From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

Amy  

fantasy, romance

Poppy is the chosen one, the Maiden, a pure gift from the gods who will ascend to greatness and save humanity from the blood-sucking monsters that roam the world. Orphaned, she lives with members of royalty who speak with the gods on behalf of their people. But, since Poppy is special and revered, she is protected and hidden from almost everyone. She lives a very isolated life, friendless except for her private maid and body guards. Thankfully, she has been able to frequently secretly escape the confines of her “safety” to experience a little adventure and to learn how to defend herself. But once her main guard is killed, her handsome new guard is both frustrating and exciting with his keen insight and ability to truly see her.

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout had been frequently recommended to me on Goodreads so I finally gave it a try. It was a fun read. The main coming of age story was appealing but often felt very gratuitous. I liked it even though it’s mainly just a story about a sheltered girl having a sexual awakening. I can see many readers rolling their eyes at some of the situations and cliche character comments. But I can also see why it won the Goodreads Best 2020 Romance Novel. :)  Oh, and there are vampires although the story doesn't focus much on them.

I was reading this at the right time—on a beach vacation. I might not have liked it as much otherwise. I’ll probably read the next one. It’s got a fierce, albeit naive, young woman and a forbidden romance.

Amy  


fantasy, romance

The first half of this one was a slog. It was so repetitive and circular. Poppy's inexperience and insecurity grew tiresome. She kept have the same conversations with herself over and over. And then, just when she finally began admitting to herself how she felt about Casteel, she received new information that threw her back into uncertainty and anxiety. It was exhausting. 

The second half had action and suspense which made it more interesting. I'm inclined to read the next one despite all the repetitive comments Poppy and Casteel say to each other. I'm now curious to learn about Poppy's past.

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President by Josh Leib

Lynnie

young adult, contemporary fiction

 

Oliver is a middle school moron. At least, that's what he leads everyone around him to believe. The truth is, Oliver is the third richest person on earth with a devoted and well-paid staff of minions at his disposal. He just has to make sure that his parents, teachers and the other kids at school continue to believe in his incompetence. When his father waxes poetic about his own history as class president however, Oliver sees it as a challenge and plots to prove that any moron can become class president... even him.

I was looking for an audiobook to listen to while driving around and cooking dinner and I admit that I downloaded this one based solely on the title- I was not disappointed. Josh Lieb's I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President lived up to every bit of the hype its name promised.


I had no expectations going into this book and more than once I laughed out loud at the exploits of Oliver and his minions in Oliver's quest to become a middle school class president. If you do decide to entertain yourself with this novel I can't recommend the audiobook highly enough, because Marc Thompson's voice repertoire is an absolute delight- especially when differentiating between Oliver's public voice and his evil inner monologue!

Initially I thought this book was really geared to middle grades- and in many ways it is. But some of the humor is clearly aimed at adults so I honestly don't know who to recommend this book to- which is one reason why it stays in the 3 1/2 heart range. Will you love it? Probably- if you're up for something silly. Will your kids love it? I honestly have no idea- maybe- if they are OK looking up a few things or just not understanding that they are missing some of the funniest bits. Regardless, you could safely listen to this on a family road trip as long as you're OK with the fact that you and the kids may laugh at entirely different parts of the book.

I was ready to go with 4 stars, but the end was a little cute for my tastes- which is why I veer back toward "maybe it IS a kids' book" territory. Still, I don't know what else I expected to happen and I enjoyed the rest of it, so I can't fault Lieb too much for this bit of sentimentality. If you need a good laugh, this book delivers.

 

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Amy  

romance

Ami and Olive are identical twins and Olive is Ami’s maid of honor. Ami has planned a miraculously inexpensive wedding. However, at the wedding party, everyone comes down with food poisoning except Olive and the groom’s brother, Ethan.  Even though Olive and Ethan do not get along, the bride and groom both insist that their siblings go on the all-expense-paid and non-exchangeable honeymoon trip to Maui rather than letting the free trip go to waste.

There is no mystery about how The Unhoneymooners is going to turn out. Obviously, the two people forced to take a luxurious vacation together are going to get over their mutual antagonism and fall in love.  I’d like to fill this review out with deep thoughts and observations about this novel by Christina Lauren, but it’s really just exactly what you think it’s going to be. It's frustrating, comical, and romantic with a bit of conflict thrown in near the end to keep things interesting. This book was a terrific beach read and nothing more. If you’re looking for a light read, I’d recommend it.

Trust by Hernan Diaz

Amy  

historical fiction

In Trust, by Hernan Diaz, the reader is given four versions of the lives of Andrew and Mildred Bevel. The first section is a novel within the novel, a fictionalized telling of the Bevels using the aliases Benjamin and Helen Rask. Benjamin is a quiet, anti-social, brilliant investment manager/financier who becomes one of the wealthiest men in America in the early part of the twentieth century. He meets and marries Helen and they live a happy albeit reclusive life until mental illness strikes.  But wait, this is only the fictionalized version of the Bevels’ lives, published without their consent. To set the record straight, in the second section, Andrew Bevel sets out to write his own memoir containing the truths of his life instead of the sensationalistic fabrications published by Harold Vanner. But what is truth and what is fiction? In the third section, Bevel’s personal secretary, Ida, hired to help him complete his memoir, attempts to seek out the truth. The fourth section, Mildred Bevel’s diary, includes her memories which bring everything to light.

I made two mistakes with Trust:

1) I went into this novel blindly for my book club which is normally a good thing. I typically like to be surprised by a novel without reading the summary and getting preconceived notions. However, for Trust, this was a mistake.  Told in sections, I did not realize that the first two sections were the same story told by different authors. Rather, I was getting bored thinking these two men sounded like they led extremely similar lives. Neither was likable and I was about to stop reading. I did finally seek out the book’s summary. It would have been much more interesting to read both accounts with an eye for the discrepancies and nuances. I didn’t like the story enough to start over from the beginning to gain a fuller appreciation. But I would recommend that anyone reading this novel understands how the first two sections of the novel are related so you can pay attention to the places where different narratives were built.

2) I listened to the audiobook which is, also, normally a good thing. Not so with Trust. I partially blame the fact that I did not grasp the structure of this novel on the fact that I was unable to see the written format. Additionally, the second section (Andrew Bevel’s memoir about his own life) was a draft, often including outlines and side notes. It was sometimes difficult to distinguish his actual narrative from the notes when listening to words being read instead of seeing them in print. Also, without the benefit of a visual of the page, the longer lists got tedious when I had no idea how long they would continue.

In the end, I understand the awards and attention Trust has received. It’s cleverly-devised and smartly implemented, even though it doesn’t translate all that well to audiobook, IMO. Once I understood the structure, it held my attention despite the not-so-lovable characters. The atmospheres and settings of the time periods were especially vivid. The characters all had interesting living situations and were unusual people. The ending was extremely satisfying.

There were four audiobook narrators.  The first, narrating the fictional novel (called Bonds) starring Benjamin Rask, was one of my long-time favorites, Edoardo Ballerini, who, once again, did a terrific job. He’s simply a superb voice actor. He gets an A. The second, Jonathan Davis, did the memoir draft section by Andrew Bevel and he was alright. I wish he had somehow better vocally differentiated the lists/notes from the rest of the narrative. I give him a B+. Ida’s section was narrated by Mozhan Marno. Sadly, while she did a great job voicing and acting as her protagonist, Ida the secretary, she didn’t use different voices for the other characters and there were a few times I wasn’t sure who was speaking during conversations. How disappointing. Of the two other novels I’ve heard her narrate, she had this same problem with one of them. I give her a B. The final narrator was Orlagh Cassidy reading Mildred’s section. She was perfect. She only had to voice the one character so I’m giving her an A.

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis

Lynnie

Essays, Nonfiction

 

I enjoy Helen Ellis' turn of phrase. She amuses me and her books and stories are easy to read and digest. Ellis spends her time in Southern Lady Code writing about snippets of life as an Alabama woman let loose in New York City. (I always picture her saying it the way the cowboys used to say it in the old Pace Picante commercial- based on her own media references throughout the book, I'm sure she'd know the one I'm talking about). Unfortunately, that's where Ellis lost me sometimes.

Where I loved her stories in Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light and American Housewife, I found it harder to relate to her in Southern Lady Code where her extremes were on display. (In one essay, she walks off with another woman's Burberry coat and after pathetic attempts to find its true owner she feels so "guilty" she buys... a more expensive Burberry coat?). Sometimes her stories just screamed, "look how successful I am- ha!" which I love for her, truly. But also, success isn't really funny. Ellis is at her best when talking about her friendships and family and I really enjoyed those moments in the book most.

Lovers of Ellis' previous work will likely enjoy this quick collection, but I suspect readers who are new to Ellis will have less patience with some of the more self-serving moments.

 

A Curious Beginning, A Perilous Undertaking, A Treacherous Curse, A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #1 - #4) by Deanna Raybourn

Amy  

historical fiction, mystery

After Veronica’s guardian “aunts” die in 1887, she is ready to embark on adventures around the world in search of butterflies and natural history. However, a distinguished-looking gentleman appears and explains that he knows the identity of her mystery mother and that Veronica’s welfare is at risk. He offers to take her to safety in London.  Deciding this is a great way to get free transportation, Veronica agrees to join the charming man and his promises of information. In London, he leaves her in the hands of a grizzled natural historian, Stoker, who is performing taxidermy work to make money. However, it isn’t long before Veronica and Stoker are running for their lives.

Veronica is a precocious, intelligent, high-spirited young woman and I couldn’t help but admire her gusto. Deanna Raybourn’s storytelling in A Curious Beginning was wonderful and the linguistics of her characters felt perfect for their place and time. The witty banter between Veronica and Stoker had me giggling many times. I enjoyed spending time with them so much!

This adventurous mystery was perfectly paced and continuously moving forward (even though the big mystery wasn’t hard to guess). I will definitely be reading more in this series and look forward to seeing where Veronica ends up next.

While the audiobook narrator, Angele Masters, had a nice range of voices and accents, her voice for Veronica was extremely annoying—very nasal, bratty, high-pitched and using the same lyrical meter in all of her sentences (building quickly to a climax and then working its way down). I laughed out loud when the words “I said gently” were narrated right after a sentence which was, most assuredly, not delivered gently. Masters never read Veronica’s words in any manner other than bossy, loud, and obnoxious. So despite her quality voice acting for most of the other characters, having to endure Masters’ voice for Veronica throughout the entire 11-hour audiobook brings my grade for her narration down to a B.

Amy 

historical fiction, mystery

Veronica is asked to try to prove the innocence of a man accused of murdering his pregnant lover. The person asking her to do this investigation is none other than her secret royal aunt. Stoker helps her in this amateur detective adventure.

Veronica and Stoker find themselves rubbing elbows with the art community and its wealthy benefactors. The quirky cast of characters was fun. A Perilous Undertaking was infused with more humor than the first novel and had me giggling out loud sometimes. And the sexual tension between Veronica and Stoker is fun but frustrating—it’s like a Victorian version of Moonlighting.

I am not a lover of mysteries but I’ve enjoyed these novels because the people are more compelling than the actual mystery solutions.  I see there are several more sequels in this series and I wonder if I’ll grow tired of the mysteries or if the author can keep me diverted. I’m willing to try the next one and see.

Thankfully, the narrator, Angele Masters, toned down the piercing nature of Veronica’s voice in this novel and I had no trouble listening to this audiobook. Bravo!  A- for this one.

Amy    

historical fiction, mystery

I continue to enjoy this series. This novel had a few bits that were more overtly far-fetched than the prior two novels. But I let them go without much fuss because I enjoy spending time with these characters.

Amy  

historical fiction, mystery

FINALLY!!!! I was beginning to think Stoker and Veronica would never admit to each other how they felt towards one another. Hooray! Progress at last! I'm sure Deanna Raybourn will keep stringing the readers along and not allowing the relationship to move too quickly in future novels. But I'm satisfied for being given the morsels in this book.