Book #4
Title: The Bitch Posse
Author: Martha O'Connor
Pages: 341
Grade: A-
Buyability: 5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
This book made my skin crawl, my spine tingle, and most importantly - my heart break. Marth O'Connors debut into the literary world is a well-paced, interwoven story of three young women at two points in their life, shortly before graduating high school, and some tweleve years later as adults, no longer friends, but bound and tormented by a secret held between them all.
Each character is written with a lot of heart and empathy from O'Connor - there is a reason why the girls get into the trouble that they do. Rennie (Wren) Taylor is an honour student wanting to break out of her shell, and later on, a single teacher caught up in a dangerous pattern of sexual depravity. Cherry lives with her drug-addled mom and is forced to be both the adult and the best friend, and eventually she ends up in a mental institution, unsure of whether she belongs there. Amy Linnet is Little Miss Popular who breaks free from her life as a cheerleader to escape from the facade her alcoholic parents put on, ironically later on she is the one putting on the same facade in her troubled marriage.
The book follows an interesting pattern of narrative that rotates between the characters, the time period, and the point of view. Rennie might kick off the book in the present tense using third-person narrative, but the next section Cherry might jump in as a troubled high school senior writing in first person, followed by Amy as an adult in third person and so on...instead of creating a jarring effect, the swapping narratives helps contextualize the two periods of time in the girls lives. There is a certain amount of naivete that comes through in the first-person teenage viewpoint, and a certain amount of wiseness in the third person.
I can't reveal too much about the plot other than to say these girls are hitting hard stages in their lives at both ends of the spectrum - as teenagers and as adults. Each section offers a delicious climax that invites you to read on, to find out what will happen to each girl within each time period in their lives, but also to fill in the puzzle pieces about their deep, dark shared secret.
That's not to say the book is perfect. Quite frankly I'm afraid of Martha O'Connor. I felt like the prose and the characters were directly derived from her own opinions, that she felt as though everyone that reads the book would judge it like the characters in the book are judged. I also didn't care much for the character of Cherry - until the big secret is revealed. She is underwritten emotionally and there is a few disconnects in her plot line, again until you find out what the big secret is - however by the time you find out what the secret is, the book abruptly (and understandably) ends, leaving the reading to fill in the pieces.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I was a bit put off by the first couple of chapters, and I'd definitely say heed the opening warnings about how dark the story is - but if you're willing to keep an open mind and just enjoy some excellent, heartfelt, entrancing writing then you'll like this book.
Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Book #3: The Bachelorette Party by Karen McCullah Lutz
Book #3
Title: The Bachelorette Party
Author: Karen McCullah Lutz
Pages: 300
Grade: B+
Buyability: 3.5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
Given I am planning my friend Sarah's bachelorette party, this was a cute Christmas gift from Robyn. The story is fairly self-explanatory. About two-thirds of it centre around one crazy all-day and eventually all-night bachelorette party where the uptight, prim bride lets loose - the bride happens to be the cousin of Zadie, the main character, who is best friends with the husband-to-be. Needless to say Zadie is busy dealing with several things in the book, among them jealousy of her perfect cousin, annoyance with the fact her best friend and Miss Perfect are getting married when her own wedding ended up as a bust several months earlier, trying to control her cousin as she gets wilder throughout the night, coming to terms with her feelings for a male student of hers, and dealing with the mixed bag of characters also in attendance at the party.
The good things about this book are plentiful - the prose is light, fluffy, and easy-to-read, with a healthy dose of sarcasm that you find yourself shaking your head in agreement with. The characters, particularly what I would call the supporting ones in the Bachelorette party, are really fun and distinct from one another. The entire bachelorette party part of the book is really interesting and funny, and you, just like the characters in the book, almost don't want it to end. The writer also does a good job resolving some things in the story - namely the situation between Zadie and her student Trevor, and what ends up happening between Helen (the cousin) and Grey (the best friend of Zadie).
There are also some bads in the book. The main one being I had a hard time distinguishing the narrator's voice from the main character Zadie's voice. Which sounds like it shouldn't be a concern or something, but the book is written in third person, yet it feels like it should be written in first person from Zadie's point of view. As a result, there is sometimes a jarring effect where Zadie's thoughts seem really out of place with the narration or vice-versa. Going with that, there is a ridiculous amount of sexual talk in here. I understand a lot of these chick lit books have that, trust me I've come across it before, but a lot of it centres around Zadie's thoughts (or the narrator's) about Zadie taking care of herself...and it's not really something you want to read about. I also found the first section and last section of the book a bit draggy. After the big fun party scene(s) you have to endure an extra 80 pages that cram a lot of stuff into them, a lot of which didn't need to be there.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I started it last weekend and finished it last night - it was a good bit of fun that made me think about some aspects of weddings and marriages a bit differently. I have a tendency to think of books in terms of how they would translate onto film and this book *would* be good at it - particularly the party part, as sort of an Ocean's 11 meets girl's night out - except for the beginning and end would need to be seriously revamped.
Title: The Bachelorette Party
Author: Karen McCullah Lutz
Pages: 300
Grade: B+
Buyability: 3.5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
Given I am planning my friend Sarah's bachelorette party, this was a cute Christmas gift from Robyn. The story is fairly self-explanatory. About two-thirds of it centre around one crazy all-day and eventually all-night bachelorette party where the uptight, prim bride lets loose - the bride happens to be the cousin of Zadie, the main character, who is best friends with the husband-to-be. Needless to say Zadie is busy dealing with several things in the book, among them jealousy of her perfect cousin, annoyance with the fact her best friend and Miss Perfect are getting married when her own wedding ended up as a bust several months earlier, trying to control her cousin as she gets wilder throughout the night, coming to terms with her feelings for a male student of hers, and dealing with the mixed bag of characters also in attendance at the party.
The good things about this book are plentiful - the prose is light, fluffy, and easy-to-read, with a healthy dose of sarcasm that you find yourself shaking your head in agreement with. The characters, particularly what I would call the supporting ones in the Bachelorette party, are really fun and distinct from one another. The entire bachelorette party part of the book is really interesting and funny, and you, just like the characters in the book, almost don't want it to end. The writer also does a good job resolving some things in the story - namely the situation between Zadie and her student Trevor, and what ends up happening between Helen (the cousin) and Grey (the best friend of Zadie).
There are also some bads in the book. The main one being I had a hard time distinguishing the narrator's voice from the main character Zadie's voice. Which sounds like it shouldn't be a concern or something, but the book is written in third person, yet it feels like it should be written in first person from Zadie's point of view. As a result, there is sometimes a jarring effect where Zadie's thoughts seem really out of place with the narration or vice-versa. Going with that, there is a ridiculous amount of sexual talk in here. I understand a lot of these chick lit books have that, trust me I've come across it before, but a lot of it centres around Zadie's thoughts (or the narrator's) about Zadie taking care of herself...and it's not really something you want to read about. I also found the first section and last section of the book a bit draggy. After the big fun party scene(s) you have to endure an extra 80 pages that cram a lot of stuff into them, a lot of which didn't need to be there.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I started it last weekend and finished it last night - it was a good bit of fun that made me think about some aspects of weddings and marriages a bit differently. I have a tendency to think of books in terms of how they would translate onto film and this book *would* be good at it - particularly the party part, as sort of an Ocean's 11 meets girl's night out - except for the beginning and end would need to be seriously revamped.
Book #2: Yankee Doodle Dead by Carolyn Hart
Book #2
Title: Yankee Doodle Dead
Author: Carolyn Hart
Pages: 300
Grade: D
Buyability: 0/10
Status: Owned (gift) - giving away
I know I should not be allowed to judge a book based on its cover, its age, or the fact its part of a mystery series I've never read. But this book was just awful. I went into it not that excited, it was an uncorrected proof that somehow ended up being my book that I got on Xmas eve this year. I have a hunch my mom snagged it from the Winnipeg Public Library book sale - no wonder it was on sale is all I have to say.
The story essentially follows a sleuthing couple with no credentials to be detectives - the girl, Annie I think?, owns a murder mystery book shop (um yeah, cause that would fly on a small tourist island), and her husband Max helps people 'find stuff' or 'figure out stuff'. I can't even put into words how many cliches popped up in this book. I'm not a massive mystery fan, but I appreciate a good one and this story didn't have any good twists. Essentially a much-disliked newcomer to the town is murdered on the fourth of July and a young, well-liked teenager accidentally finds the gun in the woods, fingering him as the suspect. Annie & Max and a small ring of help band together to interview one of 10 key suspects - but that is a whole lotta suspects and none of their motives were particularly strong or interesting. So needless to say a secret twist does happen...but it's a genuinely stupid one.
I don't really have much else to report on this book. I found it confusing, clunky, and utterly hard to get through. Perhaps you are a fan of the series (I can't think of the author's name right now) but I definitely don't plan to read another book by this author. So turned off of mysteries right now. The only thing this book did was give me inspiration for a certain style of a short, short story I had to write this week where it is 26 sentences long and each sentence begins with the next letter of the alphabet (ex: sentence one begins with the letter A, sentence two with B and so on). And even I wrote it better.
Title: Yankee Doodle Dead
Author: Carolyn Hart
Pages: 300
Grade: D
Buyability: 0/10
Status: Owned (gift) - giving away
I know I should not be allowed to judge a book based on its cover, its age, or the fact its part of a mystery series I've never read. But this book was just awful. I went into it not that excited, it was an uncorrected proof that somehow ended up being my book that I got on Xmas eve this year. I have a hunch my mom snagged it from the Winnipeg Public Library book sale - no wonder it was on sale is all I have to say.
The story essentially follows a sleuthing couple with no credentials to be detectives - the girl, Annie I think?, owns a murder mystery book shop (um yeah, cause that would fly on a small tourist island), and her husband Max helps people 'find stuff' or 'figure out stuff'. I can't even put into words how many cliches popped up in this book. I'm not a massive mystery fan, but I appreciate a good one and this story didn't have any good twists. Essentially a much-disliked newcomer to the town is murdered on the fourth of July and a young, well-liked teenager accidentally finds the gun in the woods, fingering him as the suspect. Annie & Max and a small ring of help band together to interview one of 10 key suspects - but that is a whole lotta suspects and none of their motives were particularly strong or interesting. So needless to say a secret twist does happen...but it's a genuinely stupid one.
I don't really have much else to report on this book. I found it confusing, clunky, and utterly hard to get through. Perhaps you are a fan of the series (I can't think of the author's name right now) but I definitely don't plan to read another book by this author. So turned off of mysteries right now. The only thing this book did was give me inspiration for a certain style of a short, short story I had to write this week where it is 26 sentences long and each sentence begins with the next letter of the alphabet (ex: sentence one begins with the letter A, sentence two with B and so on). And even I wrote it better.
Book #1: Sixteen - Edited by Megan McCafferty
Book #1
Title: Sixteen
Author: Edited by Megan McCafferty (et al)
Pages: 300-ish
Grade: A-
Buyability: 6.5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
Megan McCafferty's edited collection of short stories entitled "Sixteen" (A Bday Gift) is quite aptly, sixteen stories about being or turning sixteen.
If you aren't familiar with Megan McCafferty - she is the author of the wildly popular 'Jessica Darling' series, if you can call it that. Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, and Charmed Thirds (a fourth is on its way) are three books that cover a young woman's journey through most of high school and college. There is in fact a short story on Jessica Darling about the last 15 minutes she spends before her best friend Hope leaves town (which is in fact where the series picks up from).
The other fifteen stories in the book are all extremely varied, but the majority of them are quite good. I'm not a short story fan by any means, but unfortunately have to tackle the task of writing one this term - and this book was so well-compiled and written it inspired me quite a bit. Some of my fave stories were probably "Infinity", "The Many Lives of Emily Milty", and "The Perfect Kiss" - most of them were really good, a couple were not my fave as they seemed to really stray from the subject and style of the book, but it's hard to judge what makes a good short story to everyone.
The one critique I do give to the authors of these short stories is there was a consistent theme of either - kissing (specifically first kisses or momentous kisses) or discovering/experimenting with being gay. Not all sixteen year olds are that confused about their sexuality - yet at least half of the stories in the book dealt with that topic, I guess to provoke some more intense emotions or meaning.
Title: Sixteen
Author: Edited by Megan McCafferty (et al)
Pages: 300-ish
Grade: A-
Buyability: 6.5/10
Status: Owned (gift)
Megan McCafferty's edited collection of short stories entitled "Sixteen" (A Bday Gift) is quite aptly, sixteen stories about being or turning sixteen.
If you aren't familiar with Megan McCafferty - she is the author of the wildly popular 'Jessica Darling' series, if you can call it that. Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, and Charmed Thirds (a fourth is on its way) are three books that cover a young woman's journey through most of high school and college. There is in fact a short story on Jessica Darling about the last 15 minutes she spends before her best friend Hope leaves town (which is in fact where the series picks up from).
The other fifteen stories in the book are all extremely varied, but the majority of them are quite good. I'm not a short story fan by any means, but unfortunately have to tackle the task of writing one this term - and this book was so well-compiled and written it inspired me quite a bit. Some of my fave stories were probably "Infinity", "The Many Lives of Emily Milty", and "The Perfect Kiss" - most of them were really good, a couple were not my fave as they seemed to really stray from the subject and style of the book, but it's hard to judge what makes a good short story to everyone.
The one critique I do give to the authors of these short stories is there was a consistent theme of either - kissing (specifically first kisses or momentous kisses) or discovering/experimenting with being gay. Not all sixteen year olds are that confused about their sexuality - yet at least half of the stories in the book dealt with that topic, I guess to provoke some more intense emotions or meaning.
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