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United States of Books – The Known World by Edward P. Jones

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On August 8, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

The Known WorldThe Known World

by Edward P. Jones

Author: Laura at 125 Pages

This week takes us to Virginia with The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Entertainment Weekly says – This award-winning examination of man’s ownership of man refuses to succumb to the calcifying effect of history, presenting Virginia’s past as raw, urgent and human.

Synopsis from Goodreads – One of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Known World is a daring and ambitious work by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones.

The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can’t uphold the estate’s order, and chaos ensues. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.

Review

1/2 Star

The Known World by Edward P. Jones is a read that made me question. It made me question if editors actually read the whole book. It made me question if the Pulitzer judges read the whole book. It made me question if I had picked up the wrong book, because this could not be the book with all of those rave reviews. This novel won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. In 2005 it won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and it was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award. In 2009, the website The Millions polled 48 critics, writers, and editors; the panel voted The Known World the second best novel since 2000. The book I read was a disjointed mess. No seriously, I can read difficult books. I like non-linear time lines and twisty prose but this took it to a whole new level. The synopsis tells us that this is the tale of Manchester County in Virginia during the antebellum era and a black former slave who is now a slave owner himself. This sounds like a deep and thought provoking read right? It would have been if it was actually readable.

There were approximately 80 characters, so I had no idea who anyone was.

The white man at the front door was from the Atlas Life, Casualty and Assurance Company, based in Hartford, Connecticut. His talking to Calvin at the door was what kept Bennett so long. Calvin eventually came back with Bennett and when Moses told him, Calvin went back and returned with Caldonia, followed by Maude, and Fern Elston.

The time line skipped back and forth often times decades in the future to tell what happened to just one person or object and then skipped back.

This series was Anderson’s most successful, and nothing was more successful within that series than the 1883 pamphlet on free Negroes who had owned other Negroes before the War between the States. The pamphlet on slaveowning Negroes went through ten printings. Only seven of those particular pamphlets survived until the late twentieth century. Five of them were in the Library of Congress in 1994 when the remaining two pamphlets were sold as part of a collection of black memorabilia owned by a black man in Cleveland, Ohio. That collection, upon the man’s death in 1994, sold for $1.7 million to an automobile manufacturer in Germany.

There was so much unnecessary description.

Clarence sat beside his wife and after a time he put a hand, the one not stained with milk, to the back of his wife’s head and rubbed her hair. The cow swung its tail and chewed its cud. It farted.

His horse, Sir Guilderham, was idling two or so paces behind his master. And just as the horse began to wander away, Robbins turned and picked up the reins, mounted. ‘No more visits for a month,’ he said, picking one piece of lint from the horse’s ear.

Seriously, I do not care about lint on a horse and a cow farting. This really detracted from the story for me. The Known World by Edward P. Jones could have and should have been a powerful read. Instead I got bogged down in the minutia and was not able to process the tale.

I had originally picked this up at the library and then, when I found the style to be so odd, I got the Audible version. I really want my credit and the 14 hours I spent listing to this back.

A Few Quick Questions With…Cathy Kennedy

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On August 4, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., YA/MG/Children's Books

I just posted my thoughts on Cathy Kennedy’s Meeting of the Mustangs, and now I’m glad to present her first interview-ish thing. Hope you enjoy — I probably chuckled more at these answers than I have any of the other Q&A’s I’ve done.

What initially prompted this story (if you can recall, that is)? Why did you come back to it years later?
My dad gave me an Olivetti electric typewriter and a ream of nice, thick paper. I rolled a piece of paper into the typewriter and just started typing. After moving away from that house in the country where we owned horses, the story was abandoned. That was about a hundred years ago and I still have that old manuscript.

Coming back to it was very difficult. I was dealing with a nasty case of writer’s block. Even though for years I knew in my head (mostly) how the story would end, I just couldn’t get it into words. I eventually moved back to the country and now have horses for neighbors. That helped tremendously, and once I got going again, I was okay.

I suppose I should also give some credit to my sister, who never left it alone ~
“Are you working on your book?”
“Are you working on your book?”
“Are you working on your book?”
etc., etc., etc…
What kinds, if any, of specific research did you do?
There wasn’t much research involved, really. The one thing that sticks out to me was looking at a map of the United States. I wanted to have the horses traveling through more than one state and tried keep the original manuscript as intact as possible. I had to look at the map to find where several states were in close proximity so the horses wouldn’t get too tired.
What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?
Oh, no. I’m kind of an old soul. I don’t watch or read much of anything new.

Do commercials count? I like the Neosporin commercial where the little girl is telling her friends about how she jumped the rapids on her bike. That’s really cute writing.
What was the biggest surprise about the writing itself? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”.
Okay, that one’s easy. If I had known marketing was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV. Ugh. Let’s just say I have a new respect for successful salespeople that I’ve never had before this. Getting an unknown author’s story into the hands of readers is an ongoing struggle. /td>
What’s next for Cathy Kennedy, Author?
Well, I’ve had more than one person tell me they’d like to see a sequel. Please don’t tell my sister.

United States of Books – A River Runs through It by Norman Maclean

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On August 1, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

A River Runs Through ItA River Runs Through It

by Norman Maclean

Author: Elisha at Rainy Day Reviews

Entertainment Weekly says – In his semiautobiographical story collection, Maclean paints a sumptuous portrait of the state’s beauty.

Summary from Goodreads:
Just as Norman Maclean writes at the end of “A River Runs through It” that he is “haunted by waters,” so have readers been haunted by his novella. A retired English professor who began writing fiction at the age of 70, Maclean produced what is now recognized as one of the classic American stories of the twentieth century. Originally published in 1976, A River Runs through It and Other Stories now celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary, marked by this new edition that includes a foreword by Annie Proulx.

Maclean grew up in the western Rocky Mountains in the first decades of the twentieth century. As a young man he worked many summers in logging camps and for the United States Forest Service. The two novellas and short story in this collection are based on his own experiences—the experiences of a young man who found that life was only a step from art in its structures and beauty. The beauty he found was in reality, and so he leaves a careful record of what it was like to work in the woods when it was still a world of horse and hand and foot, without power saws, “cats,” or four-wheel drives. Populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, and set in the small towns and surrounding trout streams and mountains of western Montana, the stories concern themselves with the complexities of fly fishing, logging, fighting forest fires, playing cribbage, and being a husband, a son, and a father.

My Review

Firstly, I did not know this was turned into a movie. Now that is on my list.

The writing in this book was smooth, cohesive, eloquent, and smart. This novella was mixed with sadness of real life as well as the joys. This story has more than one level, at the surface, it is a good and well written story about Maclean and his father and brother; his family. They all have a shared bond of fishing, it is like the air that they breathe, what seems to hold them to hold them together.

However, going beneath this well-crafted story, I think the moral, the reason behind this book is: relationships that we have, memories that we create with those we hold dear, and the bonds that are made. I think the saddest but truest message to take is, from all that we can learn from this book is, those that are the ‘last survivor’ of those memories, those bonds that were made during the yesteryears, and the relationship that were made before it all changed and while it all changed.

I can definitely see why this is a classic. I’d recommend this to all.

Party with a Plan Book Tour

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On July 29, 2016

In Book Tour, Non-Fiction

Welcome to our Book Tour stop for Party with a Plan. In addition to this blurb about the book and author, I’ve got a an interview with the Author, Randy Haveson. I haven’t read the book (yet), but you know what? It seems like a good idea — I like the approach here. Look into it.

iRead Tours

Book Details:

Book Title: Party With a Plan
Author: Randy Haveson
​Category: Adult nonfiction, 63 pages
Genre: Health & Wellness, Self-help
Publisher: RISE Publishing
Release date: May 2016
Content Rating: PG-13 (Since this is a book that teaches people how to drink alcohol in a low-risk manner, it’s not really appropriate for kids.)

Book Description:

Finally! Here is a proven, practical way to drink alcohol and lower your risk for problems. Up until now, there have been two primary messages when it comes to drinking alcohol. One is “just say no,” which for the majority of the population is not an option. The other is to “drink responsibly.” But what does that mean? If you ask five random people to define responsible drinking, you will most likely get five completely different answers. This invalidates the term because it can be defined in so many different ways. Party with a Plan® gives a concise and research based formula that teaches people how to drink and lower their risk of negative consequences. It’s like creating a speed limit for drinking. If you stick to the speed limit, your chance of problems is minimal. However, the more you go over the speed limit, and the more often you go over the speed limit, the more you put yourself and others at risk. This book is long overdue!

Book Trailer:

Author’s Bio:

Randy HavesonRandy Haveson knows addiction. As an alcoholic in long-term recovery (May, 1984), he has dedicated his life to helping others make more empowered choices in their lives. He is a 25 year veteran in the substance abuse field with extensive experience as a counselor, Director of Health & Alcohol Education at highly accredited universities, and speaker on over 100 campuses, speaking about harm reduction, self-esteem, leadership, and supporting students in recovery.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

iRead Tours

A Few Quick Questions With…Devri Walls

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On July 28, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction

Devri Walls was kind enough to participate in a Q&A with me along with providing me a copy of her book The Wizard’s Heir (see my thoughts on it from earlier today). I asked her a little bit about the book, what’s next for her, and her writing in general. In addition to Heir, she’s got a YA series and another one on the way — I’d recommend checking at least one of those out.

What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?
The Hollow City concept was genius and so fun! I would’ve loved to have come up with that and been able to work a story around those incredible pictures. Also, The Mortal Instrument Series. To be the one to have come up with Shadow Hunters… oh man! So much fun would’ve been had!
In the writing of The Wizard’s Heir, what was the biggest surprise about the writing itself?  Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”.
I’ve written enough books, and enough drafts of books, that I can usually predict where my trouble spots will be. While annoying in their consistency, it’s not usually a surprise. On the other hand, I’m almost always surprised by a character. I’ll add a new one, intending them to play a small, meaningless part, and then fall in love and alter the plot to include them as a larger player. It’s always the best thing that could’ve happen to the story, but still a surprise.

In The Wizard’s Heir it was, Asher. Everyone, including myself, really connected with him. He was a bit of a throw away character until I added the scene where he goes to the boat to pick up supplies, and that was it, I loved him immediately and gave him a much larger role to play. The Wizard’s Heir is a stand alone novel but I’ve been approached several times about writing a second book in that world, while I don’t have one officially in the plans, if I ever did it would be written with Asher as the main character.

Who are some of your major influences? (whether or not you think those influences can be seen in your work — you know they’re there)
I’ve been influenced by Cassandra Clare, Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Cinda Williams Chima to name a few. I also pick up a little good with any great book I read. There are always little nuggets that I try to make note of to improve the next book.
I’ve often heard that writers, or artists in general, will forget hundreds of positive reviews but always remember the negative — what’s the worst thing that someone’s said about one of your books, and has it altered your approach to future books?
The worst thing? Oh man, something about, “this story would’ve been good if an author with talent had written it.” Lol. Nice, right? Negative reviews did alter my writing in the best way possible. I realized fairly quickly that the things one person complained about, someone else loved, and vice versa. In addition, where some people hate my work… with more vehement than perhaps necessary, others love what I write with a passion far and above what it probably deserves. I could write the Pulitzer prize winning novel and someone would still write a review that it was the worst pile of drivel they’d every read. Once I realized that, those negative reviews became freeing, I do the absolute best I can at the time and that’s all I can do. I push myself, hard. And I rewrite until I throw my hands up and say, I really can’t do any more.
It looks like your next book is on the verge of release, what can you tell us about that — and what comes next?
Yes! My Venator series is getting close to the release of book one. I’m always hesitant to give a date until I have return commitments from the editors but I am hoping for late August, early September.

I’m really excited about this series. I’m still working on the official blurb but it’s the story of two teenagers who cross through the St. Louis arch to an alternate dimension where everything you’ve ever read about exists—Fae and Vampires, Werewolves and Dragons. Seriously, nothing is off limits and it is so much fun to work with. I think my readers who were missing the environment of The Solus Series will be especially pleased with this. The Venator series is slated for multiple books, so that’s where my brain is at right now, but I have a whole notebook full of story ideas that I will get to eventually.

Since I don’t have an official blurb in hand yet, can I give your readers a sneak peek of the cover?
Nice looking cover! Thanks for your time, and thanks for The Wizard’s Heir.

United States of Books – The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

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On July 25, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

The Sound and the FuryThe Sound and the Fury

by William Faulkner

Paperback, 321 pg.
Vintage, 1929


Wow, it took like 2 minutes for me to remember just how much work this guy is to read. This is not the kind of book you take to the breakroom at work for a few minutes during lunch. The Sound and the Fury, like all of Faulkner that I can remember, takes work. You have to think — especially here in Part 1. Don’t get me wrong, Part 2 is no walk in the park, but Benjy’s narration is just so difficult to wade through given his cognitive ability.

Maybe I should back up a bit — this is the story of the fall of the Compson family — a great Southern family from Jefferson, MS, through (primarily) various stream of consciousness points of view. Part 1 is told through the point of view of Benjy. Benjy is 33 year-old developmentally disabled man, and his section is almost impossible to follow. There’s no chronological sense to it, it’s impossible to follow on first read as Benjy talks about a variety of events over the course of his life. Which is not to say there’s not a certain poetry, a power to it. But man . . .

Part 2 is possibly more difficult to understand, honestly, despite being told from Benjy’s older brother’s POV. But I don’t want to talk about the details — I just hate spoilers (even if you’ve had around 90 years to catch up). There are other POVs (including — thankfully, an omniscient third-person).

The plot is one thing — the experience of reading the novel is another. You want to know the power of the English language? Read William Faulkner. I don’t know what else to say. I’m not sure I’m equipped to talk about this, really — P.I.s, wizards, werewolves, dogs? Sure. The kind of thing that wins Nobel Prizes? That’s just beyond me. This is the stuff of history — of legend, really.

There is horrible language used throughout — the kind of thing that gets books banned from schools and classrooms, so if you’re easily offended, skip this. But it’s how people talked (still do), it’s honest, it’s brutal, it’s ugly, it’s human.

This is not my favorite novel by Faulkner — nor is it something I recommend to someone who’s never read the man before (maybe, As I Lay Dying?). That said, it’s full of fantastic writing, insights into the human condition, strange southerners, tragedy, and complexity that I cannot describe. Faulkner, as always, stands so far above the pack that it’s almost not fair to other books. Of course, 5 stars, how could it be anything else?

—–

5 Stars

A Few Quick Questions With…Tiffany McDaniel

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On July 21, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I’ve really enjoyed my email correspondence with Tiffany McDaniel — she’s charming, friendly, and can laugh at herself. Even if I didn’t spend a couple of days under the spell of her words, I’d want her to find success with this first publication. Here’s a lil’ Q&A we did this week. As usual, I kept it short and sweet, because I’d rather she work on her next book than take too much time with me.

1. Tell me a little about your road to publication.
It was a long road, twisty and dark with the type of rocks perfectly-sized to leave a billion wounds to scar over on my soul. Perhaps too dramatic, but I wrote my first novel when I was eighteen-years-old. I wouldn’t get a publishing contract until I was twenty-nine for The Summer that Melted Everything, which isn’t my first written novel. So it was an eleven-year struggle, hence the dramatics. With all the rejection, I came to believe I would never be published. I thought I’d leave this world with my ghost moaning in defeat. I know I’m very fortunate to be in the position I am now, about to see my book on the shelf. It’s been moving through the publishing house for two years, so with all the years added up, I’ve been waiting thirteen long years to see one of my books on the shelf. July 26th is going to be a very special day indeed. I feel as if I might sprout wings, or something equally magical will happen. Truly I’ll probably just spend the day in the bookstore, staring at my book and smiling.
2. What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?
There are so many books I love. Not necessarily in the last five years. Coming to mind, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. But what makes these books, and every book special is the fact that they were written by these very people. Every book has its true author. The stories and characters belong to them. There’s no book I wish I would have written, because their true author has already written it so much better than I ever could.
3. I know that most authors would say that names of characters are important — but yours seem more important than usual, and steeped in meaning. Can you talk a little about your naming process? Alvernine, Grand, Dresden, Fielding — all are great. Be as general as you want, except for Autopsy, I’ve got to know, beyond the meaning — why name someone that?
For me, my characters are real people. These are their true names. They are their names long before I’ve put them down on paper. My job as the author is to listen to the characters. In the case of Autopsy’s name, I had seen the word “autopsy” that day I was trying to know him. I really do feel like these are the hints to me from the characters. Autopsy was telling me his name. As they all do. I just have to listen. I always say I’m surprised myself how the story comes out. That’s true. So when Autopsy was typed there on the page, I didn’t yet know how massive a theme that was going to be in the novel. I had yet to see for myself . . .
4. I don’t want to ask where you get your ideas, but how did you get to the point where you said, “You know what I want to write about? Satan’s summer vacation.”
First off, I love that last line of yours: “Satan’s summer vacation.” Perfect.

I always say my ideas come from the elements that make me. That somewhere in the chaotic clouds swirling in my atmosphere to the calm rivers coursing down my soul, there exists the source of my ideas. As it exists for every author. That’s a rather intense answer. But creativity is intense. It’s chaos and order, a big bang and a small tap. All these things turning, turning, until the wheel is rolling, the story rolling with it, getting to the point when the story is ready to come out.

5. I know you’re neck deep (at least) in promotion for this book, but what’s next for Tiffany McDaniel?
I have eight completed novels. I’m currently working on my ninth. The novel I’m hoping to follow The Summer that Melted Everything up with is When Lions Stood as Men. It’s the story of a Jewish brother and sister who escape Nazi Germany, flee across the Atlantic Ocean and end up in my land of Ohio. While here they create their own camp of judgment where they serve as both the guards and the prisoners. It’s a story about surviving guilt, love, and the time when lions did indeed once stand as men.
Thanks so much for your time, and I hope your launch week meets with a lot of success.

United States of Books – In Country (Audiobook) by Bobbie Ann Mason, Jill Brennan

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On July 18, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books

In CountryIn Country

by Bobbie Ann Mason, Jill Brennan (Narrator)

Author: Teri at Sportochick’s Musings

Synopsis:

The bestselling novel and deeply affecting story of a young girl who comes to terms with her father’s death in Vietnam two decades earlier.

In the summer of 1984, the war in Vietnam came home to Sam Hughes, whose father was killed there before she was born. The soldier-boy in the picture never changed. In a way that made him dependable. But he seemed so innocent. “Astronauts have been to the moon,” she blurted out to the picture. “You missed Watergate. I was in the second grade.”

She stared at the picture, squinting her eyes, as if she expected it to come to life. But Dwayne had died with his secrets. Emmett was walking around with his. Anyone who survived Vietnam seemed to regard it as something personal and embarrassing. Granddad had said they were embarrassed that they were still alive. “I guess you’re not embarrassed,” she said to the picture.

Review:

In Country takes place in Hopewell, Kentucky and is the story of recent high school graduate Sam and her Uncle Emmett, a Viet Nam war vet. Sam is searching for the answers to the past regarding her dad and why her Uncle is so messed up. Emmett is just trying to survive and live one day at a time after returning broken from Viet Nam.

Sam has a strong desire to know more about the father she never meet, a farm boy, who went to Vietnam and never came back. So she begins her search by asking any one she knows about her dad. There is a point where I felt she would drive me crazy with the persistent questions but the author smooths out this roughness with resolutions to some questions via talking to her paternal grandparents and her mother Irene. Through a series of letters and a diary she finds answers that bring her peace and upheaval as well. This upheaval causes her to be able to finally make a decision on how to move forward with her life.

Another part of the story that drove me crazy was her constantly hounding her Uncle about all the things she felt was wrong with him medically. I understand her love for him and her desire for him to not die but yikes the constant harping what was wrong with him was too much. She was a hypochondriac for him.

Emmet and some of his war friends portray an intricate part to the story with their inability to have relationships, work, and socialize plus their various health issues. But also added to the story were other war vets that were able to have normal lives. This balance greatly added to the story and it’s correctness to real life. The scene where Tom, a war vet, spent time with Sam was painful and sad causing me to wonder was there ever a time after that that he was able to love someone and be fulfilled.

At one point in the book Emmet says, “There’s something wrong with me. I’m damaged.” that I started to cry. There was overwhelming pain for all of them and grief for my part in disassociating myself from this area of life. It dawned on me that we were all damaged in some way from this war.

    My Thoughts:

  • US involvement for the Vietnam War lasted from 1955-1973 and consisted of approximately 58,200 Americans deaths and over 300,000 wounded.
  • In 1973 the military draft (only for males) ends and an all-volunteer military is formed creating opportunities for women.
  • In 1973 I graduated from high school with no good thoughts about our involvement in the Vietnam War. I lived through my friends’ fear of being drafted, death of loved ones, draft evasion, war protest, and the burning of college campuses. For me I disassociated myself from this war like many others and to this day I am ashamed to say I don’t get it. What I do get is how poorly we as a people and government treated the returning military.

This book caused me to think and open my mind to a time in my life that I had shutdown.

But it is much more than that for me; it brought forefront in my mind the suffering of the returning vets in regards to their families, health, mental wellbeing, as well as how the government and society in general treated them. This book profoundly affected me.

Though this book and its narration may not be for everyone, I listened to it three times because of its impact to me and how it caused me to see things from a new perspective. For this reason I give it 4 STARS.

United States of Books – The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

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On July 11, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books, YA/MG/Children's Books

The Witch of Blackbird PondThe Witch of Blackbird Pond

by Elizabeth George Speare

Author: Wendy at booklovercircumspect4

Synopsis from Goodreads

Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives’ stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit’s friendship with the “witch” is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft!

Review

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is an historical novel and a love story. The main character, Kit, was raised by her grandfather in Barbados. When her grandfather dies, she leaves Barbados on a ship named the Dolphin to find her aunt and uncle in Connecticut. Needless to say, her aunt and uncle doesn’t know that she is coming.

Upon her arrival to her Aunt Rachel and Uncle Mercy’s home in Wethersfield, Connecticut, where she also has two cousins, Mercy (who is handicapped) and Judith. Kit’s life is far different from her life in Barbados, where she is forced to do chores and attend church, which she clearly hates. Kit becomes happier when she and Mercy began teaching the younger children in her town. An incident happens at the school and it is shut down, and Kit runs away and she meets Hannah Tupper, an older lady that has been outlawed from the colony. While visiting Hannah, she again runs into Nat Eaton, son of the captain of the Dolphin, and Kat falls in love with him.

A deadly illness sweeps through the town and Hannah is accused of being a witch and is to be killed. Kit warns Hannah who escapes with the help Nat and his boat. The town is also accusing Kit of being a witch and she must prove her innocence when Nat returns to Westherfield.

Does Nat return help Kit? Is Kit found to be a witch? Or is she able to escape Connecticut and return to Barbados? You will have to read the book.

I give this book three out of four onions. This book is rich in American history and is a commonly read book for older grade schoolers. It also has a nice mixture of romance, politics and suspense. It really is a good read especially for young adults.

Daughter of the Sun by Zoe Kalo

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On July 6, 2016

In Book Tour, Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Daughter of the SunDaughter of the Sun

by Zoe Kalo
Series: Cult of the Cat, #1

Kindle Edition, 330 pg.
2016

Read: July 1- 4, 2016


This one won me over — I spent a lot of time not enjoying it at all. I thought the characters were flat, predictable, unoriginal — and frequently acting like 11 year-olds rather than 17 year-olds. The plot was pretty obvious, the twists were telegraphed, the romance was cliché and dull. I frankly was only reading it because I had agreed to do this tour today.

But . . .

Somewhere around the 60% mark I noticed that I was into the story, and I had been for awhile.

All of the above remains true — but Kalo writes with an engaging style and gets you to like Trinity, her cousin, and just about everyone else (except the people you’re supposed to not like). You like them, you want to see them make it, and are rooting for them.

I don’t have much to say, really. It works: it’s entertaining, it’s engaging, it’s a Kane Chronicles for older readers. Could it have been better? Yes. But most books could. Read the blurb, if it sounds like the kind of book you might like, check it out — you’ll likely be satisfied.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for this post.

—–

3 Stars

This Review is a part of the Blogger Outreach Program by b00k r3vi3w Tours

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