Mini Reviews: Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton and The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

I don't read a ton of it, but every once in awhile there's nothing like a good mystery novel to get keep my attention, and Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton was exactly that. The story begins with a school on fire, and Grace, a mother, knows that her daughter Jenny is inside. She races in and finds her in time, but that is only the beginning of their trouble, as the arsonist is still on the loose and whoever it is still wants to destroy her family. There is an unexpected slightly supernatural element to the book, but even if I didn't totally buy it, it worked in context.

Like the successful mystery novel it is, Afterwards was full of twists and turns that kept me guessing. It's a pretty long book at 400 pages, and I admit I might have (digitally) flipped towards the end to get some details just so I could go to sleep without finishing it. It was intense and exciting and wonderful. Ultimately, I picked this book up looking for a good mystery novel, and I went away completely satisfied. Afterwards is an unexpected, sometimes strange and unusual novel, but it was a great read for me and left me eager to read Lupton's much-loved debut novel, Sister, in the future.

Obviously Afterwards left me in a mystery-craving mood because the next book I finished was The Cutting Season by Attica Locke. The novel centers around a historic plantation house in Louisiana, Belle Vie, and Caren, the woman who has managed it for the last four years but has long had ties to the place. When a dead body turns up, Caren is drawn into the investigation, uncovering many secrets along the way.

The Cutting Season initially caught my attention as a mystery, but as soon as I started reading I realized it was more than that. If anything, it falls into the category of 'literary mystery' because of Locke's detailed writing and eloquent prose, but with an unexplained murder underpinning the entire novel. Unlike Lupton's novel, there is definitely nothing supernatural about it, but that doesn't it stop it from having some pretty creepy moments.

My major issue with the novel was that it was too slow-paced at times, in particular because I was looking for a mystery, and that meant that as beautiful as Locke's writing is, it often had difficulty keeping my attention. I didn't have an incredibly strong connection to Caren either, which made me less invested in the outcome and also probably contributed the fact that the book took me an entire month to read– in comparison to the two days that Afterwards took. That said, for readers looking for a complicated and original story, an incredibly setting, and beautifully written prose, The Cutting Season is still worth checking out.

Release Date: April 24th 2012 / September 18th 2012   Pages: 400 / 384   
Format: E-galley /ARC   Source: NetGalley / Publisher 

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

Note: This review contains no spoilers of We'll Always Have Summer, but may contain spoilers of the first book in the series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, a review of which can be found here and the second book in the series, It's Not Summer Without You, a review of which can be found here.

I really love Jenny Han's writing, but I'm not sure I always love her stories. Such is the case with the third and final book in the Summer Trilogy, We'll Always Have Summer.

This book starts off with Belly agreeing to marry Jeremiah. Never mind the decision feels rushed to everyone, including Belly's family and the reader– I mean, she's still in college and she's only been with him for a couple years. But stubborn as always, Belly doesn't care. I'd blame Jeremiah, but he's so in love with her it's not like you can expect him to act any different. But what it means is that from the very beginning, I'm already not a fan of Belly, something I struggled with throughout this trilogy, as much as I loved the boys unfortunately the girl they were both fighting over could be pretty irritating.

I did start to understand Conrad better in We'll Always Have Summer in this novel, something I struggled with in the previous book, It's Not Summer Without You. Maybe Conrad was also made more appealing by the fact that Jeremiah has basically turned into a frat boy, a transformation I found disappointing though I guess it was realistic.

Of course the moment Belly agreed to marry Jeremiah I wanted Conrad to sweep in and steal her away, but the way things unfolded did seem believable. I guess overall I was happy with the ending, and Han manages to tie up everything pretty nicely for the reader, but it just felt a little like something was missing. Maybe I would have been happier if this series had ended with The Summer I Turned Pretty because for me as a reader, none of the subsequent books lived up it. That said, it was refreshing to see Belly finally grow up a bit by the end.

Ultimately, these books haven't changed how I feel about Han as a writer. Her writing is beautiful and her characters are complicated, and I will definitely be continuing with her recent co-written series, which began with the first book I read by her, Burn For Burn. She's a writer I'll continue to watch out for, even if We'll Always Have Summer isn't a book I'll be returning to again.

Release Date: April 26th 2011  Pages: 291  Source: Borrowed  Publisher: Simon and Schuster 

Also By This Author:  The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1); It's Not Summer Without You (Summer #2);  Burn for Burn (Burn for Burn #1)  Buy It: Book Depository

Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio

Sarah Jio’s third novel, Blackberry Winter, provides the same delightful mix of mystery, romance, and history, as her first two, along with unique twists and its own emotional storyline.

Like The Violets of March and The Bungalow, Blackberry Winter fluctuates between two time periods where an unsolved mystery from the earlier time period comes to light decades later and a female protagonist works to find the truth, including an unexpected connection to her own life. 

Blackberry Winter is set in Seattle, both in 1933 and 2010, and unlike her earlier books, Jio’s main focus is not on romance but instead on motherhood– though the romance is definitely still important.

In 1933, during a May 1st storm, the three-year-old son of single mother Vera vanishes; the only trace he leaves behind is his teddy bear– face down in the snow. In 2010, another unexpected May 1st snowstorm happens and Claire, a reporter covering it, discovers the story of the unsolved abduction and works to learn what really happened.

Just as The Bungalow found some unexpected characters from Jio’s debut appear, a few more show up for an important appearance in Blackberry Winter. Although each novel is absolutely a standalone, it’s nice to get to revisit favourite characters again, even if they aren’t always doing quite as well as you hoped.

The novel itself is probably Jio’s strongest so far, as her storytelling has an emotion to it that is heartbreaking regardless of if it is Vera or Claire narrating. There are some striking images, such as the teddy bear, and the theme of motherhood is especially powerful.

Jio’s transition from one time period to another is incredibly smooth and I never got confused about which story I was reading. Her writing is easy to read, but has some lovely details immerse the reader in the setting and time period. The snowy scenery makes it a perfect read winter read.

Like Jio’s first two books, Blackberry Winter certainly has some convenient coincidences in it, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of it, and even when I could mostly tell how things were going to turn it, there was a surprise or two in store.

After three novels there are certain things that can be expected of Jio, in particular a page-turning mystery that is also engaging on an emotional level, such as Blackberry Winter provides. I will certainly be picking up her fourth book, The Last Camellia, which is released on May 28th.

Release Date: November 27th 2012  Pages: 290  Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Penguin Buy It: Book Depository

Orchards by Holly Thompson

Orchards is a powerful novel in verse by Holly Thompson, about the repercussions of bullying and the meaning of home. In this novel, Kana Golberg is sent away to live with her mother's family in Japan after a classmate commits suicide. During her summer in Japan, Kana works on the orange farm and is forced to reflect on the role she may have played, and what she could have done to stop the bullying. It's a simple story, but its strength is really in the setting. Thompson brings the Japanese farm to life, and deftly takes on the cultural issues felt by Kana who is half Japanese and half Jewish-American. There definitely aren't enough novels with biracial protagonists, and I thought this one did an excellent job with mentioning some of the unique issues without making it Kana's defining feature.

I thought it was really interesting how even though the novel was in verse, it was still divided up into chapters. The verse writing is excellent, and the page and line breaks are thoughtful and well-placed. It really added to some of the fragmentation of Kana's thoughts at times, and made it quick, easy, and lovely to read. The story is complimented by some illustrations, though I found them unnecessary. Thompson's words illustrated everything I needed to see.

Ultimately, I don't know why I waited so long to pick up Orchards, but as soon as I did I couldn't put it down. I devoured half the book that night before bed, and read the rest before work the next day– I just couldn't leave until I finished it. The writing was smooth and lyrical, and it was easy to form an emotional connection with Kana, even though– or maybe because– she wasn't perfect. I will definitely be recommending Orchards and I'm very excited to pick up Thompson's followup, The Language Inside when it is released in May.

Release Date: February 22nd 2011  Pages: 336  Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Random House  Buy It: Book Depository

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati

Dancing in the Dark is the debut novel of Robyn Bavati, which originally published in Australia but is just making it to North America in 2013. It's the story of Ditty Cohen, a 12-year-old girl who secretly falls in love with ballet, despite being forbidden to even sign up for it by her Haredi (extremely Orthodox Jewish) parents. The beginning of the story takes place five and a half years later, when Ditty's religious and dance worlds collide, before going back to the start again and following the years that lead that point. 

From the moment I saw its haunting cover and read the summary, I was incredibly excited to pick up Dancing in the Dark, because the concept sounded amazing and I have also been wanting to read more books with Jewish characters. However, as soon as I started the book I realized it might not be a great match, as it began with an unnecessary and overly dramatic prologue, ending with "memories flash before my eyes..." – the ellipse is a direct quote from the ARC.

As it continued the story definitely caught my interest. However, because Ditty started at age 12, she read quite young, even when she got older, which meant the end result was more middle grade than young adult to me. Still, she was complex and interesting, especially when it came to her faith. Unfortunately, sometimes other characters' reactions felt simplistic and lacked the nuance I wanted. In one example, despite there being other Jewish kids at Ditty's ballet school, when somebody asks Ditty what she's getting for Christmas and she says nothing because she's Jewish, they laugh and say everyone gets Christmas presents. Ditty might not have Internet or access to TV, but these other kids certainly do, so it felt like a kinda silly reaction, even though the kids are only 12.

Another reason Dancing in the Dark came across quite young was because some conversations seem like they are there just to tell a message or explain why people have certain beliefs rather than being completely organic. Some examples include an argument between Ditty's father and uncle, or when her father discusses with her sister's husband his favourite Talmud passage for the week, and it just happens to be on conflicting values– I realize if it wasn't something relevant it wouldn't be a part of the novel, but I just didn't want it to be quite so obvious.

That said, there were some really interesting discussions about faith, such as between Ditty's cousin Linda and herself.  Maybe I enjoyed those portions more because Ditty was an active participant, rather than a bystander. Like Intentions by Deborah Heiligman which I read last year, Dancing in the Dark, it was clearly written for readers who know nothing about Judaism. As a Jewish individual, that was probably a huge factor in what made it a bit dull or frustrating to read at times.

Additionally, the conflicts tended to resolve really easily. Like when Ditty needs someone else to walk home her younger siblings, suddenly her eight and a half year old sister is old enough to do it– even though Ditty had been the one walking her home, and even though eight seems awfully young for that to me. There are other examples but they are spoilers so I won't mention them.

Finally, time passes really quickly, the novel starts at age twelve and by 160 pages in it's two and a half years later. There are just brief moments to show time passing, and at times I felt like I was missing bits. I also felt like it was hard to really see Ditty getting older, because there wasn't much in between to show her becoming more mature. The quick pace makes it really easy to read, because there's always lots of action, but it means that there isn't a lot of time to connect with characters.

So that was a lot of thoughts. I really focused on the aspects that disappointed me, because I wanted so badly to love Dancing in the Dark and it just didn't quite succeed for me. That said, I do think it would be great for younger readers, like maybe old MG or young YA level, and perhaps it was the cover the swayed me into thinking it would be more mature than it was. I definitely think there needs to be more young adult featuring Jewish characters, and I hadn't read a YA featuring Haredi characters before. I did enjoy Ditty, she was believable and I found her journey exciting and interesting to follow. Overall, Dancing in the Dark is definitely worth picking up if you're looking for some insight into very Orthodox Judaism, and it's a quick-paced, exciting read with an authentic main character, even though it wasn't quite right for me.

Release Date: February 3rd 2013  Pages: 321  Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley  Publisher: Flux  Buy It: Book Depository

Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman

Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman is an unexpected debut novel that blurs the line between young adult and literary fiction with the story of Rory Hendrix, who lives in a Reno trailer park with her mother and is “third generation in a line of apparent imbeciles, feeble-minded bastards surely on the road to whoredom.” 

Rory happens to have a copy of the Girl Scout Handbook she's borrowed from the library and she pours over it for advice. Unfortunately, the Girl Scout connection was probably my least favourite part of the novel, it often felt forced or unnecessary to me, like Hassman thought the book needed a gimmick. With writing this strong, it certainly didn’t.

Because easily my favourite thing about Girlchild was the words. Beautiful, deep, powerful words that left an impact long after I finished reading them. Instead of chapters, the novel is divided up so that every page or so is it's own little story– which sometimes made it a bit confusing when one bit was ending and a new one was beginning as I listened to it on audiobook, but usually just meant that a scene was over before I knew it, like a quick punch to the gut before it was time for something else. Interestingly, the audiobook is actually narrated by Tupelo Hassman, and she is one of the rare authors that can actually do a fantastic job reading it, so that I definitely enjoyed listening.

Hassman's incredible writing allows her to really create a believable setting, letting the reader into this trailer park world, where kids growing up never thinking they'll amount to anything. It was both devastating and illuminating to read about. The majority of the novel wasn't things I could relate to, but somehow with Hassman's words, they felt real. That said, it wasn't pity that I felt for Rory. Instead it was laughter and pain and joy, it was something incredibly human and real.

Coming away from Girlchild I am left with two messages: one, that it's horrible that kids really do have to grow up in conditions like Rory Hendrix, and I hope we can do as much as possible to fix that, and two, that Hassman is a brilliant writer and I will absolutely be picking up whatever she writes next.

Release Date: February 14th 2012  Pages: 275  Format: Audiobook/Hardcover 
Source: Edelweiss/Publisher  Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux  Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

Collateral by Ellen Hopkins

In Collateral, Ellen Hopkins' second adult novel, Ashley, a young woman who doesn't believe in war, falls in love with Cole, a man who is fighting in it. Having been together for five years and four deployments, Ashley pursues her MFA while Cole is away. She never imagined her life this way, but her love for Cole leaves her no other option. The only problem is, Cole may no longer be the person she fell in love with.

The novel goes back and forth in time, from when Ashley and Cole were just falling in love, to their present situation five years later. I really liked the magic of when they were first together, and I feel like Hopkins captured that initial infatuation perfectly. I didn't find the tense-switching confusing, but I was desperate to know exactly how things went so wrong and that definitely kept me reading.

Like Hopkins' young adult books, many of which I have read and loved– including the Crank Trilogy and Identical– Collateral is written in verse. The verse is complimented by poetry written by Cole, which added an interesting dimension to the story by giving insight into what he was thinking and feeling. As always, I thought Hopkins' verse flowed smoothly and was really easy and enjoyable to read.

However, while I did think Collateral was incredibly well-written, but I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as I've loved Hopkins' young adult books. This has very little to do with the fact that she's writing older characters here, and more to do with some of the storyline that just rubbed me the wrong way. In general, Hopkins' writes the kind of books that make the reader think, and although she still mostly does that in Collateral it sometimes became too preachy for me to really enjoy it. At some points, it felt more like a message than a story. Ashley spends a lot of time talking about how the war Cole is fighting in is wrong, and the overall tone of the book is pretty negative. It also sometimes felt like Hopkins was simplifying things too much for the sake of the story, including Cole's story.

That said, I feel like many of my reasons for not falling completely in love with Collateral have to do with this book in particular, so it hasn't changed my adoration of Hopkins, nor the likelihood that I would pick up another novel by her again in the future– including adult titles.

Release Date: November 6th 2012  Pages: 496  Format: E-galley  Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Also by this Author (YA): Crank (Crank #1); Glass (Crank #2); Fallout (Crank #3); Identical; Burned (Burned #1)  Publisher: Simon and Schuster  Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

Author Trish Doller has an amazing Tumblr, click here to visit it, where she regularly posts snippets of whatever her work-in-progress is. That's how in the months leading up to the release of Something Like Normal I was able to get a really good taste of her writing, through a novel that has since sold and been renamed as Where The Stars Still Shine. I mention this because these snippets, along with a first chapter excerpt from SLN available on her website, are exactly what had me so incredibly excited to read her debut novel– so much so that I pre-ordered it months in advance, something I rarely ever do.

Suffice it to say, I had pretty high expectations for this debut novel. 

Something Like Normal is the story of Travis, a marine who has just returned home from Afghanistan, to a situation that has changed dramatically. His brother's dating his girlfriend, his parents are breaking up, and he's having nightmares about his dead best friend. It's a lot to handle. Then he runs into Harper, a girl whose life he helped ruin but who now offers him the possibility of happiness again, or at least something like normal.

There were quite a few things I loved about this book. Doller writes an undeniably authentic and enjoyable voice in Travis; he always felt honest and believable as a person to me. In general, her writing is incredibly strong, and there are some beautiful descriptions and moments throughout the novel. Even the dialogue in the novel felt real and charming. If I didn't know better, I would honestly think Doller was an eighteen-year-old male marine. 

There's also plenty of conflict to fill a book with not much more than 200 pages. It makes the book incredibly easy to read, I think I devoured it in only a few hours. And I definitely enjoyed it. My only criticism would be that I maybe wanted a little more. It's frustrating but honest to say that my expectations going into Something Like Normal may have influenced my experience. The book itself is incredibly well-written, just like I expected from Doller. But I think it's just a bit too short for me. I wanted a little more time with the characters, a little more time for events to unfold and develop. It's not a major flaw but it does hold me back from the full-on gush fest I expected.

The truth is, I'm writing this review six months after finishing Something Like Normal, and in retrospect, some of the events or character changes in the novel feel like they needed a bit more time. That said, I am definitely still excited for Doller's next novel, Where The Stars Still Shine. I am most certainly still a big fan of hers. I couldn't stop reading Travis' journey, and I especially loved his voice. This is certainly the first young adult book I've read that deals with these kinds of issues, and I particularly enjoyed the male perspective, which is sometimes lacking among the young adult books I read. The relationship between Harper and Travis was really great, and despite tackling serious issues the novel still has a sense of humour.  

Something Like Normal may not have been exactly what I was hoping for, but it was something pretty close, and I am curious to see if Doller gets it perfect next time– with writing like hers, it's definitely possible. 

Release Date: June 19th 2012 Pages: 224  Format: Hardcover 
Source: Purchased  Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero