The Forrests by Emily Perkins

The Forrests by Emily Perkins is definitely a novel that has me divided. Can you love the writing while failing to love the book? Because in certain moments, this was pure genius, but in others in left me grasping for something to hold onto, something to make me understand, and mostly for something to keep my attention.

It's the story of Dorothy Forrest, and despite being about 350 pages it manages to cover her entire life– and it's not a short one. But it's not just Dorothy's story, it's the entire Forrest family, transplanted from New York to New Zealand, and their complex and passionate relationships.

But because the story covers so much time, it means that a lot has to be skipped to fit it all in. Perkins' writing isn't vague, quite the opposite actually. It is flashes, snapshots, vivid and bright, but surrounded by empty space. The gap between photos– where the reader can only guess what happens. The Forrests flutters from one event to another without being clear on the passing of time, or what happened in between, and that made it difficult to follow and not the kind of book I was eager to return to once I set it down.

And that's where my conflict is. Even though there were many moments of brilliance, sometimes even an entire chapter or vignette, The Forrests is not the kind of book that left me craving more. It is definitely not a novel I would reread (though there are very few that fall into that category anyway). It's not even about the lack of plot, though readers should be prepared for that as well, and has much more to do with the lack of clarity. It wasn't just the story that puzzled me, but often the characters too. Many characters had only brief appearances but even those that were around more often weren't ones whose thoughts or motivations I could clearly grasp. The result was a book that was difficult to follow, no matter how many pages I read or how long I waited.

For the right reader, The Forrests will be breathtaking. Perkins is incredibly adept at beautiful phrases and moments, and if she wrote one, I think I'd fall in love with a short story by her because that's basically what many of the chapters were. But unfortunately lovely writing alone cannot sustain an entire novel, and as a result The Forrests left me wanting more from the characters and the story than Perkins provided.

Release Date: August 7th 2012  Pages: 352  Format: ARC 
Source: TLC Book Tours Publisher: Bloomsbury USA  Buy It: Book Depository

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman was really the first author I read who convinced me I could love a mystery– back in 2010 when I first read her novel, I'd Know You Anywhere. Later, I picked up her short The Girl in the Green Raincoat which is a part of the Tess Monaghan series, which I also enjoyed (though admittedly not quite as much). Still, Lippman is in top form in And When She Was Good another standalone mystery with the same strong writing, intriguing plot, and, in this case an especially smart story.

And When She Was Good is the story of Hector Lewis, a mother who affords her comfortable lifestyle by running an illegal escort business. Hector hasn't had an easy life, but more than anything she wants one for her son. But with everything she's worked so hard for in jeopardy, it may cost Hector more than she ever imagined just to keep her secrets.

Hector isn't the most likable main character. She's complicated, and I loved the back and forth chapters between the present and the past that show where Hector came from and what's she's overcome. If I'd just been introduced to her without them, or if they'd been told as somebody reflecting back instead of somebody experiencing them firsthand, it would have been hard to emotionally connect to her. Instead, as a reader I was able to understand Hector better, having gone through her experiences with her. She's had a hard life, and the result is a hard– but strong– lady. What she also is, is smart. And I found that, in combination with Lippman's skilled writing, to be incredibly refreshing. Of the three books of hers I've read, And When She Was Good was definitely the least "easy" to read. Lippman doesn't just use prostitution as a shocking plot device, she provides real background and research, as well as asking interesting questions and bringing up political issues I did not expect.

Where And When She Was Good was weaker than I'd Know You Anywhere was the plot. It was incredibly predictable, and took a long time to really get started, probably because the book was weighed down by the more intellectual component of it– which I enjoyed, but still, I was expecting more thrill from this thriller. In that sense, I'd call this a literary thriller. And When She Was Good is a great book for readers wanting a little more depth, I just also wanted a few more twists and turns. Overall, though, I loved Lippman's writing, her complicated characters, and her original storyline. I might still not be much of a mystery reader, but for Lippman, I'll definitely be returning to this genre again. 

Release Date: August 14th 2012  Pages: 320  Format: ARC

Also By This Author: I'd Know You Anywhere; The Girl in the Green Raincoat
Source: TLC Book Tours  Publisher: William Morrow  Buy It: Book Depository

The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Release Date: August 28th 2012
Pages: 224
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Random House
Buy It: Book Depository

Sethie Weiss is hungry, a mean, angry kind of hunger that feels like a piece of glass in her belly. She’s managed to get down to 111 pounds and knows that with a little more hard work—a few more meals skipped, a few more snacks vomited away—she can force the number on the scale even lower. She will work on her body the same way she worked to get her perfect grades, to finish her college applications early, to get her first kiss from Shaw, the boy she loves, the boy who isn’t quite her boyfriend.

I was immediately surprised when I picked up The Stone Girl by its unusual point of view; third person present tense, especially for such a personal narrative. The only other examples that come to mind with the same POV are Lisa McMann's paranormal novels, the Dream Catcher Trilogy and Cryer's Cross, neither of which I fell in love with, so I was a little skeptical about how it would work. Still, I was willing to give The Stone Girl a shot, especially because of the author's moving note about how she struggled with an eating disorder, and I ended up glad that I did.

The Stone Girl is an emotional and sad story, it is the story of a downward spiral, and all the reader wants to do is reach out and stop Sethie from falling. It feels like everyone in her life doesn't notice when things start to decline, if anything; from her best friend teaching her to puke, to her mother's obsession with her body, they make things worse. Unfortunately, that felt authentic, because there are times when what starts as something a person gets compliments about, loosing a few pounds around the thighs, turns into something destructive and horrifying.

Although the POV worked better in Sheinmel's novel than it did in McMann's, I'm certainly not in love with it. It leads to story-telling filled with "Sethie" after "Sethie", and the result felt simplistic and even list-like at times; a slew of Sethie actions, but not as much the emotions. The reason I was glad I read The Stone Girl was that, even though I sometimes felt distanced from Sethie, when I did get a glimpse of the real her, it was absolutely heart-breaking. In some ways, the third person perspective worked because the reader felt the same disconnect that Sethie did with her own life, a body that no longer belonged to her, a person she didn't recognize.

I really felt like The Stone Girl tells an important story, and people will be able to relate to a lot of what Sethie goes through, especially when it comes to her sorta relationship with Shaw. The storyline with Shaw was the most heart-breaking for me, and the most authentic. Sethie's self-worth was all tied up in, not only her weight, but the way that Shaw treated her, if he kissed her or touched her. Even as a part of her knew that it wasn't right, she still wanted him, wanted to believe different. For me, the saddest moments had nothing at all to do with Sethie's eating disorder, and everything to do with Shaw.

The ending of The Stone Girl was a disappointment for me, because it seemed like a simplistic fix for a complicated problem, and I was conflicted over whether or not I was supposed to believe it would actually work. That's probably due to Sethie's unreliability as a narrator, the fact that you can't really trust the person with the disease to tell you the truth about it, but at the same time, it seemed like everyone else in her life believed it. I don't think it would be that easy.

Overall, The Stone Girl was a novel I struggled with, the POV wasn't one I particularly enjoyed and the ending left me longing for more, but it was a heart-breaking and emotional book with a secondary storyline that left a lasting impression on me. I am certainly curious to see how Alyssa B. Sheinmel handles subject matter less close to her heart, especially if it is written in an alternative point-of-view.

Book Spotlight: The Smooth Yarrow by Susan Glickman

The Smooth Yarrow by Susan Glickman is one of those cases where I read a book so beautiful, full of such profound yet delicate poetry, raw, honest and clear– that I immediately wanted to write a raving positive review. Unfortunately, I can't do so with much credibility: it just so happens that the poet, Glickman, is related to me. Still, I couldn't let The Smooth Yarrow go unmarked on my blog, so instead I offer an excerpt of Glickman's own words to convince you why you should definitely pick this book up.

"Whereas poetry offers the results of its meditation
tentatively; it is not embarrassed to show that thinking
–some of it slow, arduous, confused–has taken place.
And then poetry doesn't rush ahead shouting, "Look at me! Look at me!"
Instead, it takes your hand, your poor mangled hand, like the good surgeon it is
and massages it joint by joint, feeling for the sore places.
And because it doesn't speak without reflection
you trust it, and let it cut you open."

-From "On Finding a Copy of Pigeon in the Hospital Bookstore"

If you are interested in purchasing The Smooth Yarrow you can find it on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and the Book Depository. Also, if you're unwilling to take my opinion on this– and I don't blame you– then be sure to check out the reviews, like Quill and Quire that says "Glickman’s writing is defiant: like yarrow, it is lean and strong, not only beautiful, but possessed of myriad healing properties."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Burn by Heath Gibson

After reading the first couple chapters of Burn by Heath Gibson, I thought I might abandon the book. The problem was the main character, Wee Wee or William, a guy that is incredibly whiny at times, especially about his height (he's five three). Also, the nickname Wee Wee is just ridiculous. William also does a lot of saying what a good person he is, because his dad is a pastor. I mean, when he does something nice, the reader knows it, we don't need to be reminded that it is nice, and that he can't help doing it because he's just that kind of person. The good people I actually enjoy reading about aren't the ones that are constantly telling me that they're better than other people. So that bothered me. But fortunately, the annoyance at Wee Wee settled down, sorta, or mostly I think I managed to brush it aside when the story got more exciting, because about a quarter into Burn I really started to enjoy it.

Gibson's second novel is about a teenage volunteer firefighter, Wee Wee, who realizes that when people come out of a fire, when people are saved, they are changed. And it's for the better. Wee Wee lives in a small Alabama town, and when he saves somebody, he suddenly starts getting the recognition and appreciation he's never had before. He's short, but suddenly people are looking up to him. Respecting him. And that feeling is addictive.

Even though I started enjoying Burn enough to continue reading it, I still had some problems with the book. This is a very minor spoiler, but there is an accident involving a flint in science class, causing a spark to light an entire shirt on fire, that results in third degree burns. I honestly just don't see how that is possible. If they'd been using Bunsen burners or something, yes, but this is outdoors with a piece of lint and seems to happen in a matter of seconds– while the Chief of the fire department with the fire hose doesn't manage to do anything? I just couldn't believe it.

Another, much more minor example, is how when William starts sitting at another lunch table, only one of his supposed friends even says anything to him. It's a small town, and he even recognizes in his head how he's going to get attention for this– especially because he's the only white person sitting with somebody who isn't. But nothing happens, and it just didn't add up for me. This exact same sort of thing happened near the very end of the book, when a character acknowledged that he should do something but gave no reason for not doing it, even though not doing it seemed pretty stupid on his behalf. The specifics are a bigger spoiler I won't share.

One of the things that I did enjoy about Burn were the setting. It was great reading a book set in the South from a teenage perspective, because I always love experiencing what it might be like growing up in certain settings. Even though he whined too much, I did think the element of Wee Wee being such a short guy was also interesting, because it's definitely a reality that it can be a lot harder for short guys when it comes to girls. However, Wee Wee was also pretty superficial when it came to the girl he liked, and I think Gibson had a neat dynamic in that way– Wee Wee hated something in others, but he wasn't immune to it himself. That said, even when Wee Wee claimed to have changed, he still didn't seem to look below the girl's now less-makeup-ed surface.

My biggest problem with Burn was the characters, not only Wee Wee but also the secondary cast. While Wee Wee got on my nerves, the other characters simply lacked dimension. His father was a Pastor, and strict. His brother was good-looking, and gay. It seemed like many of the characters only had a couple traits instead of being fully fleshed out like I wanted, and the most flat of all was Wee Wee's crush Mandy. Despite my many problems with Burn, there was definitely something that kept me reading Gibson's novel, which is how he took something that the character intended to be good and showed how it completely twisted out of control– watching that happen, and waiting to see if it would catch up with him, was incredibly exciting to read.

Release Date: August 8th 2012  Pages: 264  Format: E-galley 
Source: NetGalley/Publisher Publisher: Flux  Buy It: Book Depository