Less than two weeks into the New Year, and I’ve already discovered my first one star review. I’m actually surprised because halfway through I thought there were still enough redeeming qualities for two stars, but the more it went on, and the more I wanted it to end, the further my rating went down. I admit it doesn’t help the novel at all that I kept having to force myself to read a few chapters between books I actually wanted to read instead of reading […]
Jen K’s Review 9: The Soldier’s Song
I bought this book over two and half years ago while visiting the Dublin Writers Museum because of course I had to leave with at least one book by an Irish author, and Joyce is scary (I also participated in a Literary Pub Crawl of Dublin during that vacation though I think I preferred the one I did in Edinburgh). Anyway, for some reason I never quite got around to reading any of the books I bought on that trip, and I’m trying to both […]
Jen K’s Review #8: The Secret Keeper
This is the fourth novel available by Kate Morton, and as far as I’m tracking, I’m now completely caught up on her writing. While this novel displayed many of the same engaging plot twists, and secrets buried in the past, I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as some of her previous efforts, though it was still an enjoyable and engaging read – especially towards the end. Full review.
Jen K’s Review #7: The Rhythm of Memory
Given how much I enjoyed Richman’s novel The Lost Wife, there really was no way I was going to pass this up when I found it for $3.99 in a bargain bin. Like her other novel, she plays with timelines, basically using the novel’s modern day of 1998 to frame the story. However, she starts the novel with a teaser, Salome’s release from prison in 1974 where she has been held to punish her husband for speaking out against Pinochet’s regime in Chile. Full review.
Jen K’s Review #6 – In the Shadow of the Banyan
I’ve been looking forward to reading this novel for a while, even if other books kept getting in the way. I would like to visit Cambodia one day, mostly to visit Angkor Wat, and a friend of mine lives there. As a result I was very interested to read about this darker period of Cambodian history which I had only a vague inkling of. Ratner is a descendant of one of the Cambodian kings so this novel is very much drawn on her actual experiences […]
Jen K’s Review #5: Thirteen
This is the concluding novel of the Women of the Otherworld series, and wraps up the Savannah Levine trilogy that started with Waking the Witch. Overall, I think it was a very fitting ending, though I don’t think Savannah is really one of my favorite narrators. That honor would be reserved for Elena, Eve and Jaime. Still, it makes sense that the novel would end with Savannah as she is the middle between the next generation of women and the ones that made up the […]