The Unblessed Child - YA Fiction, 1st in a series

 

The Unblessed Child

by RJ Kaldanis

3.5/5 stars 

⭐⭐⭐✫

There are two types of people in The New Realm: those who are blessed by the gods of the four elements and those who are unwanted, unloved, and are simply known as The Unblessed.

Eighteen-year-old Aardriyah Veros is living in the shadow of her powerfully water blessed brother and little sister. With her elderly neighbor and newfound canine friend in tow, our unblessed child sets out on an epic journey to uncover the truth behind her dreams.

I hesitated for this review between 3 and 4 stars. If I could I'd do 3.5.

This is a good book, very intriguing, and the world is described well, with the divisions, etc explained. I enjoyed the concept, and even though I was admittedly reading a galley, the constant misspellings made me a little crazy. When nothing grows, something is BARREN, not BARON. I saw that word used a lot and misspelled every time. ..

I also felt that the action was a little confusing at times.

As I got closer to the end, it was apparent this is meant to be a series, and we would get little to no resolution. While I don't mind series books, I thought originally this was a stand-alone.

I also personally prefer series books where the end has some resolution, and they can be read either in series or stand-alone.

This series is clearly intended for YA readers, and I found it hard to believe the protagonist was 18. She comes off much younger to me, maybe due to her "woe is me attitude". I don't know if I would continue with the series or not. I did love the Fox sidekick, named Kit for the Japanese word for fox, Kitsune.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Paris Library- an engrossing look at WWII through a different set of eyes.

 

The Paris Library

by Janet Skeslian Charles

4/5 stars 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finished this book just yesterday. 

I just loved this book! A book about books, how fun!

The story goes back and forth between Paris 1939-1944, and Montana 1983.

In Paris, we follow the story of Odile, who becomes a librarian at the American Library in Paris (ALP).

I never knew such a thing existed.

In Montana, we follow the story of Lily, a teenager who lives next door to Odile.

It was easy to go between the 2 stories because each chapter has a heading of who is speaking and what year it is. So many books ignore this and just title chapters 1, 2, etc. A time hop is fine if we know where we are, when we are, and who is speaking.

I also really liked that the reason Odile ends up in Montana is not telegraphed so far ahead. Sometimes you can see things coming a mile away, and that was not the case here.

It was also really interesting to read a WWII book that was not from a Jewish perspective. I have read a ton of WWII type books from a Jewish perspective, which is very important, but it's good to see through different eyes as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firefly Summer- fizzled out for me

 

Firefly Summer

by Maeve Binchy

3/5 stars 

⭐⭐⭐

I finished this book in the middle of July.

Maeve Binchy writes long Irish saga books.

SO I read this one, for some armchair Irish travel.

It was OK. For me just OK.

A lot of sadness and tragedy, very long, and the ending felt very abrupt.

I was liking it OK and was really into it towards the end, but the ending- UGH.

Such a disappointing ending for me.

I wasn't sure how it would end when you saw how the wind was blowing for the one character, but I just was not satisfied with this ending.

Don't waste your time, this is LONG book.

The Color of Love - a book I did not like

 

The Color of Love 

by Marra B. Gad

2/5 stars

⭐⭐

I finished this book early in July.

In the Color of Love, Marra Gad explores and explains her life as a bi-racial Jewish woman, about to turn 50. It is really more like 2 books, the first about her experience growing up bi-racial and feeling rejected both by Jews and by blacks. The second part is about her experience taking guardianship of her Great-Aunt Nette (who always disliked her and treated her poorly) as Nette develops Alzheimer's. 

I am a Jewish woman about the same age as Ms. Gad who belongs to a reform congregation in the Chicago suburbs. I do not want to discount any of Ms. Gad's experiences, but I can’t help but wonder where she was going, because in our congregation, we have numerous interracial families, and everyone is welcome. We are delighted to have anyone sit and pray, and would never ask anyone "why are you here?" or "Should you be in the kitchen?? " NEVER.

Everyone's experiences are unique and their own, and I am sure that Ms. Gad suffered greatly to have written it all down in this book. For me, after a while, it was the same-same over and over. Yes, it was terrible, get over it, grow up, and move on. In the part about Nette and Alzheimer's, I felt if possible, even more alienated. Ms. Gad goes on about how she thinks or has this belief that as Alzheimer's develops you go back to your original state of "pure love", and her Aunt became so sweet and nice, and would say, "Hello pretty lady" to her. Well hooray for you, aren't you the lucky one? I have very recently lost a very close relative with severe dementia/Alzheimer's, and they became the meanest, nastiest, most difficult version of themselves. I could barely read this book, and I 100% certainly could not relate. Again, I realize my experience was mine, and Ms. Gad's experience was hers, and unique to her, but don't try to tell me that a state of pure love is what happens to Alzheimer’s patients…

I really did NOT like this book one little bit, I didn’t like anything about it, I thought the author was whiny, privileged, and self-indulgent. I will say however, it made me think, and I was thinking about it for days. 

American Dirt- suspenseful tale of immigrants

 

American Dirt

by Jeanine Cummins

4/5 stars 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finished this book on Aug 6.

I know there has been some controversy around it, but I thought it was a great book.

You really absorb the feelings of the characters, and there is great suspense.

This is the story of Lydia and her son, who flee Mexico to come to "el Norte" after a mass killing of the rest of their family.

While those of us who live here in the US certainly have heard stories of the hardships immigrants endure, seeing it through their eyes is illuminating. I have heard about coyotes, and how dangerous crossing the desert can be, but had never heard about la Bestia, and that folks ride on TOP of freight train cars, boarding and jumping off while the train is in motion.

I also had never heard that la Migra, that there was a Mexican immigration force trying to prevent this on the Mexican side.

The book was very well-written, and even though there are flashbacks, it's always clear what's going on and when.

The story is a hard and heartbreaking one, but a very quick read.

I would recommend this book for every American.

Mexican Gothic - a little too out there for me...

 

I apologize for the lack of posts in case anyone else is actually reading this blog. 

It's been a busy month. 

I have been reading as much as ever, just missed a few posts. 

Maybe I'll go back and get them...

Mexican Gothic 

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐

I actually finished this book last week...

This is the second book I have read by Silvia Morena-Garcia.

Previously I read G-ds of Jade and Shadow, which I absolutely loved.

Unfortunately, this book was MUCH slower paced, and I just not care for it as much.

It took me almost half-way in to really care about the characters,

and it felt like about half-way was where the action truly started.

Even though both books are sort of magical realism, for whatever reason, GOJAS just seemed more plausible than this one. It took forever to figure out what was really happening, and the action was set up so much quicker in Jade and Shadow.

At any rate, where I would recommend Jade and Shadow, I really can't say the same for Mexican Gothic. Too slow and out there for me.