In the Deepest of Waters Book Review

In the Deepest of Waters by Ryan Mullaney

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Blurb:

Down to her last dollar, former Miami Beach lifeguard Libby Pritchard needs to make something happen, or find herself living on the streets. She doesn't want a fortune. Just enough to make a fresh start. It doesn't seem fair that she can't make ends meet within the law, yet people like her ex-boyfriend Josh are dealing drugs and prospering.

Pushed to the breaking point, Libby must make a choice: continue on her current path and hope everything works out...or take what she feels should belong to her. A chance meeting with an Iraq war vet sends her on an inescapable downward spiral when a plot to rob her ex-boyfriend doesn't go according to plan.

Review by Brittany:

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the second book I've read by Mullaney, the first being Calm Before the Storm. (Click here for that review.)

I enjoyed this one a lot more. This one was more focused on Libby and her point of view of things that were happening. The Iraq vet, Mark, also gets a bit of the story, but most of the focus was on Libby. The book opens with her getting attacked by a shark, the incident that changes her life for the worse. Most of the story takes place two years later, after Libby has had numerous surgeries and is struggling to make ends meet, living in a the motel where she meets Mark.

I felt incredibly sorry for Libby. Here's a woman who wanted only to be a lifeguard and was permanently injured from doing her job. At twenty-six, she works two crappy jobs and has a limp and scars to constantly remind her of what happened to her. Her lovely ex-boyfriend left her while she was in the hospital after the attack, and seeing him one night with lots of money pushes Libby a little over the edge.

Mark was also a character that I felt a bit sorry for. He had his own demons he was battling, the full picture of which the reader doesn't get until the very end. His desire to help Libby comes from a sense of needing redemption for a simple mistake that still haunts him.

Without giving away any spoilers, all I can really say is that this book is a great example of getting an idea that goes way wrong. Libby's plan to rob her ex isn't exactly a great idea, but the ways in which it goes wrong forever alters every character's future.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The pace was perfect, Libby and Mark made for some interesting, real characters, and the ending made me happy, in a weird way. There was some violence, but it wasn't anything too graphic and fit with the theme of the book. I definitely recommend reading this one!

Notable quotes:

Libby tried telling herself that she wasn't afraid of what was happening to her, what she was capable of doing if pushed far enough.

Good times and bad times had been shared, as with any relationship. Nothing in life is ever totally pure or wholly foul.

How could she think she knew someone so well, yet not know them at all?

That wasn't what bothered her. It was her own forgetfulness, that human moment where she realized just how much she sucked at life. A simple task such as remembering a calendar date had got the better of her.

You Book Review

You by Caroline Kepnes

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Blurb:

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she'll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight - the perfect place for a "chance" meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck's life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck's perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way - even if it means murder.

Review by Brittany:

So this book is crazy. Terrifying, uncomfortable, totally insane. And I loved it.

The way this book is written is amazing. It's in second person and reads like Joe is talking to Beck the whole time, telling her all the events that are happening. The writing was done so well and the point of view was so unique that I was drawn in immediately and impressed by it.

I will say, though, that there were times this book left me feeling like I might be kind of crazy. When Joe was going on dates with Beck, he was charming and amusing and kind of adorable. I found myself thinking, "He'd be great if he wasn't so crazy." Which made me feel kind of crazy, but how could I sort of have a crush on a stalker? I think this illustrates the skill that Kepnes has, though, to make a character who is so scary also a bit redeemable at times.

The characters in this book were interesting to me because I didn't think a single one was that great. Joe obviously had some psychological problems to deal with, and Beck was kind of awful, too. She strung guys along and used her sexuality to feel good about herself. She kept secrets from her friends and from the men in her life. She cared more about what her friends thought about her than what she thought, and used their opinions to determine her relationships. She also seemed to me to thrive off drama in her life. She just wasn't a quality character, which I think made the story more interesting.

As a warning, please note that this book does get violent and sexually graphic, something to be aware of if that might bother you.

Overall, I thought this book was excellent. It strikes me as the kind of book that a person will either love or hate, with no feelings in between. If the blurb does not sound intriguing, please don't get this one. But if you feel like taking a bit of a reading risk, if nothing else, the way this one is written makes it an interesting read.

Notable quotes:

Work in a bookstore and learn that most people in this world feel guilty about being who they are.

I remember my dad saying nothing and I remember his silence more vividly than I remember the things he said.

No matter what I do or how hard I try I will always wind up like this, trapped by a guy who has more, knows more.

And when a girl likes talking about you more than talking to you, well, in my experience, that's the end.

I have nothing left to crave and dream about anymore.

The Forgotten Garden Book Review

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

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Blurb:

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book - a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her back to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled.

Review by Brittany:

After having read other works by this author, I was looking forward to reading this one. Morton has become a regular read of mine after how much I've loved her other books.

That being said, this one was a bit of a disappointment for me. I didn't enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed other books by her; I didn't invest as much. Nell searching for her origins was interesting, and I definitely wanted to know what happened, but throughout the story I occasionally found myself ready to get there. I think part of the reason I didn't invest in this one as much was because there were more major time hops than in Morton's other works that I've read. In this one, the story jumps around between four different time periods, making it a bit difficult to keep up with. I understand that there were pieces of the mystery in each time period that the author needed to provide, and she did it quite well. The time changes just didn't work for me in this book.

That being said, Morton did use one of her storytelling techniques that I love by making a book central to the novel. In The Distant Hours, a children's book played a large role. This is seen again in this novel with the collection of fairy tales by Eliza Makepeace that play such a huge role in Nell and Cassandra both chasing down Nell's family. The author also shared some of the fairy tales that were inside the collection, a beautiful and neat addition to the story.

Overall, I do think this book is worth reading because Morton writes so beautifully. While it wasn't my favorite by her, it is still a wonderful book that I'll be adding to my Morton collection on my bookshelf.

Notable quotes:

But sometimes, when no one was looking, she liked to do forbidden things.

Happy as larks they'd been, back when the future still stretched, unmarked, before them.

So much in life came down to timing.

It seemed she was a real person after all, a solid human being, moving in and out of the orbits of others. No matter that she so often felt herself to be living half a life, to be a half-light.

There was no accounting for memory, which things stuck and which didn't.

All was not as it has been. And that knowledge made Rose's heart thump - strongly now - with unexpected, unexplained, unadulterated joy.

The particular type of quiet which presages a firming of heart, a clearing of view. Like someone nursing a secret, keeping it close for a time before unleashing it to do its worst.

"You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing."

The Bat Book Review

The Bat by Jo Nesbo

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Blurb:

Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sydney to observe a murder case. Harry is free to offer assistance, but he has firm instructions to stay out of trouble. The victim is a twenty-three-year-old Norwegian woman, a minor celebrity back home. Never one to sit on the sidelines, Harry befriends one of the lead detectives, and one of the witnesses, as he is drawn deeper into the case. Together, they discover that this is only the latest in a string of unsolved murders, and the pattern points toward a psychopath working his way across the country. As they circle closer and closer to the killer, Harry begins to fear that no one is safe, least of all those investigating the case.

Review by Brittany:

This is a book that satisfies that craving of mine for mysteries that take place anywhere else. I'm often drawn to books that are based in other countries, and this one is a mystery that fits the bill.

Harry is a character that is both wonderful and awful. There's a point in the story a little past the halfway point where Harry turns into almost a despicable character, not what you'd expect of the inspector main character. I love that the author gave Harry this depth and made him into both a character the reader loves and one the reader loves to hate. I also fell in love with Birgitta, the love interest of Harry in this novel. I didn't want to love her (often the love interest in the first novel of a series is not the character to get attached to), but Birgitta and Harry had such a good banter with one another that I couldn't help myself. I also loved Otto, a flamboyantly homosexual clown with a circus troupe. Basically all of Nesbo's characters in this book were wonderful. That being said, I also appreciated Nesbo's willingness to introduce the reader to a character they might appreciate and then kill them off. Not many authors take that risk, but Nesbo did.

I also liked that I couldn't solve the crime. There's some satisfaction from being able to guess the ending, but finding out the ending and being surprised is more fun. In the case of this book, I didn't catch enough clues to guess who it might be; instead, I feel like if I read the book again I would pick up on the subtle hints that would tell me "whodunnit". To me, that is a large part of what adds value to this book.

I'm curious to see how Nesbo continues the series and what adventures Harry ends up on next. I plan to read this one again and also continue with the series as well.

Notable quotes:

"Human nature is a vast impenetrable forest which no one can know in its entirety. Not even a mother knows her child's deepest secrets."

"Everything you do leaves traces, doesn't it. The life you've lived is written all over you, for those who can read."

"Once something has been experienced, it's too late, you can't get back the feeling of experiencing the same thing for the first time."

No Angel Book Review

No Angel by Penny Vincenzi

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Blurb:

Celia Lytton, a strong-willed, courageous beauty, defied her blue-blooded parents when she married her husband, Oliver, head of the great Lytton family publishing house. Celia soon finds herself to be not only a good mother but a sharp and creative editor with a knack for her husband's business. But when Oliver returns home after four life-shattering years at war, Celia must fight to reconcile her family and her career - and she must make difficult and dangerous choices about what it means to love. No Angel is a magisterial saga of power, family politics, and passion, a riveting drama and an irresistible love story set against the compelling backdrop of the First World War.

Review by Brittany:

Penny Vincenzi is the queen of writing delicious novels. I claim this after only having read two by her, but I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could write sagas quite like she can. Not only are her characters and stories amazing, each sentence is like a delectable treat that I eat up as I read it.

What I loved about this novel (and her previous one that I've read) is that the main characters is merely one of the main characters. In the grand scheme of the novel, Vincenzi introduces the reader to the entire Lytton family and those acquaintances that they so often come into contact with. Each character gets an extended storyline so that it's easy to fall in love with them the same as it is with the main characters.

Some of the pluses to this book that are singular to this one are the backdrop of the First World War, the twenties, and the publishing world. The First World War plays a large role in the development of Celia's relationship with her husband, and with the development of her career. Without the War playing a role, the story would not have been the same. LM, Oliver's sister, is also largely affected by the War and the repercussions of caring about someone who had to fight. All of the female characters played large roles during the war, carrying Lyttons through and being the force holding their families together. The children in the novel are also affected by the War in different ways as well.

Reading about the publishing world was an interesting aspect. I don't know how historically accurate the publishing parts were, but it made the story enjoyable and it all felt believable. The different lines of books that Lyttons published, both before and during the War, interested me, and I loved reading about the business meetings that were held. It added an interesting aspect to the novel and was a bit of an unexpected career focus for a novel regarding the First World War.

Vincenzi writes novels that you have to devote time to dive into. With over 600 pages, this was quite a read, but I enjoyed every second of it. It's the kind of novel that a reader can just roll around in, and this particular book is the first in the Lytton trilogy. I'm looking forward to reading more about Lyttons.

Notable quotes:

"Marriage is a business and it works best when both parties see it that way."

She had often heard of people saying they didn't know how they would be able to bear things and felt impatient; you bore what you had to bear.

She looked back on the person she had been a year before, confident, in command of herself, in control of her life, with a man she loved and who loved her, and found it almost incredible that everything should have changed so dreadfully much.

The fact that he was occasionally hostile to her, sometimes critical of her, frequently irritated by her, was irrelevant. Without her his life, or at least the point of his life was negated; therefore if he were to carry on as a properly functioning human being, he needed her.

Just remembering when she had been young and in love with Oliver; when all they had asked was to be together, when to talk, laugh, plan their lives, make love, had been absolute happiness, when finding anyone else, or anything even remotely more important to them had been unthinkable. And wondering that such love, such closeness, such tenderness could disintegrate so hopelessly and so thoroughly, first into indifference and then into despair.

Altered Carbon Book Review

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

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Blurb:

In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can now be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve"), making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his latest death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eight light-years from home, resleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats "existence" as something to be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning...

Review by Brittany:

So this book has one of the best opening scenes I think I've ever read. The reader is immediately thrust in  action, experiencing Kovacs' most recent death. These first few pages set a bit of a violent scene for a book that has more of that.

When Kovacs begins a sort of murder investigation (for a man who is technically still alive, thanks to money and resleeving), there is violence and mystery around every corner. One thing I loved about this novel was that every character felt like they had something to hide. Each character was shady in his or her own way, which made solving the murder mystery a bit difficult from the reader standpoint. I always have an appreciation for an ending I can't guess and for characters I can't trust - even if it's the main character. I also just thought Kovacs was cool, investigating and smoking his cigarettes and reflecting on all of the work he had done as an envoy. He was just a cool dude, which I could appreciate.

One thing about this one is that I will have to read it again. There were times in the story when I got a little bogged down in the details. While the major plot points and story line were followable, there were often times when the author included so many details about the way the world works now that I got a little lost in them. This does illustrate the thought and planning that went into the novel, but I think that I would have to read this one again to fully take in the details.

This book was a little different than what I normally read, but it was definitely enjoyable. There is very clear skill on this author's part with characters, storytelling, and world-building. I plan to read this one again, and I'm interested in more of Kovacs' adventures.

Notable quotes:

Anyone pitiful enough to want to spend so much time outside their own head wasn't going to want to see the same basic human realities reflected in the gilded skulls of those they admired.

"Shopping is physical interaction, exercise of decision-making capacity, saying of the desire to acquire, and an impulse to more acquisition, a scouting urge. It's so basically fucking human when you think about it."

"One tells the truth to so few people in the end, it becomes a habit."

"Childishness is a common enough sin amongst humans."

"Takeshi, where did you get this belief that everything can be resolved with such brute simplicity?"

For a moment something ached in me, something so deep rooted that I knew to tear it out would be to undo the essence of what held me together.

Big Little Lies Book Review

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

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Blurb:

Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She's funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline's youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline's teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline's ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn't be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

Review by Brittany:

When reading this book (my fourth by this author), the one thing I kept thinking is how Moriarty makes the worst things happen to her characters, and I just love it. Celeste struggles with having a marriage that seems perfect but isn't quite. Madeline is struggling in her relationship with her teenage daughter. Jane is struggling with the paternity secret she keeps and with the possibility of her son being the kindergarten bully. All of these women have something going on that is painful and serious, and I reveled in each of their hardships.

I have two favorite things about this book: the exploration of bullying in different scenarios, and the development of relationships. The story centers largely around the kindergarten bully and figuring out which child is the one causing harm to others. But as readers, we also experience the often cliquey relationships between the parents and how they underhandedly bully each other. Even more serious is the case of domestic abuse that is explored throughout the story. This also connects to the relationship aspect of the novel because the relationship between the abused wife and her husband is tumultuous and often frustrating to a reader. It is hard to understand why she stays with him, but this is the crux of the problem in relationships like this. I also thought the relationship between Madeline, her ex-husband, his new wife, and her current husband was explored well. It's a four way relationship that is often strained, but the reader witnesses it shifting as the story progresses. Each character is on interesting footing with one another, and Moriarty did well with developing the relationship.

Overall I loved this book, as has been my experience with all of Moriarty's novels thus far. I definitely recommend!

Notable quotes:

All conflict can be traced back to someone's feelings getting hurt, don't you think?

Recently, she'd noticed something strange happening when she talked to people in groups. She couldn't quite remember how to be.

That was her fault. Maybe if she'd spoken nicely. Been more patient. Said nothing.

All around her was color: rich, vibrant color. She was the only colorless thing in this whole house.

If she packaged the perfect Facebook life, maybe she would start to believe it herself.

You were not meant to deal with complicated feelings of betrayal and hurt and guilt at your kids' athletics carnivals. Feelings like this should not be brought out in public.

It was a revelation that after all this time she could still feel something so basic, so biological, so pleasant.

Children did this. They sensed when there was something controversial or sensitive and they pushed and pushed like tiny prosecutors.

Nothing and nobody could aggravate you the way your child could aggravate you.

She'd swallowed it whole and pretended it meant nothing, and therefore it had come to mean everything.

It was interesting how you could say things when you were walking that you might not otherwise have said with the pressure of eye contact across a table.

When someone you loved was depending on your lie, it was perfectly easy.

There was a huge heavy block of pain lodged beneath her chest. Was this a heart attack? Was this fury? Was this a broken heart? Was this the weight of her responsibility?

She knew the way your mind could go round and round in endless pointless circles.

Of course he was right, he was always right, but sometimes doing the wrong thing was also right.