Book Blog #412: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

 

Title: 11/22/63

Author: Stephen King

# of Pages: 1080 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force. Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history. Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life – a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

Review: This book has no business being as long as it is. There are multiple story arcs that easily could have been individual books in a series (which also would have given me excuse to stop reading after first story arc...). 

In retrospect, I probably should have DNF'd this one instead of pushing through. While the story did get better as it approached the grande finale of JFK's assassination, King's editor should have pushed harder to make this story more concise. Some story arcs are completely unrelated to the primary plot (where the tie in is so loose that it could have just not existed in the first place). He actually wastes so much time on all these story arcs that he doesn't ever fully flesh out the science fiction part of how this time travel is possible in the first place (and this is even after the reader has to slog through exposition in the beginning that "sets the stage" for time travel in the first place). 

One of these tangential story arcs is Jake's love life with Sadie during his time travels. This was actually the arc that felt the most disconnected; a parallel story that was for Jake's personal enjoyment that doesn't benefit Jake's task to save JFK's life. Some scenes are repetitive, and reading romance from the male perspective gave me the ick sometimes (how many times is he going to mention thinking about holding her boob?). However, if their love story were told in isolation, King could have written a decent romance novel. 

King must really love this era because he focuses on some of the nicer aspects; how great the root beer tastes, how cheap the cool "vintage" cars are. While he does in passing mention the bad parts (racial segregation, lack of civil rights, conservative views on romantic relationships), he mentions how great Jake is at the Lindy Hop much more (way too much for my liking). Although King did a good job researching the 1950s and 60s, I'm not a huge fan nor nostalgic for that era. 

If you want to read a book about a character that fulfills the male fantasy (over 6 feet tall, white knight) and love the 1950s and 60s, this is the book for you. If you're looking for a plot-focused novel or crazy twists, this one is not for you (since the narrative is told as if he's writing a manuscript, Jake will often strongly hint on what's to come, so everything was pretty predictable). 

Book Blog #409: The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Burning God

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 619 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation. Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?

Review: This one is about as good as the previous book; high two stars to low three stars.

I was definitely more hooked at the end of The Dragon Republic compared to the ending of this book. However, I was more consistently engaged with The Burning God's story.

It's obvious Kuang has gotten better at story building throughout this series. She started narrowing the focus on the main trio in The Dragon Republic: Rin, Nezha, and Kitay. She continues this focus in The Burning God which makes it a lot easier to be invested in these characters. 

There's still plenty of flaw though. Some historical events dragged the plot (e.g. long army marches in dire conditions with no obvious contribution to driving the story forward), and some fantasy aspects weren't fully fleshed out (e.g. how do hamanistic power and Hesperian technological innovation measure up to each other, and how do you explain when someone overpowered is defeated by the other?). Characters are introduced only to live long enough to be a plot device and are killed off just as the readers is about ready to be invested in them.

Rin developed a bit more into be more power hungry and bloodthirsty....but also continues to be frustratingly immature and horny. She's not someone who I can love to hate nor is she some who I can respect for being logical or having a strong set of morals (she has always been wishy washy with what she cares about and believes in).

This is actually one of the few books/series that I've read where I've considered that it might have been better told from alternating perspectives: from Kitay's or Nezha's POV. I'm not sure where that would place Rin though since then she'd just be an extremely annoying character who rises to power from a lot of luck. 

Overall this series isn't worth the effort it takes to get through this triology (since these three books are also each on the longer side). The second and third books were definitely better than the first, but none of them were page turners. It felt like this was a series that needed to be reworked with a storyboard for all three books and more focus on fully developing the fantasy elements and important characters. 

Book Blog #401: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Poppy War

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 530 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . . Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

Review: I heard rave reviews both online and irl, but I don't understand the hype. I was ready for a dense adult high fantasy, but instead The Poppy War is an unserious YA historical fiction with magical/religious elements. 

Part 1 (aka the first 200 pages) was suffering through some shallow exposition that honestly felt like some blend of Harry Potter/Divergent/<insert your popular YA fantasy sci-fi book here>. The plot points during this part are very predictable (classic underdog heroine takes on seemingly impossible tasks! story).

Kuang introduces a lot of characters without diving deeper into their characters and their interpersonal relationships. Even the protagonist Rin is incredibly generic; a hormonal teenager who doesn't really know who she likes/loves/cares about and what motivates her since she's some random orphan who doesn't have commitments other than surviving. 

The pacing of the story picked up quite a bit in Part 2 and 3. There's significant war events that happen and plenty of gore-y descriptions that can keep the reader interesting, By this point I could appreciate some of the characters a bit more (surprisingly I really liked Nezha and Rin's relationship since it's more complex than just straight a enemies/friends/mentor/idol relationship that Rin has with other characters). 

Overall I wished there was more focus on interpersonal relationships and more unique world building than just relying/repackaging Chinese history. I didn't know too much about this part of history but I would have preferred a more original story that was loosely inspired by real Chinese culture; I kept wondering if I was missing something by mostly missing the references to real foods/events/countries. 

The story doesn't end in a cliff hanger per se, but there's a lot that unresolved. But when I finished the book I found that I didn't really care about what happened next. I won't be reading the other two books in a hurry.

Book Blog #400: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

 

Title: The Nightingale

Author: Kristin Hannah

# of Pages: 593 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Despite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Vianne finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her. As the war progresses, the sisters' relationship and strength are tested. With life changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Vianne and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions.

Review: A solid read! 

I’ve only read one other Kristin Hannah book so far (The Women), and compare to that one, The Nightingale has protagonists with more compelling life journeys. However, the storytelling execution was weaker. The story has two 3rd person POVs: Vianne and Isabelle who live in France during WWII. 

I didn’t know much about WWII from the French POV, so to hear about the suffering that even from those who weren’t specifically targeted by the Nazis was shocking.

The author has a knack for writing unlikable characters since I didn’t enjoy Vianne similarly to how I was frustrated with Frankie from The Women. Being forced to switch between Vianne’s and Isabelle’s perspectives broke the immersion and slowed the pace of the story because I kept wanting to read Isabelle’s perspective instead.

That being said, for the characters in general, I appreciate how not all of these characters are perfect. Despite their flaws, at least one character shows growth throughout the story that makes their personality flaws redeemable.

There’s also a mysterious first person perspective that takes place long after the war has ended. This narrative was unnecessarily interwoven with the third person narrative; it added nothing to the main story and could’ve been shortened into an epilogue. 

In typical soap opera (but maybe Kristin Hannah’s recurring  storytelling pattern), major events happen coincidentally timed to maximize shock value. It’s unrealistic in a way that’s sometimes cheesy, but I still enjoyed the plot despite this. 

Although I wasn’t as engaged in this story as I was for The Women (although maybe I’m just a sucker for romance), The Nightingale succeeds where The Women failed: Vianne’s and Isabelle’s stories are stories worth telling. 

Book Blog #392: The Women by Kristin Hannah

 

Title: The Women

Author: Kristin Hannah

# of Pages: 471 (hardcover)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets―and becomes one of―the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

Review: “Thank God for girlfriends. In this crazy, chaotic, divided world that was run by men, you could count on the women” 

A great read; somewhere between 4 and 5 stars (high 4, low 5). 

Kristin Hannah gets you to learn so much about the Vietnam War without making it feel like you're learning about the Vietnam War. Instead, the reader follows the life of the young protagonist Frankie who is a nurse in the Vietnam War. Unlike other war stories that focus on the harrowing experiences during the war, The Women spends a considerable amount of time focusing on what happens to the veterans, especially the women who served, after coming back from Vietnam. The reader learns that the struggles Vietnam War veterans went through can measure up in a different way to the horrors they experienced in during the war. 

For a book called The Women, I actually thought the book would be MORE focused on the women than it actually was. Yes, the reader will see women supporting women, but there's a surprisingly amount of that support through the lens of fixing the turmoil caused by romantic relationships with men. Frankie's loneliness that is seemingly not sated until she's with a man was not an aspect of the plot that I was expecting.

The start actually felt rushed, especially for how slow and repetitive latter parts of the book are during/after the war. However, I kept being drawn back to this book after I'd try to put it down, so I was engaged in Frankie's story despite her character growth and life trajectory not being clear.

Kristin Hannah does a great job at writing flawed characters. I found myself annoyed at Frankie's naivety and recklessness, but she felt more realistic because of those traits. I also actually strongly disliked qualities of most of the male characters, but in a morally grey way where some of their actions/feelings can be debated as being justifiable.

This is also not a classic underdog story; Frankie comes from a well-off military family in San Diego. Yes, she's a woman, but she definitely starts off privileged and entitled. This doesn't mean it's not a story worth telling; it's just perspective that I'm not used to reading about, and it made me feel uncomfortable (which is a good thing!).

The biggest complaint I have that some of the series of events were incredibly coincidental and unbelievable. Readers will be able to anticipate what will happen next and then find that it indeed does happen against all odds!

Overall, a well-written and engaging story with fallible characters. I would recommend this book!

Book Blog #385: The True True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine

 

Title: The True True Story of Raja the Gullible

Author: Rabih Alameddine

# of Pages: 323 (hardback)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: In a tiny Beirut apartment, sixty-three-year-old Raja and his mother live side by side. A beloved high school philosophy teacher and “the neighborhood homosexual,” Raja relishes books, meditative walks, order, and solitude. Zalfa, his octogenarian mother, views her son’s desire for privacy as a personal affront. She demands to know every detail of Raja’s work life and love life, boundaries be damned. When Raja receives an invite to an all-expenses-paid writing residency in America, the timing couldn’t be better. It arrives on the heels of a series of personal and national disasters that have left Raja longing for peace and quiet away from his mother and the heartache of Lebanon. But what at first seems a stroke of good fortune soon leads Raja to recount and relive the very disasters and past betrayals he wishes to forget.

Review: I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected.

What did I expect? Not much; I received this book as a gift. A story about a Lebanese man and his mother didn't seem particularly interesting to me. The protagonist, Raja, tells a hodge-podge first person narrative of his life, and for most of the story it wasn't clear on what this book was even supposed to be about.

However, Raja's narrative voice is amusing; he acts so flippant as literal war and horrible things happens to him and those around him. I found chapter 3 (the middle section) and the ending the most addicting to read. The family dysfunction and Raja's quirks suddenly became endearing, and by the end the reader is filled with a sense of understanding on how Raja and his mother each express their love for each other. 

Although Raja's unorganized rambling slowed down the pacing of the story, I enjoyed the story enough for that to nearly be cancelled out (net neutral read). I wouldn't recommend it in a hurry, but if this already sounds like something you would be interested in, then you should give it a try. 

Book Blog #382: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

 

Title: The Poet Empress

Author: Shen Tao

# of Pages: 387 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful. Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves. Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House. But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its center…at the side of a violent prince. To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to read—and composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death...and love.

Review: Reading The Poet Empress made me feel like I'd been punched in the gut.

As an enjoyer of imperial court dramas (shout out to K-dramas Empress Ki and Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, and even the video game Road to Empress), this seemed like something right up my alley. I love it all, particularly the court politics that is inevitably tied up with some romance plot with a prince or a king. 

If you didn't know anything about this book going in, it's easy to see how this book could be no different; some romance book mixed with crafty deceit. The author Tao actually does a great job in telling this story in a way that makes it incredibly obvious where she COULD have leaned into the romance aspect of the story (it was practically writing itself in my head). But while she toes this line with her writing, don't be fooled: this is NOT romance. 

This book is actually about power, family, and duty. There's the power struggle and the court politics that I love. While Frozen (yes the Disney movie) is a VERY different story, The Poet Empress is similar in that there's a significant focus on complex sibling relationships. They also both do a great job at demonstrating that stories about sibling love can be just as captivating as those about romantic love.

By at least 50% in, the story will have you hooked and racing to the end. The story is told non-linearly, so I initially was skeptical that I was going to like this book. I kept putting it down in the first 30%, but then suddenly I jumped to 60%, then the end! It felt like I was with this characters forever from what they went through, but it only took me ~2 days to get through this book (which is fast for a book this length).

Some of the story read like it was being told rather than shown to the reader, so I was bracing myself for the story to end predictably. However, I ended up being surprised in ways I never would have guessed, so the end solidified this as a solid 4 star read rather than the initial high 3, low 4 star rating I was initially considering. 

I would highly recommend this book.

Book Blog #380: Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser

 

Title: Mona's Eyes

Author: Thomas Schlesser

# of Pages: 446 (hardcover)

Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Synopsis: Fifty-two that’s all the time Mona has left to learn about beauty. Every Wednesday, Mona’s grandfather picks her up after school and takes her to see a great work of art. Just one. A different masterpiece every Wednesday for a year. Fifty-two weeks of consummate beauty. Fifty-two weeks of visits to the museum before Mona loses her sight forever.  Together, Mona and her grandfather will experience a full range of emotions; their enchantment as well as their sadness will be complete. From Botticelli to Basquiat, Mona will discover not only the power of art but also the meaning of generosity, doubt, melancholy, loss, and revolt.   At once a profoundly moving and beautifully crafted novel about the fullness of life and an enthralling guide to the world’s most renowned art, Mona’s Eyes is, at its core, a story about the deep and moving relationship between a young girl and her grandfather.  

Review: This book shouldn't exist. 

One of the worst reads I've encountered in a long time. Mona's Eyes weakly attempts a fictional plot that nonsensically ties to a long exposition on 52 different pieces of art. These two could be completely separated: the fictional aspect fleshed out into its own book unrelated to art, and the art pieces covered in a comprehensive textbook. Their union in this book is so forced that one wouldn't be lacking without the other. 

The book is structured such that every chapter has a couple paragraphs of fiction at the start. This covers the "plot" that more like a slice of life on Mona's life as a young child in France (going to school, interacting with her parents) and a bit of a mystery on what's wrong with her eyes and what happened to her grandmother. Notice how the plot doesn't seem to be strongly tied to art or its history? 

The rest of each chapter (probably 2/3s of it) is Mona and her grandfather Henry examining a piece of art. Schlesser is an art history teacher, and I horrifyingly learned that he uses Henry as a way to verbosely spout a bunch of facts to Mona (and the reader) about each art piece. Even worse later on, Schlesser uses MONA (an elementary schooler) in the same way which was very unrealistic for someone her age (no matter how astute). Any of these art pieces could have swapped out for a different piece, and it wouldn't have affected the plot at all. 

It's the latter point that made this book such a long read; this is an art history textbook in the sheep clothing that is "fiction", where the fictional story isn't even worth reading in its current state. I received this book as a gift because apparently BARNES AND NOBLE has called it Book of the Year for 2025. I don't know what metrics they're using to chose this book: it's not very popular, and it's just not good fiction. I'm convinced money was traded to push this book despite mainstream audiences not liking it. I have 0 trust on Barnes and Noble's recommendations because they're definitely not recommending this book for the right reasons. 

It's a shame because art history is already not a popular topic, and there's were actually some interesting points covered for some of the paintings. However, Schlesser's writing style reads like the ramblings of someone infatuated with the sound of their own voice rather than writing to appeal to an audience new to art appreciation. I'm actually more put off on the topic now than I was before reading this book.

I wasted ~2 months of my life trying to chip away at reading this book, with the only reward at the ending being able to write this review to warn people: do NOT read this book.

Book Blog #378: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

 

Title: The Vanishing Half

Author: Brit Bennett

# of Pages: 346 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect? Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

Review: Borderline 4 stars.

This book focuses on the Vignes family across multi-generations in a way that reminded me of Pachinko (which I loved!).

While this book is told in 3rd person, there's a LOT of time skipping (not just the big time skips between chapters) back and forth that really disrupts the flow. Every time there was a time skip, I would put the book down, which slowed down my reading pace in a major way.

The main issue was how much time skipping there was that made the story feel too unfocused. I would have connected with the characters more if at least the chapters were told more linearly (so I could learn about these characters as they grow) and/or if the story focused in on one of the generations (so each character can have deeper character development). 

The ending almost made me give this story 4 stars; it wasn't until the ending 20% that I felt more invested in the characters. I also applaud the author tackling interesting topics: 

- complex family relationships: twins are inherently close in ways that siblings who aren't can't fathom. Yet the Vignes twins sudden go down different paths and deal with their familial relationships very differently. 

- acceptance/rejection of identity: one twin leans into their blackness, the other rejects this identity. Their daughters (who are the more interesting and likable characters in this story) are the physical manifestations of their respective choices. The story covers how their differences affect their relationships with those around them and each other (and the surprising ways it doesn't affect them). 

Overall an interesting read, just very slow for over half of the book. I recently read The God of the Woods which had time skipping and was also a slow start, but I actually like the writing style better than the style used in The Vanishing Half. I'd only recommend this book if it already sounds interesting to you!

Book Blog #376: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

 

Title: The God of the Woods

Author: Liz Moore

# of Pages: 478 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

Review: This was more of a slow historical drama with some underlying mystery than a page-turning mystery-thriller.

In fact, it was so NOT paging turning that I kept putting this book down because I was frustrated/bored. There's a few reasons for this:

- There's time skipping (between 1950s to 1970s) AND third person POV switching, which wouldn't have been a huge issue except Moore decided to switch between a billion side characters (some of which aren't super relevant and who's perspectives are never seen again later in the story). It's super painful because right when I'm getting into the story from one person's perspective, Moore switches to another person in a different time period which breaks the immersion. 

- Since there's so many characters, there's a lot of chapters spent on telling the reader about their backgrounds which made the story progression very slow. 

The writing actually was very good (4 star worthy), but the storytelling was painful (2-3 stars) because of the above points. 

This is also one of the mysteries where I couldn't guess what happens because there's possible red herrings everywhere (make the reader appreciate the work investigators do and how hard it is to get to the truth). The ending is actually unsatisfying because it felt like it came out of nowhere rather than looking at the hints reader's received throughout the story with a different perspective. 

On a completely different note, this book reminded me of The Great Gatsby in that there was strong messaging that rich people sucks, and the games they play with other people's lives is both self-serving and deeply destructive.

Overall a good but not great slow read. I don't regret reading but do think it is too slow-paced for me to recommend it highly.

Book Blog #375: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Title: Atmosphere

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

# of Pages: 341 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Romance, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis:  Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space. Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easygoing even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane. As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe. Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.

Review: If there's one thing I learned from read Atmosphere; it's that I don't have it what it takes to be an astronaut. 

I'm not particularly interested in science and space, so seeing this was about NASA's space shuttle program wasn't a selling point for me. However I do enjoy reading Taylor Jenkins Reid books, so I knew I would give it a try eventually. After reading the whole Game Changers series (smutty gay romance with a hockey backdrop) I was excited to dive into something completely different, expecting to learn a lot about this space program in the 1980s.

But I slowly realized this was in fact NOT a space book. So much for reading something different; it's first and foremost a lesbian love story (although definitely not smutty like the Game Changer series) with a backdrop of space and science. 

Honestly, the book's marketing selling this book as a space book rather than a romance book is what made this book not meet my expectations. I was not looking to slog through secret women x women romance development when I was already exhausted from doing this for previous reads 6 times over. 

The story might start with a gripping space mission-related disaster, but it time skips into the past to introduce the reader to the characters and of course the romance, which actually made me care about the romance even less because I just wanted to get back to hearing about how they were going to fix the disaster. Without spoiling it, I actually was not a fan of the ending and how it relates to the romance either; if it went the other directions, it might have actually tipped the scales enough to give this book 4 stars because it would have been more impactful.

The space aspects were actually quite readable, and I really enjoyed learning about the struggles women had breaking into the space program. There's also a subplot that explores Joan's relationships with her family that I actually was very interested in but was underdeveloped in terms of creating multi-dimensional characters. 

While this could just be a case of reading this book at the wrong time, I do think Reid tried to tackle too many topics (women's struggles/feminism in 1980s, family, and LGBTQ) and was not able to put enough attention on each one in 341 pages. If you're interested in reading a lesbian love story, I'd recommend this book but not so much if you're looking for a space story. 

Book Blog #356: A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

 

Title: A Crane Among Wolves

Author: June Hur

# of Pages: 363 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: 1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings. Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death. Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

Review: Despite my better judgement, I HAD to give this book 4 stars instead of 3.

There were several components not working in its favor - there's POV switching (Inseul in first person, Daehyun in third person), and some keywords in Korean were not translated or explained to the reader. As is sometimes characteristic of YA books, the protagonist quickly (but unrealistically) befriends others critical to her journey. While this kept the story relatively compact and fast paced, I wasn't able to develop that deeper connection with these characters through the protagonist's experiences in this format, and it made reading the first half of the book slower than I would've liked.

My expectations were also completely off; based on the cover, I thought it would be a hot, romance-forward historical fiction, but instead I got a historical fiction forward story laced with mystery and a splash of romance. But it was actually a very pleasant surprise; the restraint and tension in the romance component actually made it more addicting and shows you don't have to be in your reader's face with the passionate and the sex to write a good love story (cough cough The Fourth Wing cough cough).

I stayed up late last night reading the latter half of the book because of the mystery aspect. Even though there were a lot of obvious hints along the way for readers to guess WHAT will unfold, what kept me turning the pages was wanting to know HOW it would unfold and how the characters were impacted by these changes. What I really respected and admired too was how Hur tried to stay as true to being historically accurate as possible, which made the atrocities committed by the king land even heavier on the reader's heart. 

While not without it's flaws, this book does tell a compelling story and highlights a brutal but less well known piece of history. It's also great that Hur made this a stand alone book; no need to worry about being left on a cliff hanger and dragged along for series that wasn't meant to be a series. I would actually recommend it if the story sounds interesting to you as it's a quick and engaging read. 

Book Blog #354: Swift River by Essie Chambers

 

Title: Swift River

Author: Essie Chambers

# of Pages: 387 (hardback

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Rating:★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Summer, 1987. On the sweltering streets of the dying New England mill town of Swift River, sixteen-year-old Diamond Newbury is desperately lonely. It's been seven years since her father disappeared, and while her mother is determined to move on, Diamond can't distance herself from his memory. When Diamond receives a letter from a relative she has never met, she unearths long-buried secrets of her family's past and discovers a legacy she never knew she was missing. The more she learns, however, the harder it becomes to reconcile her old life with the one she wants to lead.

Review: Chambers has a lot of potential - some parts of the book were borderline 3 stars, but there were a few aspects that led me to settle on a two star rating:

1. There's 1st person POV switching and time skipping. The POV switching is across time periods: the reader mainly hears Diamond Newbury's point of view but the story of her family is also told through letters from her Aunt Lena and Aunt Clara (from a mix of the ~1915 and 1987, depending on when the letter was written). BUT ALSO there was time skipping from Diamond's POV as she recounts memories of her immediate family. These abrupt changes really disrupted my reading flow and made it easier to put down.

2. Telling a story through 3 narratives was unnecessary and read like three different books. I didn't need to know about three different women from the Newbury family because while their lives overlapped, their experiences were pretty distinct and did not add to the others' stories. Chambers should have picked one (likely Diamond) instead of rushing to get out a shallow telling of all three. 

3. The writing style for the letters was weaker than Diamond's primary narrative. Too much of telling the reader directly the story rather than letting us get immersed into the story and coming along for the ride. They also felt too much like someone grandpa/grandma telling me their life story unwarranted rather than a critical part in understanding how Diamond got to be the person she is today.

What I did like about Swift River is how Chambers wrote about Diamond's struggles - her complex relationship with her parents, her body insecurities, racism, discrimination, etc. It all felt very raw and created an authentic portal into what it was like to be living as the only black girl in town back in 1987.

But because of the failings mentioned above, it felt like Diamond's story was over before it began. I was left expecting more without ever wanting more. I walked away without knowing what I was supposed to takeaway from Diamond's journey and whether the part of her story that the book focused on was worth telling. I would not recommend this book.

Book Blog #353: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

 

Title: Lady Tan's Circle of Women

Author: Lisa See

# of Pages: 342 (hardback)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus , they tell from adversity beauty can bloom. But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

Review: I only knew two things going into the book: the cultural focus would be at least Chinese-adjacent (as per the title), and there would be graphic descriptions about the foot binding process.

Both ended up being more than true. The foot binding process was only a small fraction of the story and is actually just the tip of the iceberg of the depth of See's research in traditional Chinese customs. See's detailed account of Chinese medicine actually is what made the first ~100 pages difficult for me to get through. I don't have a particular interest in reading about medicine, so I was worried I picked the wrong book for me. It would be at most a 3 star read if it continued to lean toward being a slow history lesson rather than an engaging life story. 

However, after that first 100 pages, it got a lot better. I became invested in Lady Tan's life story albeit fictional (while Lady Tan is a real historical figure, little is known about her, so the author had to fictionalize many details to connect the dots). On theme with the women's fiction streak that I'm starting, this book focuses more on Lady Tan's non-romantic relationships, especially those with other woman. 

There's a question that arose from me that actually ended up being answered by the author on her website: "There are certain aspects of the novel that seem very contemporary—the epidemic outbreak, the arguments for and against variolation, and questions over who has control over women’s bodies. Was that intentional?" While the author says she is being historically accurate to the sentiments for/against variolation at the time, there are undoubtably parallels with the debate over the COVID-19 vaccines that were happening at the time of publication in 2021. This admittedly broke the immersion into traditional Chinese culture for me since there was extra focus on this topic in particular over other medical topics.

Something that surprised me is that the book also became somewhat of a murder mystery? Not enough so that it would reclassify the genre of the book, but enough to be startling for a book I expected to be vanilla historical fiction. 

Overall, this book was better than I thought! Despite the slow start, See did a decent job at avoiding making her book read like a textbook and created characters that the reader actually will care about. I would recommend this book to people who are interested about Chinese history and women empowerment. 

Book Blog #351: Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda

 

Title: Sing Her Down

Author: Ivy Pochoda

# of Pages: 272 (paperback)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Florence “Florida” Baum is not the hapless innocent she claims to be when she arrives at the Arizona women’s prison―or so her ex-cellmate Diosmary Sandoval keeps insinuating. Dios knows the truth about Florida’s crimes, understands what Florence hides even from that she was never a victim of circumstance, an unlucky bystander misled by a bad man. Dios knows that darkness lives in women too, despite the world’s refusal to see it. And she is determined to open Florida’s eyes and unleash her true self. When an unexpected reprieve gives both women their freedom, Dios’s fixation on Florida turns into a dangerous obsession, and a deadly cat-and-mouse chase ensues from Arizona to the desolate streets of Los Angeles.

Review: Is the "thrilling Western" in the room with us? Because whatever I read was a historical fiction with unnecessarily flowery prose. 

The good: this captures a sliver of what life was like during COVID pandemic (which wildly is several years in the past already). 

The bad: everything else. 

It's a given I wasn't going to like the POV switching, but this one is particularly poorly executed. It's not just POV switching but ALSO first and third person narration switching AND time skipping. The switching made the narration VERY disjointed (a risk for this style that REAL stood out as a failing for this book). 

Even after finishing this book, I'm struggling to figure out why this book was even written. It's clear that there is some feminist messaging going on, but I'm failing to see a positive message here. The book seems to be pushing the idea that "all women are capable of being violent," but this message isn't particularly enlightening/surprising. 

Overall, it was just really hard to get into this book with all the different characters' ramblings. It's not a gripping mystery because I didn't care enough about these characters to care about what these criminals are doing with their lives. There's a bunch of action/crime that happens in gruesome detail, but even that failed to engage me as a reader, and I couldn't help but keep putting this book down.

I really don't get the point of reading this book and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Book Blog #348: James by Percival Everett

 

Title: James

Author: Percival Everett

# of Pages: 302 (hardback)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Review: This is the Huckleberry Finn story told from Jim's perspective that no one asked for but was better than it conceptually sounds. 

A borderline 3 star read for me - whenever people do a alternative perspective of a story, I'm always a bit skeptical of authors taking advantage of a pre-existing plot due to their own failings as a story teller. Another book I read recently, Wicked, does an okay job at this due to the amount of original content, but it had other questionable choices with how the story was structured, thus the three star rating.

At least the first half of James isn't as original as I hoped (a lot of overlap with the Huck Finn story). I was bored with basically rereading a story with some minor extra details thrown in, and would have given the book 3 stars if it stayed that way. However, the latter half goes deeper into new content and the perspective of a slave but ended abruptly right when I was getting into the story. 

Overall, an engaging read nonetheless. The writing is straight forward and easy to follow (making this a YA-level read despite some rape descriptions), but it was entertaining even without having prior interest in reading Jim's perspective. I would recommend it if the concept of a classic story retelling of Huck Finn sounds interesting to you.

Book Blog #346: Small Country by Gaël Faye

 

Title: Small Country

Author: Gaël Faye

# of Pages: 183 (paperback)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Africa

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expat neighbourhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister, Ana, is something close to paradise. These are happy, carefree days spent with his friends sneaking cigarettes and stealing mangoes, swimming in the river and riding bikes in the streets they have turned into their kingdom. But dark clouds are gathering over this small country, and soon their peaceful idyll will shatter when Burundi and neighbouring Rwanda are brutally hit by war and genocide.

Review: This book could have been categorized as horror by the heart-aching descriptions of genocide victims. 

I read the English translation of Small Country (originally published in French) with little to no context on what this book would be about. This is a mistake - as someone with little to no knowledge on the wars in Burundi and Rwanda, ramping up on the conflict that sets the premise of this book is much more difficult. 

Faye contrasts the relatively peaceful childhood of Gaby (a half French half Rwandan boy living in Bujumbura) in the first half of the book with the horrifying tragedy of genocide in the latter half. The former I would give 3 stars - the slice-of-life story of Gaby's peaceful childhood was just not that interesting. I put aside this book many times just because it was difficult for me to be engaged with learning about Gaby's home situation. 

The second part was much better and goes the farthest in enlightening readers on a tragedy that is likely overlooked or unknown to many people. Faye could have actually made this section longer and gone deeper on the conflict to land more of a punch and pull more at the heartstrings by developing more attachment to the characters. At the same time, it is impressive what Faye was able to accomplish in such a small amount of pages. 

Borderline 3/4 stars - I wouldn't recommend seeking out this book but would if there's interest in the topic and an opportunity to read it (especially since it's so short). 

Book Blog #334: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

Title: Americanah

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

# of Pages: 477 (hardcover)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion—for each other and for their homeland.

Review: It felt good to read Americanah after 5 long years of it sitting on my to-read shelf. I remember when this was recommended to me - I was on the bus, the person showed me the non-informative cover, and told me it was a really good read. After hearing a verbal synopsis (which I didn't fully absorb), I got the sense it must be nonfiction, added it mindlessly to my shelf and didn't bother to look at it further (until now).

Admittedly thankfully, it is not nonfiction. Beginning third of the book is worthy of 4 stars - I really enjoyed hearing about a Nigerian immigrating to the US and how the introduction to race differs from someone beginning to experience it in adulthood vs African Americans who grew up experiencing racism all their lives. 

I actually didn't mind the time skipping either (skipping between the "present" and the retelling of Ifemelu's life leading up to her going to and living in the US). What I didn't like is the third person POV switching between Ifemelu and Obinze. Obinze's perspective is unnecessary and could have been told through Ifemelu hearing about it instead. 

I started to dislike the story a bit more once it became more preachy (likely on purpose, to address racism in America). It began to feel less like a story about Ifemelu and more educational - I would have preferred Adichie to be less blatant with the messaging.

By the end of the book I was exasperated. While I understand that making Ifemelu and Obinze flawed in their passion for each other makes the characters more realistic to life, it made it difficult as a reader to cheer for these characters. The story lost some of it's direction - is it a story about African pride (or lack thereof) and race, or is it a hopeless romance? 

I am on the fence on whether I would recommend this book. Although the writing style is better than the previous book I read (Saving Noah),  I definitely enjoyed and was less gripped to the story in Americanah. 

Book Blog #331: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Title: Daisy Jones & The Six

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

# of Pages: 369 (ebook)

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary

Rating:★★★★☆

Synopsis: Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

Review: Since I was reading this not that long after reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I can't help but compare. I definitely liked this one a bit less, but it was still a fun read. Coincidentally I recently have seen the play Stereophonic, which is eerily similar to this book likely because both are inspired by the real rock n roll drama from Fleetwood Mac.   

This book is marked as both historical fiction AND contemporary because the story is told documentary-style. The "author"/interviewer is having this conversations in present time, but the characters are retelling a story in the 70s, focusing on height of rock n roll. 

I found myself reading this book in any spare moment I could possibly get. However, closer to the end, I began to feel annoyed with most of the characters (everyone has their own drama, everyone has qualities that kind of suck). What I did enjoy is how despite all the first person POV switching, most of the characters had a distinct voice, and I could envision this book like a documentary playing out in my head. The ending and the surprise twist actually made the documentary style less realistic for me, which is why this book can only get at most 4 stars from me. 

I would still recommend this book. 

Book Blog #328: The Heavan and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

 

Title: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

Author: James McBride

# of Pages: 389 (hardback)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows.

Review: This is somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. 

This book wasn't BAD per se. My problems with the writing style can be mostly chalked up to McBride making "artistic choices" that I don't enjoy. 

First, the most obvious: third person POV switching. This one is employed A LOT - every chapter. Third person story telling is already somewhat prone to some POV switching, but this one tries to cover everyone involved AND can time skip (either a bit before or a bit after the previous chapter's events). I got the classic "I wish I could hear more about the OTHER characters" feeling with some of the characters (such as Doc, Gus, etc.). 

Now, I would say that the third person POV switching did make the ending ~100 pages more gripping, and the ending is by far the best part of the book. However, this is more because the book becomes less-slice of life and more mystery, and there's actually PLOT PROGRESSION. 

Which leads me to my second major problem with this book - the author is a big rambler. There's a lot of TELLING rather than SHOWING the characters' background. McBride repeats some "important" details as if forgetting that it was already mentioned 50 billion times already. I wanted to scream "I KNOW already! Let's get a move on the rest of the story!" It wasn't even clear what this book would be about in the first 100 pages because McBride was introducing so many people - even at the end it's clear that McBride doesn't have a single protagonist for this book (is it Moshe, who is the focus at the beginning but less so by the end? Nope, likely no one person is the protagonist). 

Not having a clear protagonist DID mean that I ended up caring about a lot of characters (thus why I considered giving it 3 stars), but not everyone's story is nicely tided up in a bow by the epilogue, unfortunately. Unlike other mysteries where there ending is satisfying, this one left me feeling like there was still more story that could have been told, but McBride decided it was time to focus and end it at 389 pages.

I probably will not read another McBride book again.