C.A. Gray's Blog, page 66

Review of The Cuckoo’s Calling

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I love JK Rowling of course, so I had to give this a try. It’s the second of her “for-adult” books I’ve tried to read, and the first that I’ve actually finished. “A Casual Vacancy” was so full of profanity and vulgarity that I stopped at the very beginning. “The Cuckoo’s Calling” is a bit sneakier, as you don’t get into the depths of depravity until you’re so invested that it’s hard to stop. If not for the multiple characters who drop f-bombs and make very graphic sexual slurs every few words, this would have been a fantastic murder mystery. Also, I so admire Rowling’s description! She manages to paint the scene so well with just a few key details.

The basic premise: Lula Landry, a supermodel known to one of the top fashion designers as Cuckoo, apparently jumps from her balcony in London to her death. Her adopted brother approaches down-and-out private detective Cormoran Strike to re-investigate her “suicide,” convinced that she was actually murdered. With a few rabbit trails about Strike’s personal life and that of his (temporary) secretary Robin, the story primarily centers on interviews of those close to Landry. I did more or less predict who did it (there weren’t that many suspects, and no one else who would have provided the satisfying ‘twist’ that such a story would have required). But I was still engaged in the story. I think this is largely due to the fact that I really liked both Strike and Robin. I also liked that there was no love story between them–that would have been way too much of a side-plot, considering how far apart they are and how much it would therefore take to bring them together–even though this is a series so I suspect there will be a romance there at some point. I’d keep reading to find out how it happens, if not for all the foul language. I just don’t think I want to wade through all that.

My rating: ***

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Best Clean Romance Books

I don’t read all that much straight romance, so instead of listing my favorite clean romance reads of 2018, I’m going to broaden it to encompass all those I can remember. Most of these are classics and historical romance, because quite frankly, it’s VERY hard to find clean contemporary romance… and it’s even harder to find clean contemporary romance that also isn’t cheesy. But a *few* modern books made the cut! Listed in order of favorites.

Gone With the Wind

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Oh! Gut wrenching!!! My good friend warned me that I would grieve when it was over, and I read it anyway… and on one hand I wish I’d heeded her warning, on the other, it is such a great story that it’s worth it. The characters are incredible, and although the love story actually gets very little “screen time” for a 1000+ page novel, it’s the underpinnings for everything they do. All of the history and politics of the time are also quite relevant, so it’s educational as well. But at bottom, it’s a morality tale. Both Scarlett and Rhett are morally bankrupt, and so they do what they must do, and you watch it destroy their lives… and yet you root for them anyway, knowing that Margaret Mitchell could have written it no differently without changing them into different people.

I have hope, and choose to believe, that once Scarlett becomes a decent person (which she FINALLY does), she will have the wherewithal to turn her life around!

My rating: *****!

Scarlett

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WOW. So very very satisfying. When I finished GWTW I absolutely had to get this one for some closure (and I read other people’s reviews to make sure I would get it… I’d have been *pissed* if this one ended sad or on a cliffhanger too!) But it didn’t.

Now, I will say early on, the characters seemed a bit clumsier than they did in Margaret Mitchell’s hands in the sense that Ripley would come right out and say things that Mitchell would show in the way the characters behaved, allowing the reader to draw the appropriate conclusions. But I was impressed with how well-researched the book was, so I either got past this, or it stopped happening so much as the book went on.

One other frustration from early on was that Scarlett’s behavior toward Rhett made me cringe with shame for her (“You idiot! You’ll never win him back that way!”) And this went on for a few hundred pages, to the point where I started to think the whole thing was going to be like a soap opera (whereas the original GWTW was an epic, and the historical setting was very important to the story.) But after one pivotal moment, all that changed, and Scarlett became the heroine we loved so much from the original book, and the one Rhett fell in love with, too. The rest of the book, from that point on, was utterly absorbing.

Down to the last 23 pages, I almost didn’t want to finish, because I didn’t see how she could possibly wrap it up happily. But she DID, and I was totally satisfied! Anyone who felt grief-stricken when GWTW was over should definitely read this, you won’t be disappointed!

My rating: *****!

Pride and Prejudice

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I don’t know how many times I’ve either read or listened to or watched the film adaptation (or miniseries version of) Pride and Prejudice. I love Jane Austen, and this is her quintessential novel, the most memorable of the bunch. What is it about Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett that makes them so compelling? We all identify with Elizabeth, surely. She’s spunky and smart, self-deprecating at times, and she also so dearly loves her sister–her primary motivations are unselfish. And Mr. Darcy of course has all the worldly advantages: wealth, looks, and status. But in this story, we get to know him twice, through Lizzie’s eyes: once with her false assumptions of his pride and arrogance, and once when she looks at him instead through the softened eyes of knowing herself to be beloved. All of us want someone to fight for us, no matter how undeserving we believe ourselves to be… and this novel vicariously delivers.

My rating: *****!

Jane Eyre

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I consider the Bronte sisters to be a gothic version of Jane Austen: where Austen is tongue-in-cheek and playful, the Brontes are always brooding and dark. But while gothic stories also tend to be tragic, and Jane Eyre did have some of that, I’d ultimately say this story ends happy. It’s the story of the plain, poor, orphaned governess Jane, hired to tutor the daughter of the moody and equally ugly (but wealthy) Mr. Rochester. I love the relationship between them: Mr. Rochester is in many ways an anti-hero, as he’s petty and childish, purposely creating elaborate ruses to trigger Jane’s jealousy. But he does it because he’s actually so insecure, and he’s not sure if she really loves him. It’s the only way he knows he can find out. And yet, once the couple does get together, their “happily-ever-after” is not to be… Mr. Rochester’s dark secret forces them apart. In the intervening time, Jane meets some absolutely hatable and yet utterly compelling characters, and teeters on the brink of life choices which will take her from Mr. Rochester forever. So engrossing, and the characterization is utterly brilliant.

My rating: *****!

Anne of Green Gables (First Three)

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Anne of Green Gables is one of my all-time favorite classics: I practically memorize the Megan Follows film versions, and I’ve read and listened to the books many times as well. I’m only listing the first three books, though, because the love story between Anne and Gilbert wraps up at the end of “Anne of the Island.” (After that, the story frankly isn’t all that interesting, and later books in the series aren’t even about Anne anymore–they’re little anecdotes about the scrapes her kids get into.) These are very episodic, but so idyllic. I love the atmosphere of Prince Edward Island at the turn of the 19th century, when life was simpler and everybody knew their neighbors (sometimes too well.) And Anne’s struggle with her “romantic ideal” versus the very real, flesh-and-blood Gilbert who was right there waiting is so compelling.

My rating: *****!

Emma

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My second favorite Jane Austen novel after Pride and Prejudice. Also set in Regency period England, this one follows Emma, a wealthy 21-year-old girl who never plans to marry herself, but keeps herself occupied by playing matchmaker to everyone in her circle. Of course, this goes horribly wrong… and like all matchmaking stories, she ends up falling in love herself. But the man she falls in love with is a bit of a surprise (if you don’t already know it’s coming)… yet he’s so, so perfect for her.

My rating: *****

Sweet Evil Series

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I can’t gush enough about the Sweet Evil trilogy (which is actually four books–so, cheating on the whole “top 10” thing). The genre is essentially paranormal romance, but with a fantastically creative twist. Anna is one of the Nephilim, which the Bible refers to as the offspring of a demon and a human. But Anna is different even from other neph, because her mother was an angel, and her father a demon (both of whom had to possess human bodies in order to bear a child). She’s a “Child of the Prophecy,” as it were, destined to rid the earth of demons and offer the neph a chance at redemption… but then she meets the son of the demon of lust, Kaidan. Will she remain pure enough to accomplish her mission? Seriously, it’s AMAZING. Read my full review of Sweet Evilhere, my review of Sweet Peril and Sweet Reckoning here, and my review of Sweet Temptation, the bonus fourth book in the series, here. On the whole “clean” part: there’s almost no cussing at all in the trilogy itself, but Sweet Temptation is full of bad language and innuendos because it’s told from Kaidan’s point of view (whereas the trilogy is told from sweet Anna’s point of view.) Personally, I didn’t mind this a bit, because it was consistent with his character, and it frankly would have been off-putting if it hadn’t been there. But if you want to avoid that, just read the first three.

My overall series rating: *****

The Selection Trilogy

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These books have been described as the Hunger Games meets the Bachelor, and I can definitely see the comparison! But there’s also quite a bit of Cinderella thrown in. It’s a dystopian world, in which the Crown brings common girls to the palace for a prolonged period of time, in order to compete for the heart of Prince Maxon. Each book ends with an elimination round. But at the same time that all of this is going on, the castle is under siege and their freedom is being threatened. I’m really glad that’s part of the story too, as it creates the right environment for America to shine as a potential queen. 

My series rating: **** 1/2



Sense and Sensibility

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My third favorite Jane Austen novel. As you might guess from the title, this one contrasts the characters of two sisters: Eleanor is very sensible, perhaps to the exclusion of her heart, while Marianne is all passion, but little sense. Eleanor is (I think) far more sympathetic of the two. She falls in love with an earnest, simple, and (to Marianne’s way of thinking) boring man, Edward–who seems to play her false. Meanwhile, Marianne overlooks the sensible, kind (and wealthy) Colonel Brandon, instead falling passionately in love with her handsome and passionate ideal, Willoughby–who turns out to be a rake. It’s a love story, primarily, for each of the sisters. But it’s also a story of how Eleanor learns to embrace her heart, while Marianne tempers her spirit with wisdom.

My rating: **** 1/2

Villette

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As mentioned with Jane Eyre, the Bronte sisters are definitely on the dark and gothic side. Villette is no different. It follows Lucy, a plain governess just like Jane Eyre (and I believe I’ve read that these characters were somewhat autobiographical, for Charlotte at least.) Lucy is in some ways like Jane: she’s also very intelligent and sympathetic, but she’s far more tormented emotionally. She’s also the sad victim of unrequited love… and it’s very clear from the beginning that Dr. John will never return her affections. There’s much more going on in the story than just Lucy’s affections, though, and it doesn’t end wholly sad–Lucy does find her match, though compared to the Adonis that is Dr. John, it’s hard to feel satisfied with a consolation prize. Read this one only if you’re in the mood for bittersweet!

My rating: **** 1/2

Christy

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Such an uplifting read! Christy reminds me of Anne of Green Gables in its episodic format that carried more the feel of a life than a traditional story arc. I was fascinated by the way that the author put philosophical conversations in the character’s mouths and made them part of the plot… it was almost like the book itself was not just a book, but a vehicle to communicate her own belief system. I ordinarily don’t think that works in fiction because it feels like a device… and yet, she blended it in seamlessly here.

Christy is a 19-year old missionary schoolteacher in the rural and very impoverished Cutter Gap in 1912. While there, she falls in love with the children (much like Anne does: she too is a schoolteacher when she’s of age) and also finds herself in the middle of an unlikely love triangle, between the legalistic preacher and the widowed heathen doctor. (The 1990s Kelly Martin miniseries version of this is also really good!)

My rating: **** 1/2

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The Body Electric by Beth Revis

Today’s podcast review comes from this blog post, Review of The Body Electric. 

Check out this episode!

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Scythe by Neil Shusterman

This podcast comes from this blog review of Scythe by Neil Shusterman. 

Check out this episode!

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Review of Where I Belong

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Another sweet romance by Heather Moore. This one is a loose Cinderella story: Jane, a beautiful but low income woman who owns her own cleaning business, meets Cameron, the son of one of the wealthiest families in town. Cameron’s nasty fiancee Crystal (stepsisters, anyone?) hires Jane to clean his house. But when Crystal becomes too overbearing, Cameron breaks up with her. Jane happens to be there to pick up the pieces, and despite the difference in their social standings, he begins to see her as an equal.

The main male character from “Worth the Risk” (book 1 in this series) is a peripheral character in this one, and that plus the setting are the only real connections between the books. But there is definitely a formula to the stories: the characters get together at about 60-70% through, but there’s an additional complication that threatens to drive a wedge between them. They resolve this, and (spoiler alert) then there’s a marriage proposal at the end.

I gave the story 3 1/2 stars only because even though it’s sweet and clean, I felt it lacked real characterization. Both Cameron and Jane have back stories–I know facts about their lives–but I didn’t feel like I knew them. They were simply attracted to each other, but some external obstacles kept them apart… until they didn’t. The stories that really get me are those with characters with a major flaw or a void they’re trying to fill, even if they don’t fully know it. That void, whatever it is, creates tension between the characters and raises the stakes. I wanted to understand why Cameron had always dated vapid, spoiled women like Crystal in the past, and I wanted to see him recognize that as an issue within himself and get over it so that he was able to consider Jane–not to simply “see” her right off the bat with no transformation on his part. If he could do that, why didn’t he date a woman like Jane to begin with? And there were hints that Jane resented people with money, but she gets over that awfully easily in the case of Cameron. Why does she resent people with money? What happened to her to make her judge people with wealth, and how does she get over that prejudice and realize that it was a false assumption on her part in order to give Cameron a chance?

If I’d felt like these issues had been explored and addressed, I would have given it 5 stars. But even without that, it’s still a light, entertaining read.

My rating: *** 1/2

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The Gender Game, by Bella Forrest

Today’s podcast comes from this blog post review of The Gender Game. 

Check out this episode!

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Review of Scythe

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I almost stopped reading Scythe toward the beginning because the concept is so grim, but I’m so glad I stuck with it! Here’s the concept: in a post-mortality world, everyone has every need provided for. There is no crime, and no disease: any predisposition to disease is handled by nanites, which I assume are nanobots. The Thunderhead is the superintelligence which apparently manifests in this book as a benevolent, all-knowing and all-seeing god. Even when people die by accidents, they can still be revived. In fact, they’re called “dead-ish,” and then carted off to revival centers. People can reset their ages to any age they choose, and often do. But there’s one small problem: population control. Because of this, the Scythedom was formed: a group of humans lawfully authorized to take life. But they are to do so with solemn dignity, and are chosen because they hate what they do. Anyone who enjoys killing could easily become a murderer, the likes of which have not been seen since the mortal age.

But this is exactly what does happen. One scythe, who calls himself Scythe Faraday, takes on two apprentices at once, which is unheard of: Rowan, and Citra. But he has only one ring (the symbol of the scythe) to bestow upon the “winner.” The problem is, rather than competing, Rowan and Citra begin to care too much for one another. The Scythedom picks up on this, and decides that the best way to take care of this problem is to pit them against one another: the first act of the one to win the ring will be to “glean” the other.

In order to prevent this awful future (slight spoiler): Scythe Faraday apparently gleans himself, attempting to free them from their apprenticeship. But the Scythedom will not allow this. Instead, Citra and Rowan are reassigned to two different Scythes, and the challenge between them stands. Citra is apprenticed to one of the Old Guard, who believes that gleaning is to be a sacred rite; but Rowan is apprenticed to Scythe Goddard, who is basically a mass murderer and trains his apprentices to be every bit the monster he is himself.

It’s a totally unique concept — and while it starts out pretty depressing (as Rowan and Citra follow Scythe Faraday as he gleans people and then they have to comfort the bereaved), once the main conflict is introduced, I was hooked. Will definitely be reading book 2!

My rating: *****

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Best Clean YA Books of 2018

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These aren’t necessarily books that were published in 2018, they’re just *my* top 10 favorite clean YA reads of 2018, in order of enjoyment. (I reserve the right to add to this list before the end of the year!)

1) The Sweet Evil Trilogy (plus one)

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I can’t gush enough about the Sweet Evil trilogy (which is actually four books–so, cheating on the whole “top 10” thing). The genre is essentially paranormal romance, but with a fantastically creative twist. Anna is one of the Nephilim, which the Bible refers to as the offspring of a demon and a human. But Anna is different even from other neph, because her mother was an angel, and her father a demon (both of whom had to possess human bodies in order to bear a child). She’s a “Child of the Prophecy,” as it were, destined to rid the earth of demons and offer the neph a chance at redemption… but then she meets the son of the demon of lust, Kaidan. Will she remain pure enough to accomplish her mission? Seriously, it’s AMAZING. Read my full review of Sweet Evil here, my review of Sweet Peril and Sweet Reckoning here, and my review of Sweet Temptation, the bonus fourth book in the series, here. On the whole “clean” part: there’s almost no cussing at all in the trilogy itself, but Sweet Temptation is full of bad language and innuendos because it’s told from Kaidan’s point of view (whereas the trilogy is told from sweet Anna’s point of view.) Personally, I didn’t mind this a bit, because it was consistent with his character, and it frankly would have been off-putting if it hadn’t been there. But if you want to avoid that, just read the first three.

2) Legendary

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I absolutely adore Stephanie Garber’s narrative voice, and took notes: the way she describes her world is like poetry. There almost doesn’t have to be any actual magic, because her description itself feels magical. Her characters are also vibrant, and so creative. Truly, in her imagination, it feels like anything is possible (and many possibilities I’d never have considered, which is fun!)

That said, I felt like certain aspects of the plot were lacking, which is exactly how I felt at the end of Caraval. I didn’t have as many questions at the end of Legendary as I did at the end of Caraval, but a lot of twists felt like they were there just to be there, and weren’t necessarily motivated by the story. Still, her writing is so gorgeous that I could listen to it over and over again in hopes that some of her imagination will rub off on me!



3) Timebound

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Super creative, with fantasy, history, romance, and great characterization. The story follows Kate, who learns that her grandmother is part of a group known as Chronos: they’re time travelers, and they’re not supposed to change anything in the past, only to observe and document. But Kate’s grandfather Saul decided that the best way for him to obtain power was to use his ability to time travel in order to create his own religion. Now it’s up to Kate to travel back in time and stop him–before she ceases to exist! For the full review, click here.

4) The Gender Game

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This one really surprised me! I feel like I’ve tried it a few times and I’m not sure why I stopped reading it then, because it’s pretty fast-paced from beginning to end. It’s a creative take on the dystopian genre in the sense that the male/female division is one I haven’t seen done elsewhere. The story follows Violet, a girl born in the Matrian (female-dominant) city–but she’s a criminal, sentenced to death for her violent crimes. But if she’s willing to stage a daring undercover raid into Patrus (the male-dominant city), she can not only win back her freedom, but earn a reunion with the only person she loves: her indentured little brother, stolen from her when he was eight. I raced through to the end. Totally worth the read! For my full review, click here. 

5) To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (Trilogy)

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Ok, cheating again — three more books in one slot. I almost never read an entire series straight through, but I did this time. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before follows Lara Jean Song Covey. She’s sixteen, and she’s never dated before… but every time she falls in love and realizes it won’t work out, she writes the boy a “goodbye” letter just for her own closure, telling him all the things she never had the courage to say in person. This helps her to let go… and then she keeps the letters in a hat box in her closet that her mother gave her. So you can guess what happens: someone finds and mails the letters–all five of them. It’s a teenage girl’s worst nightmare. But (as it always happens in YA fiction), her worst nightmare turned into the best thing that could possibly have happened to her.

The characters in all three books are wonderfully believable, and the books are very slice-of-life: Lara Jean fights with her sisters, bakes as a means of stress relief, and tries to navigate her way through the experience of growing up… with a boyfriend. (First a fake one, then a real one.) What I love most about this entire series is that it’s surprisingly clean, for a series that’s almost entirely romance: sure, there’s the occasional obligatory reference here and there to indicate the prevailing worldview on certain agendas, but not once in the whole series do our hero and heroine jump in bed together. That’s pretty rare!

Full review of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Full review of P.S. I Still Love You
Full review of Always and Forever, Lara Jean 

6) Tell Me Three Things

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Tell Me Three Things was a straight up YA novel, no fantasy or sci fi or anything else, but it hooked me right away with the concept of a secret penpal writing to the new girl in school. I loved the narrative voice, and was intrigued by the secret identity trope mixed with romance. While I had a few issues with some of the messages of the story (it too felt like it was pushing agendas upon the reader), it was overall a compelling and compulsive read, and I finished it in a few days. For my full review, click here.

7) The Body Electric

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The futuristic world of The Body Electric actually felt a LOT like my world of Uncanny Valley: Artificial Intelligence, nanobots, retinal access to the internet, cyborg clones of humans, etc… and that was probably why I was so captivated by it. Most of the plot is nonstop action, with twists and turns and revelations that kept me hooked. I also really appreciated how short her chapters were, and (while I keep writing trilogies so I guess I can’t say much), it was actually refreshing that this book was a stand-alone. I didn’t have to get the next book to find out how the story ends. Definitely worth a read. For my full review, click here.

8) Wonder Woman: Warbringer

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This was another one that surprised me–particularly because I hated the film version. (Sorry.) Yet in the novel, Diana had a good back story, and a need to prove herself which drove her choices to try to rid the humans of the curse of the Warbringer (carried by a girl named Aliyah, of Helen of Troy’s bloodline). Another surprise was the paucity of romance. There is some, but it’s very minor—and actually, for a novel about a superhuman immortal woman, I liked that. The story was largely a buddy novel. My biggest complaint about the story was the twist at the end—I won’t spoil it, but honestly, I didn’t see it coming because the story didn’t support it. It felt like it happened just because there needed to be a twist. But the story was still very entertaining, far more than I expected it to be… particularly considering the over-saturation of the American entertainment market with comic book retellings. For my full review, click here. 

9) Ella Enchanted

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I can’t believe I missed Ella Enchanted as a kid! It’s a marvelous, creative retelling of Cinderella with a clever twist: Ella was given the “gift” of obedience upon her birth, and her fairy godmother is unwilling to take it away, as that is considered “big” magic which might upset the balance in the rest of the world. She’s no wilting violet, but she is compelled to obey whenever anyone makes an outright demand of her–which is how she becomes “Cinderella” to her stepsisters and stepmother. Oh, and she actually grew up with the prince, and had to attend the ball masked so that he wouldn’t recognize her! It’s super fun. If you like fairy tale retellings, I definitely recommend it! For my full review, click here.

10) Geekerella

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Yet another Cinderella retelling, but with a totally different spin. I’m a bit of a geek myself, so the idea of a Cinderella obsessed with what essentially amounts to Star Trek (though they call it Starfield here) and whose “ball” is a cosplay festival where everyone is dressed as their favorite characters at a sci fi convention definitely had me intrigued. I expected the execution to be dreadfully cheesy, but I was pleasantly surprised. Geekerella is a very creative and engaging reimagining of an old favorite. You might have to overlook some of the heavy-handed political opinions in there… but if that doesn’t bother you, it’s very entertaining and worth a listen. For my full review, click here. 

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The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson

Today’s review comes from this blog review of The Devil in the White City. 

Check out this episode!

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Review of Worth the Risk

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This is a sweet, clean romance that doesn’t get (too) cheesy — which already sets it head and shoulders above most that I try to read! It follows Alicia, a girl in her late 20s who moves back home to help her psychologically disturbed mother. There she reencounters Jeff, her childhood best friend who broke her heart ten years earlier. It’s a simple story about how he wins her trust again, and eventually, her heart. A very light read with a lovely happily-ever-after.

My rating: *** 1/2

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