Eve Koguce's Blog, page 13

Book Review / "Enchanted by Cupid" by Susan Cochran

Enchanted By Cupid by Susan Cochran

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a lovely, cosy, and heart-warming read it was! Just what I needed at the time when everyday routine seemed to have turned into an obstacle course.

“Enchanted by Cupid” by Susan Cochran is a perfect romance novel to enjoy before bedtime or on a lazy afternoon. Wrap yourself in your favourite blanket, make some tea or pour some wine, and devour this sweet story of love.

“Enchanted by Cupid” has all the ingredients for genre lovers. A sassy, independent heroine who doesn’t care about getting a wedding ring on her finger anytime soon. A drop-dead gorgeous sheriff deputy who saves ladies from bears lurking around the small town. A set of vivid and lovable minor characters. And beautiful Lake Tahoe as a gorgeous setting for the story.

I could relate to Kate’s love for hiking, for this is one of my favourite pastimes. I’ve hiked in places with breathtaking views, like Dorset and Cornwall in England and Norwegian fjords. Now, after experiencing hiking in the Lake Tahoe area through Kate’s eyes, I’ll be dreaming about setting foot on its paths one day too.

There are elements of suspense in the book, as well as more serious topics of mental health and family ties.

I recommend “Enchanted by Cupid” to everyone who wants to lose oneself in a beautiful love story.





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Enchanted By Cupid

Book Review / "Firefly Lane" by Kristin Hannah

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don’t like writing reviews of books I have mixed feelings about. First, I realise that my opinion is subjective. Second, I don’t believe that sharing a not-so-favourable opinion does anything good to the world on a global scale.

I loved “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah. It is the book I’ll most likely reread at some point in my life since I have a habit of rereading the books I’ve loved. I know that I won’t reread “Firefly Lane”.

I should have probably picked up a different book by the author. But the consumer society we live in influences even the toughest of us, and I couldn’t resist the good deal the bookseller offered. Ebooks by bestselling authors tend to be too expensive, that’s the only justification I can offer for my actions.

So, about the book. It was interesting to read, with all kinds of twists and turns a story about everyday life should have. To some, such stories about mundane things seem boring, but to me, people’s lives are the most exciting thing to explore through books. Still, the characters’ actions and choices, the direction the plot takes after two main characters enter adulthood, kept causing frustration in me that I couldn’t suppress.

It isn’t that I couldn’t connect with the characters. I usually don’t need to like them to enjoy reading about them. The main issue for me was that they didn’t get any kind of closure. The author has hinted in a way that both main characters were happy with the choices they made in their lives. Alas, I didn’t feel it. Maybe – probably – it’s the problem of my personal perception.

In the centre of the plot, there are two women, Kate and Tully. They meet at the most vulnerable age of fourteen, absolutely different in everything, from their background to their level of popularity at school. And they become friends for life. I liked the portrait of their controversial friendship spanning over three decades. That’s how it often is in real life. Two gentle rosebuds of women rarely can stay interested in each other to stay friends for so long. Almost always, one is the leader, while the other one follows them, making certain sacrifices along the way.

The love triangle and how it played out at the end, is what hasn’t worked for me. Kate’s insecurities about her husband kept frustrating me rather than caused sympathy. And because this plot line dragged through the big part of the book, when it came to a heart-wrenching finale, I simply couldn’t automatically switch to the “and still, you’ve always been the only one whom I truly loved” idea. As I said, other readers might feel differently. But for me, it was like that.

I would have given this book three stars – and that, as it’s often pointed out, means “liked it” – but my conscience wouldn’t let me because of the last fifteen percent of the story. I’m grateful to the author for showing how beautiful saying goodbye to your close one can be. The death of someone you love will always be the most painful experience in any person’s life. There will never be anything positive about it. But Kristin Hannah has drawn a picture of a perfect parting, the way it should be in modern society. We proclaim that human life is the most precious thing, the highest value. While in reality, death is treated with embarrassment, with most people averting their eyes and pretending that it’s nothing special, which makes the experience even more painful.

To sum up, the story of Tully and Kate, two women who chose different paths in their lives, is dynamic, with some heartfelt moments and a bright Hollywood movie feel. Unfortunately, it isn’t my kind of story. I don’t regret reading it, but I won’t read the sequel either.





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Firefly Lane

Book Review / "Ellie's Albatross" by Ron Prasad

Ellie’s Albatross: A Novel by Ron Prasad

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Nowadays, tolerance is a trend. We are taught to accept whatever differences there exist between people and adapt our behaviour to fit everyone’s needs. But have we learnt to accept chronic illnesses as something that changes a sick’s person life completely and irrevocably? Or do we still expect these people to adapt to a lifestyle of the healthy?

I see here parallels with those expectations the society has for children. On the one hand, we all chant that every child is unique and it’s our duty to help children realise their potential. While on the other, we expect certain things from every little human irrespective of their emotional, psychological, and intellectual qualities. We expect children to always be responsive to our demands, to be quiet when it’s inappropriate to be otherwise, and to demonstrate only such deviations from the accepted behavioural patterns that would make them look cute and us look like modern and progressive parents.

It doesn’t work this way in both cases.

Ellie Price knows she is ill. What’s more, she suspects she won’t ever be fully healthy again. What she doesn’t know for sure is if it is possible to lessen her pain and suffering.

“Ellie’s Albatross” by Ron Prasad tells the story of how to find the strength not to give up even if it seems that there is no hope.

Ellie is lucky. If you can call someone who had to give up on almost everything that was important for them in their lives lucky. Still, Ellie isn’t alone. When suddenly the inexplicable symptoms began to appear and multiply, robbing a healthy, young woman of the job she loved and the activities that brought meaning to her life, Ellie’s husband Bishop was by her side. He supported her, helped her not to succumb to despair, and did everything to keep the fire of hope burning. Ellie and Bishop made important decisions together to increase the chances to find out what’s wrong with Ellie. And although it was incredibly hard for her to maintain faith in a favourable outcome due to so many disappointments, Ellie kept on fighting. Until one day, a new blow from fate took away the only thing that helped Ellie stay afloat.

“Ellie’s Albatross” is a story of losing and finding hope, of the importance of friendship, and of the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit.






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Ellie’s Albatross: A Novel

Book Review / "Fire at Her Fingertips" by Rebecca Crunden

Fire at Her Fingertips by Rebecca Crunden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


You are born different. It makes people fear you. Even those who are supposed to love you and protect you from the world.

You are different, but you want the same things that any human being wants. Love, tenderness, acceptance. Is it true that the only way for those who get rejected is succumbing to violence and hate?

Read this beautiful short story by the talented Rebecca Crunden to find out.

“Fire at Her Fingertips” is the second short story I’ve read by this author. I fell in love with her unique writing style, and I’m looking forward to reading her novels. Her characters are so real despite being magical creatures. You can feel their pain and their struggle, but what is even more important – at least, for me – you can also feel their happiness and joy.

“Fire at Her Fingertips” is definitely a magical story. And its magic comes not only from its fantasy setting but from the profound message it contains. Everyone is different – and everyone has a right to be so. And it is love and acceptance that make each living creature shine.




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Fire at Her Fingertips

Book Review / "Fire at Her Fingertips" by Rebecca Crunden

Fire at Her Fingertips by Rebecca Crunden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


You are born different. It makes people fear you. Even those who are supposed to love you and protect you from the world.

You are different, but you want the same things that any human being wants. Love, tenderness, acceptance. Is it true that the only way for those who get rejected is succumbing to violence and hate?

Read this beautiful short story by the talented Rebecca Crunden to find out.

“Fire at Her Fingertips” is the second short story I’ve read by this author. I fell in love with her unique writing style, and I’m looking forward to reading her novels. Her characters are so real despite being magical creatures. You can feel their pain and their struggle, but what is even more important – at least, for me – you can also feel their happiness and joy.

“Fire at Her Fingertips” is definitely a magical story. And its magic comes not only from its fantasy setting but from the profound message it contains. Everyone is different – and everyone has a right to be so. And it is love and acceptance that make each living creature shine.




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Fire at Her Fingertips

Book Review / "Abigail's Odyssey" by David Vorhees

Abigail's Odyssey by David Vorhees

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Have you ever felt that there is something mysterious in the woods? Have you ever had that tingling sensation that something is hiding there behind the trees, watching you?

Abigail is twelve, and the woods are her happy place. She goes there whenever the atmosphere at home becomes more unsettling than the mysterious silence of the woods. This time, though, her walk turns into something vastly different from the regular calming stroll. It turns into a chase…where Abigail is a victim. At least, at first…

“Abigail's Odyssey” is a short story penned by David Vorhees. The author masterfully builds the feeling of suspense the reader is bound to be overcome with after Abigail discovers a black door. The door that stands in the clearing is like any other door, except for the fact it shouldn’t be there. Would you resist the pull to open that door and find out what’s behind it?

I like the ambiguity of the story, with subtle undertones woven through the monster-victim plot. There are bone-chilling scenes that will make you grit your teeth and hope you won’t see them in your nightmares. Still, what I really appreciated about the story is the different perspective it offers over the situation where it’s clear who is weak and who is a strong party.

With vivid characters and plot twists aplenty, “Abigail's Odyssey” is the read for everyone who likes to tickle their nerves a little and also be left musing over the deeper concepts the book has introduced.





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Abigail's Odyssey

Book Review / "Child of Another Kind" by Steven Decker

CHILD OF ANOTHER KIND by Steven Decker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Cynthia and Maddie. Mother and daughter. Love and devotion. An urge to protect and a wish to be equal to the expectations. A familiar pattern for a happy family.

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” a timeless concept Leo Tolstoy introduced almost two centuries ago in his “Anna Karenina” can be applied to this small family. The family that is more unique than others but at the same time quintessential, its members having proved that family ties are stronger than the most formidable powers on Earth and beyond.

“Child of Another Kind” by Steven Decker is a gripping, unputdownable read. In the first chapters, it lulls you into believing you are about to read a different kind of story only to change direction with a bang.

When Cynthia’s dream to become a mother came true and she adopted baby Maddie, she couldn’t imagine where this beautiful journey of being a parent would lead her. We often say that children are a whole new universe, meaning it metaphorically. But in Cynthia’s case, it happens literally. Becoming Maddie’s mother has brought her to places she couldn’t imagine she’d ever visit. And although it shattered her hopes to find herself in a different kind of place, she didn’t succumb to disappointment as others before her.

“Child of Another Kind” is an action-packed story that will take the reader to fascinating destinations, both real and imaginary. And what a vivid imagination the author has! But it’s also a book about a self-discovery journey, both for Cynthia and Maddie.

Cynthia’s faith is what helps her to accept what has happened to her. Her beliefs sustain her while she adapts to the new circumstances despite they, in a way, prove that those beliefs are wrong or not fully compliant with her religion’s teachings. Following her inner transformation, I asked myself the same questions Cynthia was forced to face.

Maddie’s adult life didn’t even start when she had to reassess who she truly is. She always knew she was different; the abilities she had that other people didn’t possess made it absolutely clear. But she found out the whole truth only after it didn’t matter. Learning that she was someone different from who she believed she was, made Maddie realise that her nature didn’t depend on her origins but rather on the experiences and emotions she’d developed along the way.

“Child of Another Kind” makes the reader turn the pages to satiate the curiosity to find out what happens next and how the story ends. Still, it is also the kind of book that leaves you musing about existential issues.



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CHILD OF ANOTHER KIND

Book Review / "Strangeways: A Prison Officer's Story" by Neil Samworth

Strangeways: A Prison Officer's Story by Neil Samworth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book isn’t for the faint-hearted. If you enjoyed shows like “Prison Break” or “Orange Is the New Black” and even the classical “The Shawshank Redemption”, don’t think you know what to expect from “Strangeways: A Prison Officer's Story” by Neil Samworth.

It’s a memoir, and as such, it doesn’t follow any rules set for fiction. The book is an honest account of the decade the author spent working as a prison officer in the Manchester prison. The book is raw, and the author doesn’t spare the details, which, for the most part, are unsettling and terrifying, but at times, outright disgusting.

To Neil Samworth, applying for a position at Strangeways – the prison with a certain reputation – seemed a good idea. He wasn’t what one would call a perspective youth. On the contrary, he was rather, let’s say, confused about what to do with his life. So, after a successful experience working in a different field of social services, the author applied for a job in prison.

A regular income and a steady job did straighten the course of the author’s life. Still, the difficulties he encountered working in a place where the concentration of the most dangerous criminals is at its highest were overwhelming. After more than a decade in the system, having gone through bureaucratic obstacles that complicated prison staff’s work, and having seen the ugliest sides of human nature and behaviour, the author was suffering from PTSD and risking losing his family.

I read this book last year as a part of the “get-into-the-mood” process for the manuscript that since then I’ve already completed. “Strangeways: A Prison Officer's Story” was exactly the type of read I hoped it would be, and even apart from my research, I’m glad I read it.

The most important thing about Neil Samworth’s memoir, in my opinion, is the eye-opening moment we are led to forget by the glamour poured on us from social media, tv, etc. It is very simple: there are truly horrible things that are impossible to mask. They are a part of life. It seems we can’t get rid of cruelty, crime, deceit, and other atrocities that poison life. It doesn’t mean we have to avert our eyes and hearts and pretend these things don’t exist. We must do something. But the initiative should come from those who actually have the power to change something. Responsibility is an integral part of authority after all.







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Strangeways: A Prison Officer's Story

Book Review / "Baltic Shadows" by Matejs Kalns

Baltic Shadows by Matejs Kalns

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. The opening scene will lull you into a peaceful account of yet another get-together event of the Latvian diaspora of Toronto. You will try to imagine the tastes and smells of unusual dishes and smile at the piercing sense of nostalgia the author laces through the description of domestic bliss. And then – boom! – the narrative takes a sharp bend, and you find yourself in the tangle of foreign spies, politics, and people thrown in the middle of a game with high stakes.

As much as I love a good spy story, the main charm of “Baltic Shadows” by Matejs Kalns for me was a unique opportunity to get an insider look at the life of the Latvian diaspora in Canada. The author portrays how Latvians in Canada preserve their culture and traditions far away from home in a touching and gentle way. Moreover, the book offers a glimpse at how those who left Latvia at the time of the huge turmoil WWII threw Europe into, see their home country. I love reading memoirs and biographies. Thus, I’ve noticed that many of those who leave their home country, keep its image intact in their memory. Even after decades, they keep their homeland in their hearts exactly the way it was when they still lived there. So, I found “Baltic Shadows” extremely educating since a lot of political leaders in modern Latvia are Canadian and American citizens, members of Latvian communities. Sometimes their decisions seem a little controversial, and now I understand better the basis for choosing certain directions for our country's development.

It’s important to note that even if you aren’t interested in the history and traditions of one small European country, “Baltic Shadows” still has a lot to offer. It is a fast-paced spy thriller with twists and turns that will make you turn the pages. It also has some bright characters whose actions you won’t be able to predict.

Gustavs Ziediņš, a respected member of the Latvian diaspora, born in Canada but brought up to love and respect his ancestors’ traditions and lifestyle, has had his share of grief. Still, his life was calm and safe until a cosy Christmas get-together event is interrupted by a tragic death. It’s a usual practice that the police begin an investigation, but Gustavs feels uncomfortable sensing that their questions go beyond the incident at the party. He meets a woman, the love interest of his youth, and suddenly he finds himself unable to keep staying detached from the political undercurrents in his community. The resistance movement with branches in Canada and across the ocean in Latvia pulls him in. His life is at risk now. He can’t be sure whom he can trust. His task isn’t grading students’ papers anymore. He has agreed to take part in a perilous mission not fully realising what he’s gotten himself into. But he is determined to do what it takes to do everything to succeed in his task. After all, it isn’t only about fighting for the global cause of his home country regaining independence. It is for his friends who have given everything to the cause, even their lives.

“Baltic Shadows” by Matejs Kalns is a story that will leave you musing about the multi-faceted tapestry of history, as well as about the role a person plays in making the global wheels keep moving.



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Baltic Shadows

Book Review / "Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia" by John Dickie

Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia by John Dickie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you want an action-packed and nerve-tickling read to consume in a few sittings that will leave you thinking dreamily: “Oh, Don Corleone, what a man”, then this isn’t a book for you. “Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia” by John Dickie is packed with facts and events, and it will certainly make you tremble. Still, these emotions won’t have anything to do with the delicious thrill that engulfs us after watching an action movie.

This book is a meticulously researched account of the Sicilian mafia history starting back in the middle of the 19th century and up to almost this day. While being far from what we imagine having seen movies and read fast-paced crime fiction books intended to shock the reader, the mafia is indeed a web of cruelty, crime, and conspiracy.

There is nothing romantic about the Sicilian mafia and its methods. Mafiosos aren’t noble men fighting against injustice or any kind of oppression. They are the ones who choose dishonest and illegal methods to earn money. They don’t think twice to kill those who disobey them.

The origins of the Sicilian mafia are still unclear. I found it an interesting coincidence that the first mentions of the mafia appeared at the same time as the isle of Sicily became a part of Italy. Maybe the roots of what would become the most well-known criminal organization in the world are to be looked for in some kind of a protest movement of locals disagreeing with the new rule.

Since I’m not an expert on the Sicilian mafia and its history, I found it a little hard to follow the timeline and the numerous mafia members the author mentions in the book. Often, a new part of the book dedicated to the next time period begins and immediately jumps back to the past describing the events that had taken place previously.

I’d recommend this book to those who are interested in the historical and social aspects of the mafia. “Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia” not only provides facts, evidence, and the background of notable mafia members. It delves deeply into possible reasons why Cosa Nostra appeared in Sicily and not somewhere else. It also explores the impact mafia’s activities have been making on all aspects of life since its beginnings in the 19th century and up until the present day.





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Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia