fiction

The Knockoff: A Novel by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

~ SamanthaWho ~ 16 Comments

The Knockoff: A NovelA light story, The Knockoff: A Novel by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza, is a quick read. I listened to this one as an audiobook while commuting to and from work. While it was cheesy at times, it was an entertaining alternative to the same five pop songs playing from the radio on repeat.

The Knockoff: A Novel centers around Imogen, the editor in chief of a fashion magazine based in New York City. When Imogen returns to her job after a six month medical leave she finds that her magazine has been transformed into a website. As Imogen tries to keep up with the advancing technology and an office overrun with millennial employees, she finds herself to be irrelevant.

I have some opposing opinions on this book. One the one hand, parts of the story were funny and I related to the feeling of falling behind in a tech driven world. On the other hand, many aspects of the book are very unrealistic. Would Imogen’s magazine really convert to an entirely web based venture in only 6 months with an almost entirely new staff? Probably not. And then there is Eve; Imogen’s former assistant who has returned to the company after graduating with an MBA from Harvard Business School and who now runs the business. Eve is the character that you love to hate. A raging sociopath, the character is completely out of touch with reality. I think Eve’s unprofessionalism and bullying tactics are very unrealistic as well.

While I found Imogen to be endearing, at times I was completely fed up with her lack of self-preservation and that no matter how much she was pushed and bullied by Eve, she wouldn’t stand up for herself. While reading, I was raging in my head about all of the things that she should be saying instead!

The Knockoff: A Novel isn’t my favorite story, but it gives an interesting and funny view of society as we depend more and more on technology.

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

~ SamanthaWho ~ 22 Comments

The Wrath and the DawnI didn’t realize that The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh is the first book of a series so I was very confused when I was winding down to the final pages and the story wasn’t wrapping up. Upon finishing the book, and reading a very frustrating finish, I freaked out, shouting to my roommate about the irritating ending. What a cliffhanger of an ending it was and now I can’t wait to read the next one. Ahdieh totally hooked me and the sequel doesn’t come out until May of 2016! Let the waiting begin…

I wasn’t sure about The Wrath and the Dawn at first. Do you ever read a book and get so sucked into the smoothly constructed writing that you forget you’re reading? This story wasn’t one of those for me. BUT, and that’s a big but, I really enjoyed the book anyway and was completely enthralled by the ongoing relationship between Shahrzad and the boy king Khalid. A conflicting relationship of hate and passion, honesty and secrets, it’s definitely intriguing.

This story begins with the marriage between Shahrzad and Khalid. A mysterious young man, the king has been marrying a new bride each day and has had them each executed at dawn of the following morning. After a dear friend marries, and dies, at the command of the king, Shahrzad volunteers to marry him. Defying all odds she lives through the first dawn and vows to get revenge for her lost friend. The closer she gets to Khalid, the more conflicted her mission becomes…

Ahdieh’s debut novel is a good one, and with themes from Arabian Nights and Aladdin, there are elements of fantasy as well.

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

~ SamanthaWho ~ 2 Comments

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia HeaberlinJust in time for Halloween this weekend, I finished Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin. An eerie murder mystery, this is a great one to pick up on a dark fall evening. While Black-Eyed Susans is a haunting story, it doesn’t have the chilling tone of a Stephen King novel that can leave a reader feeling jumpy and full of nightmares.

The scenes switch between Tessa, a mother in her mid-thirties, and Tessie, her teenage self twenty years earlier. When Tessie was sixteen she was found nearly dead, along with a pile of bones, in a patch of black-eyed susan flowers. As the lone survivor of the serial killer, police turned to Tessie for the murderer’s identity… the only problem is that she can’t remember what happened.

Throughout Black-Eyed Susans it is clear that Tessa has not been able to move on from the horror of that night. When a patch of black-eyed susans are planted under her window, Tessa fears that she and her daughter Charlie may have to face her monster once again nearly two decades later.

I enjoyed this mystery novel and it kept me pretty hooked. There were a few questions that I felt were left unanswered, but maybe that was Heaberlin’s intention all along, no matter how frustrating!

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

~ SamanthaWho ~ 9 Comments

A Hundred SummersThis is one of my favorite books and I don’t throw that term around lightly. A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams is a fantastic historical fiction novel sharing the story of Nick and Lily. This was the first book I read of Williams and I have adored her writing style ever since.

A Hundred Summers switches between the years 1931 and 1938 in New York City and a nearby beach town where wealthy people spend their summers lounging by the shore. During present time in the book, 1938, Nick and Lily aren’t together, but when the story switches back to 1931 they are. The book is spent reconciling what happened between those years that tore the pair apart. Williams does a great job building characters and plot twists into the book to keep us readers guessing.

This story sucked me in and every misunderstanding between characters had me gripping the book in frustration. I love a book that makes me feel actively invested in the outcomes of the characters.

My one critique of A Hundred Summers was the ending, which was a bit random, but it worked. I loved this and every other book I’ve read by Beatriz Williams and I highly recommend her work!

Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner

~ SamanthaWho ~ 15 Comments

Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner With Who Do You Love, Jennifer Weiner has managed to turn a book about the struggles of life, love, and loss, into an engaging story. I think that’s what makes a great writer, the ability to turn mundane situations into a book worth reading.

Who Do You Love switches back and forth between Rachel and Andy, a pair that keeps ending up in each other’s lives. From a hospital waiting room to a teenage volunteering program to life as adults, they find themselves pulled back to one another.

Rachel was born with a heart defect and had grown up facing surgeries, hospital stays and coddling parents. Andy on the other hand, had grown up as a lonely child without anyone close to him besides his mother who had other things to think about. He was angry and felt unworthy of the love he desperately wanted, so he began to run. Running as hard, fast and long as he could, he began to see past the pain.

Rachel and Andy share a sweet love. It’s not the dramatic and perfect love of romance novels, but instead one of simplicity and connection.

This story is a good example of how character development can build a great story. Weiner brought Rachel and Andy to life in my mind and created a story that everyone can relate to in one way or another.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

~ SamanthaWho ~ 7 Comments

All the Bright PlacesI give All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven a big thumbs up. I went on a road trip for work last week and listened to this YA fictional novel and found it to be both touching and heartfelt.

The story begins when two high school seniors, Violet and Finch, meet on the roof of the bell tower at their school, both contemplating what it would mean to jump off. Violet has recently lost her sister in a car crash and Finch has always struggled to find where he fits into the world and why any of it matters. On top of the bell tower they both feel lost.

Through this story they save each other and their journey is really sweet. Violet learns how to live again and Finch learns to be comfortable as his wild and charming self. Both characters had been through so much and I was really interested to see how they each handled their grief.

This book is really good and I recommend it! One fun fact about the audiobook; the male narrator sounded a lot like John Mulaney, the comedian, which was a nice added bonus.

The brilliance of Harry Potter on audio

~ SamanthaWho ~ 27 Comments

 I have to hand it to Jim Dale, he does a fantastic job of narrating the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling on audiobook. While I prefer reading the books myself, I’m happy to listen to Dale narrate as I get ready for the work day or as I do chores around the house. The problem I find with many audiobooks is the narrator’s voice, which usually ends up distracting me from the actual story. I think that Dale does a great job of capturing each different characters’ accent and tone of voice really well. In this case I actually think he helps the book come alive because I get so sucked into the story that I honestly forget I’m listening to an audiobook
I’m currently listening the the fifth book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I had forgotten how funny the Weasley twins are and find myself cracking up at their pranks and experimental magical creations.

So if you haven’t tried listening to the Harry Potter series on audio – I highly recommend it. Not many people have time to sit down to read a seven book series, but listening to an audiobook is much more plausible. It honestly might be the only thing that makes cleaning the bathroom a not-so-bad task.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

~ SamanthaWho ~ 21 Comments

Don’t bother with 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I think King is a talented author and have enjoyed the books of his that I’ve read, but this story wasn’t worth the time. Definitely not worth the time it takes to read 880 pages.

11/22/63 by Stephen KingThis is the story of Jake Epping, a man living in Maine during the year 2011, who finds himself pulled into a plan to stop the Kennedy assassination from happening in 1963. How will he do this when he hadn’t even been born by that year? Through a time traveling portal of course. It’s an interesting idea, and the book is pretty well written, but its just WAY too long. The story backtracks over and over again and although I wanted to learn whether Jake accomplished his mission, I found my mind wandering on multiple occasions.

For those interested in the Kennedy assassination, and all of the conspiracy theories out there, this may be just the book for you! I wouldn’t recommend it to many others though when there are so many other great books out there and so little time to read them.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

~ SamanthaWho ~ 6 Comments

The Storied Life of A.J. FikryThis is a really sweet story. A few pages in, I wasn’t sure whether to stick with The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin because the main character is a snobby bookstore owner. I can’t stand people who think that they are superior because their reading tastes are “more advanced” than others and that’s what I saw in this character. At least, that’s what I felt at first.

Just a quick heads up, there are a few small spoilers ahead.

A.J. Fikry, a grumpy isolated man, is in a dark place in his life until a baby girl is abandoned in his bookstore with a desperate mother’s note asking for help. A.J. ends up connecting with the child and takes her into his home. This baby brings him back to life and her arrival changes him, making him open up to let in the world around him. He allowed the people in his community to become a part of his life as well, turning the bookshop into a central meeting spot.

The scenes between the two were funny as well, A.J. googling the different aspects of childrearing like how to run a bath or change a diaper, and the child’s view of the bookstore. This is a pretty quick story, only a couple hundred pages long, and I recommend it!

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez

~ SamanthaWho ~ 5 Comments

The Book of Unknown AmericansThe Book of Unknown American, written by Cristina Henriquez, focuses on the lives of immigrants from South and Central America living in the United States. I was drawn into this story because of the multiple perspectives that Henriquez writes from. Readers look through the eyes of children and adults, citizens and undocumented residents and learn of each of these character’s frustrations.

While the book contains narratives from many characters, the main story follows Maribel, a girl who has suffered a traumatic brain injury; which causes her family to move to the US in an attempt for a better life and a school with supportive programs. She meets a boy living in the same apartment complex and when she seems to be improving after spending time with him, they find an unexpected connection between them.

To be honest, the ending of this book disappointed me. While I felt that the story was interesting, I felt like the final scenes strayed from that main topic and became unfocused. I wish Henriquez had gone further with her characters because I would have liked to learn more about them.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book for the perspectives of multiple immigrants living in the U.S. and for the insights into the hardships experienced while looking for a better life.