The Time Has Come

Due to the changes coming in 2020 for my blog sites and the plans I have for the future, this blog will no longer be updated with my book reviews. All of the existing book reviews will stay live. New book reviews will be published to Truths of a Shy Writer going forward. Thanks for all of your support.

Review: Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me

Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although on the surface Wild Game seems to be another tale of another privileged daughter looking to interpret the missteps of her parents, this book goes far beyond having money, power, or access to things that others do not and still feeling cheated emotionally. The author is clear in her intentions with this memoir to try and tell the story of when the relationship between her and her mother changed--the night that Malabar forced a secret onto her teenage daughter that she was meant to keep for as long as it took.

Throughout the memoir, the reader discovers that this one pivotal moment led to all of the rest of the pivotal moments of the author's life, including failed relationships and the distinct change that becoming a parent herself made. Although the mother-daughter bond for anyone is a littered minefield of emotion, the author makes her not-so-common relationship with her mother relatable to any other daughter out there.

*Book provided by Bookish First

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Review: Heathcliff Redux: A Novella and Stories

Heathcliff Redux: A Novella and Stories by Lily Tuck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I always like a good short story. A novella is pretty great too when you want a quick read, but with this collection, I just couldn't get into it. With the novella and the short stories, there wasn't that moment in each where you get excited to find out more or where you are surprised because it took you someplace you didn't expect. I don't know why these stories seemed to fall flat, but it certainly isn't something I want to reread in the future.

*Book provided by NetGalley

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Review: Writers & Lovers

Writers & Lovers by Lily King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Writers & Lovers, Casey is living the expected life of a writer in that she's drowning in debt, she's working as a waitress, living in a garden shed, and doesn't quite know how she's ever going to finish a novel and query it. But throughout this book, Casey also has to deal with her mother's recent death, her nonexistent relationship with her father, and multiple relationships with men that often leave her with the choice of settling or risking what could be.

I think this paints a relatively accurate picture of the post-college writing life. There is no easy or right way to get things done. If you want to survive, you have to spend your time at a job other than writing. If you want to make it as a writer, you have to push the rest of your life aside to get the words on the paper. Casey isn't the first person that gets a career off the ground in fits and starts, and she certainly doesn't let the fate of her book dictate what the rest of her life looks like.

The most interesting thing about this novel is that by the end, Casey's life is tied up in a neat little bow. Yes, the reader can see where there will be huge obstacles to come after they are done reading, but for a literary novel, it's as if the ending is almost too nice. Nothing really happened in Casey's life while we were reading, and she only made a few small decisions with any certainty, yet her hopes and wishes are answered in the span of a chapter or two. You want to be happy for her, but you want to question how quickly everything fell into place.

*Book provided by NetGalley

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Review: Foul Is Fair

Foul Is Fair by Hannah Capin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Foul is Fair is the story of a girl who wants revenge for a terrible experience. She and her best friends will stop at nothing to get it. Elle went to a party as herself, and came out of the party as Jade, the girl who wants payback for all that she suffered. To do this, she must infiltrate the circle of privileged private school kids who will stop at nothing to remain at the top of the food chain.

The best part about this book is its lyrical quality. Throughout much of it, it almost seems more poetic than a typical novel would be. The turns of phrase make it mystical in a way. While there is no explicit descriptions of what she suffered through, the poetic nature of it makes it clear.

The worst part is the believability. While this is clearly written as the main character's revenge fantasy, it reads too fantastic. Who is able to infiltrate and carry out plans to permanently put an end to all of those who wronged her in a mere week or two? And beyond that, who is able to crawl her way to the top of the food chain at a school where she's a stranger? The other part that's a little too out there is that all she really does is change her hair and wear colored contacts, yet all of these people are supposed to not recognize her? It's kind of hard to buy, and it made me want to stop reading at many points, because Elle/Jade had it relatively easy to carry out her plans. Still, it is an important read.

*Book provided by NetGalley

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Review: The Age of Light

The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Age of Light is a story of the personal and professional relationship that developed between Man Ray and Lee Miller. One part fiction, one part historical, this book brings into light Paris between the wars, the development of experimental photography, and how the artist's soul can be a little more than temperamental.

I've been reading a healthy dose of historical fiction lately, and compared to some of the other titles I have picked up, this book is historical fiction done right. Not only do readers get to see what's going on in the real lives of these characters, you can also look up many of the photographic references to get an added layer to the story, not just what things may have been, but what they actually were and still are in the art/photography world. It makes for an excellent reading experience, and I would definitely read this author again.

*Book provided by NetGalley

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Review: Split-Level

Split-Level by Sande Boritz Berger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Split-Level follows the lives of a family that looks like it has everything on the surface, but when it comes down to happiness, there is much that is lacking. Alex and Donny throw themselves into the openness of the times and find a couple that is willing to do the same. What transpires isn't as surprising as one would think, given the nature of the characters involved.

Although this book is well written, you'll leave at the end of the novel feeling like you hate most of the characters, whether you are totally cool with the idea of these couples as swingers or whether you are appalled by that idea. It's not that the situation turns them into severely unlikeable characters, it is that the story make you see that however unlikeable they are at the end of the story, you can clearly see this is how they were even before the story begins. In terms of setting, this story fits right into the 1970s with the openness of the time as well as all of the depressing things (Nixon, gas prices) that come with it, seeming to fuel the already unquenchable fire in these characters.

*Book provided by NetGalley

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