Short & Sweet: Big Lies in a Small Town (Adult)

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

I found the first two-thirds of this book quite slow -- it's a dual timeline story, and I was enjoying Morgan's voice from the contemporary timeline, but nothing much was happening in either era. Then there's a big event that occurs in the historical timeline about two-thirds of the way through, and after that the historical timeline held more interest for me. The premise stands out as being a bit different from your average mystery -- the art restoration was a neat element -- but it is definitely not a suspense/thriller type read. It's a much quieter, secrets-hidden-are-slowly-revealed sort of story. Also, some of the reveals are pretty guessable. I was motivated to keep reading once I got to the last third of the book, as I wanted to see how everything played out, but in a sea of dual timeline mysteries, this would not be one of my top recommendations. The best part about it was really the focus on art, and art restoration, which made it more memorable than it would have been otherwise.

3 shooting stars.

Short & Sweet: The Silent Companions and Paper Chains

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

This was a weird read, all things considered. By the end it was definitely more violent/gruesome than I had expected (to the point where it seemed rather over-the-top). I don't entirely understand the "reveal" at the end (spoilers, highlight to read: I am assuming that when Sarah cut her finger on one of the companions, the "spirit" of Hetta took her over, and she's the one who murdered everyone else?). I was intrigued by the mystery of what happened in Elsie's past (with her parents), and wish we had gotten more explanation for that as well. I did think that the question of whether or not Elsie is delusional/hallucinating or whether there is something supernatural going on here was handled pretty well towards the end of the story; it did have me flipping back and forth between the two theories! 

I also sometimes found it difficult to take the companions all that seriously in their menace. I mean, we are talking about a bunch of wooden paintings here.

3 shooting stars.

Paper Chains by Nicola Moriarty

This read definitely required some suspension of disbelief -- there are a lot of coincidences and ways things are linked together that err on the side of cheesy. However, I found the flashbacks of Hannah's past very gripping, particularly in how her mental health issues are depicted (spoilers, highlight to read: her postpartum depression felt very real). I could connect with Hannah better than I could with India, although I did sometimes find that Hannah's thoughts, particularly about herself, came across as over-the-top (granted, she was struggling with a lot). I feel like the reader only really gets to know India genuinely right at the end (spoilers: because we find out that she's sort of been trying out a new persona to distance herself from the "sick Lily" version of herself). I did think that India's and Hannah's friendship developed quite quickly and felt sort of forced. The writing style, though, made this a quick read.

3 shooting stars.

Short & Sweet: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and The Mask Falling

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

This book might've gotten a slightly higher rating if I hadn't been in a reading slump, but the pandemic has been doing weird things to my reading. Anyway, I found the main character Nina highly relatable, and I think that was probably the stand-out aspect of the book to me. I felt like I connected with her quite well, from her love of books to her anxiety to her quirky sense of humour. Plot-wise, this is not the most exciting story, and Nina ends up with a lot of relatives who I had difficulty keeping track of. But I liked that by the end, Nina was opening up more to others and being more proactive in her life.

3 shooting stars.

      

The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

I found most of this book to be slower-moving than its predecessors; I feel like it was more of a stepping stone to set up the next stage of the story than its own contained plot. It did pick up the pace towards the end, though -- and that cliffhanger! Lots of lingering questions about reveals in the last few pages, for sure. I liked that we got to spend time in a new setting (albeit another Scion one) and met a few new characters.

4 shooting stars. 

         

The Piper's Son: A Rambling Review

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

I liked really getting to know Tom well in this book, but overall I didn't enjoy it as much as Saving Francesca. It felt darker and heavier than that first book. The story just sort of meanders, lacking momentum/drive, and though I felt like it was slowly building up to something, the actual climactic scene (if you could call it that) felt underwhelming and unsatisfying. Also, Tom takes a long time to learn anything, so it ends up feeling kinda repetitive as he has the same sorts of inner monologues over and over again as he tries to figure things out. The characterization is a strong point -- Tom is most certainly a flawed character, but sympathetic and redeemable. You have to feel for him, while at the same time wishing he made different choices. 

I do wish we had gotten to see more of what the other characters from Saving Francesca are dealing with. We get little glimpses, but because it's from Tom's and Georgie's perspectives, we don't really get to know the whole of what's going on with the others. I also didn't feel like Georgie's perspective added that much; I wasn't as interested in her storyline and partway through I began looking forward to the next Tom chapter instead. I think perhaps we didn't need quite as many characters in here either; I know that family is a very important aspect of this novel, but I had some trouble remembering who was who. 

Marchetta depicts friendships and relationships incredibly well, and that is on display here. I find it fascinating how quickly and easily Tom makes friends, even with those people he took a disliking to at first (like Ned). He rebuffs people just as easily, unfortunately, but nevertheless it's clear he keeps searching for connection with others. It's interesting, too, that Marchetta tackles the issue of repairing and rebuilding friendships that have faded; it's a subject that isn't all that front-and-centre in a lot of novels, and yet it's a subject that many people face at some point in their lives.

3 shooting stars.

 

Short & Sweet: The Storyspinner and Eleanor & Park

The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace

I actually ended up polishing this off in a day and finding it highly entertaining! Which surprises me, given that it is rife with cliches of the genre and you can tell from the writing (some awkward phrasing and metaphors) that this is a debut novel. Nevertheless, it was an inviting story with a couple main characters I liked (some of the side characters never felt really fleshed out, unfortunately) and a world with glimpses of an interesting history between various factions. The storytelling style worked pretty well to keep the momentum of the plot going, although I admit that certain characters' POVs felt a bit boring/unnecessary to me (spoiler, highlight to read: I didn't really care for the Pira and Leao POVs) and I always wanted to be back with the Johanna-Rafi side of things.

3.5 stars.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I know this book has a lot of fans, but I'm afraid I found it very bleak and depressing. The problems that Eleanor faced at home overshadowed the lighter storyline of Eleanor and Park's relationship. I had to push myself to keep going, and Eleanor just kept dealing with more and more of the same awful stuff. That's not to say that it wasn't a realistic portrayal; the thoughts and emotions that Eleanor goes through felt authentic. And the writing was solid (as I have come to expect from a Rainbow Rowell novel), although I felt like it sometimes slid into melodrama. But I feel like I wasn't in the right frame of mind for reading about these sorts of serious, heavy issues, so perhaps it was at least partly a case of book-at-the-wrong-time for me.


3 stars.

 

Wrong About the Guy: A Rambling Review

Wrong About the Guy by Claire LaZebnik

I feel like this "retelling" of Emma was a pretty loose one, making a lot of changes and cutting out some elements that I think were important to the original storyline. Spoiler, highlight to read: for example, Harriet Smith had Robert Martin in the original. Who/what was her Robert Martin here, or was he just removed completely? There were some characters in this retelling that didn't appear to have counterparts in the original Austen tale, and yet didn't really add anything.

The George-Ellie relationship was cute, although I felt surprisingly little chemistry/tension between them until Ellie realized how she felt about him. I think there were probably moments that could have been played up a lot more, to ramp up the romantic tension.

I liked Ellie's voice, and it seemed quite true to the original Emma's character — somewhat superficial and self-centred, but with a good heart and a willingness to admit her faults and try to change. I also thought the storyline involving Jacob was an interesting addition that felt quite realistic.  

 

Short & Sweet: Everything You Want and The Distance Between Us

Everything You Want by Barbara Shoup

Somehow, I found the protagonist Emma's voice to be both relatable (perhaps to a younger self of mine) and annoying. She often came across as immature and self-absorbed, albeit in a pretty believable (for that age and time in her life) sort of way. Still, eventually her voice and way of seeing the world began to get on my nerves.


3 stars.

 

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

This was a cute contemporary read, although I do prefer On The Fence of the Kasie West contemps I've read so far. Picturing the doll store was a little creepy (just me?), and I was not the biggest fan of Caymen's voice. I get that she was under a lot of pressure, and took on more responsibility than most teens her age would, but she made some pretty immature decisions, and her snark sometimes slid over the line from "sarcasm" into "bitter." A little more backstory to explain why she and her mom were so biased against rich people would have been helpful; as it was, that particular "obstacle" felt kinda forced. I did like Xander most of the time – I enjoyed that he was confident without being belligerent, and that he was very supportive of Caymen without pushing for more from her. 

3 stars.