Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, how, sweet! One of my GoodReads friends, Lovely Primrose, recommended this to me. That was a long time ago. I couldn’t afford it so I put it on hold from my library. It seemed forever before it came my turn to read. Of course, I ordered the large-print version. I was glad. It was quite comfortable for my eyes to read. Even more, it was a joy for my heart.

Romance. Yuck! That’s what I usually think. But this book grabs you right from the beginning. You get the story from Eleanor and Park’s points of view. The angst of the story wasn’t ‘does he/she love me?’ but rather the angst of not fitting in. And it shows the inner beauty of these two people.

You get to see how their lives work at home and it all becomes clear why they act the way they do. Even though it was a hefty one, because of being large-print, book, I found I didn’t want to stop reading. I thought about it when I wasn’t reading. And… I am sad it came to an end. I would love to see a book two. It isn’t needed except for the fact that I miss the characters. It ends with a satisfactory feeling. But… please, please, please??

I recommend this one for anyone young at heart.

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Review: Undrawn

Undrawn by Conchie Fernandez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclosure: I received this Kindle version book on an author giveaway day.

Honestly, have you every let something sit on the shelf too long? That is what happened here. I wish I would have read it right away. I usually have an email back up to let me know how I received a book. This time, I only had the tags (shelves on GoodReads) that I set up when I got it. So this review isn’t timely. Sorry.

I have a problem reading contemporary books. They are too real. I like to read to escape everyday situations like family dysfunction and death and how those two problems play out in real life. And though this book is well-written, this is what jumped out at me: dysfunctional, rich family with high expectations. Throw into that a gay son, another son who would rather pursue his art, who won’t be following into law school, who has diabetes (type 1)… bossy oldest brother… Real life. I suppose if you are living in an enchanted land this would be the story for you. For me? Depressing.

The author, Conchie Fernandez, has made the kind of book you don’t want to put down. You want to see what will happen. You want to see if there are any redeemable moments for any of the characters. So I would guess that it is hope that drives the book. Ms. Fernandez’s characters are realistic. Her research seems strong yet subdued. It is a quick read and inspires me want to paint.

As I said before if you are escaping reality, death, cussing, etc. this isn’t for you. If you want to read good writing, great characters, enjoy!

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Review: A Dance with Dragons

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can’t believe I am finally finished with my second reading of A Song of Ice and Fire! As I have stated in my occasional GoodReads status updates, for the most of these books I have followed the recommended merged reading order for second readings recommended by All Leather Must Be Boiled.

They, also, have a recommended way to read it all the first time. Resources like Boiled Leather, and conversations with my offspring, along with the television series, helped me see this whole story in a much clearer way. I suggest this series is best in situations like reading groups. The depth of characters and plot are enhanced by all these inclusions in my life.

I am glad I read it all again. Now if only the television series will catch up! Oh, and hanging on the cliff waiting for the next book to come out–Grrr! I hate waiting! For this, and for the boredom that often occurred with many of the characters and plot twists, I still haven’t grasped, brings only 4 stars for this book and the whole series. In the next book I hope there are strong females who have learned lessons and are ready to take over the world. That will raise the rating to 5 stars!

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Review: The Locket Thief

The Locket Thief by Daniel Patrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you, Daniel Patrick, for the offer of a lifetime! You were right! This book was brilliant! I hated when real life drew me away from reading it.

This book is like a combination Golden Compass, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Annie. The action and adventure never lets up. The characters are well developed. I loved that it felt gender neutral. I think young men and women would love this equally, as well as children and senior citizens. There’s something there for everyone. This could easily be made into a movie.

***The problems written here before have been edited out. So this author deserves five plus stars!!!!***

Fabulous read! Thanks, again! Can’t wait to read the next book!

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Review: Empath

Empath by Becca J. Campbell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclosure: I was given this book by the author for an honest review.

This was quite the fun, exciting story about three possibly four people who considered themselves flawed. The one I related to most was the empath who couldn’t get around crowds of people without feeling everyone else’s emotions. I find I can get around crowds for the same reason I am overly sensitive to everybody’s emotions I can’t seem to zero in on one at a time. But I’ve come to rely on it is a good way to know the people who were around me. I find it’s missing when I’m talking on the phone, which makes me avoid the phone.

The young college students are fun to read about Becca Campbell makes you feel like you are there with them as they go wall climbing, repelling and rafting. All the characters are believable even the bad guy, unfortunately.

The book is amazing! From the minute you start reading this book you are into it. It keeps you in suspense and wondering how the characters are going to solve their problems.

I understood that this was an ARC, so I’m not going to complain about the little errors along the way. The story kept me going anyway. I doubt that I would’ve noticed. What did stop me in my tracks, was the use of Scripture. It felt out of place. Just as it would if you were reading Santa Claus Is Coming to Town ,and there was a Scripture about a child wrapped in swaddling clothing. It isn’t that I think it was the wrong Scripture it just felt out of place in a fantasy. Maybe an * near the prayer that the main character prays, referring to that Scripture, would keep the story flowing a little bit better.

Regardless, I love this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series. Thank you, Becca for letting me read your great bookthe mission

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Review: Fallen Angel: An Only in Tokyo Mystery

Fallen Angel: An Only in Tokyo Mystery by Jonelle Patrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I do not usually like mysteries. That said, I love this series, Only in Tokyo, by Jonelle Patrick. There are so many layers to the stories, plots and sub-plots. In fact, she writes similarly to the wooden locks found in the story. I love the characters: Yumi and Kenji. Not just them, Ms. Patrick manages to build believable support characters and antagonists.

Murder and blood, though part of every day news, are topics I find hard to look at. In reading, I am usually into books as far away from reality as I can. But the way Jonelle treats that part of the story is gentle. She just presents the characters’ reactions to the deed. I nearly tagged this as a cozy mystery, but it didn’t feel very warm and safe. It felt more like Castle than CSI if that helps the future buyer. It doesn’t have the humor of Castle but the warmth is there.

Romance is a driving force in the series, but it isn’t angsty or squishy like chic-fic. It is more a growing relationship of school friends who find themselves in a sort of working relationship.

The most fun for me is learning about the Japanese culture. Tokyo becomes a character unto itself. Thank you, Jonelle, for letting me read your book!

Visit Jonelle’s Website at: http://jonellepatrick.me/

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Review: Neveah A Broken Forever

Neveah A Broken Forever by Angie Merriam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to admit to vacillating between three and four stars. If it were on story alone it might rate five stars but there were so many things I had a hard time with. The beginning is way too romantic and gushing without my even caring about the couple. That goes on for SO many chapters. I would have liked to see Lilly and Shep separately grow into strong individuals of their own right before anything else happened. That didn’t happen much. The good part of the first few chapters was a feeling that editing had taken place.

Please remember, I do love the story and eventually almost all the characters. But there were so many holes in the plot. War? What war? Only strongest together but rarely together. Both seem to have the same talents, so how could they be stronger? And Who are you, Ms. author? George R.R. Martin? You have killed off some important characters here. (Just kidding.) Okay, I understand that you have a couple more books to follow this one, and I will read them to see what happened.

I got this book free from the author through Libboo for an honest review. And Libboo is a lot of the problems. I think it is their formatting that made the book lose all paragraphs and threw the reading process into the sewer. Interrupting the flow of story to hear the commercial was as bad as commercials on television. If you think that keeps the reader/watcher engaged you need to watch real people. We record things to avoid commercials. While reading something for Libboo I tend to go read an email while I waited (ADD, here) and by doing so I miss the first sentence or two of the next chapter. Often the commercial falls in such a way that I had to go back and reread the last couple lines of the story. Wouldn’t the commercial at the beginning and end of the book be sufficient to remind the reader where the book came from?

Again, I need to say, I did love the story. Yep, there’s another but… If you read like I do using text-to-speech, you find a lot more errors that by reading silently. Many words had spaces in them, such as, ‘s he’. I read along with the robot voice so I see the errors. But if I had been driving or been busy multitasking those would have led to misunderstandings much greater. I was a little worried about misspellings when in the acknowledgements the author thanked her editors for ‘thier’ help. I assumed that they didn’t get to read the acknowledgements before the book was published. From the middle out toward the end the errors increased as the story got more exciting.

Story is why I still haven’t downgraded the star rating. I couldn’t stop reading. And it will lead me to get book two to see what happens. Thank you for letting me read this fun book.

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Review: Betty’s (Little Basement) Garden

Betty’s (Little Basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Look, I like sci-fi and fantasy. This book was too real. On the other hand, it was fiction enough to keep my attention. There was a story and character development, plots within plots, and romance. And they all tied up well at the end of the book.

Meanwhile, something that I find irritating and almost earned it four stars was the information dumping. On second thought, I would have read none of that information anywhere else. And I might need it to guide my real life one of these days. Yes, I would read the book again. There is much to learn here and not just about cannabis.

I loved how the Betty grew stronger as the book progressed. I see a lot of fems that have been told to be quiet, be pretty, and remain in the kitchen– barefooted. Betty loves to cook so that part was no problem. She, also, learned to speak her mind, even when it was not what her peers wanted to hear.

As many of my friends know, I have fibromyalgia and it has me nearly bed-bound. The pain is horrendous and exhausting. I have gone through all that pharma wants to throw at me but nothing works and the side-effects are very dangerous. I must admit to wondering how cannabis might work for me. I am one of the few people who was a teen in the sixties that didn’t try drugs. So I have no way of knowing if it would work for me or not. But as I start to explore pain management with my doctor I am going to ask. My state is setting up dispensaries soon. That is why I ended up buying the Kindle version of the book,(it had been free from the author-for review). I may need it later to refresh my memory of what I may need.

I wish the book had a glossary or footnotes so one could look up the very research that had gone into the book. It seems extensive.

I believe in holistic healing. Herbs, teas, etc. help me a lot without side effects. Cannabis is just one more of Mother Earth’s healing plants. Let’s learn what we can and respect it for its properties.

Thank you Laurel Dewey for letting me read your wonderful novel.

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Twitter / dar49: I’m in the top 1% of reviewers …

Twitter / dar49: I’m in the top 1% of reviewers …. WOW!!!!

Goodreads | Darlene Milner’s review of The River

I just finished reading The River by Cheryl Kaye Tardif. It was quite the adventure. Read my review on GoodReads:

Goodreads | Darlene Milner’s review of The River.

I usually copy these to my LiveJournal and Amazon but am never as happy as the reviewing possibilities on GoodReads.