Is it just me, or did the entire month of July seem to fly away with the blink of an eye? I can hardly believe it’s time for another monthly book review. I love receiving recommendations, so if you have any, dear readers, please share them with me!
JULY 2015 BOOK REVIEWS
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
I knew it would be good by the time I got to page three. The book is told solely in the point of view from the main character, Kathy, who suffers from a serious and chronic case of OCD, paired with PTSD. This stems from an abusive relationship she had with a man named Lee, three years ago. The chapters flip flop from present to past (3 years previous). You are taken back to the start of the relationship, when Kathy and Lee meet, and through reading the flashback chapters, are dragged along a downward, slippery slope of how and why this relationship went awry. Halfway through, it gets pretty dark, and has that shudder-inducing feeling. Actually, no, you will shudder, a lot, at a handful of things that happen. None the less, it was very difficult to put down, and I read it in less than a week. The author, Elizabeth Haynes, was wonderful, and I will absolutely look into purchasing her other novels.
PS. This novel was set in London, and have I mentioned how much I adore novels set in London?
Verdict: Read it!
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Midway into July, I caught a terrible cold, which kept me quarantined in the apartment for a solid 48 hours. I read this from cover to cover in between bowls of soup and naps, in that time period.
Hannah, a junior in high school, just committed suicide by overdosing on pills. Though, beforehand, she decides to go out with a BANG, and leave behind her story. Hannah has thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Each reason is tied to one of her classmates, and each reason is recorded on a cassette tape. All cassettes are thrown together in a package, mailed around, one by one, to each of the kids Hannah feels are ‘responsible’ for her death. These kids are to listen to all 13 stories, and then pass it along to the next person on the list.
Each chapter was laid out per story, or rather, per ‘reason.’ You’d think the reasons would be pretty dark, right? I kept waiting for the BIG, oh my gawwwwd moment, because every story felt like a build up, but to nothing. Nothing kill-yourself-worthy actually happened. It was irritating to read, and was a bit of a let down.
I found myself rolling my eyes at the overly dramatic theatrics of this very hard to believe, behind ridiculous, plot. Almost like reading an episode of 7th Heaven, minus the church, 7 kids, and adding in snotty high schoolers, depression, and cassette tapes.
In 2011, Universal Studios actually purchased the rights to begin filming. However, production is at a standstill and most likely will not move forward. After reading the novel, it’s not hard to understand why that would be. The plot is just… well… just, no.
OK, rant over.
Verdict: Wouldn’t recommend, total waste of money
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
This is my third novel from Liane Moriarty. I adore her, and her style. I think through her writing, Liane really draws out the complexity expressed in relationships we experience as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, and even in our friendships. It was just so beautiful, and truly makes you examine your own behavior, and the effects it may just have on the most important people in your life. How minuscule, petty behavior can lead to deep and lifelong resentments and grudges. I really enjoy reading books that force you to think outside yourself.
This book is about Alice, a woman with temporary memory loss after hitting her head from a bad fall. She wakes up, with zero memory of the last 10 years of her life, thinking she is still 29, pregnant with her first child, happily married. The book weaves together pieces of Alice’s life that land her where she is, three kids later, on the brink of divorce from her husband Nick. It perfectly captures the anguish of taking a step back and seeing how your life ended up the way it did.
Verdict: READ! And I also recommend her other two books, I read them last year: The Husband’s Secret and Big Little Lies
It’s now August, I’m already halfway through two books, which is a great jump start. Hopefully you’ll get FOUR reviews in August. Alright, dear readers, happy reading!