Book Review - The Fifth Wave

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, the incredible drama of teenage girls.

If there is one thing - and really, there is only one thing - that annoyed me about this book it was how irritatingly dramatic and ridiculous teenage girls can be. That said, it's a very accurate characterization of a teenage girl, for what it's worth.

The 5th wave takes place in a post-alien-apocalypse world, where the few survivors are trying to make it through the 5th wave of attacks, so different from what anyone expected or made movies about, by an alien race bent on taking over the earth and making it their own. Though the main plot line belongs to Cassie, a teenage girl who has lost her mother to the plague and her father to a bomb and is trying to save her brother from the fate of the last wave, my favourite parts were the chapters dedicated to Ben, a young man the same age as Cassie - who went, in fact, to her high school. His character goes through amazing development and is fascinating to watch. Cassie, on the other hand, whines a lot, gets distracted by a hot boy, and does fairly typical teenage girl stuff. At least, as much as she can in the presence of an apocalypse.

I found this to be a very different take on aliens-take-over-the-planet. The author came up with a way to make the attacks very different from the typical ideas in this genre, which was refreshing. As well, some of the characters were intriguing, and I loved following their stories, as well as being left hungry to learn more about them (can't wait for the next installment in the series!).



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Book Review - Absolute Certainty

Absolute Certainty by Rose Connors
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Listened to the audiobook version of this with my husband. Solid mystery story that kept us engaged and entertained, but neither of us were big fans of the authors style of writing.

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Book Review - The Well

The Well by Catherine Chanter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I feel so blessed to have gotten a chance to read an ARC of this books. When it hits the shelves, you MUST read it, and I'll explain why.

I classed this as general fiction for shelving purposes, but really it's a little bit dystopia (that is to say, the rest of the population is living in a dystopian world of water shortages), a little bit murder mystery, and a little bit women's fiction, as everything is told from the perspective of a forty-something woman trying to come to terms with life after marriage, after some bad choices, and uncertain of her path.

Ruth and her husband have been through some tough times, like any other couple who have been together for twenty years. They think that maybe a change of scenery is what they need, so they disembark from London's city life and take up residence at The Well, an idyllic country estate. As the outside world slips deeper and deeper into an economic and political disaster due to intensifying drought, The Well remains green, with seemingly no limit to the fresh waster from its underground spring. But it's not only that; it rains there, when the rest of the country is turning to dust.

Some hate Ruth and her husband Mark, sure that they are somehow diverting other peoples water for their own purposes, especially the community of farmers. Others worship Ruth, and it is the intoxicating high of reverence, of specialness, of feeling wanted and of belonging that draws Ruth into a dangerous collaboration with a group of women that believe men have poisoned the earth. What do their beliefs mean for her husband Mark? For her grandson Lucien? You should read and find out.

The authors voice is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood, but with a fresh take on new issues. If this debut novel tells me anything, it is that I will be anxiously awaiting each new offering by the author!

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Book Review - The Fifth Assassin

The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

We got the audiobook version to listen to on our drive through SK. It was so boring we gave up after four hours. Dry as a bone and not one character we could care about.

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Book Review - The Actor and the Housewife

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While the premise is interesting - can married people of opposite genders be just friends? In my experience, yes - I found the book overwritten. In particular, the ending went several pages past where it should have, by way of a swath of unnecessary narrative exposition. I shouldn't have been surprised by that as it happens throughout the book.

Where this novel shines is the fun and witty dialogue, some of which was so awesome that I had to stop and read it to my husband, and it elicited some laughs from him as well. The characters are sometimes a little stereotypical, but when they open their mouths it can be sheer genius.

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Book Review - Don't Breathe a Word

Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Faeries. Dark, creepy, wicked, mischievous Faeries. Also, family secrets, intrigue, mystery and thoroughly entertaining suspense.

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Book Review - Handle With Care

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a time for this book to come into my life; during the moments when I am questioning our choice to adopt our children and trying to decide if we will - if we even can - proceed. A year or two ago, this book would have resonated very differently with me.

A year or so ago, for example, I would have been of the harshly-judging-Charlotte crowd. Even the idea of questioning the gift of a child, for someone like me who had wished for and struggles for motherhood only to lose her baby... Well, it was unthinkable. Unconscionable.

Now, though, I found someone I completely understood in Charlotte. I understood being misled about a child by someone you trusted, and how deeply and ferociously that can burrow into you. It doesn't matter how smooth your ready smile is, how easily the words "I can handle it" roll off your tongue. There is a great and all consuming sea boiling beneath.

I understood how broken a family can become. How broken friendships can become. I understood how it can stretch and strain and nearly destroy your marriage. I understood how you can wind up devastatingly alone. Ashamed.

I felt like I was reading about me. And it broke my heart. But it was beautifully done.

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