All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry: The Review

All the Truth That's In Me

by

Julie Berry

 

Title: All the Truth That's In Me

Author: Julie Berry

Publisher: Templar Publishing

 Release Date: 31st August 2013

Formats Available: Hardback, Ebook

Buy This Book: Amazon

Judith and her friend Lottie both disappeared from their village four years ago and when Lotties body is found dumped in the river everyone presumes that Judith met the same fate. So when two years later Judith returns home, with her tongue missing the village are more than shocked. They believe God saw fit to punish her and that is why someone has cut out her tongue. They treat her as an outcast and even her mother forbids her from trying to speak. She has spent the last two years as a pariah in her pilgrim-like town. The only way she has dealt with it is to follow and long for Lucas Whiting, the young man she has been in love with since she was a little girl. When her town comes under attack Judith must find her voice and go back to face the man who kept her captive for so long. Judith has no idea just how much this decision will affect the village or her future.

The place I want to start with this review is the blurb. I read it on Netgalley.com and have to admit I was immediately intrigued but also confess I did not realise it was a historical fiction book. It was unclear to me what time period it was actually set in and I wish this was more clear as it made it hard for me to get in to the book at first. The blurb lead me to believe that the attack on her village and her return to her captor was the main storyline to this book. So when I discovered that this only led up to about a quarter of the way through the book I was quite surprised. It did throw me off a little bit as I hadn't seen it coming, but I am so glad that was the case. Really this book was about the after effects of Judith's decision to go back to her captor and ask for his help to save her village. The rediscovery of a man presumed dead leaves a lot of unanswered questions to what happened all those years ago to Lottie and Judith. The book is also told from Judiths point of view as if she were talking to Lucas, another thing I did not expect but surprisingly enjoyed; it's something I don't see to often in books.

I want to tell you about the parts of this book I loved but I must admit there are quite a few so please stick with me. I don't want to just say “the characters” but was tempted as I actually adored so many of them for different reasons. My favourite character was Judith, the idea of the main character and narrator of a book who is unable to converse with others seemed so strange to me. I was a bit worried that it would make her harder to connect with but I was so wrong. Her voice was incredible, the way she handles herself and the treatment she receives from the village really touched me. She seemed so brave and also so strong and the deep feelings she has for Lucas were so believable to me. How she reacts to news of his impending wedding, or how she feels when he asks her questions about her time in captivity almost made me well up, that's how real her emotions felt to me when I was reading them. The author actually made me feel like I was reading someones personal letters to someone she loves.

I must talk about Lucas, the young man Judith has loved for as long as she can remember. I was glad to find a male love interest in a book that wasn't just an amazingly attractive man and little else. He had a personality, makes mistakes and is so blind to Judith's feelings for him that I wanted to knock some sense in to him.

The friendship that developed throughout the book between Maria and Judith was really beautiful and I glad someone was willing to give Judith a chance and not just judge her for her missing tongue and what that might mean. The development of Judith's relationship with her mother was always something I enjoyed. I struggled to understand her mother and why she was not completely ecstatic that her daughter was returned home to her alive and well. But that is the time they are living with and that was something that I had to get used to.

The story of this book did keep me guessing throughout which I liked; it can get quite boring reading books that you can tell exactly how they are going to play out. It was part historical, part romance and part crime mystery; and what a great mix that was. I loved the second half of this book the most, which was centred more around on the after effects of Judith bringing her captor back, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions and the town are determined to uncover the truth.

I really want to give some reasons why I didn't like the review so I can feel like I was objective but I can't help it. I really enjoyed this book and can't really say I didn't like it. My only point would be that I don't think the blurb really showed what the book was going to be about which really threw me at the beginning and made it difficult for me to get into the book.

All I can really tell you about this book is what I loved about it and why I enjoyed it so much. I know everyone likes different genres and types of books so I can't guarantee you will like this book but I would really recommend this. It touched me and had me close to tears at one point but also tempted to throw the book across the room as I didn't like where it was headed and I was actually tempted to do a Joey from friends and put the book in the freezer. If Julie Berry writes anymore Young Adult fiction I am going to be there waiting to grab it as soon as it hits shelf. I loved this!

 4/5 Stars


P.S When I finished the book I wanted to see what others had thought about it, in hopes they loved it as much as me. So when googling reviews I was so happy I came across this one at findingblissinbooks, it made me laugh so hard at the end. Glad  wasn't the only person who sat there trying to talk like I didn't have a tongue.

*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.

 

Just Like Other Daughters by Colleen Faulkner: The Review

Just Like Other Daughters

by

Colleen Faulkner

 Title: Just Like Other Daughters

Author: Colleen Faulkner

Publisher: Kensington Books

Release Date: 2nd December 2013 (Paperback)

Formats Available: Paperback, Ebook

Buy This Book: Amazon

Alicia is a fifty year old woman who has spent the last twenty five years of her life caring for and loving her daughter Chloe, who was born with Down syndrome. Alicia has made her life about making Chloe happy and making sure she always does what is best for her. But when Chloe meets Thomas, a young mentally challenged man, at her daycare centre and insists she is in love, Alicia is unsure what to do. She had never envisioned Chloe growing up and having a romantic relationship with somebody, had never even considered it. How can her daughter, who can not be left home alone or who can't deal with simple tasks like sorting dark and light clothes, really understand the complexities of romantic love. Alicia must struggle with what she believes is right for her daughter and what Chloe feels and wants for herself. 

I'm not even sure where I can begin with this book. I just want to grab someone, anyone and tell them to read it, to explain to them why I loved it so much. But it's half eleven at night so I will have to write about it here instead. I LOVED IT! I was unsure at first, struggled at times but ultimately this book won my heart completely and I need to explain why.

I'm going to start by explaining some of the reasons why I loved it so much. Alicia is a big part of that. She could definitely frustrate me, I wanted to reach into my kindle and strangle her at times; I found myself disagreeing with her occasionally; the things she was saying, doing, thinking. But that was part of the reason I loved her so much; she was real. She felt like a real person, talking to me, sharing with me; like you were having a conversation with someone not just reading a narrative. Her thoughts and feelings felt so genuine, I could relate to them and felt that if I were in her situation I would feel the same. She made mistakes and she could be stubborn but I've never met anyone who isn't. She felt so real to me that I wanted to meet her, to hug her, to comfort her and tell her not to worry so much, she's doing an amazing job and she's an amazing mother. I loved her internal struggles with Chloe's relationship with Thomas and all the reasons she had for being uncomfortable with it.

The secondary characters in this book didn't fade into the background which I felt was really important. There's nothing I hate more in a book then it being full of one dimensional secondary characters that I struggle to connect with or feel any emotion towards, good or bad. So another reason that I rate this book so highly is because I cared for, laughed with and cried for the other characters in this book, not just Alicia. Jin, the caring, funny, smart next door neighbour who is always there for Alicia when she needs someone to talk to. Randall, the literature professor and and ex-husband who has struggled with accepting Chloe for who she is since she was born. Chloe, who the author provided with a few parts of the story from her perspective so that you could better understand her thought process, what she was thinking and feeling at times when it really mattered. She loves Disney movies for one; how could I not love her when she is a girl after my own heart? I even enjoyed secondary characters like Minnie Wellson who ran the daycare centre and Thomas' mother Margaret because of how often I wanted to slap her for being so cheerful and positive even though she never seemed to really think about a situation. 

It's hard for me to pick out my favourite part of this book as I grew to love it more and more as it went one. I think the end may just win it though because of how emotional it made me feel for good reasons and bad reasons. I can't even describe the sensation I got reaching the end of this book; I was sad because it was over, that my time with Alicia was over and I really didn't want her story to end. I wanted to be able to sit down and drink a good few bottles of wine with her and talk things through like she does with Jin (which is a feeling I don't often feel with most books)

The more emotional and sadder scenes were written so well. I felt the emotion in every sentence and it would really choke me up at times. This book made me care; it had me laughing one minute and crying the next and at times even both at once. When Alicia goes in to detail about the way she had thought of killing Randall and burying him in the garden had me laughing so loudly at my kindle I'm sure I looked crazy.That's what I look for in a book; I need it to make me care. If I'm not emotionally invested in the characters then I don't feel the book was worth my time. I can't remember the last time I read a book that had me as emotional as this one did, that had me caring so deeply for the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed how much this book had to teach me; you could tell that Colleen Faulkner had put a lot of time and energy into research. I must admit to knowing very little about Down syndrome and this book taught me a lot. I was not aware that women with Down syndrome have a lower rate of conception. Nor did I know that fifty percent of all Down syndrome people are born with a heart defect.

As I have listed all the reasons I loved this book, I feel it is only fair I right about the ways I didn't like it. The story started off really slowly and events that unfold nearer to the end of the book I felt should have been introduced around the halfway point or just after as it would have been more interesting to read about Alicia's thoughts and feelings on the matter in depth. But this book did keep me guessing and definitely surprised me at times. 

             The story seemed to almost stall at times and didn't grab my attention and make me want to keep reading but thank goodness that Alicia did. She was such a strong character and voice that I needed to see where life was going to take her and how she was going to deal with it.. So that got me through the parts that didn't grab me as much as I would have liked. It also jumped from one scene or setting to another so fast that I almost couldn't keep up at times with who Alicia was talking to from one sentence to the other.

              The end; not that I didn't care for the ending but that I would have loved an epilogue set a few years in the future. I really wanted to see how Alicia was coping with everything that life had thrown at her, I needed to see how she was doing.

I believe I may have found a new author to watch out for. I love authors like Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain and I must admit this had the same kind of feel to it. I would definitely recommend to anyone who liked any of the following:

The Memory KeepersDaughter – Kim Edwards

House Rules – Jodi Picoult

Before the Storm – Diane Chamberlain

Three books I thoroughly enjoyed that also show the relationships between mentally challenged children and their parents.

4/5 Stars

Prepare to laugh and prepare to cry, whether it be tears of joy or tears of sadness. This is a book that will make you care, that will pull you in and make you fall in love with Alicia and feel all her emotions right along with her. It has been quite some time since a book has made me care quite so much and I hope you can find the same enjoyment I did from this book and if you don't I would love to hear why.

*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.

 

Ten Tiny Breaths by K. A. Tucker: The Review

Title: Ten Tiny BreathsAuthor: K. A. TuckerPublisher: Atria BooksBuy This Book: Book Depository / 

Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbour with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.Kacey doesn't want to feel. She doesn't. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.But Kacey isn't the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgiveable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness. 

Ten Tiny Breaths by K. A. Tucker = My First Ever Galley (Courtesy of NetGalley). Sorry for the caps and underlining there but it's kind of a big deal. I have been really interested in getting galleys for a long time. I work in a library and it would be amazing to be able to have books in mind to order in before they have even been published and way before customers start coming in to request them. This is perfect. I can read the book, then get the joy of reviewing, whilst also deciding if it's something we should have in our library. So when I got my first ever approval I have to admit I was rather excited. Probably embarrassingly so. There may have been some fist in the air, diving for the kindle, screaming "I got one" moments. Ten Tiny Breaths caught my eye for one reason & one reason only: The amazing cover! It really is just strikingly beautiful and did it's job. I immediately stopped my browsing and read the blurb for it.It sounded intriguing, was under young adult fiction (my favourite kind) and, although maybe not entirely my type of book, I immediately wanted to read it. 

Kacey Cleary's life fell apart the night a drunk driver hit her parents car; killing her parents, boyfriend and best friend.She has been haunted by dreams ever since, reliving it over and over and over again. She shuts everyone out and turns to drink, drugs and meaningless sex to cope. When she moves with her sister to Miami she is prepared for everything, well everything but the people she meets there. It never occurred to her that after so long of pushing people away; she might actually find someone she wants to let in. 

I absolutely loved Storm, Kacey's new next door neighbour. When she first burts onto the scene in this book I was sure she would be a secondary character that pops in and out; that I have absolutely no like or dislike for. I was surprised to find that this character was given much more than that, and I absolutely grew to love her and her little girl Mia. 

Kacey's sister Livvie is another character that I found myself falling in love with. She seemed so real and the way she was struggling to deal with the change in her sister since the accident seemed so believable to me.

Trent is the guy from apartment 1D and Kacey is immediately attracted to him. But she is still determined to not let him get close to her. But Trent is persistent and eventually breaks down all the walls Kacey has built for herself. As characters go, I must admit that Trent was actually my least favourite. I fell in love with the secondary characters so much more, Mia, Storm & Livvie stole my heart.

 This was classed under Young Adult Fiction but I think it is more suited for a higher age range. I think it would actually be perfect in my library as we have has a steep increase in the number of people looking for romance books like this. I believe it's from the fallout of the whole Fifty Shades of Grey craze.

As I have mentioned in previous books, I am not the biggest fan of romance books and less so of the kinds of books that have begun filling the bookshelves since Fifty Shades. We've all seen them, the black covers with a random object on the front; like a shoe, a necklace, a tie etc. and words like seducing, forbidden and secret in the title.

I have read a few and mostly found them badly written, with characters that have 0 substance and that I want to hit rather than root for. Most I read seemed like badly written trash- Thoughtless by S C Stephens & Fifty Shades to jump to mind. To the ones that had great potential that were absolutely ruined - The Boy Who Sneaks in my Bedroom Window being one example. It was absolutely rare that I found one that I genuinely enjoyed; Slammed by Colleen Hoover is absolutely amazing and I loved it; even the bits I audibly cringed my way through (soppy romance is so not me)

Thankfully in this case I had characters I loved, good writing and a decent storyline that even though you can see where it's going at times you don't mind. I would definately buy it in at the library for our romance collection, personally wouldn't buy it for my own collection. But if you are a fan of romance, need your next fix since Fifty Shades, Thoughtless and so many others than this book is definately for you. 

3/5 Stars

*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins: Review

Title: Crank

Author: Ellen Hopkins

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Buy This Book: Book Depository / Amazon

Life was good 
before I 
met 
the monster.

After, 
life 
was great, 
At 
least 
for a little while. 

Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. 
Then, Kristina meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul & her life. (Goodreads summary.)

"Just Before The Drop
You know how you
stand and stand and stand
in line for the most
gigantic incredible roller
                                      coaster
you’ve ever dared attempt.

Anticipation swelling,
minute by minute by minute,
you choose to wait even
longer, to ride in the front
                                      car
and finally it’s your turn.

They buckle you in, lock the
safety bar with a jolting clunk!
Hook engaged, the chain jerks
you forward. You start to
                                      climb
Crank-crank-crank.

Cresting the top, time
moves into overtime
as you wait for that scant
hesitation, just before you
                                     drop

You know how you feel
at that instant? Well, that’s
exactly how it feels when you
shake hands with the
monster."

I have literally just finished Crank by Ellen Hopkins. I immediately felt the urge to come on here and post my thoughts on it. It had been recommended to me by numerous people, and I had seen it on so many top ten lists that I finally decided to give it a go. It is written entirely in verse, something I was not aware of at the time of taking the book out from the library where I work. And I must admit I felt a slight trepidation at opening it and discovering this. But don't let this put you off.

I soon got used to the verse, to how the words were spread out over the pages. How my eyes kept needing to adjust. I was completely sure I would be entirely unable to get in to the story because of how it was written. I was completely surprised to find that it seemed to draw me in more.

 Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter, a straight A student, quiet and never in any trouble. That is until she visits her father and finds the old her; the Kristina in her, disappearing. And the new, the fearless and the willing-to-try-anything-once Bree in her place. It is here she meets Adam, who draws her in to the world of crystal meth or CRANK as it is known. Kristina finds herself lost in it. Bree seems to be taking over more and more. And she will do anything she can for her next fix.

I was drawn easily in to the world of Kristina. How she felt about what she was doing, what she was feeling when she was on the drugs. And why she kept going back for more. As someone who has never had any interest in drugs & have always, quite frankly, been quite judgemental of those who are drawn in so easily to the world of drugs this was an interesting read for me. Seeing how easily she is drawn in and how easily the drugs take over who she is and what she wants.

I was unsure whether I would like this book but I would recommend it. I feel it is an intriguing and interesting read. It kept me interested from beginning to end and I really wanted to see how it ended. It is not surprising to find that this book is based on the author's daughter and her experiences with crystal meth. You can tell that that the author knows what she is talking about, that she has gone through this before, that she has dealt with someone who has been taking over by the monster themselves. 

4/5 Stars

This is written entirely in verse, which takes a little getting used to but worth the effort. It was such an interesting and unique read. I was drawn so easily into the story and Kristina's life. This book gripped me and didn't let me go till the end. A very moving book, especially when you realise it is based on the author's own daughter. A wonderful story, I definitely recommend. 

 

Welcome

The First Blog

I am most definately a book worm, owning over 450 books & by working in a library I am constantly surrounded by books. I enjoy nothing more then reading a good book and than sharing the joy with others. In this blog I will be reviewing books that I have read and recommending reads and hopefully getting recommendations from others. 

I read all different types of books but have a great love for young adult fiction and an unwavering loyalty to adult fiction author Jodi Picoult. I hope you find my reviews helpful or can even recommend me books that I can read and review. 

Much love bloggers!