Book Reviews!

Welcome back, everyone! Another week in the books! I hope everyone is doing well, and thriving in this crazy, sometimes scary world we’re living in. I’ve been working on a list of upcoming topics, and I’m pretty excited. I have some more in depth, heavy subjects down the pipeline that I can’t wait to explore, but in order to do my best on them, I need time and focus. I’m actually laying down the research for one right now, and I can’t wait to share it with you! In the meantime, this week I want to talk about some books I’ve recently read. A couple of weeks ago, I started using Net Galley, and I’m enjoying it. It’s a website that works with publishers and it allows readers to preview books before they’re published in order to give feedback on them. I know, I’m probably late to the game, but then I usually am! I’ve reviewed four books in that time, and while some haven’t been so great, some have been truly wonderful! In my reviews, I strive to be fair, and as a result, I focus only on the book at hand, not on the author.

Pretty Ugly Lies by Pamela Crane.

This is actually the book that led me to Net Galley. I was really excited to get to read this book, and that excitement was warranted! This has been one of the best books I’ve read this year. This book is about four women that appear to have the perfect life, but underneath the varnish of the great neighborhood, there are deep, dark secrets that threaten their families, and even lives. At its heart, it's also about the struggles of being a mother, and I loved how it wasn't sugarcoated with the usual platitudes. Crane didn't shy away from the loneliness, or the frustration, or the darkness that can come with being a stay at home mom. I could relate to some of these themes, being a SAHM myself. This book shows the sides of motherhood that aren't often talked about, or written about. The book is about how the perfect, ideal life we often present to the world isn’t the real story. As the main characters struggle with varying factors from mental illness, autism, infidelity, and so on, you can feel the darkness creeping closer. The pace of the book is consistent, and the twist at the end is a good one! I wasn't expecting it, but in the context of the whole novel, it made sense.

I loved that the characters felt like women I knew. They were flawed. They were simply trying their best in a world where women are told every day that they have to be the perfect, ideal wife, mother, worker, et cetera. The pace of the novel is also great, as it never slacks off or gets too fast. The twists and turns are just enough, but somehow still jolt the reader. All in all, I highly recommend this book! It’s now available, as of this week, and is sold on Amazon.

She’s Having Her Baby by Lauren Sams

This one took me on a journey, and not one I’m sure I really loved. I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I really enjoyed the tone and the flow of the writing. There was humor, and a lightness that permeated most of the book. There was also a weight to some sections, as there should be when the subject of children come up. I liked the subject as well, of a woman that isn't sure she wants children deciding to have a baby for her best friend, and all the twists and turns that journey takes her.

Now, for what I wasn't so happy about. I didn't like the main character, George. At 34, she's a woman the same age as myself. She has a great life, but she doesn't seem satisfied. She is supremely judgmental of Ellie, who is supposed to be one of her best friends. In fact, she seems to judge every woman with children, to the point where she sees herself as superior to them. On top of that, she's childish herself, only wanting things the way she wants them. In her work life, for instance, she doesn't want to adapt to the changing market, and this causes her trouble. Even once she's pregnant, she doesn't think her life will change at all because of it. She was hard to take seriously at times, and I found myself wanting to shake her more than once. I found it somewhat unbelievable that a woman that is as smart and professional as George is supposed to be to be as dense as she came off in the book.

The characters of Ellie and Nina saved this book for me. They are great friends to George, in different ways, and without them as balance, this book may well have been unreadable. I like that they call George out on her BS, and help her to grow as a person.

All in all, by the end of the book, I was glad to have read it. I'd probably read it again, as it was enjoyable for a good bit when I wasn't frustrated with George. Still, I caution you that if you read this, you may feel the same frustrations with her. Hang in there, because Nina and Ellie are the true heroes of the story!

Chasing Eveline by Leslie Hauser

This is a YA novel, but as I still read those quite often, I will say I enjoyed it. This is the story of Ivy, a teenage girl dealing with the fact that her mother has walked out on her and her dad. She copes with that loss by finding solace in her favorite band, who was also her mom’s favorite band, an Irish band named Chasing Eveline. In ivy’s mind, if more people discover this long lost band from the 80s, and love their music, the band will get back together, giving her faith in love and truth and hope. Now, I will say that for a 17 year old, Ivy can seem a little juvenile, but that could be me looking at her through the lens of being an adult. She is almost desperate in her need to introduce her peers to this band, but through that desperation, there is growth. I think that’s what really drew me in. This band is her happy spot in a world that she no longer understands, and as someone that loves music and bands, I can truly relate to that. To be able to not only find solace in music, but truth is a certain kind of magic, and I felt the author displayed that well. Ivy makes some tough realizations about life, but by the end of the book, I felt that she’d come to terms with those realizations. All in all, this is a great little read about the power of music and friendship, and learning how to live after tragedy.

The Lost Sister by Tracy Buchanan

There were things I really liked about this book, and then things that I didn't. The book is told from the point of view of Selma, a woman telling the story of her life, and Becky, her daughter. Upon Selma’s death, Becky learns of a sister that she never knew she had, and the book is about her journey to find this sister. I love the themes of complicated mother/daughter relationships, love, depression, and self discovery. These are all themes I thought the author handled well.

I did feel at times the book dragged along a little. There were points where it got a little slow, but the narrative stayed strong throughout, and I really enjoyed the small twist at the end. It wasn't overdone, or expected, and it really got me. Also, I felt Selma at times was an unreliable narrator. She lied, constantly, and it made me wonder if the story she was telling was even the truth.

Now, for what I wasn't so crazy it about. The change in person and tense pulled me out of the narrative every time it switched from Selma to Becky's perspective. It was jarring going from first person past tense to third person present tense with the flip of a page. I understand why it was written that way, but all in all, it really pulled me out of a narrative where the change wasn't needed. I feel this book could have been just as successful, or even more so, if one tense and person was used. Now, I realize that some people may not even notice this change or if they do, they won’t be bothered by it, but I was. All in all, I liked this book fairly well, and I do think it’s worth a read!

So far, these are the only books I’ve read so far on Net Galley. I’m currently reading another, and perhaps I’ll do another book review blog in a few weeks! If you’ve liked this week’s blog, or if you read any of these books, let me know! Also, I’m always looking for suggestions of what you guys would like to read, or subjects you would like to me to write about. Until next time!