A Time to Kill Book Review

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

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Blurb:

The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young men. The mostly white town of Clanton in Ford County, Mississippi, reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime. Until her black father acquires an assault rifle and takes justice into his own outraged hands.

For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life - and then his own.

Review by Brittany:

Despite the overwhelming popularity of both this book and author, this is the first time I've read anything by Grisham. This is also the first book I've read that is so strongly centered around race, so it was an interesting read for me.

I really enjoyed this book. I can see why Grisham is a favorite of many readers because he kept me hooked throughout the whole 600+ pages. The story line and major plot points were a bit hairy, but I loved reading about how controversial the case was.

Grisham wrote some great characters for this book. Jake Brigance is a fairly inexperienced lawyer who wants this case so bad he can taste it. The fear gives him stomach issues and he often feels like he's not sure what he's doing, but he gets a ragtag team together to help pull him through. Lucien was his mentor back in his heyday, although now Lucien just stays drunk and offers sometimes questionable advice to Jake. Ellen is an Ole Miss law student who offers to clerk on the case because she just can't stand to see anyone get the death penalty. Harry Rex is the foulest divorce lawyer around, but he's determined to offer his services to try to pull Jake through. This team is often concerning and sometimes irresponsible, but they were all fantastic characters. And Jake, despite his easy access to sexy law clerk Ellen, stays faithful to his wife who he loves.

The book doesn't focus as much on the case as it does on the effects of the case on the community and the characters involved. Carl Lee's possible guilt sends the Ku Klux Klan running to Clanton to intimidate and hordes of blacks from other counties to show their support. Jurors watch these things going on while they try to determine if Carl Lee, as a father, was somehow right in his actions.

The tension is there, the suspense is there, and the fabulously quirky characters make this book - despite the tumultuous content - a bit of a fun read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and definitely recommend.

Sharing You Book Review

Sharing You by Molly McAdams

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Blurb:

Twenty-three year old Kamryn Cunningham has left behind a privileged, turbulent past for the anonymity of small-town life. Busy with her new bakery, she isn't interested in hook-ups or fix-ups. Then she meets the very sexy, very married Brody. Though she can't deny the pull between them, Kamryn isn't a cheater and she's not good at sharing.

Twenty-six year old Brody Saco may be married, but he isn't happy. when his girlfriend got pregnant six years ago, he did the right thing...and he's been paying for it ever since. Now, his marriage is nothing but a trap filled with hate, manipulation, and blame - the remnants of a tragedy that happened five years earlier. While he's never broken his vows, he can't stop the flood of emotion that meeting Kamryn unlocks.

Brought together by intense heat that is impossible to resist, Brody and Kamryn share stolen moments and nights that end too soon. But is their love strong enough to bear the weight of Kamryn's guilt? And is Brody strong enough to confront the pain of the past and finally break free of his conniving wife?

Review by Brittany:

I'm a little torn on my feelings about this book. There were parts of it that I enjoyed, but there were also parts that I didn't.

I have gotten a bit tired of authors using gratuitous sex to fill pages and to sell books, and I think this author did some of that. The relationship between Kamryn and Brody is basically only about the nights they sleep together, and the reader gets that in detail. But I felt like I never really understood what it was that made them want to be together. They fell in love at first sight and then proceeded to start an affair, without there being any development of an actual intimate, loving relationship. I spent the entire book not really understanding their intense desire to be together.

I also think the author had to try too hard to make characters likable or to justify their actions. She wrote Brody's wife in such a way that she's almost a monster, which is supposed to make the reader sympathetic and understanding to Brody's choice to sleep with someone else. Kamryn constantly focuses on her guilt and thinks about how she's not "that" girl, but she never does anything to change it. When time goes by without Brody leaving his wife, she then has the gall to be upset with him about it. Brody stays with his wife because she "needs help", but the whole thing just didn't quite sit right with me. I felt like the author was trying too hard to get readers to empathize and not blame her characters for being adulterous. Even the minor characters cheer them on.

I do think this author has a certain way of writing her female relationships that works. Kinlee, Kamryn's best friend, was probably my favorite character. Scenes in which those two interacted were my favorites, and there were often times when I laughed out loud reading some of the dialogue. McAdams does not write in the sophisticated way some of my favorite authors do, but she has a certain knack for humor and female relationships that I could appreciate.

Overall, I think this book could have been executed better. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. I think McAdams could have benefited from fearlessly writing characters who weren't so full of excuses for their behavior.

Windfall Book Review

Windfall by Penny Vincenzi

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Blurb:

Cassia Fallon has been married to her doctor husband for seven years when her godmother leaves her a fortune. She is determined to be sensible, to stay in control. Suddenly, for the first time in her life, she is able to do exactly as she likes.

She starts to question her marriage, her past, her present and future. The money gives her confidence, and her husband Edward can only look on resentfully as she resumes her medical career, sheds some of her domestic burdens, and re-forms old relationships - one of them of a most dangerous kind.

But where did her legacy really come from and why? Too soon the windfall has become a corrupting force. One that Cassia cannot resist...

Review by Brittany:

As a Vincenzi fan, I know that I'm going to love any one of her books. They are all well-written, with delicious prose and characters that I can lose myself in. One of her major talents lies in never having supporting characters, but instead she writes a full cast of main characters. I never fail to get enthralled into the lives of all the characters, and this novel was no exception.

What sets this one apart for me is the implication that money can so drastically change the life of a person. Cassia starts out a semi-happily married woman, playing the role mostly of mother and wife. She helps Edward run his general medical practice, serving in mostly a secretarial capacity. It is clear to the reader from the beginning that there is some resentment in the relationship as Cassia makes it clear that she desires to still practice; however, Edward does not let her play a medical role at the practice. Despite this, Cassia is fairly happy.

Once she receives the money, new opportunities open up for her. She meets with the Chair at the hospital she studied at, setting up a research Chair but also feeling out the opportunity to practice again. She gets offered the chance to work at some low-income women's birth control clinics, thereby starting her career. This opportunity, while fulfilling for Cassia, causes strain in her marriage and, by default, strain in her relationship with her children.

While Cassia is the main character and the monetary gain mostly influences her, the choices she begins to make also affect those around her. In this way, Vincenzi reels the reader into different characters' lives, tying it all together while still maintaining character individuality.

I felt like the drastic changes that came with Cassia's money could still apply today, although the book takes place in 1935. I loved this one, as I usually do with Vincenzi, and definitely recommend to fans of this author or genre.

Notable quotes:

Why was it, how was it that everything he ever said managed to imply a past, a shared past, tugging her back to it, disturbing her hard-won tranquility.

Such tiny threads, our lives hang on...

Time to Say Goodbye Book Review

Time to Say Goodbye by S. D. Robertson

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Blurb:

Will Curtis's six-year-old daughter, Ella, knows her father will never leave her. After all, he promised her so when her mother died. And he's going to do everything he can to keep his word.

What Will doesn't know is that the promise he made to his little girl might be harder to keep than he imagined. When he's faced with an impossible decision, Will finds that the most obvious choice might not be the right one.

But the future is full of unexpected surprises. And father and daughter are about to embark on an unforgettable journey together.

Review by Brittany:

Both the cover and the description of this novel intrigued me and prompted me to request to read it through NetGalley.

The first thing I'll say is that blurb does not indicate what happens in the very first two pages - Will's death. When I started reading this book, I was shocked and revisited the blurb to see if I had missed something big, but the blurb does not indicate that this is a bit of a "ghost" or "spirit" story.

That being said, although that's not really my type of book, I enjoyed this one. I liked the humor of it, and Will's constant shock and struggles with his newfound existence were at times really amusing. He also meets a lot of people who help guide him through this purgatory he's found himself in.

What I wasn't prepared for is how brutal this book gets at times. As Will works through his feelings and tries to connect with his daughter from his new plane of existence, he watches life unfold around him. He sees his family grieve and the ways in which that grief starts slowly tearing them apart. Throughout this tragedy, more befalls the family, and the novel got pretty intense at times. There were moments when I felt myself near to tears for these poor people.

I did enjoy getting a chance to read about a father and daughter having a positive, lasting relationship. I haven't come across a lot of novels that cover that quite as well as this one did. I also really liked the supporting characters; Will's family steps in to take care of Ella, and they all play an important part in the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Although the blurb was a bit misleading, I'm glad I picked it up. I would definitely recommend this heartfelt read.

We Need to Talk About Kevin Book Review

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

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Blurb:

Eva never really wanted to be a mother - certainly not of the boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who tried to befriend him.

Now, two years after Kevin's horrific rampage, it is time for her to try to come to terms with her son's actions - and her fear that she may be in part responsible.

Review by Brittany:

Whoa. I first decided to read this book after it was recommended to me, with the warning that the book was brutal. That's not an exaggeration.

The book is written in letter format, all from Eva to her husband Franklin. She begins by describing her feelings about having a baby and goes through Kevin's childhood up through adolescence, interspersing bits of the present in with her recollections of Kevin's past.

This book is hard to read. The subject matter is intense for sure, but I wasn't prepared for some of the hard confessions that Eva makes regarding Kevin and her feelings about him. From the beginning, she doesn't feel connected to him like she thinks she should. Throughout the book, as she revisits incidents that she now sees as precursors to Kevin attacking his classmates, her negative feelings about him were difficult to read. There's also an element of this book that plays on the natural fears and worries that all women have about becoming mothers, which added to the intensity of the subject matter.

The book also outlines the breakdown of Eva's marriage, which was almost as difficult to read about as her relationship with Kevin. I really just felt so sad for all of them. Eva loved Franklin so much, but the difference in each of their relationship with Kevin was enough to pull them apart slowly. The author did a fantastic job with detailing the decline of the relationship, so much so that I could almost feel Eva's frustration and sadness.

The end of the book finally breaks down the day of Kevin's school massacre. It was painful to read and so difficult to imagine how a human could do that to someone else. Because the book is from Eva's point of view, the reader gets skewed insight into Kevin's mind, so there is no clear indication of why Kevin did it. The ending also provides a bit of insight into Kevin and Eva's relationship as it stands now, two years after the incident.

Overall, this book is just tough. It is well-written and a fantastic read, but it's a hard one to swallow.

The Girl You Lost Book Review

The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft

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Blurb:

Eighteen years ago, Simone Porter's six-month-old daughter, Helena, was abducted. Simone and husband, Matt, have slowly rebuilt their shattered lives, but the pain at losing their child has never left them.

Then a young woman, Grace, appears out of the blue and tells Simone she has information about her stolen baby. But just who is Grace - and can Simone trust her?

When Grace herself disappears, Simone becomes embroiled in a desperate search for her daughter and the woman who has vital clues about her whereabouts.

Simone is inching closer to the truth but it'll taker her into dangerous and disturbing territory.

Review by Brittany:

This is the second novel I've read by this author, and I enjoyed this one as much as the first.

The reading experience on this one was a bit more complex, both because the plot gets complex and because of the sheer number of characters that Croft uses in this novel. During Simone's investigation into Grace and Helena, Simone comes across loads of people that the reader has to remember. There were occasional points in the story where I had to stop and try to remember who some of the people were.

That being said, by the end of the novel, it all ties in nicely. The reader understands how all of these characters tie together and what dismal secret it is that has tied them all together. I think Croft did a fabulous job of making all of the plot points reach an explanatory ending, without making everything happy and neat.

This book does not have a happy ending. It isn't always an easy read, although the suspense of it keeps you turning pages. There are some themes explored in this book that are tough, so sensitive readers may want to think twice before picking them up. Lives are lost, marriages are put to the test, innocence is destroyed, and some of the bad guys don't get what you feel like they deserve. But there's something appealing about that because it resembles reality.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I thought it was suspenseful and interesting, and it kept me turning pages, trying to figure out what happened to Grace and Helena. The twist ending was also intriguing, and while I had an inkling of what it might be, I couldn't predict it. I recommend this book to those who love thrillers and are looking for a good, affordable read.

Notable quotes:

It is the only way you will be able to sleep at night: to feel there is a clear distinction between human and monster, a line so wide that you will never meet anyone who has crossed it.

How is it that someone so fucked up, someone capable of such atrocities, can still have love in their hearts?

Timeless Book Review

Timeless by Gail Carriger

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Blurb:

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly.

Until, that is, she receives a summons that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

Review by Brittany:

As a standing fan of the Parasol Protectorate series, I knew I was going to love this one.

My favorite thing about this book was Prudence. As a toddler, she has become quite the precocious character. Her powers were also interesting, allowing her to take over the supernatural state of anyone she touches, with Alexia being the only known antidote to it. The author explores other limitations to her abilities and limitations to Alexia's abilities as well.

I also enjoyed learning more about Alexia's father and her domestic help, Floote. There was a relationship there that the author explores a bit more in this book than in previous books, but I would still like to learn more about those characters. Floote is extremely intriguing. Professor Lyall also got a bit more exploration in this novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed as well.

In the end of the book, certain characters are going through major changes. Ivy embarks on a great new adventure, and Biffy's role in the pack is altered as well. I would love to read more about these things and see how the future develops for these characters.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It made a great addition to the series, and I'm sad that it's the end! I am planning to continue with this series by reading Carriger's spin-off that includes Prudence as the main character. If you are already a fan of Carriger's, obviously you'll want to pick this one up! If you aren't already a fan, you should become one!