Gregor and the Code of Claw

By Charlotte

Book Review: Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins (Book 5 in The Underland Chronicles)

Official FC Rating:

This review was originally posted on my personal blog, To Harriet Louise.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote up a little review of how I felt about the fourth book in The Underland Chronicles - Gregor and the Marks of Secret. I loved it and thought it was a good continuation of the series, if a little slower paced than the other books. I also mentioned not remembering quite as much detail since it's been months since I've read the books... it's obviously the same deal with this book. But I think I can still give a pretty decent idea of what this book is about and whether or not you should read it (you should!). 

Like I've said in each of these reviews, this series is amazing. (For those who like kidlit/have kids and are familiar with it: this series is better than Percy Jackson but not quite as good as Harry Potter.) It tackles discrimination, oppression, war, right vs. wrong, morality, and this time, fate. By now Gregor has fought in Underland several times, trying to do what is right (and to be honest, just trying to figure outwhat is right). He learns of a prophecy that calls for his death (this story line is sort of getting old? I say this as though it ever stops me from reading anything...) and must decide if he's still willing to fight. I guess I won't give the answer away but it's pretty obvious considering it's a novel... 

But anyway. We once again deal with Solovet and her grimy tactics. She's basically America. She wants to look good and fair and all, and she says she stands for justice and peace, but... she tries to "achieve" justice and peace by, like, violent tactics. So... 

Gregor is not a fan. 

A lot of this story is simply battle. We still have some issues and we're not entirely sure who is bad and who is good. I think the ending is mostly a morally sound one. We do not get to know every detail about what happens once the novel is over (big things like "does peace last?" and small things like "what happens to Luxa and Gregor?"), which annoys me a bit. But I thought we were given some clarity on the war and on morals and I think the "right" things happened. (I'm trying and failing to describe this without giving anything away.) Essentially, none of the bad guys truly win. The morally bad characters - whether obnoxiously, Donald Trump-esque bad like Bane or more subtly, Hillary Clinton-esque bad like Solovet are ultimately seen for what they are. It is a dark, hard ending. There are major losses. I cried and I imagine it'd be difficult for kids, but that's true of this story in general once we hit the third book. I'd want to read it with a kid instead of them reading it alone. 

So this whole time we have one species fighting another species, some species driving other species out of their homes, species trying to kill off other species, etc. etc. And throughout this whole thing we see some members, particularly of the oppressor groups, employ awful means. There is little regard for life by these characters, and especially for life that doesn't resemble their own. (Sound familiar? Regalia is America, for real.) And at the very end of the series, our young hero Luxa and the scrappy Ripred, a rat leader, do something completely unprecedented and totally moving (to me, anyway) to change the way things are done and I don't think Collins could have given us a better ending. I don't want to spoil it so I can't say much more, but I think Collins just ended it on such a good and appropriate note. 

Overall as a series these books teach readers to question war, to stand up for the oppressed, to wonder about free will, and to choose good. I don't think it gets much better. I really think I might like this series better than The Hunger Games. I 100% recommend it.

__

Char

Reviews for earlier books in The Underland Chronicles:

Gregor the Overlander (Book 1)
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (Book 2)
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (Book 3)  

Gregor and the Marks of Secret (Book 4)

Gregor and the Marks of Secret

By Charlotte
Book Review: Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins (Book 4 in The Underland Chronicles)
Official FC Rating:

This review was originally posted on my personal blog, To Harriet Louise.

Whoa. It has been nine months since I posted the review of the third book in this series. Nine months! I could have gestated a child in the time it took me to get my act together enough to post this review. A HUMAN CHILD. That's how long I've procrastinated. 

And unlike a child, which would have grown stronger and more defined over time, the nine month break means my memory of the book is fainter, the impression it left lighter. Which makes for a lackluster review. Lackluster, my middle name.

Despite all that, my overwhelming feeling toward this book is that it was fantastic. I don't remember as many details as I did two minutes after reading it, obviously (and my computer did me a solid and deleted my general review of the whole series). But I remember the plot well enough (and was smart enough to dog-ear pages with quotes that struck me) and I definitely remember the themes Suzanne Collins explores and I know that I finished this book feeling like I absolutely needed to get my hands on the fifth book. I appreciated Collins even more than I already did after reading this book. I still am awed by her ability to talk about war and politics in ways that are appropriate for kids (and still interesting for adults). Somewhere between reading the third book in this series and the fourth book, it occurred to me that I might like The Underland Chronicles more than I like The Hunger Games.

The fourth book, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, is a bit different from its predecessors in that we don't have a direct prophecy or end point this time. The plot is a bit more mysterious and open ended. Basically, Luxa (I gave some character descriptions here), the future queen, is sent a message of distress and she and Gregor go searching for an answer. They find out that the mice of the Underland are once again being driven out of their homes by a more powerful species. (Sound familiar? Collins' stories are political ones.) But when she and Gregor explore, they realize that (spoiler alert - though this isn't a huge reveal and won't ruin the series for anyone, probably...) this time, the mice aren't just being driven out of their homes; they're being murdered. It's a genocide orchestrated by the Bane and the rats. We see some more character development in this one, especially with Luxa as she begins to truly come into her role. Ultimately, she declares war on the rats.  

Needless to say, this book is dark. It's the darkest in the series, in my opinion. If I had kids, I'd want to read it with/to them. I wouldn't want them to read it alone. That said, I still think it's an age-appropriate exploration of war and politics and hatred and fear.

And if you happen to be reading it now, be prepared for some scary real-life parallels:

"He will find followers, because he’s the Bane. He’s got the white coat, and the size, and enough hatred brewing inside him to wipe out the Underland as we know it. Most rats will overlook the fact that he’s unbalanced, because he’ll be telling them exactly what they want to hear. They’ve been starved too long, and then so many died from the plague... especially the pups. No, the gnawers won’t care who he is or what he does if he brings them revenge."

Familiar, right?

While it's a not as conclusive as the previous books, it's still pretty excellent. It's sad, of course. But we get to watch as our characters consider whether there are things worth going to war over, if there are things that justify killing. (And as the series goes on, I tend to think that most of the "good" characters make the right decisions, which is why I think this series is so good for kids. Like it or not, we're currently living in a war-obsessed country and I think it's great for kids to question such values. This book will prompt those questions.) It's also nice to see the characters face trials bravely. Obviously courage and bravery and sacrifice are good things in books and good things in real life.

Neville knows. He would like The Underland Chronicles.

So basically, loved this book. I didn't love it as much as the third book, but it's an important step in the series and sets us up for the fifth and final book. It doesn't work as a stand alone novel, though, so you'll have to start from the beginning. A very good place to start.

You won't regret it. Go pick up this book/series, pronto.

__

Char

Reviews for earlier books in The Underland Chronicles:

Gregor the Overlander (Book 1)

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (Book 2)

Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (Book 3)  

Eleanor: A Novel

By Liz

Book Review: Eleanor: A Novel by Jason Gurley

Official FC Rating: 

How does one single decision, or event, impact the future? It’s a question that many people think at some point or another. Every so often thoughts like these may cross our minds: “What if I had done this instead of that? Could it have prevented that from happening? Could I have done something to change these circumstances? Is it my fault?” These are a few of the questions explored in Jason Gurley’s surreal and heart wrenching novel, Eleanor (which has nothing to do with Eleanor Roosevelt, since I was asked this 800 times while I was reading this).

Long before Eleanor was born, tragedy strikes her family that seems to leave them with a family curse. Then, in 1985, Eleanor’s twin sister tragically dies, which puts her entire family in further emotional turmoil. Eight years later, when Eleanor is 14, she walks through a door in her school cafeteria, and exits into another world. She doesn’t return to her own world until many hours later. From that point onwards, her life is never the same.

You’d think based on that summary that I would understand going in this book was going to be sad, but nope. I was not prepared for ALL OF THE ACTUAL TEARS I WOULD SHED. Gurley certainly did an amazing job conveying emotion and creating stunning images through his words. I loved how he described the other worlds, especially the realm that he calls the rift. It was one of those novels that evoked both feelings and imagery, which makes for a great novel. The novel also deals with some fascinating themes, which Gurley handled in ways that I found both exceptional at points, and disappointing at others.

Death. Alternative universes. A dysfunctional family. Bending of time. These are all intriguing concepts to me that are featured in Eleanor. The themes of this novel actually reminded of a couple novels I read in the summer of 2015, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. However, in my opinion, Eleanor differs greatly from those two novels in how the main conflicts in its plot were addressed. Gurley, in some ways, uses escapist plot devices rather than tackle depression, specifically, in any kind of realistic way. I think this is likely a classic case of Deus ex Machina because the conclusion of this novel was almost too satisfying.  

From this point forward there will be some major spoilers. Don’t continue reading if you plan to read Eleanor yourself!

Ozeki, Murakami, and Gurley’s novels all use surrealism in fantastic ways that make you question our own world. Each of their novels have bizarre elements, but unlike Ozeki and Murakami, Gurley uses the other worldly aspects of his story to literally solve the conflict his characters were facing. This brings us back to the main theme of the novel, which is the question of “what impact could one event, one decision, have upon the future?” Gurley’s answer to this in Eleanor is everything. The decision Eleanor’s namesake, her grandmother, made to swim into the sea while she was pregnant, thus killing herself and her unborn child alter her family’s future. This event devastates the family to such a degree that the answer to fixing the problem was, in the end, setting the clock back so Eleanor’s grandmother never kills herself.

It was one of those conclusions that really shouldn’t have surprised me, and admittedly, certain elements of the book became predictable, like Mea actually being Eleanor’s dead twin sister, Esmerelda. I don’t mind predictability in novels (unless it is painfully cliché), but in the case of Eleanor, what bothered me was that the other worlds became the tool to handle problems in Eleanor’s family that are very much the result of real problems we have in society.

Eleanor’s grandmother was very clearly battling depression. She married very young, and got pregnant with Eleanor’s mother shortly after her marriage, which led to her having to drop out of college and quit her passion, competitive swimming. As she is pregnant with her second child, she begins to question her choices, and, to some degree, resent motherhood due to her depression. She doesn’t want to go through a second pregnancy because she feels that, at times, motherhood has taken away some of her happiness, and of her own self.

The depression Eleanor’s grandmother faces, her feelings of disappointment with motherhood, and the fact that she didn’t really want to be a mother to begin with, are real problems that women face today. And Gurley, not only doesn’t address these problems in a meaningful way, but uses Eleanor’s grandmother’s depression as the central point of the whole novel. She was the sole reason the lives of her family members were ruined. I don’t think this is the message we should send to young women. Now, should Eleanor’s grandmother have killed herself? No, but Eleanor’s actions were the reflection of a society that puts too much on women’s shoulders (to put it lightly).

It also leaves the message that a woman should sacrifice everything to put her family first. The novel wouldn’t have necessarily set that message if the novel goes on to show how Eleanor’s grandmother does end up resolving her issues without committing suicide. But nah. It’s just implied that everything gets magically fixed, more or less.

~~End Spoilers~~

From all that, it sounds like I disliked the novel, but I truly didn’t! It was a wonderful, albeit sad, book to read. I do recommend this book, but it’s a novel to be taken at face value. While the novel doesn’t examine societal or philosophical problems in a way I usually prefer, the fantastical elements were grabbing and Gurley’s descriptions were fun in a way that makes you want to draw out the scene. If you’re down for a good cry, or three, and enjoy fantasy, this novel is up your alley. 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Blogging For Books program in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.

The Mapmaker's Children

By Charlotte

Book Review: The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy

Official FC Rating:

Let me just start off with the one important thing you need to know: The Mapmaker's Children, by Sarah McCoy, is a very good book. It's The Twelve Tribes of Hattie meets Sarah's Key. If you know how I feel about those two books, you know that's high praise from me.

The book is written in alternating narration. We've got Eden, a woman living in current day Virginia, and Sarah, the daughter of John Brown (of Harper's Ferry) living before and during the Civil War. I admit I'm tiring of this kind of writing (seems like more and more authors are turning to it), but McCoy pulls it off. 

Sarah, probably the more likable and interesting protagonist of the two, is independent, willful as her father, and extremely loyal to the people she loves and to truth and goodness. While her mother and sisters take to grieving after her father is executed, Sarah instead vows to carry on his abolitionist work. She cannot have children, but she decides she will carry on his legacy more than any of his other children can. Sarah is a gifted artist, and she paints maps for the slaves and abolitionists of the Underground Railroad. She adopts as family her father's "trusted friends," other people who hold the same values. 

Eden is 36 or 37, married to a good man, and emotionally unstable after miscarriages, infertility, and years of hormonal IVF treatments. She is bitter as hell. She's very snappy and closed off to everyone. To be honest, for the first three quarters of the book I really didn't like her chapters. Eventually we start to see some character development. She's living in the same area as some of those "trusted friends" of Sarah's father lived 150 years ago. 

Just like Sarah's Key, we've got a mystery in this book. Our current characters stumble upon random, old objects and wonder where they're from. And we read the book and figure it out. :) 

Aside from our mystery, we have two women dealing with the prospect of never becoming mothers, one of them more upset about it than the other. We've got distant lovers. We have war. This book is historical fiction, it's romance, it's feminism, it's more than we can ask for in any one book.

The writing itself was good. I mentioned earlier that it was a cross between The Twelve Tribes of Hattie and Sarah's Key. I'd say the writing is better than the latter, not as good as the former (but close!). It gets a four out of five because it took too long to make me feel invested in Eden. For so much of the book I was just wishing I could have a novel about Sarah and Freddy (I mentioned distant lovers!) and the abolitionists, and bemoaning the fact that I needed to read about Eden's struggles. I ended up enjoying Eden's story toward the end, but I definitely think the pace could have been better.

Over all, I would recommend this to my friends. Go get a copy now!!

xoxo
Charlotte

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Blogging For Books program in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.

    

A BOOK ABOUT HARRY POTTER, YAY HARRY POTTER

By Charlotte

Book Review: How Harry Cast His Spell: The Meaning Behind the Mania for J.K. Rowling's Bestselling Books by John Granger

Official FC Rating:

There is one major spoiler in this review. If you haven't read or watched Harry Potter, you might not want to read this.

I am slightly obsessed with Harry Potter, guys. Ever so slightly. So I was giddy as a gargoyle when I got my hot little hands on this book. I first heard of it while I was reading one of my favorite blogs - Carrots for Michaelmas (or at least.. I'm pretty sure that's where I first heard about it). I headed over to Amazon and soaked up the reviews, knowing this book would be perfect for me. It is a trifecta of good topics: Harry Potter, writing, and religion. Swoon. (And the author's name is Granger! Like Hermione! Insignificant but mildly fun, yes?)

I enjoyed this book very much. Granger makes the argument that so many people are drawn to the Harry Potter series because of its Christian symbolism and meanings. Not in an "oh! It's Christian! We need to read it!" way, rather in a subtler way. The books never mention Christianity, but they're filled with Christian themes, whether or not readers immediately recognize them (I didn't catch every Christian symbol while reading them by a long shot). Granger argues that people are drawn to these themes because they are true and good. (Side: I agree, and I think it's important to clarify: I don't think things are true because they are Christian - I think things are Christian because they're true. So for example, if I'm reading Catholic doctrine I don't go, "oh! The Catholic church is telling me this is good, so it must be true!" Instead it's "This thing is good and so the Catholic Church proclaims it to be true." The church doesn't make things true - it proclaims the truth. ANYWAY...) So yes. I get what he's saying here. Whether or not we identify as a certain religion or believe in God, we're all drawn to God and goodness which flows from Him. I dig it. That's his main argument in the book: it is chock full of Christian symbols and stories and we're therefore drawn to it.

Using bc Christians are thought to be the most judgmental bastards. eek. 

Now, when I first told my friend about it, she hypothesized that Granger probably just nit-picked parts he wanted from the books to make it seem like it was Christian, or at least stretched certain situations to fit his own theories. I admittedly worried about this myself when I first bought the book. But there were very, very few instances where I thought Granger was really stretching it to make something fit his case. Also, he mentions several instances where Rowling herself said she was using Christian symbols or that she specifically studied alchemy (which is tied to Christianity) while writing Harry Potter, so Granger's arguments are, I think, valid.

Some things he wrote about were obvious - there's no doubting the Christianity of Harry's decision to walk into the forest and sacrifice himself to save everyone else. But there are so many other things I hadn't noticed!!! They seem obvious now, of course. Example: In Sorcerer's Stone, Harry woke up three days after his struggle with Quirrel/Voldemort. Sound familiar?

Even if you don't dig the premise, the book is still worth the read. You can disagree that everyone is drawn to God in literature and still dig the really cool meanings throughout the books. Also! Granger talks about interesting names of many characters, how the characters interact with one another and how that relates to alchemy, and so much more. I don't want to give much away by describing everything I liked.

As for the things I wasn't wildly fond about.......

Sometimes (not throughout the entire book) the tone would become slightly patronizing. Not even in a very condescending way, but definitely in an "I know more than you" kind of way. It wasn't often enough to make me dislike the book or the author, but it did annoy me. Another thing, and this happened at the end of every. single. chapter., instead of smoothly transitioning into the next chapter (or just.. not mentioning the next chapter until the next chapter actually started...), Granger would say things like, "Turn the page to see what we think about ____!" or "Keep reading to find out how Goblet of Fire ______!" Unnecessary! SO UNNECESSARY. And again, while most of his examples of Christian symbolism or meaning were solid, there were a few stretches (but very few - five at most).

Over all though, I loved this book so much! I thought the structure was smart and made sense (divided into chapters like "alchemy," "names," "magical creatures," etc and then moving into the meanings of each individual book). Other than the occasional patronizing, the tone was light and fun while still being smart. It was also really helpful to me since I'd like to write a book. And most of all, it made me love Harry Potter even more, if that's possible! I ended up rereading some of the HP books while/after reading this one because I was eager to delight in even more of the meaning than I usually do. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to write, anyone who loves Harry Potter, and people who enjoy religion.

You can never have too many Harry Potter books, after all.

xoxo
Char

  

The Tsar of Love and Techno: Liz's Review!

By Liz

Book Review: The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra

Official FC Rating: 

By now, you may have read Charlotte’s excellent review of The Tsar of Love and Techno, so you’re aware that she absolutely loved it. While she was reading it, she highly recommended it to me as well, so I decided to make it my final read of 2015. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed!

At the end of 2015 this book could be found on nearly every “best of 2015” list, and for good reason- it is phenomenally written. Charlotte mentioned how she would occasionally have to put this novel down to pause and just take in the writing, and I found myself doing the same. The writing, and the storytelling, leaves a remarkable impression.

Set in Russia, The Tsar of Love and Techno, a collection of stories that weave together to become one, is about love, politics, the complicated nature of choice, and how a community is connected together over the course of generations. Anthony Marra brilliantly weaves the stories of an artist, a ballerina, a soldier, and many others by connecting them to a single object.

The stories were mind-blowing. I was literally in awe following the end of the first story and the end of the last story. Marra’s writing makes us question, “what really happened here, and what did it mean,” at various points in the novel. A talented writer often will allow a reader to have a certain amount of freedom to wonder and answer things for themselves- Marra has truly nailed this.

Unlike Charlotte, I hate to say that this, I didn’t love every single story in the collection. The first story absolutely blew me away, and the last story had the same kind of impact on me as the first. There were a few in between stories I enjoyed, but none impacted me quite the same as the first and last, unfortunately.

I am not well versed in Russian history, so I occasionally found myself confused at some of the references and googling quite a bit. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just made me want to know more. It also sparked great conversations between me and my partner. He helped me understand the differences between Trotsky and Lenin, and the conversation inspired me to read more about Marxism. I love it when a book makes you think and learn about things you may not have otherwise thought about.

Another big plus about this book was the cleverly inserted humor and references to pop culture. This book literally made me laugh and cry, which is not something that many books accomplish!

The Tsar of Love and Techno will have you all over the emotional spectrum- in a good way! It covers a broad array of themes and will challenge you to think differently. As many before me have said, this book is worth reading. 

___

Liz

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Blogging For Books program in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own. 

A Good Book for Nerds

By Charlotte

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Official FC Rating: 

Original fan art found here.

The world Ernest Cline has written for us is not a safe one. Natural resources are depleted, the number of people living in poverty is sky high, and sweeping desperation has led to the creation of "the Stacks," communities on the outskirts of the cities to which people have fled. These communities were erected by cranes, stacking trailers and even vans upwards of 22 levels high, with a bit of scaffolding around them. They're a testament to the harsh conditions* of the world. 

But the story largely takes place in a parallel world, the virtual reality called OASIS. OASIS was created by two benevolent, nerdy, rich dudes. It's more than a video game, and by the time our story takes place, many people go to school and work in this parallel world. It's also free. (Well, it's free to get an account. It's not entirely free to do other things, like travel within the world.) When one of those founders, Halliday, dies he leaves his entire fortune, and control of OASIS, to..... someone. Upon his death an announcement is made. He's made a secret quest of sorts, and whoever solves it first inherits Halliday's money and property (we're talking billions billions). Years after the quest began, our protagonist solves the first clue, beginning the story. 

It's one kid's story, but we get a larger glimpse of his real world. There's racism, sexism, and rampant corporate greed and corruption. Since it mostly takes place in the virtual reality of OASIS, it's dystopian without always harboring the feeling of despair found in most dystopian stories. Unlike The Hunger Games, where there's a communal effort to revolt, this is really the story of one kid who just wants to solve his own problems. So I wouldn't really call it a story of rebellion, even though it's got a little rebellious flair. It's more of a fun thriller, just set in a dystopia. Still very enjoyable. 

I liked this book a lot. I wish I was still reading it! But I'd actually prefer to give this book 3.5 stars, just... we don't have an image for that. But just know it's more a 3.5 than a 4 (in my mind, anyway). I imagine that bigger nerds than me would give it four or five stars. I've got a few reasons for the rating.  

I love dystopia and I love thrillers, so that's cool. I also love fantasy, and I thought Cline played with an interesting concept when he created a fantasy using real-world things we all know like movies and video games. But sometimes he went into too much detail, describing the references ad nauseam. I know next to nothing about video games and movies and music from the 80's, and even I didn't need to have quite the amount of information he included. At times reading those parts became a drag. 

The story was what carried this book. The writing was good, but nothing spectacular. There weren't any errors I noticed or anything like that, which is always a pleasure. I hate when books are filled with bad writing. (I'm looking at you, fuckin' Twilight.) The writing, while fine, didn't give me goosebumps. If I had read this pre-Tsar, it might have had a better rating. But I'm still basking in the light of that masterpiece, holding books up to a bit of a higher standard than usual when it comes to the writing. (I know that might be snobby, and I also know writing doesn't have to be perfect for a book to be good. Hell, I don't expect I'll ever be able to meet my own standards.)  

While I liked the story line of this kid who goes on an adventure, I think Cline could have explored a few themes more deeply. I imagine the movie will be terrific, since it can just tell the story without having to focus also on broader story arcs. 

I bought this book on a whim, and when I got home and read about it online I was worried. I thought that maybe the emphasis on 80's culture or on video games meant that I wouldn't be able to really enjoy it. Totally not the case. I loved the book, and there was enough info for me to follow along without needing to have any knowledge on the subjects at hand myself. 

While I thought the ending was a bit predictable, it was also a satisfying ending. The whole story was good and well-paced, with the exception of the sometimes too-long descriptions. The book was definitely a page turner. I'd say it was good, not great, but the experience of reading it was great. I didn't want to put it down. I wouldn't put it on the same level as Tolkien, but it was fun. It's definitely one I'd recommend.   

__

Char

*btw these conditions are ones we can expect to find ourselves facing one day if we don't do something about poverty and climate change. k. 

A Snazzy Jazzy Read

By Charlotte

Book Review: 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino

Official FC Rating: 

*Spoiler alert: I don't reveal what happens at the climax of the book, but I do talk about the occasional plot point. I wouldn't really consider them spoilers, but just a heads up in case you like to jump into a book without knowing any of the plot beforehand. 

I won't lie, I didn't have high hopes for this book. I don't really know why. Maybe it was the corny title, or maybe it just seemed a little too cutesy for me based on the synopsis. 

I was mostly wrong. 

This book was good. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. We're given a few different story lines that continuously intersect (or at least run parallel to one another) and get to follow along as our three main characters deal with life, hopes, and dreams. There's Madeleine, a "sassy" little kid with a hard life who really just wants to sing. We've got her teacher, Sarina, who is recently divorced. And then there's Lorca, owner of The Cat's Pajamas, a dying jazz club. Their stories are, for the most part, separate. They just occasionally intersect. The three will, at 2 A.M. on Christmas Eve, find themselves at The Cat's Pajamas. 

The stories were alright. Madeleine's was sad. She's described as sassy but mostly she's just rude. For readers, she's easy to empathize with but hard to particularly like (for me, anyway). She's not a bad character, just... I thought the surrounding characters were better and infinitely more exciting. But yes. Her backstory is a sad one. Her mother is dead and her father, well, let's call him ill. She's on her own, being primarily taken care of by friends of her mother. She is a talented singer, but due to her ornery attitude and her principal's dislike of her, she can't often share her talent. When she finds out about the historic Cat's Pajamas, she knows she must go there to sing. 

Lorca is the owner of the club. He's an alright guy, but not attentive enough to his relationships, whether it's with his son or his girlfriend. He spends most of his time with his music friends. He avoids responsibility outside of music and the club. But the club is dying. On top of that, he gets citations and must pay thousands of dollars in fines to keep the Cat's Pajamas open. Much of his story focuses on this particular struggle and his efforts to raise the money. But we also get a look at his personal story and his flailing relationship with his son. 

Then there's Sarina, to me the most likable of the three main characters. She's divorced, she's very kind and empathetic. She's a bit unsure of herself, something she should probably work on. But overall she's an intriguing and amusing character, and her story is the funnest to read. She walks the city with an old fling, not sure if things can go anywhere. She, of course, will end up going to a club with said fling. 

I liked the book because it was touching at times. The stories were interesting, if not completely enthralling. Some of the characters were lovely. (I especially liked the minor characters.) Bertino did a great job with pacing. The book was written in such a way that I was never bored and I always was hoping to find out what happens next. At some point, I became invested in the stories, even though they weren't life and death scenarios. It was a sweet and charming book. 

There are a few reasons I gave it four stars instead of five. First, the writing was a little too flowery at times. I love metaphor an imagery and every other literary tool and technique, but I do think it can be overdone. It got better as the book went on, but in the beginning, I thought the writing was too pretty, it was taking away from developing the story. Secondly, I didn't feel particularly strongly about most of the characters. They were far from lackluster, but they weren't exceptional, either. Lastly, do you remember in school how we were all taught the different parts of a story? Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/conclusion. The first two parts were done wonderfully. The climax wasn't incredibly surprising or exciting, but it was good. But the last two parts - the falling action and resolution, they were just okay. 

Overall, I sort of recommend the book. It's a good story and a fun and quick read. I enjoyed it a lot. But you're not going to die if you don't read it. If you're looking for a light, charming book, absolutely pick it up. If you're looking for the stuff of giants, though, you can skip it without worry. 

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Char    

  

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Blogging For Books program in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own. 

Instant Happy Journal

By Liz
Journal review: Instant Happy Journal by Karen Salmansohn
Official FC rating:

You know what I am? A bundle of god damn stress and anxiety at least 80% of the time. For example, if I am cooking a meal that involves meat, you can bet that I am calling my mom at some point during the cooking process to make sure I haven’t messed up.

I also can be so negative because of my anxiety. I’ll come home from work and 2-3 hours later I will think to myself, “I hope I didn’t come across as awkward during that meeting…I should have said this…I should have done that.” It gets exhausting, so when I came across the Instant Happy Journal on Blogging for Books, I figured “hey, why not? Maybe this will make me more ~positive~.”

The journal, which has lovely little designs and pretty colors, contains questions, quotes, and other prompts for each entry. When I received this journal in the mail (like…nearly two months ago…) my goal was to write in it every evening for one whole month.

Ooh, ahh, pretty cover!

Pretty outside and inside! 

Being the way that I am, I constantly felt like there was a certain way I had to use the journal. At first I wrote in each page consecutively, but occasionally the prompts felt weird. Sometimes they wouldn’t be applicable to my day. Was I supposed to write about something from my past? Would that make me more positive about this particular day? Annoyed, I eventually took to flipping through the entire journal to find a prompt that ~spoke~ to me. I liked this method better and stuck to it for a while. I felt like I was breaking the rules though, even though journals don’t really have rules (blame this on my Virgo nature??)

Another frustrating aspect was how god damn little space you have to actually write. When the prompts were particularly through provoking, it was annoying that I had to condense my thoughts to 5 lines. Remember when a teacher would say 1,000 words, no more and no less for your essay? That’s what this felt like sometimes.

Now the big question remains, did the Instant Happy Journal make me instantly happy? Nah. Part of the problem could be that I didn’t end up writing in the journal every day. On days that were stressful or busy, I didn’t feel like writing. Ironically, the days when I most wanted to write were days that were generally positive days for me. Like if I did well at work, or ran farther than normal- that’s when I wanted to use the journal.

Even, though I kind of feel like this is more like Instant MEH Journal, I give it four stars. All in all, this is a fun journal. I like the prompts, the colors are cheery, and the idea of it is nice. I’ll continue to use it over the course of the year, but I’ll try to get better about actually using it daily.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Murder on the Orient Express

By Liz

Book review: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Official FC rating: 

My first Agatha Christie novel was And Then There Were None, and it was fantastic! It was your perfect mystery- a bit scary, difficult to predict, and atmospheric. Dame Agatha Christie isn’t called the “Queen of Crime” for nothing, after all.

Both Charlotte and my partner, Sean, love Agatha Christie, so Sean stocked me up with a few of her novels from his collection, and I decided a mystery novel would be perfect to read in October. Thus, I chose Murder on the Orient Express.

Wikipedia summarizes the novel as follows (I’d summarize it myself, but I am a lazy mother effer this evening):

Upon arriving at the Tokatlian Hotel in Istanbul, private detective Hercule Poirot receives a telegram prompting him to cancel his arrangements and return to London. He instructs the concierge to book a first-class compartment on the Orient Express leaving that night. After boarding, Poirot is approached by Mr. Ratchett, a malevolent American he initially saw at the Tokatlian. Ratchett believes his life is being threatened and attempts to hire Poirot but, due to his distaste, Poirot refuses. "I do not like your face, Mr. Ratchett," he says. 

On the second night of the journey, the train is stopped by a snowdrift near Vinkovci. Several events disturb Poirot's sleep, including a cry emanating from Ratchett's compartment. The next morning, Mr. Bouc, an acquaintance of Poirot and director of the company operating the Orient Express, informs him that Ratchett has been murdered and asks Poirot to investigate, in order to avoid complications and bureaucracy when the Yugoslav police arrive. Poirot accepts.

Murder on the Orient Express didn’t grab me as quickly as And Then There Were None. And Then There Were None had a chilling element to it that I loved, but Murder on the Orient Express lacked that completely. I felt that the beginning of the novel sort of dragged, but I pushed through (Sean insisted that it got better). I would say the book finally caught me not long before the actual murder takes place.

Once the murder happens, it’s a whirlwind of information. As I was reading I was thinking to myself, half seriously, “should I be taking notes? Is this like ‘Clue’?” I’m terrible at solving mysteries, so naturally my first instinct is to suspect everybody, or to suspect the one person one would assume is the least likely to have committed the crime.

SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU PLAN TO READ THIS BOOK.

I should’ve just continued to suspect everyone because, Agatha Christie, looking to fuck with us all, made EVERY SUSPECT GUILTY OF THE CRIME. Almost every suspect stabbed Ratchett, except, of course, the person with the best motivation to kill Ratchett.

I literally laughed at the ending. It was great. I enjoyed that the novel has humor now and then at various parts. For example:

Such sass, Poirot.

“I DON’T LIKE YOUR FACE.” Man. I just need to channel that in my daily life. #PoirotGoals?

Christie’s character descriptions are both a great strength of hers, but also a great flaw. She creates unique characters that are easy to envision, but she also relies heavily on racist and anti-Semitic descriptors. I noticed this in both And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. In Murder on the Orient Express she type-casts the lone Italian character as brusque, thick, burly, and mafia-like. There is at least one Jewish character in Murder on the Orient Express, but, thankfully, I did not see any overt anti-Semitism. In And Then There Were None, however, the character, Lombard, describes a young boy as “Jew-Boy,” and characterizes him as sneaky and conniving.

To be honest, when I noticed Christie’s anti-Semitism in And Then There Were None, I almost put the book down vowing to never read her books again. Of course, that didn’t happen. I enjoy her writing, and her books are easy reads. However, Christie is undoubtedly one of those authors that I could never be friends with. In fact, I’d probably hate her.

In summary, I enjoyed this novel, and I’m looking forward to reading another novel of Christie’s. I’d recommend her books to someone, but I would always be sure to let them know that Christie is a racist, anti-Semitic piece of trash.

Book Review | Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods

By Charlotte
Book Review: Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
Official FC Rating: 

This is a review of the third book of the series. You can read the review for the first book here and the second one here. 

In the third book, Gregor is called to the Underland once again, this time to help find a cure for a plague that is spreading and killing the world's mammals. Our familiar main characters set out on this journey - the cure is said to exist, but only in the cradle where it was created - and we're introduced to new characters as well. There's death and destruction. But this book might be my favorite in the series, because it does a great job asking moral questions and it emerges as a sort of allegory of American military policy. (Granted, I'm not sure if Collins meant to mirror America, but I'd be surprised to learn she didn't.)

Basic review: It's a riveting tale, it's well written, and Collins, as always, plays with excellent themes and moral questions. I'd recommend it to a friend. I have recommended it to a friend. That friend is Liz and she still hasn't read Harry Potter but I'm convinced there is still hope for her.  

*Major spoilers ahead.*

Alright, so. Bats, humans, and rats are catching the plague. Beyond the obvious problem - sick people - it threatens to literally eradicate all mammals in the Underland. Of course, there's a prophecy that warns of the plague but suggests there is a chance of hope. Gregor, the prophesied warrior, must travel with several companions to the place where the plague was made.

I haven't gone into much detail about the characters, but let me attempt to give a rough idea real quick of the characters that are important in this review:

Gregor (often referred to as "Overlander"): a boy from NYC, falls into the Underland after his baby sister, Boots (they miraculously both survive, and it's determined that he is the warrior mentioned in several prophecies), Christ-figure, struggles with questions of when/if to fight

Luxa: the future queen of Regalia (the main human city in the Underland), her parents were killed by rats, her cousin died after he betrayed her and all of Regalia by secretly working with rats, granddaughter of Vikus and Solovet (who are powerful members of the council), extremely stubborn, highly trained fighter

Ripred: an old-ish and extremely tough rat, never loses fights, scruffy, harsh, sarcastic, has some followers, is attempting to lead the rats to a new way, wants humans and rats to achieve peace

Hamnet: son of Solovet and Vikus, unknown by younger characters until third book, left Regalia because his mother wanted him to fight and to commit violent atrocities against other creatures

Vikus: an old and wise council member of Regalia, very powerful, grandfather to Luxa, husband to Solovet, wants peace among all Underland creatures if possible, believes violence and war should be last resort, doesn't generally adhere to an "end justifies the means" philosophy, caring

Solovet: harsh, believes the end justifies the means, severe, mother to Hamnet, grandmother to Luxa, not very loving, values humans above other Underland creatures

Phew. There are other important characters in the book, but these are the ones that are important to major plot points.

Also essential to know: all of the Underland creatures are intelligent and sentient. In our real world, of course we value humans above rats. In the Underland, rats are 5+ feet tall, they think, they feel, they are capable of love and of all things humans are capable of (except things that require thumbs. Rats don't have thumbs..). This is also true of bats, cockroaches, spiders, mice, etc. They are human-like in their abilities and their capacities to think and feel.

So like I said, Gregor and some of the characters set out to find the cure, which comes in the form of a plant that only grows in one place. They find it and begin collecting it when a bunch of ants come and destroy every last bit of it. But it's okay, because............

The plague was actually created in Regalia.

Solovet The Vicious assigned a scientist to create a "plague" that she planned to use as biological warfare against the other creatures of the Underland. The plan went awry, obviously, but they still tried to keep it a secret. They already had the cure, they just couldn't tell anyone about it, because then everyone would know that humans were responsible for all of the destruction.

Of course, this caused huge problems. Distrust of humans became stronger, and even humans themselves were embarrassed. Naturally, the scientist was punished, but Solovet, if I remember correctly, just had to stay in her nice home. (Such is always the case, even in the real world. The rich and powerful face no consequences.) She was put on trial, but nothing happened.

This was the first really meaty book in the series. They're all short - nothing on LOTR or HP, but this dealt with complicated issues that we see in the real world. Things like:

preemptive tactics
biological warfare
rules of war
ethnocentrism
exceptionalism
and more

This book called to mind some of the things we learned about in history class as kids. It also made me think of some things our own country still does. Insisting an entire race or region is guilty of something or lesser than you? Attacking innocent people so that they can never even think of becoming threats? Familiar themes, sadly.

It's these things that lead me to believe my friends would enjoy the series. Also, it's what makes me think it's a great series for kids. When I have kids, I want them to think about these things. I want them to question what they've been told about military might and exceptionalism. It's one thing to be proud of who you are, it's another to think everyone else is lesser than you and unworthy of life. This book, and this series, talks about those things in an age-appropriate way for kids. And for adults, it's an engrossing but easy-to-read book to fly through. Win-win.

Stay tuned for the next review in this series!
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Charlotte