The Pact

I am now swearing off Jodi Picoult, at least until someone convinces me that she's written something that doesn't rely on shock and awe, that is.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I'm pretty much done with Ms. Picoult. I think I want to read her because I like the way she writes, and I cannot say that her stories aren't compelling, save The Tenth Circle. I think the lure of her books is just that...that she's capable of telling a captivating story peopled with interesting characters.

However, and you knew the however was coming, she peppers her stories with too much sensationalism. And while this story didn't rise to level that it seemed she was determined to hit in The Tenth Circle, I still feel like she exercised too little restraint.

The central conflict in the story is enough: two teenagers, Chris and Emily, who may or may not have made a suicide pact. Chris and Emily have known each other since birth; they are best friends and have dated for about four years. Understandably, then, their relationship is much more than the typical teenage romance. But when the actual act goes down, only Emily is dead, and Chris has been told not to tell his story, the story of what actually happened that night, now that he's being prosecuted for her murder.

Pretty sensational, am I right?

But then Picoult goes ahead and adds insult to injury. There's the hint of a possible infidelity between two of the grieving parents, a murderously enraged mother mourning for her daughter and bent on revenge, prison conflicts caused by a homicidal inmate, a sister feeling the neglect caused by her brother's incarceration...none of which is developed enough. I would prefer to see more of Kate, for example, Chris's younger sister, and her pain and struggles as she watches her family go to pieces, rather than the possibility of infidelity or the fights in prison. I realized that Picoult wanted to give a fuller picture of all the things that might result from the suicide, including the strain it might cause on a marriage or they way that prison would scar an eighteen-year-old boy. By attempting to include it all, Picoult lost some of the depth that I think is necessary if you are going to tell a story as emotionally charged as this. That or the story needed to be slightly longer. You might think that is crazy since it is pretty long as it is, but I think Picoult is good enough that she could have explored the minor conflicts more. That and she could have left out the sex and focused on the people.

The other problem stems from this: Chris is the only fully fleshed out character. Emily comes close, but there wasn't enough for me to fully sympathize with her state of mind when she decides that she wants to take her life. Picoult comes close to getting me inside her mind. But it wasn't enough for me to say that I completely bought into her actions the night of her death. I will say that I fully sided with Chris at the end, and I DO think that was the point Picoult wanted to make. In any case, when the story was over, I found myself wishing I knew so much more about all of the main characters, the parents, Kate, Jordan (Chris's lawyer).

And then again, here she goes with the gimmicky ending, which is a spoiler so I won't tell you what happens. The problem with this "surprise gotcha" ending is that it wasn't really a surprise at all. I'm not sure if that was what Picoult had in mind because it fell so flat. Was she trying to shock the reader? I don't know. It wasn't shocking.

There was one thing, however, that I do think Picoult does well here. She paints a very ugly picture of what happens after someone commits suicide. I would never condemn someone for committing suicide. Depression and mental diseases are real, and I cannot judge someone who may make a poor choice in a moment of total despair. BUT what comes after is ugly and painful. These families were pulled apart because of what Emily chose to do, and while I've always been aware that suicide is harmful to those left behind, I never really gave the aftermath much thought. Emily hurt Chris, of course, and her parents, obviously. But she pulled those two families apart at the seams. She destroyed their trust in each other and their friendships. She put Chris's future in jeopardy. She put marriages in question. And this thread of the story is what, ironically enough, redeemed it for me. So that, and Picoult's writing ability, were enough to give it three stars. Otherwise, I would have given it two.

In the end would I recommend it? I really don't know. I'm just not sure that the good outweighs the bad. I would like to see if Picoult can tell a story without the surprise/shock ending.

View all my reviews

The Summons

One more Grisham and that is it, I swear, for the entire year! No more Grisham for a looooooong time!

The Summons by John Grisham

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It seems like lately I've been on these benders. So I pick an author, you see, and then I'm sort of stuck on that author for a while (i.e., the Stephanie Plum series, the Spellman series, Jodi Picolt, Kate Morton, John Grisham...obviously...and I could go on...). I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is an obsessive compulsive disorder where I feel I must read everything an author has written if I happen to like anything else by that particular author. Sort of like my OCD about reading series books in ORDER...which I haven't been doing with the Stephanie Plum series and it has sort of annoyed me. Have you ever noticed how much I can ramble? I know it. It's an issue.

But anyway, focusing now, I may need a break from Grisham for a while. This wasn't his best work, in my opinion.

It isn't that I didn't like the story, per se. It was an interesting premise. Two brothers come back home (one the wayward black sheep of the family, the other your typical saintly child) because their father is dying. But it turns out, when they get there, he's already dead. The "good" brother, Ray, has found something interesting in the house, however, and maybe he's not such a goody-goody after all. You'll have to read it if you want to know more.

The premise, then, was exciting enough, but the execution was slow. Too slow. Not enough action. I have said in previous reviews of Grisham's novels that I appreciate that he branches out. Not everything has to go as fast as books like The Runaway Jury (and man I've read far too many of this dude's novels, by the way). But still, I'd like to see a Runaway Jury again. Please Mr. Grisham, pretty please?!?!?

Oh, and by the way, so when did Grisham become Faulkner, anyway? He's creating this little Southern entourage in his novels, and characters keep reappearing in various books. Like Harry Rex. Grisham included him in A Time to Kill, I believe, and now he's shown up in this and The Last Juror...and maybe elsewhere. And like Patton French from King of Torts. I actually really like it/find it endearing and clever. I guess he is a Southern writer, after all.

View all my reviews

The Last Juror

John Grisham...back to his roots and at his finest.

The Last Juror by John Grisham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm going to get on my soap box for a moment here. And this little soap box really isn't about the story. Consider yourself warned. When one listens to an audio book, the reader really makes ALL the difference. Last year I listened to Juliet by Anne Fortier. I was a bit harsh in my review of certain aspects of the story, and I think a very big part of the harshness was related to the reader and the way she voiced the twin sister of the heroine. It grated on my nerves so so so much. Had I known it would bother me so much, I would have opted to read the book instead of listen to it.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Jim Dale, the voice of the audio series for Harry Potter, who, in my opinion, is brilliant almost always (once in a while his Hermione is a bit much, but there are soooo many characters he must read with so many different accents and he does the voices so well). After having read that series more than once, I didn't think I would love listening to them the way that I did, but oh they were so good just because having Jim Dale tell me a story was perfect.

Very few readers match up to Mr. Dale's talents, but Michael Beck might come close. All that to say that I loved listening to him tell me this story. I've grown fond of listening to books while completing chores, and this was a great book to listen to.

Enough of that, however, and on to the review.

I wouldn't call The Last Juror a "thriller" in the traditional sense of the word, at least as it applies to Grisham and stories like A Time to Kill or The Firm. In fact, the main character isn't even a lawyer. Instead, he is a news man who owns the small town weekly newspaper in Ford County, Mississippi. Willie Traynor is an unlikely hero, but even with his Southern upbringing in a struggling post-segregation South, he is able to draw his weekly readers into a completely new type of newspaper than the one they are used to.

The novel has two plots, really: the story of a unique black family, the Ruffins, who adopt Willie as one of their own and the contrasting story of Danny Padgitt and the entire Padgitt clan who are all up to no good. Much of Mr. Traynor's paper is dedicated to the tales of both families, and I really like the way that the plot of the novel focuses on both threads through Traynor's news gathering.

This book is, in many ways, classically Grisham, even if it doesn't have the fast paced thrills of The Pelican Brief. I think that's because he's gone back to the South here. Grisham is a regional writer; it's one of his many strengths, and so generally I've really enjoyed those of his novels set in the South because he knows the people, the culture, the dialect. I always walk away feeling like I've somehow been in Mississippi or Alabama or Louisiana after I read one of his books.

That is why I especially liked this...because it reminded me of why I read Grisham so voraciously in the early days of his career. I appreciate that he has branched out, but it's always good to see an author come back home.

View all my reviews

The Curse of the Spellmans

Another delightful installment from the Spellman series.

Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So how can something be so good and coherent and yet be so random and rambling? I don't mean random in a negative way at all. In fact, I find the randomness quite charming, just as I find Isabel Spellman quite charming and funny. Izzy and the entire Spellman clan are a bunch of nut cases, but the stories work for me.

In this, the second installment of the Spellman series, Izzy finds herself busy surveilling the neighbor who is surely up to no good; her teenage sister Rae has run over her "best friend"...a forty-something-year-old inspector named Henry, and Henry, not surprisingly, is fed up; her practically perfect older brother David has lost his razor sharp edge; her mother is sneaking out of the house at all hours; and her father, well, he's secretly on a new found health kick. And there is more...but I'll spare you the run down.

Like I said...random.

What I love about Lutz's story is that everything seems to be happening all at once, and so the novel should feel chaotic. Yet somehow it doesn't. She shifts from subplot to subplot seamlessly, even though she is moving from one conflict to the next quite quickly. I would liken it to a professional race car driver, taking you out for a quick spin on the Autobahn in a Mercedes Benz. Even though you would inevitably be going so very fast, the ride would be perfectly smooth. I think I'd like to try that some day.

And then, of course, there are the "mysteries" that Izzy must solve. I'll go ahead and admit that the central conflict, Izzy's obsession with the man next door's private life, was fairly easy to figure out, but the others are a bit more puzzling, so there was enough tension in the waiting to see what would happen next that I didn't get bored or want to scream "DUH!" the entire time I was reading.

Moreover, these books really aren't about the mysteries and are more about the characters and their ridiculous antics, especially Izzy and Rae...or Rae and Henry, who make quite the comedic team, actually. I'm telling you, the characters here are a breath of fresh air, and so is the story, even if it isn't so mysterious. And this is mostly because of Lutz's wry sense of humor and excellent comedic timing. In fact, I like this one a little more than I liked the first, and I really enjoyed the first.

I'm thrilled to have found these little gems, and I can't wait to read the next in the series.

View all my reviews

The Tenth Circle

This was disappointing. It's really rare for me not to finish a novel and even more rare for me to not finish one when I've read and enjoyed other books from an author. Generally speaking, I like Jodi Picoult's writing, and I usually really feel compelled by her characters. Sadly, no so much with The Tenth Circle. I believe in being honest about what I like and don't like, and I did not like this and cannot recommend it.

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

I was listening to this today as I was painting and cleaning, and I got to the point where I had to turn it off because it was so blah. Nothing at all compelling about the characters, really. Instead, Picoult used outrageous teenage party antics to try to get the reader's attention, in my opinion, anyway. I've heard of teenage "sex" parties, but I think, like most things controversial and shocking, such events are rare, and I actually believe that including them in the novel was not only unoriginal, but silly sensationalism to "captivate" an audience. I just don't buy it. Obviously that bothered me, and it was probably the reason I chose to turn this off and listen to music instead.

However, there were other things, too, like a lot of pontificating without any real plot. And the pontificating was about extramarital affairs, past bad behavior, teenage cutting, first love/break ups. I'm fine with some drama, but all of it put together added up to, hmmmm, what's the word? Unauthentic. It felt forced, is what I am saying. All in all, just too much drama-rama without any heart or realism to make me feel connected in anyway to what the characters were experiencing.

I'm disappointed, to say the least. I've read other books by Picoult, and while I do think she tends to use manipulative tactics as a gimmick in general, those books were plot driven and the characters had something to offer. I won't rate this, but I would recommend you read something like My Sister's Keeper or Keeping Faith, both of which I really enjoyed. They were far better and more interesting than this. Picoult is a really good writer, stylistically speaking, but this story just isn't the best sample of her work.

View all my reviews

Blood Red Road

Post-apocalyptic literature might be my new favorite genre. It's books like this that remind me why I loved novels like 1984 in the first place.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is perhaps the best young adult, post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel I've read thus far. I'm really into these sorts of novels lately. It might be due to the fact that I loved The Passage, and now I can't seem to get enough of stories like it. I'm particularly impressed with this because it maintains a raw, gritty feel, like The Passage, without being too adult.

In this particular story, Saba, a young woman, has to watch as strangers come along to kidnap her beloved twin brother, Lugh, and kill her father. She goes out to find him, reluctantly hauling her nine-year-old sister Emmi along with her. They are kidnapped, Saba is forced to be a cage fighter, she is imprisoned, they fight horrible beasts and a crazy king. It's a long book, but it didn't feel long at all, and I was sort of sad to see it come to an end.

There are a lot of things about this book that really work for me. Most importantly, the action never stops. Never. It starts out on an exciting note and the tension continues to build throughout the story. I think that several YA novelists should take note. Moira Young doesn't tell us that things happen to her characters. She doesn't fill us in with a lot of back story. She shows us, and that only adds to the story's readability. It really is the kind of book you do not want to put down.

Then I loved the voice. Saba speaks in a colloquial dialect that reminded me of an Old West novel. And I'm not talking about prim and proper Mattie Ross in True Grit. It reminded me more of These is My Words. Not the story, of course, but the voice. As with These is My Words, at first I was worried that I would find the narrator's grammar distracting (along with the lack of quotation marks to indicate dialogue, in this case). However, her delivery gave her an authenticity that wasn't forced. It was simply a natural part of her character and made her more believable.

I'm also surprised at the way the violence in the story doesn't distract from the focus, Saba's quest to find Lugh. It reminded me of The Hunger Games in that the violence wasn't overly gratuitous. It only enhances the depraved nature of the post-apocalyptic world that they inhabit. The cage fighting, for example, is more about demonstrating what a horrible drug has done to the addicts of Hopetown than it is about the actual fighting, and Young doesn't spend too much time on the gory details of violence.

Once again, the description of cities that have come apart, like in Ship Breaker, were perfect. I'm a city girl...as in I am in LOVE with New York...serious LOVE. So when I hear descriptions of cities in ruins, I'm fascinated. The idea of a place like New York with only the steel skeletons of skyscrapers remaining is haunting and beautiful.

Then there was the romance. Saba finds herself saving Jack, and he follows her on her mission to find Lugh. It was good...plenty of back and forth between the two. Young did a perfect job building the tension and then letting them get frustrated before finding each other again. And oh the kissing. Some good kissing here.

Finally, there is what Jami's review has to say about feminists themes. I completely agree with her and couldn't have said it better myself. You can read her review for yourself. Needless to say, Saba is a heroine that I can get on board with. I think this is another thing that other YA novelists ought to consider. You can create a really strong female character who is also allowed to fall in love. I can't wait to read more about how their relationship develops.

In the end, this reminded me of a lot of other books (if that wasn't obvious from my review), even if that wasn't Young's intention. But either way, it worked because the reminders were for all the right reasons...the reasons that I loved those other books. This is definitely going on my favorites list, and I can't wait to read further installments.

View all my reviews

Pretty Little Liars

All I have to say is...uh oh!

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Back in the day...WAY back in the day, I enjoyed reading the Sweet Valley Twins series. And then I graduated to the Sweet Valley High series. Only, I wasn't quite ready for Sweet Valley High back in the day, and I was sort of scandalized by it. I think I was pretty young, maybe twelve or thirteen...so I didn't read a whole lot in the series.

I think Pretty Little Liars is Sweet Valley High on speed. Oh it is scandalous.

Maybe you've seen that Jean Claude Van Damme movie that was so bad it was good. You know exactly what I am talking about. It's sort of a disaster of a movie and you are laughing, but probably for all the wrong reasons, and yet it was entertaining and you thoroughly enjoyed it.

That's sort of how I feel about Pretty Little Liars. Sort of. The writing is just fine - not great but whatever. It's more about the mystery. These four girls start getting mysterious texts, emails and notes from a mysterious "A" who knows all of their shameful secrets. It's the shameful secrets that remind me of the Van Damme movies...ridiculously over the top. As are the descriptions of what every character wears at any time ever in the book...think lots of designer brands and such and you get the idea. It's just a little (a lot) too much.

But anyway, who is this mysterious "A"? Is it their old friend Ali, the girl who went missing several years ago? Is it someone they hurt in the past, someone now seeking revenge? None of the four girls knows, and they are freaked out about it, of course...worried about who might tell everyone their secrets.

Oh, and by the way, not only do we not know who "A" is, we don't know exactly what happened several years ago when Alison disappeared, or, for that matter, some drama dealing with a girl named Jenna. I seriously HATE not knowing what comes next or what went on in the past!!!

I've been sucked in, and it is too late for me now. Curse you Jami Jensen...why did you have to recommend this?

View all my reviews

Ender's Game

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wish that Goodreads had a "listened to" option because I always feel like it is a little misleading to say that I read something when actually I listened to it. Just a little random note.

I am pretty sure that this is the first science fiction novel that I've ever been able to finish. Not that I've tried a whole lot of science fiction, mind you. But it really hasn't been a genre that I've been into. I have read one other Orson Scott Card novel, and I did not like it at all, and I wonder if I had read Ender's Game (as opposed to listening to it) I would have liked it as much. I don't know. I think dramatic readings can inform your opinion of a novel. As in some readers are better than others, and I liked the readers, mostly (the female reader was tooooooo much for me). I'm just saying that I wonder if the readers helped me enjoy the story more than if I had simply read it. Wow, I'm such a rambler.

In any case, I'm not going to say much more here because enough has been said about it already, and almost everyone I know has read this. I'm super behind in the game. But, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the story, especially the dystopian themes. In fact, I would say that I liked it more for its dystopian elements than I did for its sci-fi elements.

The ending was a bit odd, though. Perhaps I just had certain expectations because this is a series. Now I'm curious to read more because I do wonder where the rest of the story will go.


View all my reviews