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Book review: How to Be Brave by Louise Beech
Title: How to Be Brave
Author: Louise Beech
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Orenda
Publication date: 15th July 2015
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Summary:
“‘All the stories died that morning … until we found the one we’d always known.
When nine-year-old Rose is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, Natalie must use her imagination to keep her daughter alive. They begin dreaming about and seeing a man in a brown suit who feels hauntingly familiar, a man who has something for them. Through the magic of storytelling, Natalie and Rose are transported to the Atlantic Ocean in 1943, to a lifeboat, where an ancestor survived for fifty days before being rescued. Poignant, beautifully written and tenderly told, How To Be Brave weaves together the contemporary story of a mother battling to save her child’s life with an extraordinary true account of bravery and a fight for survival in the Second World War. A simply unforgettable debut that celebrates the power of words, the redemptive energy of a mother’s love … and what it really means to be brave.“
My review:
How to Be Brave is a magnificent story of hope and fear, spanning several generations and showing the true meaning of family. The present day story of Rose and Natalie was heartbreaking and contrasted by the adventure that Natalie’s grandad, Colin, faced at sea in the 1940s. These two story lines interlace marvelously and the result is a promising book filled with both uplifting and bittersweet moments.
Diseases such as diabetes are often underrepresented in books and the media and whenever they are introduced, many times they appear as a taboo subject easily overlooked and often followed up by inaccurate information. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the vast research carried out by the author prior to writing the book as well as the careful manner with which she handled the illness and developed Rose’s character as not only a child who is defined by this disease but also one who is still growing, learning and eager to discover the world through real life stories such as her great grandfather’s. I believe this is true for many people, particularly children, who are given a sudden diagnosis and I am glad that the author took this route instead of solely focusing on the impact of her diagnosis.
Rose’s and Natalie’s struggles are opposed by Colin’s troubles at sea while on a stranded boat, hoping to reach land or be rescued. I found his story to be a remarkable tale of survival and admired his outlook and positivity despite the distressing situation. This part of the book was incredibly moving and engrossing and I often found myself just as eager as Rose to keep reading to understand how he managed to survive.
I believe that this is one of those books that readers will react to in different ways depending on which stage of their life they are currently in or the troubles they are facing. Personally, I read this book during what I thought was a challenging time in my life however after finishing the book I valued its powerful message of persevering during difficult times much more than before. I highly recommend How to Be Brave to everyone as I believe it will appeal to fans of all genres and even though it may stimulate a different response, its meaning and compelling storytelling will not disappoint.
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Book review: My Name is Anton by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Title: My Name is Anton
Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication date: 1st December 2020
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Summary:
“It’s 1965, and life has taken a turn for eighteen-year-old Anton Addison-Rice. Nearly a year after his brother died in a tragic accident, Anton is still wounded—physically and emotionally. Alone for the holidays, he catches a glimpse of his neighbor Edith across the street one evening and realizes that she’s in danger.
Anton is determined to help Edith leave her abusive marriage. Frightened and fifteen years Anton’s senior, Edith is slow to trust. But when she needs a safe place to stay, she lets down her guard, and over the course of ten days an unlikely friendship grows. As Anton falls hopelessly and selflessly in love, Edith fears both her husband finding her and Anton getting hurt. She must disappear without telling anyone where she’s going—even Anton.
If keeping Edith safe means letting her go, Anton will say goodbye forever. Or so he believes. What would happen, though, if one day their paths should cross again?“
My review:
Anton and Edith form an unlikely friendship after Anton accidentally catches Edith being abused by her husband in the apartment across his. Although their situations couldn’t be more different, they immediately form a strong bond as they help each other through a rough period in their lives.
Catherine Ryan Hyde develops characters who are genuine and real making it easy to connect with them on a deeper level. As their friendship evolves into a romance, both innocent and intense, and they support each other through tough times I couldn’t help wanting the best for these characters. The storyline was realistic enough, bringing in an array of difficulties which couples face in their every day lives as Anton and Edith go on their separate ways only to reconnect years later. From a both platonic and romantic perspective their story was beautiful and pure.
A lot of the focus in My Name is Anton is on the characters – from Anton’s dear grandmother and great-uncle to his belittling parents and his sweet dog. Unfortunately the plot suffered as a result and there were several times where I felt that it lacked depth. Towards the end the pace picked up speed but it felt as if the author decided to squeeze most major milestones into the few remaining chapters. At this point I was thoroughly enjoying the book and would have preferred an extended ending and conclusion to fit with the pace and style developed in the previous chapters.
This book is beautifully written and contains the perfect mixture of heartache and happiness interwoven in even the most bittersweet chapters. It was a joy to read and I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy character driven books with a powerful message.
My Name is Anton is out to buy today!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a free advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.
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Blog tour: As the Stars Fall by Steve N Lee
Title: As the Stars Fall
Author: Steve N Lee
Genre: Fiction
Publication date: 25th August 2020
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Summary:
A desperate dog. A scarred girl. A bond nothing can break.
When a young girl suffering with her own tragedy comes across an injured young dog, she can’t resist helping him. Both having braved the worst the world had to throw at them, the pair quickly form an unbreakable bond. They picture their future as an endless stream of adventures filled with love, laughter, and good times.
But life has one last cruel trick to play…
At one moment heart-warming, the next heart-breaking, this is the story of a devoted dog’s roller coaster journey to be the one thing every good dog dreams of being — a best friend. Through a touching tale, As The Stars Fall explores how compassion can make us whole again and friendship can heal even the most broken of hearts.
If you crave a story of love and loss, of compassion and belonging, of friendship that knows no bounds, you need to read As The Stars Fall.
My review:
As the Stars Fall explores the myriad of emotions when dog and human meet and the special bond that is formed through the eyes of Kai, an injured homeless puppy rescued by a kind girl and her dad. Stories like this are always heartfelt and touching however what made this story truly special was witnessing the exciting and strange sounds, smells and feelings from a dog’s perspective. Details such as the scents in Mia and Dad’s house and finding happiness in the small things at home were original and entertaining. I especially enjoyed seeing Kai progressing from a scared and nervous young puppy to a confident and happy companion to Mia and the friendship that transpired was truly unique.
The characters in As the Stars Fall each have their quirks. I particularly adored the way Mia and Dad’s relationship developed through the years and the special role that Kai played in transforming it. Naturally, Mia and Kai became close friends from the start but it was delightful to see how much joy Kai brought to Mia’s life during the difficult period she was experiencing and likewise, Mia rescued Kai from a life threatening situation to only bring him up to be a cheerful and lively dog.
The story line traces many of the main milestones in a dog’s life but also reveals other less significant moments such as times when he is left home alone which allowed the reader to form an even deeper connection. By the end I almost felt as if Kai was my dog and I was completely immersed in the story. This is largely due to the coherent and emphatic writing and natural flow between chapters. The style was fitting without being too formal or unnatural for a dog’s voice.
I adored As the Stars Fall and was completely captivated by Kai and his adventures. I thank the author for providing this book at a very opportune time as I have always wanted a dog and have been considering making it a reality over the past few months and this book offered a different perspective. I highly recommend this book to any dog lovers or readers who love a brilliant story with realistic characters.
Many thanks to the author for providing an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
As the Stars Fall is out to buy now!
About the author:
Apart from animals and writing, Steve’s passion is travel. He’s visited 58 countries and enjoyed some amazing experiences, including cage-diving with great white sharks, sparring with a monk at a Shaolin temple, and watching a turtle lay eggs on a moonlit beach. He’s explored Machu Picchu, Pompeii, and the Great Wall of China, yet for all that, he’s a man of simple tastes — give him an egg sandwich and the TV remote control, and he’ll be happy for hours!
He lives in the North of England with his partner, Ania, and two black cats who graciously allow Steve and Ania to stay in their house.
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Book review: Normal People by Sally Rooney
Title: Normal People
Author: Sally Rooney
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Publication date: 28th August 2018
My rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Summary:
“Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years.
This is an exquisite love story about how a person can change another person’s life – a simple yet profound realisation that unfolds beautifully over the course of the novel. It tells us how difficult it is to talk about how we feel and it tells us – blazingly – about cycles of domination, legitimacy and privilege. Alternating menace with overwhelming tenderness, Sally Rooney’s second novel breathes fiction with new life.”
My review:
Normal People is a coming of age story exploring human emotions and connections and the difficult moments in life. It aims to promote these themes through the voices of the two main characters, Marianne and Connell, and their differences in upbringing.
The writing style consists of everyday informal speech and lack of quotation marks which puzzled me at first. I struggled to understand why the author chose such an unusual way to write this book but I assume it was implemented to embody real life and represent breaks and silences in dialogue and the human struggle to formulate thoughts and emotions. Although I opposed this writing style at first, I gradually eased into it and by the end found it to be a powerful writing mechanism and one of the main strengths of the book.
The story line in Normal People sometimes feels disjointed due to several flashbacks and time jumps. They added an element of mystery however also disrupted the flow and I don’t believe were the smartest choice for plot continuity. As much as I tried to interpret the plot and guess which direction it was heading in, I felt a little disappointed each time I moved onto a new chapter as there was no depth in the plot and it felt as if the writing was moving aimlessly from one milestone in the characters’ lives to another and by the end it seemed like nothing had transpired between the two main characters which was frustrating.
My main issue with this book was the lack of depth and connection between Marianne and Connell. The author tried almost too hard to convey a deep emotional and physical connection and several moments felt too forced. The dialogue was awkward and stilted and I continuously struggled to understand their reasons to stay together as it appeared that they didn’t have anything in common. The break ups and reconciliations which followed were mostly due to a lack of communication which was exhausting and frustrating to follow. I tried hard to connect with them but ultimately could not understand their intentions or empathise with some of their struggles. Unfortunately the secondary characters were even more bland and one dimensional. They were introduced with the purpose of bringing insight into Marianne and Connell’s background, such as Marianne’s abusive brother and apathetic mother, but were presented without much depth and in a bad light rather than as complex and multidimensional characters.
I struggled to understand the hype surrounding this book after finishing it. Although I appreciate the difficult themes it advocates, I felt that the characters were too unlikable and the execution weak at times. At first I believed that perhaps I was missing something but upon reflection I feel that it is a book that could be interpreted in different ways depending on the reader’s emotional state and current events in their life. I understand why it may have had a significant impact on some readers however for me it left a lot to be desired.
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Book review: Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Title: Red at the Bone
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publication date: 17th September 2019
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Summary:
“It’s 2001, the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody’s coming of age ceremony in her grandparents’ Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer, Melody’s mother, for her own ceremony – a celebration that ultimately never took place. Unfurling the history of Melody’s parents and grandparents to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they’ve paid for striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives – even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be. “
My review:
Red at the Bone illustrates the struggles of an African American family through reflections of sixteen year old Melody and other members of her family. As Melody is about to walk down the stairs at her coming of age ceremony, she contemplates the events that have led up to this day, giving way to a deeper look into her family’s history. The alternating POVs in the following chapters, each focusing on a particular family member, analyses the difficulties the family faced and highlights many important controversies.
Jacqueline Woodson is a master at telling a powerful and compelling story and this book was no exception. The language is vivid and fierce without being too flowery or overbearing. I could have easily highlighted half the book with quotes to look back on as the writing felt fresh and different. This positively influenced the dynamic change in voices in each chapter as each character had their own way of communicating and it was refreshing to see their own version of the events.
Some of the most critical themes in this book were further empowered by the splendid characterisation of Melody’s mother, father, grandmother and grandfather. Her mother, Iris, had Melody at only sixteen years old, mirroring yet also differentiating between both characters’s paths beautifully. We learn more about how the family dealt with the news or Iris’ pregnancy through their POVs where themes such as race, religion and class are explored with an unusual level of intimacy and harshness which I really admired.
Red at the Bone has the ability to prompt many emotions through the combination of impressive storytelling and realistic and fleshed out characters. I would have preferred to see a deeper look into some of the character’s feelings and decisions but nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be reading many more of Jacqueline Woodson’s books.