Author: tamaramorning

Book Review: No Woods So Dark as These, by Randall Silvis

no woods so dark as these
Image belongs to Poisoned Pen Press.

Title: No Woods So Dark as These
Author: Randall Silvis
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5 

Former Sergeant Ryan DeMarco’s life has been spent in defiance–he’s defied death, loneliness, and betrayal all while fighting the worst parts of humanity. He’s earned a break, and following the devastation of their last case, DeMarco and his girlfriend Jayme want nothing more than to live quietly in each other’s company. To forget the horrors they’ve experienced and work on making each other whole again.

But dreams of a peaceful life together are shattered when two bodies are discovered in a smoldering car in the woods, and another is found brutally mutilated nearby. Much as he’d like to leave the case to his former colleagues, dark forces are at play and DeMarco cannot escape the vortex of lies, betrayal, and desperation. He and Jayme are dragged back into the fray, where they must confront the shady dealings of a close-knit rural community.

I’ve enjoyed all the books in this series, and I enjoyed this one as well, although there was quite a bit more introspection from the characters than in the previous novels—which seems a bit odd for a thriller. Facing mortality after the events of the previous novel, maybe?

Silvis’s writing is sharp and solid as always, but this book seemed to be more about DeMarco’s mental struggles than the actual case. Jayme is also struggling, but Ryan is the focus here, which I enjoyed.

Randall Silvis is an award-winning author. No Woods So Dark as These is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Poisoned Penn Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Paris Never Leaves You, by Ellen Feldman

paris never leaves you
Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: Paris Never Leaves You
Author:  Ellen Feldman   
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Moving between wartime Paris crushed under the boot of the Nazi Occupation and 1950s Manhattan giddy with postwar abundance and optimism, Paris Never Leaves You is the story of one woman’s struggle to save her infant daughter and herself.

Running a bookshop in occupied Paris, a city darkened by blackouts, curfews, and constant fear; gripped by hunger, cold, and sudden roundups and deportations, Charlotte Foret walks a fine line between protecting her daughter and staying true to herself and her country; between her hatred for the enemy and her unwanted sympathy for a Wehrmacht physician tortured by his own lethal secret.

Charlotte endures and her daughter ultimately thrives, but the compromises she has made shadow her new life in postwar New York, where she works in a publishing house presided over with wry irreverence by a man haunted by his own war history. Their fates and that of the Wehrmacht physician who has fled to South America prove that though the war is over, the past is never past.

I have to admit, this book traumatized me a bit…and I’m not completely sure why. Yes, the basic setting and time period in history was awful, so that was part of it. And, Charlotte’s worry over her daughter and her struggle to keep her well and safe was terrible to imagine, but that wasn’t all of it either. Just the horrifying experiences of Charlotte and the doctor and everyone…

Honestly, I didn’t connect too well with Charlotte. The guilt she inflicted on herself was a lot, and I found it hard to relate to her. Her actions in the present weren’t that likable, either, but even the secondary characters weren’t terribly likable (Except the doctor. I liked him.). I just found this book more emotional than I was comfortable with at the time I was reading.

Ellen Hampton lives in New York. Paris Never Leaves You is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #84

This week, I wrote four book reviews, did two fiction-writing sessions, two lessons in the Stiefvater class, and worked on writing a synopsis of Chasing Shadows to give me some story clarity. It was a solid writing week!

Happy writing1

 

Book Review and Blog Tour: The Dazzling Truth, by Helen Cullen

the dazzling truth
Image belongs to Harlequin/Graydon House.

Title: The Dazzling Truth
Author: Helen Cullen   
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

In the courtyards of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1978, aspiring actress Maeve meets pottery student Murtagh Moone. As their relationship progresses, marriage and motherhood come in quick succession, but for Maeve, with the joy of children also comes the struggle to hold on to the truest parts of herself.

Decades later, on a small Irish island, the Moone family are poised for celebration but instead are struck by tragedy. Each family member must find solace in their own separate way, until one dazzling truth brings them back together. But as the Moone family confront the past, they also journey toward a future that none of them could have predicted. Except perhaps Maeve herself.

This book…is slow, atmospheric, and yes, dazzling. It’s a small family/personal story, yet it draws the reader into Maeve’s and Murtagh’s lives from the very beginning and keeps them entranced by the simple island life and experiences of the Moone family. The characters are vivid and so realistic I feel like I knew them personally. The story is engrossing, sad, magical…all at the same time, and I definitely recommend reading it.

Helen Cullen is from Ireland and lives in London. The Dazzling Truth is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Graydon House in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: It Came from the Sky, by Chelsea Sedoti

 

it came from the sky
Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.

Title: It Came from the Sky
Author:  Chelsea Sedoti
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5

This is the absolutely true account of how Lansburg, Pennsylvania was invaded by aliens and the weeks of chaos that followed. There were sightings of UFOs, close encounters, and even abductions. There were believers, Truth Seekers, and, above all, people who looked to the sky and hoped for more.

Only…there were no aliens.

Gideon Hofstadt knows what really happened. When one of his science experiments went wrong, he and his older brother blamed the resulting explosion on extraterrestrial activity. And their lie was not only believed by their town―it was embraced. As the brothers go to increasingly greater lengths to keep up the ruse and avoid getting caught, the hoax flourishes. But Gideon’s obsession with their tale threatened his whole world. Can he find a way to banish the aliens before Lansburg, and his life, are changed forever?

I really enjoyed reading this! Gideon is…Sheldon, from Big Bang Theory (except he doesn’t think he’s smarter than everyone), and I love Sheldon, so I enjoyed Gideon’s point-of-view. I actually felt sorry for him, too, because he was just baffled by people’s emotions and how he should respond sometimes.

The secondary characters are vibrant and distinctive, and Sedoti’s writing is solid and enjoyable as always, letting the reader feel at home in the story world. There were several funny moments here, and I’d love to read more about all these characters (like, what’s Maggie getting up to?).

Chelsea Sedoti lives in Las Vegas. It Came from the Sky is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Morning Flower, by Amanda Hocking

the morning flower
Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: The Morning Flower
Author:  Amanda Hocking
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 3.0 out of 5

When Ulla Tulin took her internship at the Mimirin, the only mystery she thought she’d have to solve was that of her birth parents. After a girl named Eliana gets kidnapped while in her care, Ulla knows she has to find out the truth of who Eliana really is—and the only way to do that means traveling to the Omte capital, the place she suspects her mother is from.

Ulla didn’t expect that when she arrived she would discover the identity of a Skojare man who crossed paths with her mother—a man who could very well be her father. When the head of the Mimirin learns Ulla’s father is connected to the Älvolk, a secret society who believes they were tasked with protecting the First City and the only ones who know its location, he sends Ulla and Pan to Sweden where they find him living among the Älvolk. But all is not what it seems with the Älvolk and their urgent quest to find the Lost Bridge to the First City leaves Ulla feeling uneasy—and possibly in danger.

I like the idea of the troll mythology—although they’re basically humans living secretly among other humans—but I just don’t think Hocking is the best author for me to read. This felt really slow-paced to me, with a lot of unnecessary details and plot points, frankly. And the “romance” was a non-starter.

Ulla spends the whole book trying to figure out who her parents are, then her dad basically comes out of nowhere, knowing he’s her dad and offering her all the secrets of the Älvolk without hesitation, including taking her to their secret city? This was completely unbelievable and came across as heavy-handed deux ex machina.

Amanda Hocking is a YA author. The Morning Flower is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Some Kind of Animal, by Maria Romasco Moore

some kind of animal
Image belongs to Delacorte Press.

Title: Some Kind of Animal
Author: Maria Romasco Moore
Genre: YA
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Jo lives in the same town where her mother disappeared fifteen years ago. Everyone knows what happened to Jo’s mom. Now people are starting to talk about Jo. She’s barely passing her classes and falls asleep at her desk every day. She’s following in her mom’s footsteps. Jo has a secret — she has a twin sister. Her sister is not like most people. She lives in the woods, wild and free. Night after night, as often as she can manage, Jo slips out of her bedroom window and meets her sister in the woods, where together they run, fearlessly.

When Jo’s twin attacks a boy from town, the people in town assume it must have been Jo. Now Jo has to decide whether to tell the world about her sister or to run.

The basic premise of this novel was so far-fetched to me as to make the rest of the story a bit questionable:  I just don’t see how a fifteen-year-old girl has lived in the woods her entire life—and has been sneaking into town every night for years—and no one suspects her existence but her twin sister. You just can’t tell me a child would have been capable of that kind of stealth on a regular basis.

Frankly, the town in question—and its residents—was an ugly, mean place. I’m sure places like this exist, but it had no redeeming qualities—and no nice people living there, either. Jo’s family was awful. Her life was awful. Even her best friend was awful. Jo herself wasn’t the greatest/brightest, even keeping in mind she’s only fifteen. The writing was solid and evocative, but if the basic premise of a story isn’t believable for me, it casts doubt on the entire novel.

Maria Romasco Moore teaches writing. Some Kind of Animal is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks

someone's listening blog tour

lies lies lies
Image belongs to harlequin/MIRA.

Title: Lies, Lies, Lies
Author: Adele Parks
Genre: Thriller
Rating:  2 out of 5 

Daisy and Simon spent almost a decade hoping for the child that fate cruelly seemed to keep from them. It wasn’t until, with their marriage nearly in shambles and Daisy driven to desperation, little Millie was born. Perfect in every way, healing the Barnes family into a happy unit of three. Ever indulgent Simon hopes for one more miracle, one more baby. But his doctor’s visit shatters the illusion of the family he holds so dear.

Now, Simon has turned to the bottle to deal with his revelation and Daisy is trying to keep both of their secrets from spilling outside of their home. But Daisy’s silence and Simon’s habit begin to build until they set off a catastrophic chain of events that will destroy life as they know it.

It’s a small wonder I actually finished reading this. The characters—to me—were so unlikable as to be almost intolerable. Simon was awful—completely selfish and self-absorbed throughout almost the entire novel, and hateful to boot. Daisy…I’ve never seen someone so passive. Her internal dialogue is full of anger and impulses, but she sits around and lets horrible people do horrible things to her like she’s incapable of doing anything for herself. With all the mystery surrounding Millie’s parentage, the truth was even more horrifying—and disgusting—than I imagined.

Excellent writing and description just could not save this novel from my dislike of and distaste for these characters.

Adele Parks lives in Surrey. Lies, Lies, Lies is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: Child on His Doorstep, by Lee Tobin McClain

child on his doorstep
Image belongs to Harlequin.

Title: Child on His Doorstep
Author:  Lee Tobin McClain   
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

An unexpected delivery and fresh start. He needed only a nanny…but in her he’s found so much more. Suddenly a father after his little brother is abandoned on his doorstep, Corbin Beck has no idea how to care for a toddler. Thankfully, former hometown party girl Samantha Alcorn is making a fresh start as a live-in nanny. As Corbin bonds with little Mikey—and sparks fly with Samantha—they begin to feel like a family. But Samantha’s secret could change everything…

I felt like the feelings between Corbin and Samantha developed basically out of nowhere, although Corbin did have a crush on her back in high school. However, he just moves her into his house now with no hesitations or questions or anything, so that struck me as odd. And who would seriously think dropping off a kid on someone’s doorstep and tricking your way into taking care of said child was a good idea? Really?

Apart from the logic leaps that seemed to me to be lacking in logic, I enjoyed the story, more or less. Solid writing and interesting characters. I loved that all Corbin and Samantha’s friends were Christians, and how supportive the town was, it was the characters’ actions that I struggled with making sense of.

Lee Tobin McClain is a bestselling author. Child on His Doorstep is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #83

This was a good writing week. I wrote three book reviews plus my Best Books I Read in July post. I did a couple of lessons in the Maggie Stiefvater class and wrote a short outline of the first chapter of the story I’m editing. And, I got in two fiction-writing sessions, so I’m happy with my writing this week.

Happy writing!