Emily, Gone - Book Review/Rant

Emily, Gone
by Bette Lee Crosby

What is it about:
A missing child sets the lives of three women on a collision course in this powerful and compelling novel by USA Today bestselling author Bette Lee Crosby.

1971.

When a music festival rolls through the sleepy town of Hesterville, Georgia, the Dixon family’s lives are forever changed. On the final night, a storm muffles the sound of the blaring music, and Rachel tucks her baby into bed before falling into a deep sleep. So deep, she doesn’t hear the kitchen door opening. When she and her husband wake up in the morning, the crib is empty. Emily is gone.

Vicki Robart is one of the thousands at the festival, but she’s not feeling the music. She’s feeling the emptiness over the loss of her own baby several months before. When she leaves the festival and is faced with an opportunity to fill that void, she is driven to an act of desperation that will forever bind the lives of three women.

When the truth of what actually happened that fateful night is finally exposed, shattering the lives they’ve built, will they be able to pick up the pieces to put their families back together again?

What did I think of it:
I picked this book up because it was the monthly read for May for the Contemporary/Women's Fiction book-club I joined (which I joined to challenge myself to read more Contemporary Fiction).

Let me say this was a nice enough read for me, but it is probably better enjoyed by people who mainly read Contemporary Fiction. My review should be taken as a review by someone who does not know the genre very well, and who usually reads and enjoys SFF more than Contemporary stuff.

I enjoyed the first half of the book with only some minor grumblings. These grumblings had mainly to do with how marijuana was talked about. I'm a curious and exploring piggy, so in my wilder years I have smoked and eaten my share of weed. What was described here as the effects of smoking it, sounded more like someone was mixing several substances together, because it certainly wasn't the effects of just several joints. And yes: that seriously annoyed me. I'm not saying: smoke away! But I am saying: do your research.

Anyway: apart from that the first half was enjoyable enough. It was the second pat of the book that had me blinking and questioning the probability of the events and the sanity of the characters. Maybe what happens in the second half of this book is pretty standard fare for the genre, but I was unable to suspend disbelief, and I read lots of Zombie books! This made that I lost interest in the story and slogged myself to the end of it. I myself would have written a very different ending, but then again, my story would have those aforementioned zombies.

All in all I think this book just wasn't meant for readers like me, but if you love Contemporary Fiction it's probably a good fit for you.

Why should you read it:
It's enjoyable Contemporary Fiction.


buy from bookdepository

Reading Update - Podcast

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach - Book Review

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach
by Kelly Robson

What is it about:
Discover a shifting history of adventure as humanity clashes over whether to repair their ruined planet or luxuriate in a less tainted past.

In 2267, Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity's ancestral habitat. She's spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.

What did I think of it:
I have wanted to read this book for a while, but never got to it, so my attempts to read some of the Hugo nominations was a good excuse to finally pick it up.

And this is such a great story!

Maybe you know I have a weakness for time travel stories, but that I'm often disappointed or frustrated by the flaws or logical errors in those stories. This story did everything right in my opinion. I loved the time travel theory that was used here, I loved how Robson applied it to the story, and I could actually believe it would work like this. Just for that this novella deserves praise!

But that's not the only praise it gets! I also loved the characters, the world building, and the story. That Minh has tentacles for legs was just the yummy icing on an already delicious cake. I was hooked from the start and wanted to find out more about this future, Minh, her coworkers, and if they could pull off the project they set themselves.

There's more I want to tell you, because it was so cool in my opinion, but that would lead into spoiler territory, so I'll just say I recommend this novella to everyone who loves a well thought-out time travel story.

I'll be investigating what other stories Robson wrote.

Why should you read it:
It's a really cool Time Travel story.


Buy from:
Bookdepository - Amazon

Teaser Tuesdays - The Calculating Stars

I'm reading this as part of my attempts to read as much of the Hugo Nominations as I can manage. Just started on it, but I have high hopes.


Do you remember where you were when the Meteor hit?
I've never understood why people phrase it as a question, because of course you remember.

(page ? (somewhere right at the start of the book), The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal)


buy from Amazon

---------

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you sh"are doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Book Review

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2)
by Seanan McGuire

What is it about:
Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

What did I think of it:
After I read all the short stories nominated for the Hugo Awards I wanted to start on the novellas. One of the nominated novellas was by Seanan McGuire: Beneath the Sugar Sky. It's the third book in a series, and I happened to have book two -Down Among the Sticks and Bones- in my TBR pile. As I already planned to read it before August I decided to pick it up before starting on Beneath the Sugar Sky.

Once I started on this book I couldn't put it down until I finished it!

Jack and Jill are twin sisters and born to parents who never should have had children. The two of them are molded into the form their parents want them to take until the day they find a door to another world. Once there they get to make their own choices, but with choices come consequences, and it's up to them to see what they can live with.

I very much enjoyed this story. Next to being a suspenseful story about traveling to a universe that seemed equal parts Dracula and Frankenstein it has a lot of hidden depths. It's about conformity and discovering who you are or want to be. I couldn't help cheering both girls on to find their way.

I started out liking both of them, but as the story unfolded my feelings shifted and soon I was cheering on only one of them, while hoping the other would stray from the path she had chosen. The ending was bittersweet and made me hungry for more. I knew that moving on to book three wouldn't be enough and that I had to read the whole series, so you bet I got my trotters on a digital copy of book one.

*This story is readable as a standalone and although it's the second book in the series, it is a prequel to the first book*

Why should you read it:
It's a really cool Young Adult Fantasy read.


buy from bookdepository

Four Day Fling - Book Review by Olivia

Four Day Fling
by Emma Hart

What is it about:
A standalone romantic comedy of epically awkward proportions, from New York Times bestselling author, Emma Hart.

Imagine this. You’re ready to leave after a one-night stand, and you’re figuring out how to—shock horror—leave your number and ask him to be your fake boyfriend for your sister’s wedding this weekend. When he wakes up. Well, that happened to me. And over coffee and omelets, I found myself a date.

Which was how I ended up arriving at the wedding with a guy I knew nothing about. I didn’t know his last name, or how we met, or how long we’d been dating. I didn’t know where he grew up, what he’d majored in in college, or how many siblings he had. I sure as hell didn’t know he was Adam Winters, hotshot hockey player—and not only my father’s favorite player, but my little nephew’s freakin’ idol. Which means I’m in trouble. Big, big trouble. My mother is suspicious, my sister is bridezilla on crack, and my grandpa will tell anyone who’ll listen about his time in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. Four days. I have to keep this up for four days, and then Adam and I can return to our regular lives, where we don’t have sex whenever we’re alone and my family aren’t interrogating him over his intentions with me.

At least, that’s the plan. And we all know what happens to those.

What did Olivia think of it:
A friend recommended this author to us when we asked for fun Contemporary Romance, so I decided to try a book. After some investigating I picked Four Day Fling because the fake boyfriend trope can be fun.

And this is such a fun read!

Poppy has convinced herself she's a klutz who can't do anything right. She may end up in weird situations t times, still she is competent when it counts. Adam is used to women wanting to date him because of his fame, so he is immediately charmed by the clueless Poppy. The both of them try to survive the wedding party while slowly falling in love with each other.

Even though you totally know Poppy and Adam will fall completely for each other I couldn't put this book down once I started it, because I wanted to be there for the hilarious and delicious ride to their Happily Ever After.

I can advice this book to everyone looking for a fun and uncomplicated Contemporary Romance. I will most certainly read more by Hart.

Why should you read it:
It's a very enjoyable Contemporary Romance.


buy from Amazon

The SULLIVANS - Last Call

Get your nomination or vote in before the end of May!
I'll be announcing the winners in June.

Best Zombie Book:
- 100 Days in Deadland by Rachel Aukes
- Deck Z by Chris Pauls and Matt Solomon
- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
- Flesh by Laura Bickle
- Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
- Zom-B by Darren Shan

Best Young Adult Fantasy:
- Pawned by Laura Bickle
- The Archived by Victoria Schwab
- Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart
- Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton
- The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross
- Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Best Urban Fantasy:
- Shrill Dusk by Helen Harper
- Three Mages and a Margarita by Annette Marie
- How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards
- The Burned Spy by K.A. Krantz
- River Road by Suzanne Johnson

Most Swooniest Romance:
- A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
- More Than Comics by Elizabeth Briggs
- Dangerous by Minerva Spencer
- Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt
- The Arrows of the Heart by Jeffe Kennedy

Best Science Fiction:
- Tin Star by Cecil Castellucci
- The High Ground by Melinda Snodgrass
- Contagion by Erin Bowman
- Valiant by Merrie Destefano