I had to sit & think about this one for a bit. I'm still thinking & that tells me that even if I won't be raving about how excellent it was or how mucI had to sit & think about this one for a bit. I'm still thinking & that tells me that even if I won't be raving about how excellent it was or how much I loved it, I did enjoy it & found it well worth reading. The Lohmans are basically a family of sociopaths. The set up is that the parents (Paul, Claire, Serge & Babette) get together for dinner at a posh restaurant to discuss a vile crime by their children (Michel & Rick). The scary thing is that the vile crime is not the ugliest bit of the story. No. As the discussion over the meal progresses, it's revealed that the parents are particular nasty pieces of work & they probably shouldn't be walking around unfettered & unmedicated either.
The narrator, Paul, was a trying sort. That we spend the first six chapters only with him complaining about virtually everything except his wife & son & hyping his brother up to be the very worst thing to ever have happened to him & possibly politics in general, it was pretty clear early on that something was not quite right about Paul. He was working inferiority, martyrdom & outright avarice like a skilled juggler. Call for Unreliable Narrator? Paul? It's for you. Just when I was about to throw in the towel with him Serge & Babette arrive & even through Paul's maddeningly twisted veil, things became more tolerable. It takes a bit longer into the story to discover Claire's twisted nature because we have Paul dispensing information & he's truly enamoured of her. Serge & Babette aren't good either but I didn't find them as wholly morally bankrupt. By the very end it's completely underscored, just in case you missed it, how insanely far Claire, Paul & even Michel will go to keep things under wraps. I'd say that they deserved one another but when existing in a viper pit, there's only a matter of time before two may turn against one. Then again, maybe that's as it should be.
Overall, this is one hell of a family portraiture. If you like books where most/all parties are morally bankrupt & people you'd never want to know, you'll love it. If you want a read where you'll get the warm & fuzzies, skip this. If you get the warm & fuzzies from this, see someone professionally. ;)...more
Very good (like 4.5 stars good). Nature vs. Nurture. Free will vs. genetics. Pure logic vs. the heart wanting what it wants. The story is told in two Very good (like 4.5 stars good). Nature vs. Nurture. Free will vs. genetics. Pure logic vs. the heart wanting what it wants. The story is told in two threads. Julia, our modern day geneticist & Lavinia, her great-great grandmother. The women's lives unfold for us as their marriages unravel & the aftermath of the events follow. I very much enjoyed that both women were scientifically minded & took their work seriously. I felt for Lavinia when she was cut off from hers & was glad Julia still had hers when everything else fell apart. Julia's research with the soldiers was a fascinating thread of the story & I still don't know on which side I am of the ethical implications of her undertaking it for the military. I'll be thinking about that for some time. That said, I enjoyed the resolution to it at the end. I did like how the Bakairi tribe & The Tempest were additional threads that tied the two women's stories together across time.
I was very interested in both women but other than them, I only really felt any empathy for Colonel Huntington (though the head shaving of Lavinia & subsequent forced visit to the phrenologist tested that). Julia's husband Klaus was just not sympathetic to me. Every time he showed up after the initial break, he seemed worse. I figured out fairly quickly what Carla's attitude was about & while I was appalled by her brazenness & borderline cruelty, I still wanted to know what made her tick. I was fairly intrigued by Hamish. Gabriel & Aloysius were only nominally interesting but her served their purpose well. I felt the same way about Lady Morgan. Naomi was interesting but not as deeply rendered as the rest.
The only thing a bit off was that the Americans in Julia's thread, don't speak generally as Americans do. Those instances stood out glaringly to me, not the least being that the instances were so frequent. Using "ring" instead of "call", "jumper" instead of "sweater" or "cardigan"; "primary" school teacher instead of "elementary" school teacher; "laying" a table instead of "setting" a table; a waitress in a diner saying saying "one serve of bacon, eggs..." instead of "one order of..."; a born & raised in L.A. soldier saying "get on" instead of "get along"; "night porter" not "security guard". And even with all of those, they were only distractions because it was still a great read. I'd definitely read another by this author. ...more
I used to very much love reading Brit chick-lit & it's been quite a while since I've delved into one. This caught my eye for a few reasons, the Brit cI used to very much love reading Brit chick-lit & it's been quite a while since I've delved into one. This caught my eye for a few reasons, the Brit chick-lit thing, that its setting is a department store & that I'm looking very much forward to Mr. Selfridge. This is part of my Downton Abbey season gap therapy, so don't judge. I am also happy that this book is the first in a series. I liked all of the characters & really liked Georgie, so I want to see how this all plays out.
There's the usual retail therapy, brand name flurry & the main character with money troubles but instead of it being staid & boring, Georgie made it fresh. The descriptions of Sam's tea shop made me want to pull up a cupcake & stay a while. The same feel applied to the description of Carrington's. I liked taking a break & "shopping" vicariously as Georgie narrated. She had me at "handbag". I automatically adored Cieran, Sam & Eddie. Tina not only had a bad attitude she had horrendous taste. Her description of what she was having at the wedding was cringeworthy, gave me Kyle/Chardonnay (Footballer's Wives) nuptial flashbacks & I rooted for & then reveled in everything crashing and burning around her. It was great payoff & only second to Camille's epic takedown. Maxine was also perfect in her role as stress-inducing hatchet woman when she swooped down on Carrington's to revitalise & restructure. Kon Malikov was easy to spot as a problem & it only got worse when the necklace entered the picture. And James... ugh. Not worth half the angst Georgie expended on him. I was all-in for Tom from the start. He just struck me as the one for Georgie. Through it all, as Georgie was trying not to but still creeping along making the small mistakes that inevitably would snowball, I cringed & waited but I never stopped caring that she'd make it all okay in the end. Even when she was being a ninny, double-doubting herself & not speaking up when she should, I was never fed up enough not to stick with her. I was willing her to quit the job, get out from the work stress & paranoia & get a decent night's sleep. I liked her & rooted for her all the way.
This was just the thing I needed to read. A bit of a light-hearted story with pretty things & just enough problems woven in to keep the story fresh but not weigh it down. I was smiling when it was over. I'll be looking forward to the next in the series. ...more
I am a huge Downton Abbey fan & that was the draw for me reading this one. Unfortunately, I didn't think this was very good. Downton was barely a backI am a huge Downton Abbey fan & that was the draw for me reading this one. Unfortunately, I didn't think this was very good. Downton was barely a backdrop & basically seemed like any popular show could have been plugged in for the very same story (While We Were Watching The Walking Dead or While We Were Watching Scandal). The characters were stock & flimsy, doing nothing unexpected & ending up exactly where you would predict. Aside from the descriptions of the posh building, I never felt these characters existed in any sort of lush surroundings approximate to my beloved Downton. I skimmed the last third of the book out of sheer need to finish because it was, by that point, clear that it was irrevocably boring & a trite ending was coming. There's nothing wrong with a light read but I wouldn't even recommend this one for a weekender. It simply had no charm to speak of, that I found & offered nothing new as a twist to an old trope (women at various stages in life, forging friendships). This reader was disappointed at this middling (at best) story....more
Ellie & Camden. I kinda love these two. Both were complex in their way. Ellie & her plan to con Camden was like watching some some inevitable fail magEllie & Camden. I kinda love these two. Both were complex in their way. Ellie & her plan to con Camden was like watching some some inevitable fail magnet. I knew it was coming & was hoping so hard that it was coming that if it hadn't come I would have tossed my Kindle a yard. The waiting was torturous, especially since I didn't have one solid block of time to just read this through. I had to keep stealing time during the week to read (being an adult can really be bothersome at times!). Anyway, when it finally happened not only did I cheer for Ellie's failure (because that meant Camden was as smart as I'd thought) it also added more patina to the already fab, Ellie. Then Camden's background is sifted into the story & it's just a thrill to the very end. I quite liked the flashbacks of highschool. It explained so much about each of them & tied the past to the present. Was it just me who harkened back to Camden drawing on Ellie's arm in highschool when he was tattooing her leg? Awesome & so much squee. I was always pulling for them to work everything out & get together because I was so invested in all the lead up to Ellie's con. I wanted it to be real! Even when Camden treaded the line, like Ellie, I wanted to like him. I know Ellie felt he had some control issues but he didn't seem beyond the pale to me. Either Ellie's seriously super sensitive or I've known some real control freaks. Or both are true.
I didn't know that I enjoyed romantic suspense stories so much. When Ellie's past & Camden's current situation intersect, it's all go. I do think that possibly Ellie & Camden's general chemistry & wit added to their sexiness. They had great banter. Ellie's narration gave very good insight to her thinking & her voice was clear even when she was indecisive & ego-tripping. She pretty well acknowledged it as she did it, except when she was going on with some serious self-serving myopia. You have to wonder about someone who's indignant that the person they were going to con said some scathing things to them. Really. Still, Ellie never lost my interest nor my hope that she'd be okay. And I was on Camden's side when he showed up in all his tattooed glory wearing a Battlestar Galactica tee. The Caithness comment just reinforced my adoration. Sheriff McQueen... complete asshat. That is all. Javier. Same classification as the sheriff.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this story. One quibble, there was just a bit too much peering going on. Ellie peers a lot & she says Camden does too. It was noticeably odd. I only saw one typo (a misplaced "I") so that was excellent. Anyway, this was the first I'd read of this author (the cover & blurb caught my attention) but I will definitely be keeping up with this series. The ending will have me on tenter hooks until April....more
I was in the mood for a classic type of literary fiction & so I finally got to this on my Kindle. I'm very glad that I did. Our narrator is unnamed & I was in the mood for a classic type of literary fiction & so I finally got to this on my Kindle. I'm very glad that I did. Our narrator is unnamed & not wholly reliable but she has a wit & way about her that really makes the story. She & her married friends Gay & Len are boozing it up one "last" time & as the drinks flow, so do some not so pretty truths & long held secrets about each of them. At just over the midpoint I was getting a little bored of her tangents & the Boston references but I was all in for the reveals about Charley (this was the heart of the story for me), Len and the rest. It's what I would consider a period piece (set in the late 60s & heavily references a 20-25 year span) but not quite historical fiction. I definitely had a bit of a curve to understand some of the references to the time but it was worth sticking with it & calling my mother to ask some questions about the 60s & 70s. The story's conclusion is open-ended but I took it as hopeful (no matter which way it goes for our narrator) & I really enjoyed it. I was just glad she had finally decided to call Sam. ;)...more
I really enjoyed this family saga. Grant/Quinn were really the heart of the story for me & the characters I most invested in. The close runners up areI really enjoyed this family saga. Grant/Quinn were really the heart of the story for me & the characters I most invested in. The close runners up are Madison & Kennedy. Madison & her relationship with Cyrus is deliciously twisted & I look forward to seeing where Madison's allegiance to him takes her in the next installment of the series. I'm quite interested in Kennedy mostly because she is so little mentioned in comparison to the other siblings but is often mentioned to be most like the ill-fated Win. Charlene is still very one-dimensional for me but she has potential. I honestly never became invested in Linc/Lynette. Linc is fairly flat as a character as a counter to his brother Grant & Lynette is always referred to as a "girl" not a woman (as the other women in the story are) so I had some difficulty seeing her as a woman involved with a 27-28 year old man. Their angst was all related to her parents & felt like over-wrought teenage drama. I wasn't sure what the author was trying to convey (was it ingenue vitality & innocence because she's a prima ballerina or some "just legal" status?) but it just felt off in the telling.
The murder mystery (or murders, really) are a compelling angle of the story & even if the details to the triple homicide seemed a bit pat, I liked it. Grant being the "elder statesman" sibling at 28 was only working for me because of the way he is portrayed (even if it still felt like a stretch). I was flat out appalled that Madison had been keeping Cyrus' secret for 17 or so years because it clearly worked out to her being told when she was barely 10 years-old. I felt it was far afield but I'm taking it as just another facet of their twisted relationship. More than anything, I just want to see what the knowledge of the circumstance will bring out in the characters next. Ideally, these characters would be older to add some credibility to the plot points but I was able to bypass that in the characterizations. More than anything, I just want to see what the knowledge of the circumstance will bring out in the characters next. And finally, who left Madison that note at the end? I can't wait to find out & what the Queen will do when she finds out. ...more
2.5 stars. I had this on my Kindle for about a year & have decided in 2013 to get some of the lingerers read & done. The best thing I can say is that 2.5 stars. I had this on my Kindle for about a year & have decided in 2013 to get some of the lingerers read & done. The best thing I can say is that my task was completed & I finished reading this book. It was well written but a true slog.
Dani annoyed me for much of the story because I was able to see that Maria was a serious problem & not a very nice person but Dani was pulled in & dismissed just about everything because she believed Maria's story about Bathory's diary. It just reached a point with the chaos ensuing that I no longer cared about Dani & her obsession. Foster was quite interesting but even that bit of the story unravelled for me. The excerpts of the diary were fairly harrowing but they didn't really anchor anything else going on with the story to feel to me as anything but a macabre sideshow. I lost the will to gawk long before Dani so it was a bit wasted on me. The epic finale/showdown fell a bit flat because of course that was going to be the outcome & the reader figured it out hundreds of pages earlier. That said, Dani does have growth as a character by story's end, so that's better than nothing. ...more
In my continuing 2013 quest to read things that have been on my Kindle for a really long time, I finally got to this one.
Ok. Where to begin? Is it weIn my continuing 2013 quest to read things that have been on my Kindle for a really long time, I finally got to this one.
Ok. Where to begin? Is it well written? Definitely. Did it hold my interest? Yes. Did I find it thought-provoking? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No. Do I have to have enjoyed it to find it worth reading? No. Am I conflicted about Caleb? Not one bit.
Caleb's a sick SOB & no amount of recounting how he came to be such, did a thing to sway me to rooting for, liking or absolving him. I knew I wasn't going to be giving this guy any passes when it was disclosed that he'd watched Livvie through the fence at her highschool for weeks before she's taken. Really. I was interested in him in the same way one is interested in the criminally insane & sadistic. In that way that you would sit on a jury & not flinch as he's sentenced to spend the rest of his days in a locked down psychiatric facility with a team of MDs & PhDs trying to unwind his psyche. Call me a provincial chica, I don't want the heroine to "help" this guy. He can't be "loved" better. There is no special snowflake that can "fix" him. He needs clinicians to get to work on that. For years. And even then, not a guy I'd spend a second whinging on about his damage, scars & feelings.
That is what I felt as I read this book. I didn't feel sympathy or solace or anything close to redemption relating to Caleb. And to my mind, that's perfectly fine. He wasn't acting out fantasies, he was perpetrating a criminal endeavor on Livvie. He felt absolved at times because he deemed actions "her choice" but there's no freedom in the matter when the underlying act is against one's will. What I did get & find utterly fascinating with regard to Caleb, is the question: When is it that you become the thing you hate on your quest for revenge? And how just is your cause when you've destroyed & damaged innocents in the the way others did to you when you were so? That old proverb about digging two graves when you begin your quest has always fascinated me. So that, was my only draw to read on about Caleb. And yes, I wanted him to die at the end of this whole thing. I hold hope that he still meets his end in the second book. No matter how things played out, I couldn't get past the notion that Livvie was not Caleb's first captive. He'd done this before to other girls & women all in aid of his quest to get to Vladek. And the fact that the "Flower Auction" is about obtaining virgins, leads me to believe that the ages of the captives is not a strict 18 out of some moral obligation to keep it on the legal age side. Girls. NOT women. Livvie being marked as "special" & having "got to him" for this story didn't take that ugly angle away & even if no one else cared about the others, their fates & Caleb's hand in it, I did. We have not so nice government funded facilities for people who kidnap, violate & sell people because those are actual crimes & Caleb is a perfect candidate to wend away his days in one.
Very early on in the story, I was hoping this was Livvie's recounting of what happened to her to the authorities. Her point of view read that way to me. I'm still hoping to find that it was so. She had my sympathies & that she further became a victim of Stockholm Syndrome was even more sad though completely understandable. I'd allow it for any person in that situation, but definitely for an 18 year-old highschool girl. She was not, to me, a reliable narrator because of the situation she was in. She vacillated between states. At one point, she mused that he had always been in control of himself with her & had always explained why he was doing one thing or another. Per the other POV supplying Caleb's story, this simply is not true. It's clear that Livvie does not have anything near the whole of her story, by her own words, but she allows herself sometimes to think that she does. She compartmentalized, rationalized & sometimes, idealized what had been done to her. That she wondered at why he was like this when he was so handsome & could surely get women easily, as if being good looking gave some sort of bye on being a sick soul, was sad & disturbing. Not in a "How can she think that given what he's done to her" but in a broader "No one should have that expectation & allowance to begin with" way. I couldn't get over the beating & the rape & the original stalking & kidnapping to consider anything that happened consensual on any level but allowed that she needed have her veil to view through. Coercion & want of survival negates any physical response, positive (or temporarily powerful) feelings toward Caleb that Livvie felt. He wasn't a choice. He was a self-imposed lack of options & one of last resort. If nothing else, it was an interesting character study of an abused & detached character. Actually two.
Caleb's part being told in third-person was a good device because I really didn't want to get any closer to this guy than I already was. It was a welcome & for me, necessary, distance. For all his supposed conflict & feelings for her, in the end his issues & personal vendetta against Vladek outweighed the damage he'd wrought on Livvie. She was just going to have to deal, because he had some unresolved stuff & this was the only way that HE was going to be free & better in the end. She was still another link in the chain of women he'd used to attain his goal. That he admits it doesn't make him sympathetic & neither does that little introspective attempt at the 94% mark. That she accepted the inevitability of it doesn't make her free. But I do applaud the author throwing in that Livvie was going to attempt to go all out wanton seductress to counter the coveted virginal thing. I didn't buy her capable or inclined to a sex romp a day after she endured a gang beating complete with boot bruises all over, cracked ribs & a dislocated shoulder but... okay.
I've seen a lot of reviews by women who've raved & loved this but I haven't seen the masses saying they were handing this over to their husbands & boyfriends to take notes to be more like Caleb (a la Christian Grey). I find that interesting. I wonder if, all other things being equal, there'd be so much swooning if Caleb had been described as physically unattractive, fat, sweaty & hairy in all the wrong places (kind of like Tiny, because really, where it counts, Caleb, Jair, Tiny (& Tiny's friends) aren't so different).
One thing that did bother me was that the author gives somewhat random toss-in of Livvie having a boyfriend & siblings that she loves so much & feels responsible for but we never get anything from Livvie even hinting that she misses them at all. Livvie never even mentions her boyfriend's name in her narration. Though we do get a lot of her missing & conflicted feelings about her mother. There are also a few typos & misused words sprinkled around ("us" instead of "we"; "that" instead of "than"). I also must say that I didn't feel romance here or anything erotic & I checked, I still have my all-girl card. I definitely don't have whatever it is that the majority of reviewing readers have that triggered "hot & sexy" read. I got the "dark" bit. I'm just glad that I was able to find it interesting & worth having read. All this said, I have the second book on my Kindle, so I am going to read that next.
*Note* This is seriously an Adults Only read. Even then, proceed with caution & know your emotional limits. ...more
Definitely one of my favorite books read in 2012. Easily. I don't know how I missed this one when it came out but I'm glad I found my way to it now. ADefinitely one of my favorite books read in 2012. Easily. I don't know how I missed this one when it came out but I'm glad I found my way to it now. Alice Blackwell tells us of the path of her life that leads her to becoming The First Lady and it's a wonderful time. I can't dislike a librarian. She's introspective and has genuine concern and awareness for what is happening around her as she moves through life. I very much liked her Granny, Emilie. She was so influential in Alice's life & I have to admit that I figured out her secret pretty early on. Alice's parents weren't as clearly drawn but I didn't think it was to the detriment of the story. They certainly weren't as tuned in to Alice as Emilie was. I also figured Dena wouldn't be around as BFF forever, either. She was difficult to like for a sustained period of time because she was selfish & manipulative. I was a little sad that Alice never had another BFF in the same way but given her personality, it didn't seem she suffered a loss in that way. I liked that Alice was always able to have the company of her books & was never lonely. She was content being solitary.
Charlie was fun & infuriating. I did find his quirk about the dark as silly & endearing as Alice. I could see how they made a good match & I was very happy with how Alice was able to tell him her secret & he didn't judge harshly. The Blackwell family was chaotic & ambitious & I enjoyed them. It was strange to read some of their attitudes regarding race because it felt like they were always ten or twenty years behind the times in thought. I kept thinking "This is 1986?! Come on, people!" That's not at all a criticism of the story, it's just that I was alive in 1986 & though I was a child, I wouldn't have thought people so well travelled & read would still be holding onto so much of those old racial tropes then. It was definitely an interesting perspective given the casualness of most of the Blackwells & the outright tones of entitlement & deference of Priscilla.
I did wish that the final section, when we finally reach Alice residing at the White House, was longer. I had expected that it would be but I don't really know why. It was a very good end to what felt like a sit down at tea. Maybe I just didn't want to leave because I came to really like Alice. I read & loved Prep so I was familiar with Curtis Sittenfeld & she exceeded my enjoyment of her writing with this book. This is definitely going on my to re-read list....more
More like 4.5 stars. I am always worried when I read books told in the First Person because sometimes the voice is not clear & also becomes a bit of aMore like 4.5 stars. I am always worried when I read books told in the First Person because sometimes the voice is not clear & also becomes a bit of a turn off. And sometimes, it takes a while to fall into the story if it's told by a narrator that doesn't have an engaging tone. None of that was the case for me while I read this book. I really liked the narrator & thought he was quite witty. The story was told colorfully & I felt a connection with the characters he related in the telling. I must admit that I've not read too many books where you never learn the narrator's name but it is a refreshing device when done well, as it is here. After the opening, I realized that I didn't know it & kept an eye out for it until the end. I cared about him so much, I still want to know this dude's name! I can only say that I find that a good character portrayal.
The story isn't so much about any one thing than a telling of a time in the narrator's life and what events took place that propelled him to the next stage in life. That happens for all the characters & some locations in the story and it happens in believable ways. I must admit that I worried for a long time how his relationship with Leah would resolve. Dante was great & I was happy for his ending. Sebastian & Aldous made me laugh a lot. Lolita, Mother Teresa & Miroslav had smaller parts but I felt that those were integral to the story & enjoyed them. I completely loved how the brick found in the back of the book shop was brought back into the story & tied to one of the characters & the unexpected twist that led to. Well done!
There were too many highlight worthy, quotable bits in this book and this will definitely be one of the best books I've read in 2012 (I've read more than a few). Don't let its being an indie deter from the opportunity to sit down and read it. I saw two typos but I've seen that many in professionally published works. Everything else is pristine. Especially the prose. I look forward to reading more from McLay....more
It's been a while since I've read a YA novel & I'm glad I picked this one up. While not a YA full of romance & relationship angst, it was full of realIt's been a while since I've read a YA novel & I'm glad I picked this one up. While not a YA full of romance & relationship angst, it was full of real emotional depth & dealt with the subject of suicide in a thoughtful & poignant manner. Jersey was a great character & I felt quite a lot of empathy for him as he tried to figure out what led him to the fateful moment when he attempted suicide. I was on pins & needles with him as he made lists, asked people about himself before & he and his parents tiptoed around each other & what had happened. He basically has one friend left, Mama Rush, the grandmother of his former best friend, Todd & their relationship is one of my favorites in the story. Also in Jersey's corner is Leza, Todd's younger sister & I'll just admit right now that I was pulling for a mutual crush situation. It was nice to see that for all he'd been through, being a teenager still remained & he was concerned about his appearance, making a fool of himself in front of girls & having just enough autonomy & independence from his parents. Nothing about resuming a regular life was easy from family to school & not everyone was nice either.
I must admit that while I understood Jersey's mother was scarred from what he'd done, I found that I understood & empathized with her the least. I kept wanting more explanation from her to get a better handle on her but in the end, I just had to accept that it wasn't coming & be content with that. I did think Jersey's father was portrayed very well & I found that I only found one thing that he didn't do highly questionable but the way the story proceeds was entirely necessary. It was frustrating that often Jersey would ask a question about Before & the reaction he received from others was basically, "Really? How can you even ask that?" Many times, I just wanted to scream "Why doesn't anyone just tell him what he did or how he was already?! Don't you know he doesn't remember?!" I get that he had to work it out & that was the point of his journey but I honestly felt like someone would have just told him. I suppose the case could be made that all those he asked had their own fallout from his attempt so they were of course, dealing with their own feelings as well. I also felt desperately that his family should have had a nearer therapy date than six months out from his rehab hospital discharge. That struck me as woefully inadequate given the situation. I hope that isn't true to life & was just done to maintain the story structure of Jersey & his family working out some important things.
I won't give up the major plot points but suffice it to say, it's a page turner to the very end. There isn't a neat tie up of happy endings for each story thread but it is hopeful & believable....more
This one was one of those books that I couldn’t just read straight through. I needed breaks. Quite a few. It’s not a flaw in the book, it’s that some This one was one of those books that I couldn’t just read straight through. I needed breaks. Quite a few. It’s not a flaw in the book, it’s that some of it was so real it was deadly depressing & I needed some time out. The Weedon family was almost too sad to abide with but were too important to simply skim. Throughout I was sure that things were not going to end well. The Price family seconded them in the sad line. The other families, though having high levels of unhappiness, were more easily read through. The residents of Pagford & the Fields were real in all the great and terrible ways. And accessible in that any of us could easily be or know any of them. This doesn’t make for a breezy read but it did make for a compelling one.
Personally, I found Sukhvinder to be the heart of the story for me & from her introduction, I was most interested in her & held hope that her plight would improve. I finished the book feeling very pleased about her. I think she may have been my favorite character & I didn’t even expect her to have as pivotal a role as she wound up having. It was a pleasant surprise.
I’d totally recommend this but I don’t think it’s one for the beach or vacay. If you should crack this one open while at the airport… I don’t know. If you’re in for a hellish wait due to the holidays or some epic weather, this may make you call it and pull up to the nearest bar or go on a spree at SkyMall to improve your mood. Be advised. But, if you have the mental fortitude & some time in general, this one could more than do in a regular reading rotation. Now that I’m done, I’m off to find some light, quick reads. ...more
I should begin by saying that going into this book, I thought it was published in 2005 & was a contemporary romance. As I began reading, it became eviI should begin by saying that going into this book, I thought it was published in 2005 & was a contemporary romance. As I began reading, it became evident that this was not a story in that time period. I then found it was originally published in 1988. The many references in this book definitely made sense in that context but it became a bit of a distraction because there were so many brand names mentioned that are no longer "high end" (Lear instead of Gulf Stream, Pierre Cardin, Members Only, etc) or even recognizable. Furthermore, it didn't set the time in the way a story by Bret Easton Ellis can, it just felt like it was pushing "wealthy L.A." in a heavy handed way with all the name dropping.
I found the first chapter intro to be very compelling because you don't know who has died or who the woman who put it all into motion happens to be. I thought the mystery/revenge set up would get going much earlier on but instead we go back & forth in time getting to know the main female characters. While that was somewhat interesting, I found that it was mostly tedious because I wanted to get to the mystery. The main women we follow have all been on the rough side of relationships with men & other life circumstances but they excel in their professional lives & so seek liberation & freedom in Butterfly. I am a fan of stories of empowered women & certainly love stories where women take charge of their own happiness but none of the characters were very compelling in the long run. There was nothing new here & nothing that will stand out as revelatory or have lasting impression.
This may well have been an edgy story when it was originally published (what with women running & patronising the brothel) but by today's standard, it is quite tame. There's nothing sexually graphic or kinky here. And there's nothing wrong with that but I wouldn't even say there was anything in this book that felt like it belonged in "romance". It is a broad chick-lit ensemble where the b-story revenge plot is the most interesting thing going on. Don't go into it looking for more & it should be a satisfying telling. If you're looking for a romantic & erotic story of a woman patronising a brothel, pick up Robin Schone's "The Lover".
This is the first in the Butterfly Trilogy but I don't have any desire to read the remaining installments....more
I wish I'd saved this one for summer vacation beachside. The tension was there until the collapse of 2008 and then I am surprised to say, nothing muchI wish I'd saved this one for summer vacation beachside. The tension was there until the collapse of 2008 and then I am surprised to say, nothing much dramatic happened. The first third of the book was quite engaging and held a lot of promise as we got to know the residents of Pepys Road. I truly felt impending doom and anxiety for them as time barreled on. I had anxiety just reading an accounting of the amount and cost of the life the Younts were leading. It was so extreme a case of affluenza that it wasn't just off-putting, it was suffocating. So when the entire story sort of meandered toward its conclusion, I was left feeling a but let down. Still, it was something of a page-turner and it held my interest quite keenly for about 75% of the way through. It's not the deeper social commentary I'd expected but it is interesting enough to want to finish. I'd recommend this one as good for vacation or time spent during air travel or waiting on jury duty day. ...more
I have mixed feelings about this one. I decided to read this along with a couple other books over the long holiday weekend. I'm glad I had other thingI have mixed feelings about this one. I decided to read this along with a couple other books over the long holiday weekend. I'm glad I had other things to read. I quite loved the first half & thought the author did a great job with most of the characters & also the accident we are shown in the opening of the book. And then the second half happened. Or didn't so much and just meandered along until I have to honestly admit, I was skimming for resolutions for my favorite characters. I'm positive that's not a good sign & that's not how I like to get through my books. On the upside, I was compelled to at least get to the end to see how my favorites fared but that's not enough for me to give this one more than a middling star grade. Another thing that diminished my enjoyment was that I had the BBC series "Collision" (Masterpiece Contemporary in the US) running alongside in my mind. That's not the author's fault but they were so similar, I couldn't help the meld. I have other Penny Vincenzi books on my bookshelf & will gladly give them a read but this one is unfortunately no going to be a favorite....more
Persuasion is my favorite Austen & I rarely see retellings of the story. Sense & Sensibility & Emma are streaks ahead in popularity, it seems. So whenPersuasion is my favorite Austen & I rarely see retellings of the story. Sense & Sensibility & Emma are streaks ahead in popularity, it seems. So when I ran across this book, I had to read it. It was sweet & bittersweet & a very solid version of the story set in modern time. I was interested to see how it would translate over time & was surprised that a lot of it fit quite well. There's a scene with Anne & her nephews reenacting a Star Wars: Clone Wars episode that just tickled me & spoke to my SW fangirl heart.
The family Elliot is just as insufferable as they are in the original work & while I was glad of that, I did have a difficult time accepting that Anne would be just as reluctant to challenge them. Her sisters freely treat her horridly in private & public but she always defers & capitulates, not wanting to upset them. I didn't need a warrior woman but I felt like she needed to say or do something to assert herself when being mistreated, if for no other reason than to stop the mistreatment. I think though, that's me imposing my own idea of modern western womanhood interfering, not the author's failing in the telling. I did find the issue of cousin, Will Elliot a little odd in the modern rendition. He's dated Elizabeth at Dartmouth & is now seemingly courting Anne, though Elizabeth is still quite keen. It felt strange that in this modern setting, cousin Will (I don't care that he's twice removed) would not have been courting outside of the family, chance of inheritance or no. This is also true for Elizabeth. The other characters all rolled with this happenstance as though it were usual which added another odd factor. It came off as arcane here but I do applaud the author for trying to work with it.
Rick was phenom & his letter to Anne at the end gave me chills, just like the originals does for me. From that point on, I root & hope & need a tissue. I still think that Rick shouldn't need to concern himself with trying to prove to the Elliot clan that he was worthy, those people are twits. Even so, they mattered to Anne, so it was gallant of him to care. No matter the little quirks in this retelling, I still felt for these characters & wanted they to work it all out.
All in all, I liked this & would recommend it to anyone who happens to be a Persuasion fan. It's a very easy read & perfect to take along on vacation or to while away some airport hours. 3.5 stars because it's an adaptation & while quite good, I can't give real points for sheer creativity & newness....more
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