I went into this novel not knowing much about it except having read the basic description of the book, and I recommend doing the same…knowing little as possible!!! I really loved it and couldn’t put it down. It is very character driven and the dialogue is sharp.
Thirty-four year old Morgan begins to see her life as predictable and struggles with her identity as a housewife. Her teenage daughter, Clara, feels like she is treated with too many rules but respects her parents wishes. That is, until an unexpected event occurs leaving their family in shock. How can they be honest with each other when the trust has already been broken? Can they find redemption and heal their relationship?
Chapters alternate between the mother, Morgan, and her her daughter, Clara. It starts off at Morgans high school graduation party and reveals Morgan’s realization that she is pregnant. After this first chapter, everything takes place during Morgan’s life as 34 year-old -mother and Clara’s life as a 16 year-old on the brink of 17 years old.
Topics include- underage drinking, marijuana usage, teen pregnancy, teen sex
Followers is a timely debut novel about the power of social media, the internet, and technology. It demonstrates the effect it has on our relationships and the damage that can be caused because of its influence. Have our friendships and family dynamics changed because of the prominence of social media? How has the internet changed us? What is the purpose of social media, and who is accountable for what is promoted on our pages/feeds: society or individuals? In Followers, a dystopian atmosphere is painted to show different outcomes that could occur if balance is not reached.
Chapters alternate between Marlow and Orla:
Is privacy only an illusion? In Marlow’s world, in 2051, her life almost seems to be choreographed in order to keep her followers online. But, can likes replace loneliness? Marlow’s world consists of pleasing a tyrannical pharmaceutical company, Hysteryl, who helped create her brand. Marlow starts to question the difference between friends and online followers. How can her life feel so empty when she has millions who watch her every move? When asked to take the next big step in her life in order to pacify the public, Marlow realizes that she amounts to more than publicists, branding, and marketing. How will she escape when the program can track her, bots can automatically identify anyone in passing, and everyone recognizes her from the media?
“You may not know them like you know your mom and dad,” she breathed, “but your followers are your friends- your very special friends. The happier and brighter you act, the more special friends you’ll get- and the more special friends you get, the happier and brighter your life will be.”
Orla, a struggling writer in 2015, lives in an age promoting endless distractions. Until she creates a name for herself, she feels that she must rely on trends and the rich and famous to maintain a prolific workflow in New York as a budding blogger. Meanwhile, her new roommate looks for fame and wants to market herself on social media as a career. Constantly buried in their devices, how different are they really? What is the value of their work, and how does it influence their relationship and those around them?
“Did she ever think that maybe they’d all be better off off-line? Without any internet, period?”
I really enjoyed this novel and recommend it to readers who enjoy dystopian fiction. My only complaints about this novel is that there were several subplots that caused the intensity of story line to subside. Also, in the end, there was a big moment where I had to suspend belief regarding a city in the future called Atlantis, especially concerning the economics involved. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
Told in first person, our main character and narrator Lillian travels to see her friend, Madison, who has a job offer for her. It isn’t until after she accepts the job as governess to Madison’s step-children that Madison tells her the kids burst into flames when they feel angry or frustrated.
The fire children do not make an appearance until 26% (on a Kindle). The first 1-7% is the foundation of Lillian and Madison’s relationship. This includes how the met, their school-girl-days, and their current status. The story of their girlhood makes you feel emphatic towards Lillian and resentful towards Madison. From 7-26% it is Madison preparing Lillian for the children, and Lillian adjusting to her new rich life at her friends mansion house since Madison married a wealthy Senator. From 26%-until the end is the adventure of Lillian with the flammable twins.
Lillian’s voice and POV is what makes the story so comical. Her comparisons, overemphasis, self-deprecation, and sarcasm created lots of laughable moments. While the beginning starts off hilarious, the story itself that revolves around the relationship of the main character and the two children who are combustible is starkly serious. Though obviously cynical, I felt the twins ability to burst into flames an affect of both satire and analogy. The embedded theme for their paranormal state of combustion seems to mirror the treatment of children who have behavioral challenges that might just be misunderstood or have yet to receive proper coping skills. Does love have its limits? The flammable twins struggle to feel love from their father because of their flaw and ultimately want to feel accepted by their family.
“They didn’t want to set the world on fire. They just wanted to be less alone in it.“
Family dynamics, parental love, and acceptance is a focus in this funny but short tale that includes wearing inflammable clothes and applying noncombustible stuntman gel to those around. How will Lillian learn to handle the children when they “burst into flames”?
I loved this book and laughed out loud! But at the end, I teared up!
The main character, Olive, picks up shortly after where she left off in the previous novel, Olive Kitteridge. While this is the second novel in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone because she recaps the main events that happened in the first novel. However, I recommend reading the first novel in order to appreciate some of the returning characters.
Life’s transitions, juxtapositions, and troubles are celebrated through Olive and the other characters. I found the last half of the novel to be extremely emotional. Olive is reaching a fragile point in her life and begins to calculate its significance and purpose. What makes a full life? As Olive ages, she continues to engage in the boulevard of life while trying to amount her existence.
“But here was the world, screeching its beauty at her day after day, and she felt grateful for it.”
In Olive, Again there are thirteen short stories. Out of the 13 short stories, 5 of those are Olive’s direct story. In the remaining 8 stories, Olive makes an appearance in some shape or form. Each short story relates to the central theme of the novel to some degree and occur near or in the setting of Maine. Topics include suicide, sexual freedom, family, adultery, and aging.
I love Olive, Again and recommend to lovers of literary sagas and contemporary fiction . Thank you to Elizabeth Strout, Random House, and NetGalley for a copy. Opinions are my own.
To learn more about Elizabeth’s Strout’s book tour for Olive, Again click here.
The plot synopsis provided for this novel is extremely accurate, so I will just be reviewing my likes, dislikes, and other thoughts.
I enjoyed the character of Rose: a yoga doing, meditating, mantra chanting, spunky step-grandmother. Her character was interesting, unique, and easy to relate to. Rose was simply awesome, and I love her! I also fell in love with her sister, Marion, and loved Marion’s character. On the other hand, most of the events that unfold are far-fetched, so you must read with an open mind. Too add to that statement, sometimes the action occurring in the scenes was hard to follow. I had to go back and re-read the page or paragraph and still didn’t comprehend the directional imagery occurring, meaning that some scenes I had a difficult time picturing in my mind because of enigmatic descriptions.
This book is filled with humor, but also serious topics. The humor lies within Rose herself; her take on things not as a senile old lady, but as person with a flamboyant and tickled personality. Though Rose’s humor will cause you to giggle, the sensitive situation that can occur in care units and nursing homes creates an atmosphere of unease and mystery for the reader.
The central theme focuses on ageism and the labyrinth of navigating the waters extended family. While at times I was concerned with Rose and her circumstances, other times I felt detached. It was entertaining, but not a spellbinding page turner. For me, the unique characters are what made this so enjoyable. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Neverra Barr for a copy. Opinions are my own.
Quotes to help you get to know Rose:
“The city of Charlotte must have and ordinance requiting homeowners to plant twenty percent of their land in Azaleas, Rose thinks.“
“…I cannot tell you home much I have been craving a pair of good old cotton underpants.”
““We’ve all got it coming,” clint Eastwood says from some neglected corner of her cerebral cortex.“
1910-1913, New York: A world where men hold the upper hand. Values are changing with the turn of the century. Women are still fighting for their rights. A young female can be sent away or imprisoned for nearly any act of defilement or unbecoming behavior.
Told from three different viewpoints, the story begins through the eyes of Effie, a twelve-year-old growing up in a wealthy household but constrained to a strict set of principles and rules. Longing to hold on to their Victorian values, her family pushes her older sister Luella away. Attached to Luella, Effie finds herself in the House of Mercy after searching for her sister. Luella and Effie’s mother, Jeanne, struggles to maintain her composure while her family begins to crumble. Her social status and reputation in society as a lady cause conflict in her priorities as she seeks to mend her family. Mable befriends Effie in the House of Mercy, but can they trust each other? Mable recalls her past in flashbacks which reveal a pattern of betrayal and deceit.
“There are girls who get put away for more, if they’re not reformed” “Or repentant” “It’s like prison. You get put away for however long fits the crime. There are girls who’ve been in there for ten years, twenty. Some never get out, but I heard three years was the minimum.” “That can’t be true.” “I’m just telling you what I heard”
3.5 out of 5 stars explained: The setting was great, and I found it suitable and well-researched. The start was slow to build, and the story doesn’t begin to climb until 25% (on a Kindle). I highly enjoyed Mable’s chapters. I found her voice and story to be more fitting to the description of the book. Mable was intriguing and enlightening to the era. The other two POV’s, Effie and Jeanne’s, were not as exciting for the reader and sometimes caused the plot progression to be slower. The actual scenes within the confines of the House of Mercy are limited, and I would say are only detailed in about 12-16% of the entire story itself. You will not learn too much about The House of Mercy from reading this novel. Most of the story focuses on the family dynamics and some gender conflict. I would have liked to have seen more history apart from the setting and a very small appearance from Inez Milholland. The ending was predictable. The very end, the epilogue, was cheesy and cliché for my taste. It’s not a story that I continued to think about it after reading. Overall, I liked it and found it to be an average read that was engaging during various times and moderate at other times.For the above mentioned reasons, I rounded down to 3 stars. Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy. Opinions are my own.
Night of Power is the considered the most holiest of nights in Ramadan. While the title itself connotes a religious and cultural tone, the book actually focuses on the social constructs within a family of refugees. The family in the story are India-Africa-Muslim, having been part of the Indian-Asian Ugandans who fled Uganda in 1972 under Ida Amin (the Butcher of Uganda). However, their past is not a central topic and is only mentioned in a flashback to provide a short background of where they came from. I thought that this might also include Indophobia because of the circumstances, however, Indophobia was not a theme or point that was brought up. The central theme revolves around the broken relationship between the family. It chronicles the dynamics between father, mother, and son.
The main characters alternate between three family members who live in Canada: Mansoor, Layla, and Ashif. The father of the household, Mansoor, strives for success in his business. He wants a better life for his family and is haunted by the memories of his own father. The mother, Layla, holds onto her heritage and religious roots although her husband has made it clear that heritage and religion are not needed in his house to be successful. Ashif, the son, grows to become a busy corporate suit, and his parents fall into his young adult life as ambiguous shadows of his past.
Different priorities and definitions of respect create friction between the family of three. They struggle to look beyond the scars of their relationships with each other in order to heal. Each character struggles with their own identity and assimilating into a new culture that often creates internal conflict.
There are a lot of Punjabi and Arabic words in this book, so I recommend reading it on a Kindle to translate if you are not familiar with Muslim customs.
I really wanted more from the characters and more from the story line, to go deeper and enter the complexity of a cultural climax but felt I only got a spoonful instead of the bowl. I knew this was about family crisis from the blurb, but was interested to see how Ramadan was involved with the story line and that aspect fell short. However, it was still an enjoyable read and I liked it. It’s a short read, being only 240 pages. Many thanks to NetGalley, Viking, and Anar Ali for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
“My gramma’s dead,” I explain. “I don’t have a daddy.” That’s what my Mama always says. She says I’m like a Cabbage Patch doll, that she found me growing in a garden and took me home.
Six-year-old Aoife attempts to navigate life amidst a winding family dilemma. With her mother recently institutionalized and her brother Theo dead, Aoife seeks to unearth the truth of her brother’s death with the help of her imaginary friend.
The emphasis of this book is on family and mental illness. Does a mental illness mean you are not capable of love? Can a damaged family heal? Is lying okay if it protects those closest to you?
Told from Aoife’s point of view, the tone throughout the story was childlike, yet astute. Her playful imagination revealed her childlike innocence even amid crisis. “Sometimes when grown-ups ask if you can do something, they are really just telling you to do it.”As a result of a six-year-old point of view, it was a quick, easy, and enjoyable read. On the other hand, for such a young age that provided the POV, it limited the use of language and literary devices in the story. Still, a delightful story.
A wonderful debut novel. Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books, Eliza Nellums, and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
