literature

Gather the Daughters Critical Review

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Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed follows the lives of four female protagonists – the ‘daughters’ who live on an island, supposedly kept safe from the ‘wasteland’ of the mainland, where a ‘scourge’ has punished the world. The text has strong similarities to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale – the society follows Our Book, which specifies rules of the society, mostly created to silence and sanction women. They are called the ‘Shalt-Nots’ and consist of ‘thou shalt not touch a daughter who has bled until she enters her summer of fruition’; ‘thou shalt not allow a wife to stray in thought, deed or body’; ‘thou shalt not allow women who are not sister, daughter, or mother to gather without a man to guide them all.’ (20) Unlike Atwood’s tale, though, we’re given barely any information regarding life beyond the island, all being revealed only through the questioning child protagonists. The ‘wanderers’ – the men who hold the highest rank in the community – visit the wastelands across the water regularly, telling tales of a ‘world of fire’, but as the narrative progresses both the reader and the girls have reason to become increasingly distrustful of this. ‘Narrative tension builds as skilful characterisation fills the reader with growing concern for the central voices.’ (Moss, 2017)

As Nick Hubble says, ‘there is discussion as to what is science-fiction about this novel. On the one hand, it looks and feels just like a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but on the other hand, as the reveal at the novel’s end makes clear, it is no such thing.’ (2018) Melamed’s text raises many questions prevalent to the genre of SF – mainly, what is SF? Can it truly be defined? This is emphasised, I think, by Melamed’s almost conscious changing of genre towards the end of the novel. After leading the characters, and hence the readers, towards the belief that this is a dystopian society, we realise it is not. The society is in fact a religious cult, the likes of which perhaps exists in our real world today. This blindness to the truth is something the protagonists in the novel deal with continuously, and as readers, we know only what the young girls know. There is that unavoidable innocence of childhood to believe one’s parents, no matter if common sense points elsewhere – and this is reflected in Vanessa, particularly. ‘Vanessa wonders, as she always does…’ (20) She is the smartest of the island girls, always trying to delve information from the adults about the outside world: ‘The waste – now you know I can’t tell you anything’ Mrs Adams tells her, to which she replies – ‘It can be a secret.’ (155) Despite this, she is the only character who does not join the girls in their rebellion on the beach. She wants, above all, to believe her father is good, even though he is part of the problem, the gang of ‘wanderers’, and rapes her repeatedly. ‘Who is my little wife?’ asks Father in a sweet tone. ‘I am,’ whispers Vanessa. (211) There is a strange, jarring tenderness to this exchange that feels intrinsically wrong to the reader but suggests that the author is attempting to redeem the father. He is consistently portrayed as a better person that the other fathers – but this clashes with the actions he commits. The depth in which Melamed raises questions about horrifyingly real issues rejects the post-apocalyptic story arc and directs us, as readers, back to the intricacies of our own world.

Further to this, just like in The Handmaid’s Tale, the women live in a society which is attempting, at all turns, to silence them. ‘Their behaviour and values are circumscribed.’ (Jones, 1991) And as de Beauvoir writes, women are ‘defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental, the inessential as opposed to the essential. He is the subject, he is the Absolute – she is the Other’, and, ‘subjected to doom.’ (1949)  This ‘doom’ is prevalent throughout Melamed’s text: when Janey is whipped for speaking out, Rosie is murdered to protect her, Caitlyn is abused by her father, even more so that the other girls, with no interference from knowing outsiders, and the ongoing fear that perpetrates their daily lives. The author’s gender influences in her own world very consciously affect the work, which is typical of dystopian authors and their subjects: using fantasy to analyse the real. ‘My professor discussed a South Pacific society where fathers were expected to have intercourse with their daughters, to ‘prepare them for their husbands.’ (Melamed, 2017) Despite what Eskeridge writes: ‘I despise conscious theme. It subverts story.’ (Mendelsohn, 2012), the author’s intention to write a novel discussing such prevalent fears and themes – overpopulation, sexual abuse and reproductive rights – are explored in much the same way as her predecessors within the genre of dystopian SF. ‘The central features of dystopia are ever-present – the oppression of the majority by the ruling elite.’ (Clute, 2018)

As previously discussed, there is no clear redemption in this novel. We do not learn whether Vanessa reaches safety, and her father does not leave because he was remorseful about having intercourse with his daughter; he leaves because he is afraid something might happen to her. It goes not excuse or forgive the abuse, but it leaves the reader wondering what the point in all the horror was, if not to reach a resolution. Was it just to comment on the depravation that mankind are capable of? ‘At what point does the depiction of such suffering tip into a pornography of violence?’ (Ditum, 2018) Is there such thing as too much horror in feminist dystopia, and, are we numbing ourselves to the violence against women in these texts? As Sarah Hall writes, there is still a ‘fresh urgency’ to feminist dystopian fiction that feeds a growing thirst for a world that is better than our own. (Thorpe, 2017) Reflecting on past horrors and using a science fiction narrative to do so is an extremely effective way to portray the point.

In summary, I would recommend the novel for an Arthur C Clarke award. Although there are many questions raised in the text that remain unanswered, and the ending is ambiguous, leaving the question open as to whether this novel really is an SF dystopia, Kingsley Amis argues that ‘the dystopian tradition is the most important strand in the tapestry of modern SF.’ (1960) In my opinion, Gather the Daughters is a poignant science-fiction text that cleverly symbolises women’s struggles and their experiences of ‘Other-ness’ in society, bringing to light the horrors of events happening in our real world – something that I believe all science fiction should do. As feminist dystopia, it successfully gives the reader pause to think, and, rightfully, be horrified.

Bibliography

Alderman, Naomi. 2017. Dystopian dreams: how feminist science fiction predicted the future. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/25/dystopian-dreams-how-feminist-science-fiction-predicted-the-future [Last accessed: 27th August 2018]

Amis, Kingsley. 1960. New Maps of Hell. Penguin, UK.

Anders, Charlie Jane. 2010. How many definitions of science fiction are there? [Online] Available at: https://io9.gizmodo.com/5622186/how-many-defintions-of-science-fiction-are-there [Last accessed: 27th August 2018]

Atwood, Margaret. 1985. The Handmaid’s Tale. O.W. Toad Limited.

Booker, Keith M. and Thomas, Anne-Marie. 2009. The Science Fiction Handbook. John Wiley & Sons.

Claeys, Gregory. 2010. The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature. Cambridge University Press.

Clute, John and Nicholls, Peter. 1999. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. London: Orbit.

de Beauvoir, Simone. 1949. The Second Sex. Vintage, London.

Delaney, Samuel R. and Cheney, Matthew. 2011. The Jewel-Hinged Jaw: Notes on the Language of Science Fiction. Wesleyan University Press

Ditum, Sarah. 2018. Never-ending nightmare: why feminist dystopias must stop torturing women. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/12/why-the-handmaids-tale-marks-a-new-chapter-in-feminist-dystopias [Last accessed: 26th August 2018]

Gailey, Sarah. 2016. Do Better: Sexual Violence in SFF. [Online] Available at: https://www.tor.com/2016/08/22/do-better-sexual-violence-in-sff/ [Last accessed: 27th August 2018]

Gunn, James and Candelaria, Matthew. 2014. Speculations on Speculation. [Online] Available at: http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/Speculations.htm [Last accessed: 27th August 2018]

Hubble, Nick. 2018. Panel Review: Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed. [Online] https://csff-anglia.co.uk/clarke-shadow-jury/shadow-jury-2018/panel-review-gather-the-daughters-by-jennie-melamed/ [Last accessed: 24th August 2018]

Jarvis, Claire. 2017. The Latest, Troubling Chapter in Feminist Dystopian Fiction. [Online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/books/review/gather-the-daughters-jennie-melamed.html  [Last accessed: 26th August 2018]

Jones, Libby Falk. 1991. Breaking Silences In Feminist Dystopias in Utopian Studies, No. 3. pp. 7 – 11. Penn State University Press.

Little, Judith A. 2007. Feminist philosophy and science fiction: utopias and dystopias. Prometheus Books.

Melamed, Jennie. 2017. Gather the Daughters. Tinder Press, London.

Melamed, Jennie. 2017. Exploring a Cultish Culture: the behind-the-book story of Gather the Daughters. [Online]Available at: https://medium.com/galleys/exploring-a-cultish-culture-the-behind-the-book-story-of-gather-the-daughters-by-jennie-melamed-a83c0540eaa9 [Last accessed: 27th August 2018]

Mendlesohn, Farah. 2012. The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature. Cambridge University Press.

Merrick, Helen and Williams, Tess. 1999. Women of Other Worlds: Excursions Through Science Fiction and Feminism. University of Western Australia Press.

Michaud, Jon. 2017. A Haunting Story of Sexual Assault and Climate Catastrophe, Decades Ahead of Its Time. [Online] Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/a-haunting-story-of-sexual-assault-and-climate-catastrophe-decades-ahead-of-its-time [Last accessed: 27th August 2018]

Moss, Sarah. 2017. Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed review – a misogynist dystopia. [Online] Available at: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/dystopias [Last accessed: 27th August 2018]

Moylan, Tom. 2003. Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination. Routledge.

Penley, Constance. 1991. Close Encounters: Film, Feminism, and Science Fiction. University of Minnesota Press.

Thorpe, Vanessa. 2017. What lies beneath the brave new world of feminist dystopian sci-fi? [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/24/feminist-dystopian-sci-fi-naomi-alderman-handmaids-tale [Last accessed: 22nd August 2018]

2018. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. [Online] http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/dystopias [Last accessed: 24th August 2018]

Meet the Bookstagrammer!

~ fionareads ~ Leave a comment

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I recently decided that a pandemic is the perfect time to start blogging again. It’s been a couple of years since I last posted, so I thought I would reintroduce myself! My main platform is Instagram, so you can also find this post over there, on @fionareads.

So, hi! My name is Fiona, I’m 27 years old, and I live in the UK. There is nothing in the world I love more than getting lost in a good book, and then discussing it afterwards!

Here are a few facts about me:

📚 I work in children’s book publishing.

📚 I love dogs! I have a Springer Spaniel named Luna who is just as wise and loony as her namesake, Luna Lovegood.

📚 I’m currently writing an adult fantasy novel, but I’ve been at it for about three years, so who knows when it will be finished! I write every single day. It’s my way of winding down, of relaxing, and of letting the creative side of myself flow. I have dozens of notebooks full of unfinished novels. I am still waiting for an idea to truly stick and last all the way to a final draft.

📚 I lived in London for several years, but now I live in the Suffolk countryside. Me, my husband and my lovely dog Luna are always outdoors and we love it!

📚 My favourite authors are J.K. Rowling, Sarah J Maas and Charlotte Brontë

📚 I recently completed my Masters. I wrote my dissertation on Harry Potter. I also wrote my undergrad dissertation on Harry Potter, so we all saw that one coming.

📚 If I didn’t work in publishing, I’d love to work in academia. I love to study, and I hope that makes me cool in a Hermione kinda way!

📚 My favourite TV show at the moment is Brooklyn 99. It never fails to cheer me up on a gloomy day!

📚 I am obsessed with Harry Potter. I have been since I was seven years old. It is my one true love and I could not imagine my childhood, or my life, without Rowling’s words. They inspired my love of literature and pushed me to write my own stories.

📚 My favourite place in the world is the Scottish Highlands. In particular, Glen Coe and Glennfinnan. It is the one place that I truly feel at one with nature, and for me, there is nothing more centring or relaxing. Also, you feel as though you need only take a step backwards to find yourself in the world of Outlander or the grounds of Hogwarts!

Do we have anything in common? Tell me something about yourself in the comments!

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Outlander: Book One Review

~ fionareads ~ 1 Comment

Gabaldon_outlanderThe year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord… 1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

“Oh, aye, Sassenach. I am your master . . . and you’re mine. Seems I canna possess your soul without losing my own.”

Outlander is a beautifully complex and mesmerizing story with multi-layered characters, authentic settings and dramatic, unexpected and all-encompassing storylines. It’s the kind of book that you will live through alongside the main characters – you will feel Claire’s bewilderment and fear, her gutsy determination, her love and heartbreak and you will feel as though you are standing alongside her in every aspect of her life. The historical context is so accurate it is amazing!

For a while now, people kept recommending Outlander to me, but I avoided the books because, for one, the sheer size of the series daunted me, and two, I was put off by the time travel aspect (ironic, since I love Doctor Who!) But, I often find that time-travel literature can be cheesy and too unrealistic to be believable.

However, now I have finally read Outlander, I can confidently say that it is the most original historical romance I have ever, ever read. It was way more involved that the typical man meets woman trope, and it was so historically accurate and vivid I felt myself completely submerged in the world of the Scottish Highlands, 1743, for the whole two weeks I was reading it.

Claire is a World War II combat nurse who accidentally wanders through an ancient stone circle in Inverness whilst on a post-war honeymoon with her husband, Frank, in 1945. She suddenly finds herself in the 18th Century. Even in this, she is brilliant – sarky, intelligent, with a quick wit and a quick tongue to match. She’s compassionate, competent, a kick-ass nurse and an independent woman who doesn’t let the abrupt, seemingly-impossible change to her timeline phase her. She’s a refreshing change from the princess-type heroines of a lot of historical fiction.

Jamie Fraser, the Scottish Clansman who slowly becomes the love of her life, is at times sweet and heart-stoppingly romantic, and others an extremely dangerous and passionate warrior. He is one of the most charismatic and appealing male leads I’ve read in a long, long time. And every time he calls Claire a Sassenach… God. I go weak at the knees! Understandably, however, readers are completely divided over Jamie because, although he is gorgeous and lovable for the majority of the novel, there is one extremely disturbing scene that enrages any 21st-Century reader, including myself. As upsetting as the scene was (I won’t mention it due to spoilers, but it deals with domestic abuse) it was very accurate to the times and the way that a man would have treated his wife in that period. Although it doesn’t excuse it, I was able to forgive and get past it and still fall in love with Jamie, just as Claire does, as I could view it within its historical context. There are quite a few sexually abusive scenes in the novel, which, although they do not subtract from the overall enjoyment of the story, they are quite hard to get through.

Regardless of this, what is so brilliant about Gabaldon’s characters and the world she has created is that they are delightfully multi-dimensional, and extremely complex, just as real people and real life can be. Claire somehow finds the courage to made difficult choices in a period of history when choices were often non-existent for women. She is stubborn and determined almost to a fault, and she has a passion and unending support for Jamie that matches his own for her perfectly. Jamie, on the outside, is tough and warrior-like, while on the inside, he is kind and sensitive, with excellent intuition and a backstory full of pain and suffering. He is also intelligent, self-depreciating and almost poetic in the things he says to Claire.

“When I asked my da how ye knew which was the right woman, he told me when the time came, I’d have no doubt. And I didn’t. When I woke in the dark under that tree on the road to Leoch, with you sitting on my chest, cursing me for bleeding to death, I said to myself, ‘Jamie Fraser, for all ye canna see what she looks like, and for all she weighs as much as a good draft horse, this is the woman'”

Their romance is probably my favourite part of the novel – there is true honesty between them, which brings an openness and vulnerability to both of the characters which is such a beautiful addition to the story. I love the way that the author creates a strong friendship between them before they become lovers, and then lets this friendship continue to grow deeper even after they are married. The intimacy level of these two characters is perfectly depicted, and the best that I have read in a novel for a long time, and not just because of the sex.

Outlander was so meticulously researched and Gabaldon manages to weave all the historical accuracies into the plot without destroying the authenticity of the emotional journey. At its heart, Outlander is a historical novel that is packed full of details of 18th Century life in the Scottish Highlands, and as well as recounting events leading up to the Jacobite rising of 1745, the character’s lives are deeply delved in to and an extraordinary picture is painted that truly transports you to another time and place.

There is adventure, history, fantasy, romance, violence and drama. Outlander is a book that literally sucks you into its pages. It is a fully immersive experience that is so engrossing, you find it almost impossible to put it down.

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Book Review – Strange the Dreamer

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The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around— and Lazlo Strange, war new-release-date-2orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? and if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

This book was heartbreaking and mystical and catastrophic and shattering and beautiful. It was the perfect fantasy novel. Laini Taylor’s world building is so tangible – God, I wanted Weep to be real. I wanted to walk through the halls of Lazlo’s library, and ride on horseback alongside Eril-Fane, and meet a blue-skinned goddess like Sarai. Laini Taylor’s ability to create magical, fantastical storylines is just breath taking. The world, the language, the characters… everything about this tale captivated me. The ending has broken me, in all the right ways. I need more of God-slaying Eril-Fane and assassins who are acrobats and armies of moths and a strange dreamer who reaches for his impossible dream, and grabs it with both hands…

Strange the Dreamer starts with Lazlo Strange – an orphan, a book lover, a dreamer, who has always been ostracized for being different, and has grown up constantly dreaming of the Unseen City. He is such a realistic, yet whimsical and loveable character; the perfect protagonist, and you empathise with him almost instantly. He immerses himself in his books, and lives amongst their pages, researching and learning every single thing there is to know about the Unseen City, Weep.

When Lazlo was a young boy, the name of the lost, unseen city was stolen from everyone’s minds. Not a soul could remember it’s name; the only word left in it’s place was Weep. Of course, if you dream hard enough, your wildest imaginings can come true, and the story truly sets sail once Lazlo is given the opportunity to adventure into the far reaches of every dream he has ever had, and find out the truth behind Weep and it’s inhabitants.

‘He read while he walked. He read while he ate. The other librarians suspected he somehow read while he slept, or perhaps didn’t sleep at all.’

Not only does Laini Taylor create feeling, beautiful, wholesome characters who make you feel like you are living their adventures with them, she also proves her place as the ultimate wordsmith of YA. The writing style of Strange the Dreamer seems to eclipse all her previous books: it is lyrical, tangible, poetic, almost to the point of too much. It hits that perfect sweet spot, without going overboard, and the imagery and pure imagination takes your breath away with every turn of the page. The very sentences themselves feel dreamlike and mystical – almost tricking you into believing you truly have been transported to another world.

Hidden within these pages we have never-ending libraries, mysterious journeys, hidden cities, ghosts and moths and goddesses with blue skin; mythical armies, warriors and God-slayers, star-crossed lovers and magic, nightmares, demons and salvation… In Weep, Laini has created a mystical world that leaps off the page and embeds itself into your very being. It is an addictive, descriptive, all-encompassing creation of a place that demands to be remembered, even after the book is closed. In Lazlo, Sarai, and Eril-Fane, you also meet characters with secrets, demons, dreams, and hearts filled with the capacity to love. Everything about the plot, these characters and their world is truly unique and so perfectly crafted.

The most prominent message I took from the story centers around race and how we, in a world currently ridden with racism and fear-mongering, detrimentally blame individuals of a certain skin colour for bad things that other people of that same skin colour have done; about how unaccepting the world is, as a society, of people who look different from ourselves. There is also a focus on the history of humankind and how younger generations are wrongly blamed for their ancestors mistakes. But this tale teaches us that we are not our ancestors, we are not our parents, and we should always strive to do better than the history behind us.

‘Sarai was seventeen years old, a goddess and a girl. Half her blood was human, but it counted for nothing. She was blue. She was godspawn. She was anathema. She was young. She was lovely. She was afraid.’

At it’s basest, Strange the Dreamer is also just about an orphaned underdog and a feared, blue-skinned girl who both just want the chance to be so much more. They speak to the hearts of all the dreamers, the bookworms, the misunderstood and the hard-done-by, and tell us that magic and dreams really can come true. Monsters, gods, hidden cities and armies of moths notwithstanding…

‘It was impossible, of course. But when did that ever stop any dreamer from dreaming?’

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Book Review – Caraval by Stephanie Garber

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Whatever you’ve heard about Caraval, it doesn’t compare to the reality. It’s more than just a game or a performance. It’s the closest you’ll ever find to magic in this world . . .

Welcome, welcome to Caraval–Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game.

‘Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.’

Caraval is a truly enchanting, magical and obscure story written in the most lyrical, descriptive prose. 

Although it is written in third person, the novel is entirely from Scarlett’s point of view only, and you cleverly never know anything of the other characters intentions or feelings until it is too late.

The use of description and imagery that related to colour and smells and sounds was stunningly crafted, with the novel an abundance of tangible sentences like: ‘Scarlett could still smell her father’s perfume. It smelled like the color of his gloves; anise and lavender and something akin to rotted plums.’

Caraval is, first and foremost, a game, and this is crafted not just into the story, but in to the readers imagination, as you realise that not only is the boundary between reality and illusion blurred for Scarlett, but it is for you too. You cannot know, for sure, what is real or not real. You can only guess, and wonder, and read on, as Scarlett is sucked further and further into the travelling performance of Caraval, her trust and awareness of real life facing hurdles at every turn of the page.

It is interesting that the author chose to write the story from the point of view of a character who, for most of her life, had been scared to take risks and always played it safe. However, once her sister, Tella, is suspected to be in danger, you witness Scarlett adapt into a confident, risk-taking person who will do absolutely anything to save her sister. Scarlett is an excellent, realistic protagonist and you really feel yourself going through every heartbreak and shock and knock back alongside her. She is cautious, but brave and clear headed and her strongest trait is how deeply and unashamedly she loves her sister.

‘She imagined loving him would feel like falling in love with darkness, frightening and consuming yet utterly beautiful when the stars came out.’

The romance in the book was also very cleverly planned out and really played on the idea of nothing quite being what it seems. The chemistry and sexual tension between Scarlett and Tristan was very slow-burning, in all the right ways. I loved that nothing was instant: they didn’t just fall head over heels in love. There was angst and confusion and perfect tension that matched the mystery and evocativeness of the story. In Caraval, you shouldn’t trust a soul, least of all your love interest.

If you loved The Night Circus, you will adore this. Be prepared to be enchanted; to be swept off your feet into a riddle of choices and consequences, where nothing is quite as it seems… This story will play with your mind and your heart, with twists and turns and a spellbinding cast of players to deceive you.

My Holiday Reads – Mini Reviews

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I have spent the last two weeks travelling the beautiful Croatian coastline with my husband, and although we spent most of the time exploring, I still managed to fit in quite a few good books! A holiday isn’t a holiday if I don’t get through at least three!

9781447250944the-museThe Muse by Jessie Burton

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A picture hides a thousand words . . .

On a hot July day in 1967, Odelle Bastien climbs the stone steps of the Skelton gallery in London, knowing that her life is about to change forever. Having struggled to find her place in the city since she arrived from Trinidad five years ago, she has been offered a job as a typist under the tutelage of the glamorous and enigmatic Marjorie Quick. But though Quick takes Odelle into her confidence, and unlocks a potential she didn’t know she had, she remains a mystery – no more so than when a lost masterpiece with a secret history is delivered to the gallery.

The truth about the painting lies in 1936 and a large house in rural Spain, where Olive Schloss, the daughter of a renowned art dealer, is harbouring ambitions of her own. Into this fragile paradise come artist and revolutionary Isaac Robles and his half-sister Teresa, who immediately insinuate themselves into the Schloss family, with explosive and devastating consequences . . .

The Muse was the best book I have read in ages, and definitely my favourite book of the holiday! It transported me to another era, another place, another lifetime – Jessie Burton achieved what she always achieves. She is an excellent historical fiction writer and her prose is lyrical, beautiful and evocative. She adds miniscule details to things in a way that no other author does. I loved The Muse a lot more than The Miniaturist, which I did enjoy, but struggled with at times. The Muse was never boring, the characters had great depth, the dual timelines worked perfectly (which isn’t always the case!) and the storyline was incredibly intriguing and left you guessing until the last page. Nothing was predictable, but it was exhilarating, imaginative, and completely transported you to another time and place. The scene setting of Spain in 1936 and London in 1967 was what I enjoyed most about the story. It is a tale of love, lust, betrayal and danger, and the parallel settings and easy narrative voice help to draw you in spectacularly. I am so excited to see where Jessie Burton goes next – she has yet to disappoint me!

9781447266945carry-onCarry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

This was a book that I had had on my TBR shelf for a very long time, but was always hesitant to start it. It is an extension of the fanfiction that Cath writes in Fangirl, the novel by Rainbow Rowell. It is clear from Fangirl, and from the minute you start reading Carry On, that it is hugely based off Harry Potter. It is completely undeniable, and that definitely bugged me a bit to begin with. But, as the story continued, I started to fall in love with the characters, with Simon Snow, with Bas, with their chemistry and humour and romance. I also started to remember, hey, I love every damn thing that Rainbow Rowell writes! It was everything you expect from her writing, but funnier, sillier and more magical. Some of the spells made me literally laugh out loud they were so ludicrous – but that was definitely the point. The romance was excellent too – Rainbow is undeniably genius at writing flirtatious scenes, they almost made me squeal with happiness. My heart nearly burst out my chest when I read this:

“I let myself slip away… Just to stay sane. Just to get through it. And when I felt myself slipping too far, I held on to the one thing I’m always sure of – Blue eyes. Bronze curls. The fact that Simon Snow is the most powerful magician alive. That nothing can hurt him, not even me. That Simon Snow is alive. And I’m hopelessly in love with him.”

the-amber-shadows-9781471139284_hrThe Amber Shadows by Lucy Ribchester

four stars

Bletchley Park typist Honey Deschamps spends her days at a type-x machine in Hut 6, transcribing the decrypted signals from the German Army, doing her bit to help the British war effort.
Halfway across the world Hitler’s armies are marching into Leningrad, leaving a trail of destruction and pillaging the country’s most treasured artworks, including the famous Amber Room – the eighth wonder of the world.
As reports begin filtering through about the stolen amber loot, Honey receives a package, addressed to her, carried by a man she has never seen before. He claims his name is Felix Plaidstow and that he works in Hut 3. The package is postmarked from Russia, branded with two censors’ stamps. Inside is a small flat piece of amber, and it is just the first of several parcels.
Caught between fearing the packages are a trap set by the authorities to test her loyalty or a desperate cry for help, Honey turns to the handsome enigmatic Felix Plaidstow. But then her brother is found beaten to death in nearby woods and suddenly danger is all around… 

In true Lucy Ribchester style, this book had all the mystery and suspense of her debut novel The Hourglass Factory, with a little bit of romance and wartime setting added in. I really enjoyed this story – I am kind of obsessed with the World War 2 era, so it was great to read another tale about it. It was also interesting to read about enigma code and decrypting from another viewpoint! The suspense building was excellent and Honey as a protagonist was really easy to read and likeable. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves a bit of mystery and history! Four stars couldn’t be stretched to five unfortunately, as I found the story to lack factual credibility a little too often, as with Ribchester’s previous novel. But for what it was, it was certainly a good read!

9781442408920_custom-ab1ee04526644c3ae958cba37007c84d709a2fb1-s6-c30Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

This is a story about a boy who is angry and sad and confused and can’t ever figure out why. It is a story about a boy discovering who he really is. It is a story about a boy learning how to fall in love with the world for the very first time. I loved everything about this book. I had finished it within a few hours of starting it, without truly realising how beautiful it was, how warm it made me feel. Aristotle was so relatable to me when I think back to how I often felt as a teenager, and the way that Benjamin writes is just out of this world mellow, beautiful, touching and life-affirming. There isn’t really much of a plot to this story, but in a way this is what makes it so successful – it’s beauty is in the author’s ability to depict everyday events and unnoticed emotions and the catastrophic feelings of a seventeen year old boy. This book made me cry, and think, and feel at one with the world. This was a beautiful story about love, identity and family, and I think everyone should read it!

Book Review – One by Sarah Crossan

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One

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Grace and Tippi. Tippi and Grace. Two sisters. Two hearts. Two dreams. Two lives. But one body.

Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins, joined at the waist, defying the odds of survival for sixteen years. They share everything, and they are everything to each other. They would never imagine being apart. For them, that would be the real tragedy.

But something is happening to them. Something they hoped would never happen. And Grace doesn’t want to admit it. Not even to Tippi.

How long can they hide from the truth—how long before they must face the most impossible choice of their lives?

One is a beautiful story about 16-year-old conjoined twins, Grace and Tippi, that really got me to thinking about a way of life completely different to anything I am used to. It is a story that reveals what it means to have a soul mate – albeit not in the traditional sense of the word. The entire novel is written in beautiful, flowing verse that had me in tears and it will remain one of the most poignant stories that I have read this year.

Tippi and Grace have been by each other’s side since birth. They are conjoined from the waist down, and have lived their entire lives sharing every single moment. Having always been home-schooled, they now must attend the local private high school as juniors and face the possibility this brings of staring, disgust, ridicule and judgement.

However, they grow to enjoy normal school life more than they expected, and even make some friends. They smoke, they drink, they go on a road trip – they experience the normal teenage life they have never had the freedom to live before. The normal complications of love, boys, privacy, family drama and angst are discovered through a totally new perspective. When Grace’s health worsens and becomes life-threatening, the twins have to decide whether they wish to be separated for the first time in their lives – the outcome of which will bring a series of devastating physical, emotional and psychological impacts.

I have never read a YA book like this – it was incredibly life-affirming and powerful. I felt that it was extremely clever for Sarah Crossan to write the twin’s tale in verse, because she showed that a story can be deeply moving and hard-hitting, with just a few words. The use of verse also made the novel incredibly easy and free-flowing to read – I finished it in one sitting; in a matter of hours and I found that the words just swept you up completely in their stark, simple poetry. This way of writing created a distinctive and magically profound voice that I feel would have been impossible to replicate with normal prose.

I also found it interesting that the author chose to pen the story through only Grace’s perspective, rather than both the twins. Tippi tended to control all situations and decisions so it was effective to read the story from the shyer and less-dominant twin’s viewpoint.

In summary, Crossan has achieved a powerful, heartfelt, and deeply moving novel that explores the true meaning of the word sisters. The enormous amount of research into conjoined twins was apparent and it read as factually accurate, but also emotionally hard-hitting. It was amazing to read something that perhaps I wouldn’t normally pick up. It is the first time I have read a novel written in verse, and I am glad to say it worked perfectly. I think the writing structure contributed greatly to the meaning and significance of the story. Grace and Tippi’s is an emotionally deep tale that is all at once lovely, shocking and utterly heartbreaking.

One is like nothing I have ever read before, and is a unique and poignant exploration of friendship, sisterhood, strength, soul-mates and love.

Book Review – Uprooted by Naomi Novik

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uprooted

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‘Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travellers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years.’

I was unsure about starting this, due to it receiving such mixed reviews; people seemed to either love it or hate it. Luckily, I absolutely loved it. It has to be the most beautiful book I have read this year.

Uprooted tells the tale of a clumsy, plain girl named Angieszka (pronounced Ag-Nyesh-Ka), who lives in a small village on the outskirts of a dark and dangerous wood. The village is protected by a wizard who goes by the name the Dragon. The Dragon lives in a tower close by and protects the village and surrounding areas from the evil, corrupted wood. Once every ten years, he comes to the village and picks one girl to live with him in his tower for ten years. Nobody knows what happens to them whilst they are there, but it ultimately changes them, and they often decide not to return to their families.

Agnieszka worries for her best friend, Kasia, who is the most beautiful girl in the village. Talented, clever and attractive, she has been trained her whole life to expect this moment. She is expected by everyone in the village to be chosen next by the Dragon. Everybody is therefore astonished when clumsy, plain Agnieszka is picked instead.

‘You intolerable lunatic,’ he snarled at me, and then he caught my face between his hands and kissed me.’

Agnieszka is an incredible protagonist – relatable, funny, good natured, kind and strong. Her relationship with the Dragon; their disagreements, stubborn compromises and the journey they travel together are what make this story so special. Their gradual development into something more than friends is very slow going, but in a good way. Novik writes excellent love scenes that literally take your breath away. Their feelings for one another were portrayed subtly, understatedly, yet perfectly seductive, proving just how a good the writing is.

The writing style is magical. The main aspect of the story obviously being, well, magic, I was delighted to find that the prose reflected that in its entirety – it was whimsical, lyrical, unique, and the imagery created was absolutely beautiful.

‘There was a song in this forest, too, but it was a savage song, whispering of madness and tearing and rage.’

The Wood is fantastically nightmarish and creepy, and it plays its part well as the villain of the story. It stands as an ever-present, silent threat, occasionally swallowing villagers, driving people mad, or sending terrible monsters to destroy neighbouring villages. I don’t want to go into this too much as I don’t want to spoil anything. But, this book is so, so worth reading if you love fantasy, fairy tales and stories about magic.

I love fantasy that is based on folklore, and Novik cleverly roots her novel in the mythology of Eastern Europe; the story feels ancient and enticing. Just like reading an old fairy tale, this novel effortlessly recreates the familiar magic of all my childhood favourites – I felt wonderfully at home whilst reading this. You get the magic, the monsters, the wizards and the princes, but never in the way you might quite expect. Novik goes against all expectations, and nothing is as it seems.

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Vintage Charm… The Miniaturist, The Confectioner’s Tale and The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp

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I don’t believe there is any greater joy in the world than reading a book that makes you feel like you have stepped back in time. I love being swept up into the pages of a book that spills with authentic and imaginative vintage charm. The following books all depict different time periods, but they will always be my must-read texts when I want to escape to a world now gone by.

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The sort-of-sequel to The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (a book pushed upon me perhaps ten years ago by my mum, urging me to read it), The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp is a warm, nostalgic period novel set in the 1960’s. I don’t remember much of The Lost Art, except for the fact that I enjoyed it in the way that you enjoy a hot cup of tea and a couple of digestive biscuits. It warmed you from the inside, and you felt as though you were experiencing the events first hand, wishing desperately that you lived in that time period and were friends with these fantastic characters. In the Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp, Rice excels in her natural ability to set a scene both magically and realistically. The story starts in the rural West Country and follows Tara as she begins a singing career, moving to London, falling in love with a photographer, being shown off at Chelsea parties, even dancing on tables at the Marquee Club on the night of the Stones’ debut… Rice perfectly captures that feeling of being seventeen and having the whole world on your doorstep. She has a real gift for evoking a nostalgia-tinged rural childhood, the quaintness of the first and last county in England in the fifties, and the excitement and pure rock-n-roll lifestyle of London in the swinging sixties.

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This book is so spectacularly vivid and deliciously detailed. Romance laces every word in a way that makes your heart skip a beat, and the imagery just makes you want to run straight off to Paris, visit a Patisserie and eat every single beautiful creation described. The Confectioner’s Tale tells a love story of two kinds. Set at the famous Patisserie Clermont in Paris, 1909, but told eighty years later through the eyes of Padra Stevenson, researching a photograph she found of her grandfather, the words ‘Forgive me’ written on the back. Her discovery leads her to reveal a mysterious, bittersweet and evocative story about two star-crossed lovers. The writing is what makes this book so infinitely special. It is mouth-watering, literally. The romance of the Parisian setting makes your heart burst.

The Miniaturist

The Miniaturist is set in seventeenth century Amsterdam, and tells the story of eighteen year old Nella Oortman who, after an arranged marriage to an illustrious and mysterious merchant trader, comes to the bustling city to begin a new life. Her loneliness and desolation is what struck me hardest, as she is left in the home with her husband’s cold and enigmatic sister. Her life changes when her husband arrives home with a gift – a beautiful cabinet dolls house. She is offended, seeing it as a toy for a child, but resentfully orders custom-made pieces to fill it. Amongst the objects that arrive from the elusive Miniaturist are items such as a tiny scrap of marzipan that makes people sick to the soul, and the miniature betrothal cup that was missing from her wedding. More things begin to arrive for the cabinet house, eerily life-like, and ominously attuned to the things that happen under her roof. This story is all at once horrible, and lonely, but beautiful too. Perfectly polished and mysteriously compelling, The Miniaturist is definitely a tale that takes you out of your own era and right into the heart of a city of hidden opulence and devastating secrets…

Book Review – Love Notes For Freddie

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Love Notes For Freddie by Eva Rice
Published: June 4th 2015 by Heron Books
Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 385
Source: Goodreads

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Marnie FitzPatrick is a reclusive sixth-former from Hertfordshire with a dysfunctional family, a penchant for Pythagoras’ Theorem and an addiction to doughnuts and gin. Julie Crewe is a disillusioned maths teacher who lives vicariously through the girls she teaches, yet who once danced barefoot through Central Park with a man called Jo she has never been able to forget.

This is the story of what happened in the summer of 1967, when the sun burned down on the roof of the Shredded Wheat factory, and a boy called Freddie Friday danced to the records he had stolen. This is about first love, and last love, and all the strange stuff in between. This is what happens when three people are bound together by something that can’t be calculated or explained by any equation.

I have read both The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp and absolutely fell in love with Eva Rice’s writing style. Her books are engaging, eccentric, fantastically vintage and spilling with original characters.

As expected, I adored Love Notes For Freddie. It was an engrossing, rich and heart-warming story about new love, the ghost of love, new dreams, and shattered dreams.

The chapters alternated between Marnie’s and Miss Crewe’s point of views. I loved the parallels between the two characters, and the fact that they both loved Freddie, but for different reasons, added an intriguing dynamic to the story. I was glad that we didn’t get to read Freddie’s point of view, as I feel he was essential only as a catalyst for Marnie’s and Miss Crewe’s personal development. Miss Crewe’s fascination with him particularly was magically progressive for the story, as you got to see into her past and how it shaped her into the person she is now.

Eva Rice has a unique narrative style that is gloriously detailed and almost filmic in its vivid description of emotions, people and places. She has the ability to write about a particular era with originality and authenticity, and she makes every moment of her novels feel entirely real. You fall head over heels in love with the characters she creates and are immediately drawn into the world that they live in.

I loved Marnie just as much as Tara and Penelope, but for different reasons. The author writes with an empathy that enables you to understand the character’s feelings and actions, and fill their shoes entirely, even if you do not agree with their decisions. I love how real the story felt. There are too many novels that end with ridiculously predictable endings, and happy endings for the sake of a happy ending, even if the story has to forsake its natural direction.

Eva Rice is not scared to write a story that does not end exactly the way the reader would like it to. Her stories are unpredictable, and this is an amazing thing. She writes books that you wish you could have written yourself. Love Notes For Freddie, I believe, teaches you to make the most of the present, and to not dwell on the past. The ending was important as it let you know that love, however heart-breaking and life-changing it might feel at the time, can end, and you can live past it; that sometimes, you have to let things go, in order for them to blossom.

I absolutely adored this book, just as much as the previous two novels, if not more. Love Notes For Freddie is fantastically vivid, heart-warming, rich and truthful. I loved every second of it, and the only thing I hated about it was that it ended. I can’t wait to see what Eva Rice will write next, because I know it will surpass all my expectations and be just as loveable and brilliantly written as this novel is.