Book Review - Subgirl

Subgirl by Samantha Adkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'll add a small disclaimer here that the author is my friend, however I have reviewed her books and those of other friends before and give unfailingly honest ratings. If a book deserves a two star review it gets it, and if it deserves a five it gets it.

I loved Subgirl.

Jordana Simkins is a bit of a prodigy. She finished university early and at just 12 years old is ready to become a substitute teacher. A cranky school board member and her own fears are the only things standing in her way... well, that and a room full of kindergarteners!

The characters in this book are a lot of fun. I adored Jordana's parents, as well as her best friend Emily. They are quirky and real and are people I'd like to know in real life. Adding to the fun are the authors choices of names for various characters, like Ms. Hairpin - it's a comical little bit of silliness that is sprinkled throughout and really makes the book charming.

The author's teaching experience is also apparent, because life in a kindergarten classroom couldn't be more accurate, including the various archetypes of five-year-old that plague teachers and parents alike - the know-it-all, the shy kid, the kid who is just a little bit lost. We've all run into them from time to time and here they are accurately portrayed, and it's fascinating to see how the 12 year old protagonist deals with all the challenges.

This is a great book for the YA field, and I can see now why it has a band of rabid young fans who are chomping at the bit for installment number two. The prose is lyrical enough that this would also be a great read-aloud book for families, and has enough interest for adults to be a great selection in a mother-daughter book club.

P.S. Sam, if you're reading this, don't think I missed the nod to Julia and Levi in the names of the students - loved it! <3

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Book Review - 1st to Die

1st to Die by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

1st to Die is the lead title in a series dubbed "The Women's Murder Club" about - surprise surprise - a group of women who get together to solve crimes. When I first heard about the premise, I pictured a bunch of blue haired old biddies into everyone's business - sort of like Murder She Wrote x 4, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that these were younger women - a cop, a coroner, a journalist and a DA - who are smart and funny, and who seem to share my taste in music (at least the cop does!).

There is a serial murderer on the loose who takes his victims during what should be the happiest times in their lives - their wedding nights. His crimes are brutal and savage and have the whole city stumped, until one intrepid police inspector pulls together her girlfriends to solve crimes over hot wings. In the meantime, she gains a hot and charming new partner, and an illness that threatens to destroy her career and take her life.

I found the characters compelling, but I had most of the plot twists figured out from very close to the start, which is why I only rated this one three stars. This happens to me a lot; I read so many mysteries I get a feel for it early on, but I always still hope for surprises. Despite that, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and following their chase of their suspect. I think I'll be checking out the next one of these soon.

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Book Review - Pathfinder

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, I really really LOVED this book.

This shouldn't be a surprise. Ender's Game, also by Orson Scott Card, is one of my top novels I've ever read (I tend to recommend it to everyone, including random strangers I meet who seem like they might possibly be readers. You never know.) It did surprise me, though, probably because of the fantasy element.

So here, let me come clean: Generally speaking I really *really* don't like fantasy novels. My husband, on the other hand, loves them. He often reads a really good one and then tries to get me into it, and I just fail at reading fantasy. I get bored. I don't like it. Unless it's the Lord of the Rings trilogy or something very similar, I couldn't be less interested.

So, when I learned that this was a sci fi and fantasy hybrid, I was nervous. I really like sci fi, particularly dystopian fiction, and that appealed to me, but swords and dragons and that sort of fantasy? Uh oh. I was worried.

I shouldn't have been.

I fell in love with Rigg from the very first chapter, and couldn't have put it down if I'd tried. I also adored Loaf and Leaky, two lesser-seen characters that I couldn't stop telling my husband stories about. In fact, I went on and on so much about the book that now he's reading it too, partly just so my references start to make sense.

Much of this book is about time travel and paradoxes, which I found particularly interesting since Card comes at the subject matter from a very different perspective than most writers who take on the subject. Instead of shying away from anything that could cause a paradox, he embraces it and strides right through the ideas that are typically dismissed as impossible, making it all seem perfectly reasonable and making you wonder what drugs the other writers were on because clearly only Card has it right.

This is a fun novel, a can't-put-it-down novel and a terrific book to devour when you are stressed and need to escape for a little while. I can't wait for the second book in this series - it is on my shelf as we speak and will be broken into very shortly!

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Book Review - Breakaway

Breakaway by Michael Betcherman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was skeptical about this book, and it really was a fun and pleasant surprise!

Nick's dad, a former pro-hockey player, is in jail for murder, and Nick is playing detective - trying to find the bald man that framed his dad while keeping up with high school and his own hockey team, not to mention a girlfriend and a group of supportive guy friends who are up for helping him as much as they can. Of course, he has obstacles of his own to overcome, including a new player on his hockey team who is more about keeping his own stats up than helping his team win games, and a new college-age suitor who has an eye on the girl he adores. Meanwhile, Nick is being put up by his dad's former manager and his wife, who seem a little too good to be true, and perhaps are.

This book is geared toward adolescent boys, and as much as I love YA fiction, I wasn't sure this would be one for me, particularly because I don't know much about hockey and it is such a strong element in the book. However, I absolutely loved it! The characters are well-written, the suspense is intriguing from the start, and the mystery of the murderer kept me interested throughout.

This would be a great book for boys who tend to be reluctant readers, as the characters are relatable and real, and the writing manages to balance between easy to read and fascinating.

*This book was received at no cost through the GoodReads First Reads program.

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Book Review - Helpless

Helpless by Barbara Gowdy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After having finished this book last night before bed, I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

Helpless is a novel about child abduction. It tells the tale from the inside, from the helpless to solve the mystery mother's point of view, from the helpless because she's locked in a basement child's and from the helpless to control himself/helpless in the face of loving a man abductors.

I think the book was trying to throw a wedge of sympathy into my heart for the abductors, but every time I started to feel a twinge of that emotion, the rage and horror at what he'd done rode up in a big monster truck and demolished that little wedge in no time flat. Then it lingered around to make me mad at the author for trying to manipulate my emotions and mad at myself for reading this book.

So, while at times the writing was quite brilliant, I had so many issues with the subject matter that it was overshadowed in my mind by the ick-worthiness of the story.



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Book Review - Entwined

Entwined by Heather Dixon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If books were a colour, this book would be pink. Not baby pink, and certainly not neon, but that perfect rosy shade that totally flatters your complextion when you wear it and actually looks sophisticated.

I'll admit to something here - I chose this book based on the cover. Sometimes a cover totally, completely enraptures me and this one did so brilliantly. I didn't care what it was about and didn't read the blurb, I just wanted to be the princess on the cover. Yes, I'm actually a grown-up woman, I swear! But really - princess!

Okay, down to business. This book is a retelling of the classic fairy tale of the twelve dancing princesses. If you know that fairy tale, you sort of know the meat of this story, but I found this re-telling to be brilliant.

Azalea is the eldest of 11 girls, in a cash poor royal family somewhere between mideval battles and railroads (I'm guessing it's around the Edwardian period in history, based on clues like pistols and newspapers and the like.) Her pregnant mother dies giving birth on Christmas, and her father, the king, declares a year of mourning - black clothing, no going outdoors except on royal business, no playing, no music, and certainly no dancing.

Azalea's mother loved dancing, and so do all the girls. In fact, she taught them dancing regularly, and dancing seems to be one way they can remember her, now that their father has locked away everything their mother ever touched, away from the sight of the girls. They try sneaking to the ballroom in the dead of night, but after being caught, they are locked out. If only they could find a secret place to dance and remember their mum... and then Azalea is told of secret passages that pepper the magical castle, and her curiosity is piqued.

This is a fun story. It has plenty of suspense and some interesting romances, with everything very G rated (this would be a great read-aloud book for young families). It manages to have a very classic fairy tale feel without going overly Disney on the story - there are real threats, and even some blood. Still, the violence isn't gory, and it doesn't take over the story.

Highly recommended for the princesses (and princes!) at heart.

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Book Review - Lighthouse Nights

Lighthouse Nights by Jake Vander Ark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was really a bright spot.

I'd gotten to the point where I was reading many books that were slow-moving and just not all that compelling, and then I picked up this slim little volume and all that changed.

Jules and her boyfriend Trevor help people die. Only people that really want to die; they troll a suicide chat room looking for the lost and downtrodden, make a "pact" to die with them, then rob the corpses blind once the other party has departed. It's a good living, and after all, they have their own American dream to pursue. All of it seems pretty easy to deal with, until Jules comes across one guy who doesn't want a suicide pact; instead he wants to convince her to live.

The lack of capitalization in this book is an interesting choice. I suspect that the author was inspired by ee cummings, since the poet is mentioned in the work. If you're a reader of authors like Cormac McCarthy, or spend a lot of time on the internet (hah!) you won't notice after a while. It gives the novel a very casual feel, just like the chatrooms the characters spend so much time in.

I found this book to be a fascinating little slice of work and look forward to reading more by the same author. It's very intersting; he went to college down the street from where I went - him at the Art Institute of Chicago, on whose steps I often ate my lunch while attending Columbia College. And his writing, which is brash and unashamed, sometimes vulgar and sometimes in-your-face and full of the truth of life is unlike much that I've read since my student days in the creative writing program there. There must be something about that city, those schools, that inspires such work :) It reminded me very much of student readings, but only of the very best of those. You know, the guy in your class that you're always jealous of, because you know he has "it" and his work shows it. That's Jake Vander Ark, and his work shows it, too.

*This book was received at no cost through the GoodReads First Reads program.

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