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Best Review Contest (Summer 2015)
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Readerboard name: Catie
This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn by Aidan ChambersThis Is All is my all time favourite book, and it had a massive impact on me growing up. I reread it last week, and all the things I loved about it came back to me. This review is somewhat personal, so like, warning: contains me. Spoilers are kept to an absolute minimum.
The first time I picked up This Is All, it was from my school library, I think just before a half term of year 7 (I would have been 11). Mostly, I was drawn to it by the fact it was a MASSIVE book - that first copy was a hardback of more than 800 pages - and I had the whole of a school holiday to fill with reading.
The blurb on the back got me as well. It told me that the book talked about first love, and sex, and an affair with a married man. These were all almost-taboo, giggle-behind-my-hand subjects at the time - but absolutely, definitely subjects I was curious about.
Cordelia, the narrator, is a nineteen year old woman, writing a book about growing up to give to her unborn daughter on her 16th birthday. Knowing how much I got out of the book, I can’t help but think on rereading it that she should give it to her daughter when she turns 11/12/13.
But aside from the framing story, Cordelia is telling the reader the story of her teenage life. And her life is both totally unlike anything I ever experienced, and totally relatable at the same time. For instance, Cordelia “chooses” her boyfriend Will in part because she has read somewhere that the average age for a girl to lose her virginity is 16 and three months - and she is absolutely determined to be “better” than average. And although I didn’t follow in Cordelia’s footsteps in terms of actually being “better than average”, I do remember being absolutely determined (as a much younger teenager!) that I would have to be ahead of all of my friends in that regard.
The “pillow book” format of This Is All allows for interludes and essays on all manner of subjects. Woven in through the story (and on alternate pages during the Green Pillow box - I’ll come back to that later), are passages about love and sleep and laughter - all deeply insightful - and most importantly to a young me, on periods and masturbation and sex. Those are all subjects that I feel strongly are not discussed enough with young women. Beyond learning that periods will happen and why, and a message not too far from what the health teacher in Mean Girls gave…
…I don’t think I ever learned that sex was meant to be fun for both parties, or that masturbation is an entirely acceptable thing to do, or that periods could be hilarious (if sometimes painful and inconvenient), other than from this book. And it’s because of the way that Cordelia talks about these things, in a way that I now totally relate to, that I’m forever surprised that this book was written by a man - albeit one who asked a lot of women to advise him on the writing.
The one-star reviews on Goodreads are very few. Almost everybody who has read this book gives it at least 3 stars - with 56% rating it as a five star novel, and a lot of the reviews saying exactly what I say “probably my all time favourite book”. Several of the one-stars though, mention the “weird format” of the second section. Part two, the “Green Pillow Box”, is split into two parts - one part told on odd-numbered pages, the other told on even-numbered pages. On one half, there is simply the narrative part of the story, on the other, interludes and lists as mentioned above - and these interludes relate to the parts of the narrative on the opposite pages, so it’s possible to read a few of the “a” pages, and then switch to the “b”s - or to read all of “a” first, then all of “b”. It’s unusual, certainly, but in my opinion, really adds to the depth of the story as a whole.
I do want to address this book’s failings. It’s a very narrow book, about a small group of middle-class, privileged characters. This is certainly not a diverse novel, and I know that not every reader will relate to it as I do. Cordelia is prejudiced - particularly noticeable with classism, and a little slut-shaming - and that’s something I’m able to recognise about the novel now that I didn’t always see.
Ultimately, This Is All feels conversational and easy and relatable. It’s absolutely a “coming of age novel” that deals with friendships and relationships and mistakes. The novel never tries to say that life is perfect or easy, and never allows characters to be written as infallible. Coming back to it recently really helped me to reflect on other parts of the story, those about friendship and spirituality and the things that matter most, and I hope every time I reread it, I’ll get something new, as I always have in the past. I think everyone has something to get out of this novel, but for women who read it for the first time in their teens, I think it has the power to give them almost everything they need.
I have a lot more thoughts on this novel that I can relate here. I keep trying to write my full set of thoughts on the book, and I never quite manage to fit everything in. But I think that’s good too. I’ll never run out of things to say.
LAUREN JODI
Return to Meby Christy Reece
3 Stars
Following a devastating assault, Eden St. Claire has remade herself into a strong, independent and kickass covert operative for Last Chance Rescue, an organization that specializes in locating missing people. Eden believes that nothing with ever shake her confidence again that is until she comes face to face with Jordan Montgomery, the only man who has ever gotten under her skin. As the two work together to stop a vicious ring of human traffickers, Eden will have to decide whether to embrace the future or succumb to the ghosts of her past …
Unfortunately, the action packed suspense plot cannot compensate for the problematic romance. The hero and heroine are constantly keeping secrets and lying to one another, which make neither one very likable.
The book starts out with Devon aka Eden manipulating Jordan into believing that she is someone else and the relationship goes downhill from there. You would think that she had learned her lesson about lying, but no… she repeats the same mistake when they meet again years later. Not only is the keeping secrets trope one that I cannot abide, but Eden’s lies make it virtually impossible to either sympathize or identify with her. This is a pity as her strong will and the manner in which she deals with the trauma she suffered have the potential for making her a wonderful heroine.
Jordan isn’t much better. He is a complete jerk almost from the start and a real contender for the Anti-Hottie Harem. He does manage to redeem himself somewhat as the book progresses, but he also has to be one of the most inept secret agents out there. Not only does he fail to recognize a girl he has virtually watched grow up as well as a women he has been intimate with, but he makes a fatal error in judgment that almost costs him everything. Neither James Bond nor Jason Bourne need be concerned about their jobs…
Thankfully, the premise of the LCR agency is sufficiently compelling and the human traffickers are sick and twisted enough to keep the pages turning. The secondary cast is fleshed out well and Noah is particularly intriguing so I will give the next book a chance.
The Promise of Jenny Jones by Maggie Osborne
5 STARS
Western Romance Adventure!
Love, love, love, love, love this book! Fast paced with bullets flying everywhere, and in the midst of all that action, ROMANCE with a capital R. I don't think there was a single time throughout this novel where I wasn't either laughing, sighing, gasping, crying or shouting "YES." This book packs a happy emotional wallop.
Plus, we have an adorable kidlet! ...Trying to figure out how many exclamation points I can use without yelling at you. I'm actually quite soft spoken in real life, but I am literally jumping up and down here!
Jenny is a one-of-a-kind heroine, I don't think I've ever seen her like in Historical Romance. She's frickin' wonderful! (Inside joke, you'll have to read the book) And Ty...sigh...perfect hardcore cowboy turned hero material.
Thank you to Christina Brunette Reader for your awesome review! Your review caused me to move this to the top of the stack :)
I realize you all think an alien has taken over my body, or maybe me and my identical twin have switched places. It's unheard of for me to hand out five 5 star reviews in just four weeks time.
But it's so rare to find my very favorite kind of novel - romance and adventure and humor all wrapped up with a nice neat bow of exceptional writing. Adding in the little girl put this novel in a class of its own as far as I'm concerned, going straight to my Favorites folder.
The novel felt clean in terms of foul language with the exception of the Lord's name taken in vain a couple of times. (view spoiler) There is one intimate scene, with detail, easily skipped.
Sky Ghosts: All for One, Alexandra EngellmannReaderboard name: trishhartuk
As I was given a copy of this to review by the author, I thought I might as well post that review to the SRC review thread!
I’m a big fan of Urban Fantasy, and despite not being in the first flush of youth any more, I enjoy reading Young Adult fiction, so I was very happy to review this for the author when she was looking for readers. It also didn’t hurt that the premise sounded a bit different to the obvious witches, vampires and werewolves (or my pet beefs - “half” vampires and “half” werewolves: sorry guys, you either are or you aren’t!), and it has a striking cover (the author is also an artist) which piqued my interest.
Once I started reading, it took me a while to get into it. In the early third of the book, there’s too much action and not enough explanation, so it felt rather confused. This probably wasn’t helped by the fact that English isn’t the author’s first language, and therefore some of the sentence constructions and word choices weren’t quite right. As a result, I found myself mentally editing the text, and that got in the way of the narrative at times (in my defence, I’m an Editor for a living - I can’t help it!). However, by about a third of the way through I’d got used to the style, the story had got into its stride, and I began wanting to know what happened next. It rounded off nicely at the end, and even had the obligatory “in the next episode” epilogue.
The world the author is creating has a lot of potential. It's based on an interesting premise with a slightly different take on supernatural guardians living among us. It definitely made a change from the more obvious UF norms of witches, vampires and werewolves. If anything, the "Ghosts" remind me most of the Malakim from the RPG In Nomine, taking ake contracts to protect normal people, without revealing their reasons and abilities. On the other side, the “Beasts” are their complete opposites, having rejected using their abilities to help people in favour of helping themselves.
Initially, I did have problems with the main focus character, Pain. Yes, she was up there in the “strong warrior-woman” category, but she started out so far over the top at that, that she was more of a stereotype than a character. That said, she did round out as the story progressed, and by the end, I did feel a bit more sympathy towards her. However, I preferred her sister Jane, who seemed like a more thoughtful and interesting character, and who I would happily have seen more of. Maybe in another book or side-story.
The two male leads, Dave and Chad who were the ones the girls were protecting, both came across as wet and ineffective for the first third of the book. I'm not sure if this was intentional on the part of the author, emphasising the fact that women can protect men as well as the other way around, or whether they just ended up that way. However, Chad does become a lot more interesting as it becomes apparent that he’s the real target of the Beasts hostilities. Dave, alas, still seems to be a wet blanket by the end, though given the epilogue, maybe the author does have plans for him.
The other "Ghosts", started off as kind of a crowd, but as the story progressed they began becoming more individual and better defined. I especially liked Marco and Skull. It will be interesting to see how this supporting cast develops as the series progresses, and whether the author uses different focus characters in subsequent stories.
To sum up, despite the book feeling more like a work in progress than the finished article at the start, that feeling subsided the further I got into the story, and I ended up enjoying it. I’m definitely curious to see where she takes things from here.
The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert
5*****
The novel spans decades, from the birth of Henry Whittaker in 1760 to his daughter Alma’s old age in 1883. Henry is the son of a poor gardener, but he is clever and ambitious. Eventually he is one of the richest men in the new world, managing a botanical pharmaceutical empire from his large estate on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Alma is much like her father, not just in appearance, but in her love of botany and her keen business sense. But despite her intelligence and wealth, she leads a rather solitary life on the family’s White Acre estate. Yes, she has all the tools and time needed to perform detailed study of mosses, but she is without love. Until an extraordinary young man comes to her attention through his spectacularly rendered drawings of orchids.
I struggle with expressing how this novel moved me – and frustrated and annoyed me. Alma’s life is both tediously boring and exceptionally adventurous. I think this passage towards the end of the book describes Gilbert’s intention with the novel:
Alma: I do truly believe I am fortunate. I am fortunate because I have been able to spend my life in study of the world. As such, I have never felt insignificant. This life is a mystery, yes, and it is often a trial, but if one can find some facts within it, one should always do so – for knowledge is the most precious of all commodities.
Alma definitely is fortunate. She does not have to worry about money, she has been given an extraordinarily fine classical education, and she has all the time and equipment she needs to devote herself to the study of mosses. And if that sounds boring … well, it isn’t. Gilbert does a fine job giving the reader the sense of excitement and discovery that Alma feels as she delves ever deeper into this small area of botany that has not been fully studied previously. Here is her first real look through a magnifying glass at a moss-covered boulder:
She felt her breath catch. This was a stupefying kingdom. This was the Amazon jungle as seen from the back of a harpy eagle. She rode her eye above the surprising landscape, following its paths in every direction. Here were rich, abundant valleys filled with tiny trees of braided mermaid hair and minuscule, tangled vines. Here were barely visible tributaries running through that jungle, and here was a miniature ocean in a depression in the center of the boulder, where all the water pooled.
It’s no wonder that this becomes her life’s work. On this one boulder alone, she finds deserts, mountain ranges, icy fjords, "warm estuaries, miniature cathedrals, and limestone caves the size of her thumb."
But for all her scientific vision, Alma seems completely blind to human relationships. She and her adopted sister Prudence never develop any sort of closeness, despite being raised together without any other children for company. She completely misreads those around her and fails to understand, until much too late, the men she loves.
I found her fascinating and was entirely engrossed in her story.
I did have a few quibbles with the work, though I still give it five stars. I thought her initial discovery of sex, through reading and self-exploration was wonderful, but I didn’t need to continually hear about her trips “to the binding closet.” And I thought the time on Tahiti was unnecessarily long, and the episode in the moss cave was just bizarre.
Wise Blood by Flannery O'ConnorWhat in the world was that mishmash of despicable characters? Angry young men, women who hang around them for some dumb reason, and a monkey suit??? Thank goodness that book was mercifully short, or I'd've given up on it ages ago. Hazel Motes is an angry young man, who has lost his faith after serving in WWII. OK, I can live with that. He returns home after the war and finds an odd combination of a blind street preacher, his daughter, and some random guy, Enoch, who won't leave Hazel alone. Things are getting weird. Hazel continually yells and curses all three, but somehow comes under the spell of the preacher and starts following him, eventually moving into the same apartment. Stalker much? Hazel decides he knows better than a street preacher that there is no Christ, there is no redemption, there is no sin (well, mostly) and begins his own street preaching. At which time he takes his loud obnoxious attitude out into the public! "Shockingly" no one joins The Church without Christ. (view spoiler) What an ass! Meanwhile, Enoch is compelled to do something by the titular "wise blood" that flows in his veins. He goes on a search for the new Jesus that Hazel preaches about, (view spoiler)
What was the point of all that? Why did Flannery O'Connor write such a thing? I mean, I guess it made me feel a bit better about my life, but good grief! Enoch's a weirdo, Hazel's an asshole, and the women of the story have got to be about the most pathetic creatures I've come across in literature. Why didn't somebody warn me that I would hate all the characters?? Somebody was supposed to warn me!
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Wise Blood (other topics)The Signature of All Things (other topics)
All for One (other topics)
The Promise of Jenny Jones (other topics)
Return to Me (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Flannery O'Connor (other topics)Maggie Osborne (other topics)
Aidan Chambers (other topics)
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