Theresa Smith's Blog, page 87
December 25, 2019
Book Review: Inexpressible Island by Paullina Simons
About the Book:
They were ready for anything … except the end. The must-read conclusion to the epic End of Forever saga by Paullina Simons.
Julian has lost everything he ever loved and is almost out of time. His life and death struggle against fate offers him one last chance to do the impossible and save the woman to whom he is permanently bound.
Together, Julian and Josephine must wage war against the relentless dark force that threatens to destroy them. This fight will take everything they have and everything they are as they try once more to give each other their unfinished lives back.
As time runs out for the star-crossed lovers, Julian learns that fate has one last cruel trick in store for them – and that even a man who has lost everything still has something left to lose.
Following on from the heartbreaking The Tiger Catcher and A Beggar’s Kingdom, Inexpressible Island is the unmissable conclusion to the epic End of Forever saga.
My Thoughts:
Paullina Simons brings new meaning to deja-vu and six degrees of separation. I can’t even begin to fully describe these novels for fear of spoiling them for you, and believe me when I say, you do not want them spoiled. If you see any reviews that say, ‘this contains spoilers’, keep scrolling because if you ever intend to read these books, don’t go into them knowing what’s going to happen. Even though this review is for Inexpressible Island, much of the discussion will be referring to the series as a whole. When gathering my thoughts on this novel, I found it really difficult to separate it from its two predecessors.
These three books that make up the End of Forever saga were released this year, with only a few months between each, but they took Paullina Simons five years to write and bring to publication. I felt right from the moment I began to read the second instalment that these books didn’t read like a normal series where one book ends and the next one begins. They read more like one long epic 1000+ page story that has after the fact been split at the most precisely timed perfect place for the greatest impact within the story. This goes in some way to explain the varying lengths of each book. If you consider most commercial series nowadays, they are very prescribed in terms of length, with each book being pretty much the same page count. The first book was reasonably long, the second was huge, and the third was probably the shortest, but each book covered exactly what it needed to. The effect of this on reader enjoyment of the overall saga cannot be overstated.
Now, onto this book, Inexpressible Island. It was almost like two stories within the one novel. The very first story was incredible, I loved this period of history that Julian travelled back to and for the first time, I genuinely liked the version of Mia that he met. I also adored ‘the gang’, each and every one of them. This was probably by far my favourite time jump and I was really sad to see its particular end, but then of course, the story moved into a whole new territory that I never even saw coming, so before I could mourn the loss (again) I got caught up in the next big ‘thing’. Paullina Simons is pretty much untouchable in terms of her imagination and the places she takes us within this saga. I know I keep saying it, but I really love the way she writes. It’s distinctly different, a style I’ve seen evidence of in her previous books. It’s no one thing, and it’s really hard to describe, unless you’ve read one of her books before and know exactly what I mean. I felt that the tone, wit, snappy dialogue, poetic narrative, and sharp plot turns within this series mimicked The Girl in Times Square. Totally different stories, but if you were given each with the author name removed, you’d be able to tell that they were written by the same person. Shades of brilliance and I feel like I’m raving, but this series (and author) deserves it.
‘You do what you can, even when you fear it’s hopeless. You will probably fail, yes, but you don’t give up. That’s what love is. That’s what faith is. You suffer to live, you struggle to help them. You never surrender. That’s the part I didn’t understand until now – that that was the only true thing I had to give her, from the very beginning. Nothing else. Just myself at her feet.’
If anyone reading this is a fan of Paullina Simons but has been reluctant to pick these books up because of the time travel aspect, reconsider! They are speculative fiction, but the speculative parts are done really well, you don’t need to be a fan of fantasy or science fiction per se to be able to get into them. I think that nowadays magical realism seems to be crossing over into other genres and I know myself, that I am more open to these themes now than I would have been ten years ago. I feel these books are very accessible to all sorts of readers, but you do have to really put some time and effort into reading them. You can’t skim them because Paullina weaves so many details into the fabric of each book, things that seem inconsequential until you realise its importance further down the track. You’ll find this especially in the third book, Inexpressible Island. There were things that happened in book one and two that all of a sudden made sense in the third. It’s those moments of serendipity that give so much back to the reader. When you’ve committed to reading a series, it’s that continuation of the story across all of the books that makes the time and effort so worthwhile. This whole idea of a series where books can be read as a standalone makes no sense to me. That’s not a series. A series should be something where the story is so connected that if you don’t read each book carefully you’re going to miss out and that’s what you get with the End of Forever saga. I read the first book several months ago, but I’ve read the second and third back to back. If you’re going to tackle these, I would say read all three one after the other. It’s just going to be like reading one massive novel and you’re going to love it all the more. It also means that you won’t forget some of those key moments that happen early on that you only get insight into later on. The whole thing will have a lot more impact. And you’ll appreciate the cleverness of this story all the more as well.
‘The tension had fled his body. While he had been doing his own thing, panicking, fretting, dreading the worst, the universe was doing its own thing, loading the dice, dealing the cards, breaking the crystal quartz. Relief flooded him, and joy.’
So as to the ending, which I’m obviously not going to spoil for you, but which I really loved. It was one of those endings that you can say is ‘unforgettable’, the way in which you see everything falling into place and everything at last making perfect sense. I can’t recommend this series highly enough. It’s summertime here in Australia, so some of you might have a bit of time off work, some time to kick back and devote yourself to reading something that you can really get into and lose yourself in. I would highly recommend this series as the perfect candidate for your holiday reading.
About the Author:
Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad in 1963. As a child she emigrated to Queens, New York, and attended colleges in Long Island. Then she moved to England and attended Essex University, before returning to America. She lives in New York with her husband and children.
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Inexpressible Island
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
Released November 2019
December 23, 2019
Merry Christmas
Wishing you all a very bookish Christmas!
December 22, 2019
Book Review: A Beggar’s Kingdom by Paullina Simons
About the Book:
Love was just the beginning … The second novel in Paullina Simons’ stunning End of Forever saga continues the heartbreaking story of Julian and Josephine, and a love that spans lifetimes.
Sometimes a second chance is your only hope.
Is there a fate beyond the fates? Julian has failed Josephine once. Despite grave danger and impossible odds, he is determined to do the unimaginable and try again to save the woman he loves.
What follows is a love story like no other as the doomed lovers embark on an incredible adventure across time and space. Racing through history and against the merciless clock, they face countless dangers and deadly enemies.
Living amid beauty and ecstasy, bloodshed and betrayal, each time they court and cheat death brings Julian and Josephine closer to an unthinkable sacrifice and a confrontation with the harshest master of all…destiny.
My Thoughts:
Earlier this year I read The Tiger Catcher, book one in a new series by Paullina Simons which she calls, the End of Forever saga. A Beggar’s Kingdom is book two, and what an extraordinary ride it is! Granted, it’s very long, far more than its predecessor, and more than two hundred pages chunkier than its follow up. There were a few times, particularly in the middle, where I began to feel the weight of this length, but before I knew it, Paullina had done it again: kept me on my toes and bludgeoned me with the unexpected. I think that’s part of why I really like these books so much, they’re constantly surprising me and almost genre-less. This one, A Beggar’s Kingdom, is both contemporary and historical fiction – and no, I don’t mean dual timeline. Julian time travels four times to four different historical eras – so you can throw in magical realism, alongside mystery, romance at times, and the narrative is so lyrical that it borders on literary more often than not. I absolutely love it all the more for this mish-mash of genre and form. Not many authors can achieve this with any degree of finesse, but Paullina Simons seems to have made it all her own style.
‘Nothing remained in the whiteout desert that was Julian’s life, across every icy plane, across every dimension. Everything was levelled.’
A Beggar’s Kingdom is quite an ambitious achievement. Four historical eras, each in a different century; the world building alone is impressive. And there is so much in terms of detail and atmosphere poured into each era. As a fan of historical fiction, this was a treat quadrupled. This novel also dives deeper into who Julian is, the depth of his friendship with Ashton, which also gives us more insight into Ashton himself. We learn more about Devi, as well as Ava, who is Mia’s mother (Mia is Josephine’s real name). I really enjoyed this character development of all the major players, and like the intricate world building, this character building is meticulous and not without purpose – in every instance. Like a puzzle to be fitted together, Paullina scatters her pieces over the many chapters, but through character and setting, they all begin to click into place. Storytelling brilliance.
There is a lot of pain and anguish within this novel, even more so than the first. Grief abounds, not just for Julian, and when we think Paullina can’t possibly inflict anymore suffering upon him, well, she goes ahead and does it anyway. We also finally get to meet a Josephine/Mia that is not only tolerable, but actually very likeable, which makes her inevitable death hurt even more. But overall, it’s Julian’s passion and force of conviction that he can rewrite the past that steals the show here. He dies himself, a little bit more, each time he time travels, but he just never gives up. This is more epic love story than sweeping romance, with all of the tragedy and the never getting even close to a happy ending. I just can’t get enough of it. It’s possibly one of the grimmest novels I’ve ever read, but the sharp humour, the expansive world building, unique story arc, and very human characters, all make A Beggar’s Kingdom one of my top five favourites from Paullina Simons. It’s that good. But, you can’t read it as a standalone. Definitely not. It’s all or nothing with this saga, which in actuality, is more like one very long novel split into three parts, than a series in its usual form.
‘You looked at me strangely, too deeply. You stared at me with pain in your eyes. You do see how that can unsettle any girl, not just me, how that can make any girl uneasy? You looked at me like I broke your heart, yet I didn’t know you at all.’
Highly recommended, and if you haven’t read the first, The Tiger Catcher, you can catch up on my review here.
About the Author:
Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad in 1963. As a child she emigrated to Queens, New York, and attended colleges in Long Island. Then she moved to England and attended Essex University, before returning to America. She lives in New York with her husband and children.
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A Beggar’s Kingdom
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
Released July 2019
December 21, 2019
#BookBingo2020 – The BIG Reveal
Pop on your sunnies because you are about to be dazzled! In honour of a brand new decade, #BookBingo has put on its party wear.
I’ve teamed up once again with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. It’s going to be a little different for 2020, the card has less squares, allowing us to run bingo on the second Saturday of each month. Also, for the first time since beginning bingo, I haven’t specified genre, type, or even fiction or non-fiction for the categories. 2020 is all about themes, and from there, the choice is wide open.
First bingo Saturday for 2020 will be on:
Saturday 11th January
Bingo dates thereafter will be:
Saturday 8th February
Saturday 14th March
Saturday 11th April
Saturday 9th May
Saturday 13th June
Saturday 11th July
Saturday 8th August
Saturday 12th September
Saturday 10th October
Saturday 14th November
Saturday 12th December
Without further preamble, the moment you have all been waiting for…
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Hope to see you joining in! If you want to play along, just tag us on social media with your bingo posts each month. You can also join the Page by Page Book Club with Theresa Smith Writes over on Facebook, where we all post in the same place on the same date and chat over each other’s entries. Alternatively, drop a link each month into the comments of my Saturday bingo post so I can follow your progress blog to blog.
#BookBingo2020
December 20, 2019
Book Bingo 2019 – It’s in the bag!
Round 1:
The Sweet Hills Of Florence by Jan Wallace Dickinson – written by an Australian woman
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – themes of inequality
Round 2:
Matryoshka by Katherine Johnson – set in the Australian mountains
The Cottage at Rosella Cove by Sandie Docker – set on the Australian coast
Round 3:
Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon – 500 pages or more
How to be Second Best by Jessica Dettman – Comedy
Round 4:
The Promised Land by Barry Maitland – Crime
The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley – set in an exotic location
Round 5:
Sunshine by Kim Kelly – set in the Australian outback
Round 6:
A River in the Trees by Jacqueline O’Mahony – Themes of Culture
Round 7:
Half Moon Lake by Kirsten Alexander – Themes of Justice
Round 8:
The Familiars by Stacey Halls – Themes of Fantasy
Round 9:
The Hollow Bones by Leah Kaminsky – written by an author I’ve never read
Round 10:
The Chocolate Maker’s Wife by Karen Brooks – Historical
Round 11:
Heroines: An Anthology of Short Fiction and Poetry edited by Sarah Nicholson and Caitlin White – book with a red cover
Round 12:
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – an author under the age of 35
Round 13:
The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer – fictional biography about a woman from history
Round 14:
The Rip by Mark Brandi – written by an Australian man
Round 15:
The French Photographer by Natasha Lester – a book with a place in the title
Round 16:
The Fragments by Toni Jordan – Literary
Round 17:
Diving Into Glass by Caro Llewellyn – memoir about a non-famous person
Round 18:
The Duchess’s Tattoo by Daisy Goodwin – novella no more than 150 pages
Round 19:
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton – Prize winning book
Round 20:
The Cinema at Starlight Creek by Alli Sinclair – Romance
Round 21:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne – Beloved Classic
Round 22:
Rogue by A. J. Betts – Themes of Science Fiction
Round 23:
I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes by Jaclyn Moriarty – written by an Australian woman more than 10 years ago
Round 24:
Rosa – Memories with Licence by Ros Collins – written by an author over the age of 65
Mutiny on the Bounty by Peter Fitzsimons – non-fiction book about an event
Round 25:
Bitter Leaves by Tabatha Stirling – a book by an author with the same initials as you
CHALLENGE COMPLETED!
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Thanks to Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse for another successful year of bingo.
Stay tuned for our 2020 card…
December 17, 2019
#aww2019 Wrap Up
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It’s bit like listmania around here at the moment! Even though 2019 is not over, when I consider the amount of days left against my immediate tbr pile, I can safely call this challenge a wrap at 72 books. My goal was 80, so not quite there this year, but close enough for me to feel a sense of accomplishment. That’s 72 reviews contributing to the greatest challenge in the world…and yes, I’m definitely biased. 
December 15, 2019
Top Reads for 2019
This year I’ve narrowed down my top reads of the year to 30. I’ve used my standard rules: must have been rated at 5 stars, published this year, and I need to remember it without consulting Goodreads. 2019 has been a good year for reading – this list could have had at least ten more on it! So, without further delay, in no particular order, my top reads for 2019:
1. Confession with Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach
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2. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
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3. Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
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4. City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
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5. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
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6. Paris Savages by Katherine Johnson
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7. Going Under by Sonia Henry
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8. The First Time Lauren Pailing Died by Alyson Rudd
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9. The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith
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10. The Binding by Bridget Collins
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11. Allegra In Three Parts by Suzanne Daniel
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12. The Wonder of Lost Causes by Nick Trout
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13. The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung
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14. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn
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15. The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal
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16. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
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17. Gravity is The Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty
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18. The Bridge by Enza Gandolfo
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19. The Hollow Bones by Leah Kaminsky
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20. The Familiars by Stacey Halls
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21. When All is Said by Anne Griffin
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22. A River in the Trees by Jacqueline O’Mahony
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23. The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton by Anstey Harris
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24. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
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25. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson
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26. The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
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27. The Chocolate Maker’s Wife by Karen Brooks
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28. Three Ways To Disappear by Katy Yocom
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29. Snake Island by Ben Hobson
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30. The French Photographer by Natasha Lester
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December 14, 2019
Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
About the Book:
From New York Times bestselling writer Neil Gaiman, comes a novel of memory, magic and survival, about the power of stories and the darkness inside each of us.
A special Christmas edition of the bestseller.
It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive. There is primal horror here, and menace unleashed – within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it.
His only defense is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.
THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac – as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly’s wing, as dangerous as a knife in the dark.
My Thoughts:
So it looks as though I’m no longer the only person left in the world who hasn’t read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It is a book that I have heard so much about, particularly since I started blogging. It seems to pop up in favourite book lists all over, and I’ve seen it name dropped into many a discussion about that slippery beast that people like to call ‘my favourite book ever’. I actually went into this book having no idea at all what it was going to be about (perhaps an ocean at the end of a lane? – but this was mere speculation), I didn’t even read the blurb. Too many have said it’s a book that everyone must read, so I was reading it either way.
The edition that I’ve read is a newly released illustrated version. It’s an absolutely gorgeous book, with a cloth bound hard cover and such luxuriously thick pages, they almost felt like cardboard. If you’re an actual book collector, a long-time fan of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, or both things combined, then you’ll want to grab a copy of this one. The illustrations were really interesting, very moody but also a little bit abstract. It was a rather unique style of art, but it really suited the story perfectly. I did find that they enhanced my reading experience a lot in terms of atmospheric visualisation.
So, as to the story itself. Well, this is certainly not a book that is short on positive reviews. There’s an absolute wealth of 5 and 4 star reviews to be found. Personally, I thought the story was really interesting. It was incredibly unique and it instantly drew me in. Neil Gaiman has this distinctive ability to engage the reader directly, and the level of tension and sustained dread was high. While this is my first walk in the park with Gaiman, I have had some exposure to his work via the television adaptation of Good Omens – which I loved – a novel co-authored with Terry Pratchett.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a book with universal appeal, something that is all too rare. Will I read more from Neil Gaiman? Most definitely. Do I recommend this book? Another most definitely. If you haven’t read it – which is unlikely because I was led to believe I was the only person in the world guilty of that charge – make sure you do, because it’s really worthwhile and it’s also quite excellent.
Thanks extended to Hachette Australia for providing me with a copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane for review.
About the Author:
Neil Gaiman is the author of over thirty acclaimed books and graphic novels for adults and children, including AMERICAN GODS, STARDUST, CORALINE and THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. His most recent novel for adults, THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE was highly acclaimed, appeared on the hardback and paperback Sunday Times bestseller lists and won several awards, including being voted Book of the Year in the National Book Awards 2013: ‘Some books you read. Some books you enjoy. But some books just swallow you up, heart and soul’ Joanne Harris.
The recipient of numerous literary honours, Neil Gaiman’s work has been adapted for film, television and radio. He has written scripts for Doctor Who, worked with authors and illustrators including Terry Pratchett, Dave McKean and Chris Riddell, and THE SANDMAN is established as one of the classic graphic novels. As George R R Martin says: ‘There’s no one quite like Neil Gaiman.’
Originally from England, Neil Gaiman now lives in America.
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The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Hardback Illustrated Edition)
Published by Hachette Australia (Headline)
Released November 2019
December 13, 2019
15 Best Books of the Decade… according to me
As we draw to the end of not just the year, but the decade, I thought I’d put together a list of my top reads, best books, all time favourites, you name it, here it is. Fifteen of them, because narrowing it down to ten proved just that bit too hard, and they’re in no particular order – unless you count the order in which they popped into my head.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tart (2013)
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The Dutch House by Anne Patchett (2019)
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Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver (2018)
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Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton (2019)
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The Good People by Hannah Kent (2016)
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The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (2012)
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Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan (2018)
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The Trick to Time by Kit de Waal (2018)
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The Signature of all Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (2013)
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The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth (2013)
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The Second Cure by Margaret Morgan (2018)
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Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss (2014)
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We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman (2015)
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Euphoria by Lily King (2014)
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Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall (2016)
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December 12, 2019
The Week That Was…
It’s been a fortnight since my last week that was. I’ve finished work for the year, had my first week of holidays, am on track for Christmas preparations, and have saved over $800 on my annual insurance premiums by switching providers. There’s a Christmas bonus, right there!
My very crafty daughter’s contribution to Christmas:
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Youngest son is all over the business of Elf duty:
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Like I said, on track for Christmas!
