized as being about death, it was really about life—how to live it, how to enjoy it, and what is most important to do while you’re still breathing.  It was an ode to therapy and mental health. In fact, it was all about feelings, sensitivity, and acceptance.  Honestly, as someone who considers herself a realist who is not afraid of feelings, I felt this book laid it on a bit thickly. I realize I’m in the minority on this but I almost gave up on this novel several times. I only stuck with it because it was rated well by a couple friends with whom I share opinions on many books and because I did enjoy The House in the Cerulean Sea. The ending was sweet but expected.

While the audiobook narrator, Kirt Graves, had an amazing vocal repertoire, he spoke very slowly.  This, paired with the slow-paced story, was making me impatient. So I sped up the audio track a notch which did help a bit. Sadly, the pace of the storyline was still very slow and the audiobook, at least, felt much longer than the 373 pages in book length. However, since that wasn’t Graves’ fault, I’ll give him an A- for his distinguishable cast of characters. 

   

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

Amy  

mystery

Pippa and Gabe live at the top of a scenic cliff which is, sadly, popular with jumpers.  One night when Gabe goes out to try to keep a potential jumper talking until the police can arrive (as he’s done before), the jumper ends up falling to her death.  This is, of course, devastating to Gabe but Pippa also feels as if something was off with the interaction she saw between her husband and the jumper.

The Soulmate is told from the perspectives of Pippa and the jumper, Amanda. Obviously, right off the bat, the reader is made suspicious of Gabe. However, it doesn’t take all that long for the reader to understand that Pippa may not be so innocent herself. Sally Hepworth did a great job revealing a little at a time and making the situation become ever more engrossing.

I’ve enjoyed Hepworth’s novels in the past and this was another good one. Her stories are tending to become more twisty. This one is about a family which seems perfect on the outside but is, actually, full of problems. The situations made me want to keep listening to see the full picture.

The audiobook narrators, Barrie Kreinik and Jessica Douglas-Henry, were both great.  Both had a nice variety of voices for the different characters and both did a great job voice acting. I give them an A.

   

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Amy  

science fiction, magical realism

A family is preparing to weather a hurricane when tragedy strikes.  After that, the survivors must face their futures along with the future of their quickly drowning home state of Florida.

Since this was for book club, I started listening to The Light Pirate without any idea what it was about. All I knew was that there wasn’t a long queue at the library and was surprised to learn that it was just published three months prior! So I wasn’t expecting to like it all that much. But it was really good!

This novel grabbed me right from the start. Lily Brooks-Dalton’s writing was extremely effective at pulling me in and holding me there.  The first 25% of the novel was especially suspenseful and un-put-downable. The characters were well-meaning but flawed. The family dynamics were compelling. And the suspense of the upcoming hurricane was intense.

The second quarter of the novel was concerned with time passing for the family members and the affect of climate change on the world--Florida specifically.  The infrastructure was crumbling, less money was flowing to repair and maintain utilities, land was disappearing, and people were moving away.

As more changes took shape, the second half of the novel involved the family’s struggle to survive in the new Florida. The climate crisis elements of the novel, while set in the future, were so believable and shocking. I was swept into Wanda’s and Phyllis’ stories.

I’m not really sure this qualifies as science fiction, maybe more like speculative science fiction with a bit of magical realism. It certainly is about climate change. But I enjoyed this story and I hope more people read it resulting in longer queues at the library! My only real complaint is that the story pacing in the last three quarters of the novel was a let-down after the first quarter’s excitement. But I feel the author effectively told the story she wanted to impart.

The audiobook narrator, Rosemary Benson, did a good job. However, I didn’t feel she was cast well for this novel since she had an older-sounding voice but the main characters were not old for most of the novel. Even though it’s not her fault, due to the fact that I kept thinking she didn’t sound right for this story, I’ll give her a B.

   

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Amy     
Lynnie  

fiction, magical realism

Tova, a 70-year-old widow, is working as a janitor at the aquarium, has survived her share of tragedy, and is contemplating changes. Cameron, 30 years old, has never quite managed to grow up and accept responsibility for...anything...and is on a search for family. Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus in the aquarium where Tova works and he has thoughts and goals.

Amy's Review

Delightful! Charming! Funny! Heartwarming! Refreshing!

This beautiful novel was so engaging and surprising. I mean, some expected resolutions do come to pass, but the overall concept was so creative and well-crafted. Several of Marcellus’ sections made me laugh out loud. He's so superior and cocky.

Remarkably Bright Creatures speaks to the importance of having friends in your life, even unlikely friends. None of the main characters could have made it through their struggles without support from others. All have been dealt serious blows, all have accepted their current situations, yet they also have unfulfilled desires. The story has tangential storylines concerning young parents and highlights people who are missing loved ones.

I loved every aspect of this novel--the plot, the characters, the settings, etc. I see no reason to withhold any stars! I already can't wait to read the next book Shelby Van Pelt writes!

I also loved the audiobook! The narrators were absolutely stellar.  Marin Ireland is always awesome and this audiobook was no exception. She displayed terrific vocal acting and a nice variety of voices and accents for different characters. But, oh, Michael Urie was absolutely perfect for the role of Marcellus. I’m quite sure that Urie’s vocal acting made me love Marcellus even more than I would have if I’d read the book. He didn’t have to worry about voicing any other characters in this limited role but he completely crushed it. I give this production an A+!  If you love audiobooks, I highly recommend you listen to this one.

Lynnie's Review

Remarkably Bright Creatures is an absolutely delightful novel! A great story, filled with charming, interesting characters, I was drawn in to the story from the first page.

There is a mystery to solve, connections to be made, friendships and family to discover. The cast of side characters, each with their own stories and subplots add to the dynamics of this fascinating tale. Sure, there are plenty of predictable elements in this novel, and it's clear their lives will come together somehow but it is a pleasure to watch it unfold.

I both read the book and listened to the audiobook and I enjoyed both, though I have to say that Michael Urie's voice acting for Marcellus was particularly fabulous. He gave Marcellus the perfect combination of amusement, condescension and love, and his small chapters were my favorite. Marin Ireland was also wonderful and had to rely on a much larger range of voices and accents- both get an A+ from me. However, it's Urie who steals the voice acting show here and because of him I would recommend you grab the audiobook if you are able.

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

Amy  

fiction, historical fiction

Bern is the foremost expert on composer Frederic Delaney. When a lost opera composition from the 1920s is discovered, the Frederic Delaney Foundation hires Bern to transcribe the music and get it performance-ready. During his research, Bern discovers a deeper mystery hidden within the documentation that prompts him and his friend, Ebony, to look further into what might be another huge historical find.

I found myself disgruntled in the first quarter of the novel.  It felt an awful lot like it was being set up to copy Brendan Slocumb’s first novel’s relationship of the villain to the musician. Also, there was SO much emphasis on the Non Disclosure Agreement that it felt like Slocumb was projecting the plot too much. Thankfully, at around the 25% mark, the true story of Symphony of Secrets emerged and my fears were not realized. (However, I will mention one other grievance which was an instance of poor editing relating to cell phone usage in the Foundation offices.)

After my initial concerns were alleviated, the story compelled me forward and I really enjoyed it.  Told from different viewpoints in both Bern’s current time period and Delaney’s 1920s time period, the characters were intriguing and the difficulties they faced were gripping. I loved journeying back in time to Delaney’s heyday and I was thrilled with Bern’s discoveries.

I applaud Slocumb for writing a novel spotlighting the fact that many artists who don’t “fit the mold” or lack resources/advantages remain hidden. The novel also touches on other music-related topics I don’t want to mention for fear of giving too much away. But I really appreciated his efforts with this story.

Though the method by which Bern’s troubles were resolved seemed highly unlikely, the resolution was very satisfying. Symphony of Secrets was a fun ride and another terrific, musical, mysterious, illustrative story by Slocumb. 

The narrator of the audiobook, Chante McCormick, did a good job with juggling a bunch of different character voices and was a wonderful voice actor.  I give her an A-.

   

The Desolation of Devil's Acre (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #6) by Ransom Riggs

Lynnie

young adult, series

 

This last book in Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series begins right where The Conference of the Birds ended. 

 

Let me start by saying that I'm glad I read this book and I'm glad I saw this series through to the end- I have adored these characters since I first met them and, in many ways, I'm sad to see their story come to an end. But also- it's really well past time for the story to end, and it shows in this book which never really finds its groove.

The Desolation of Devil's Acre suffered from a number of issues- too many characters to contain means that none of them get proper development or treatment and many stories arcs are ultimately left on the table, unresolved. From chapter to chapter, I found it difficult to remember where (and sometimes when) the story was taking place- there was so much going on, and yet nothing really happened. Events in one chapter had little to do with what followed, but seemed to be present just to say, "hey, remember this character from three books ago?..."

There were definitely some wonderful moments in the book and opportunities to cheer your favorite characters on, but there were just as many moments that made me roll my eyes and wonder how much longer the melodrama and character's self-pity would last before the plot could move forward again.

If you liked the first five books in the series, then yes, you should read this. As if I could stop you anyway.