Watch Me Disappear - Review

Watch Me Disappear   🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Janelle Brown
Publication date July 11 2017 by Spiegel & Grau

Finished 5/25/2017

I fell in love with this book during the Prologue when the family of three visits a preserve for monarch butterflies during the start of the monarch migration to the eucalyptus  trees of Northern California.  I knew the family was one that would grab my interest and hold it. This was a lovely family moment, but one of their last because the mother is soon missing and presumed dead after a solo hiking trip from which she never returned. 

Then it is a year later and the father Jonathan and daughter Olive are still in a tailspin over the death, and barely coping.  When Olive thinks she is having visions of her mother, Billie, Olive thinks her mom is trying to tell her that she is not really dead and in fact is in need of rescue.  Jonathan, a writer working on a memoir of grief over the loss of Billie, discovers some incongruities of his own and begins to wonder the same thing.  Only he really needs Billie's  life insurance policy to pay out  so, what to do?  He decides to do what's  best for Olive, but there are many twists in the story to come, many secrets that Billie held close.

This is one of those books where you won't want to read ahead because there are so many surprises.  The last sentence -- well, just wait!

I was happy to have been an ebook copy from the publisher through NetGalley, and an ARC from LibraryThings.  

All the Rivers - Review

All the Rivers   🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Dorit  Rabinyan
Published April 25 2017 by Random House

Finished 8 May 2017

An Israeli woman and a man from Palestine meet at a cafe in New York, and a relationship is born.  There are constant reminders and stories regaled about "home" to instill the picture that, had these two met in their homeland, their reactions to each other would have been very different.  Here in New York, the commonalities with which they can identify come out -- they are in NYC, post 9/11, on temporary visas, treated as foreigners, and both are dark olive skinned and looked at with suspicion.  They have no family nearby to warn them off or to pass judgment.  There is no language barrier since both speak English.  Their differences are minimalized.  A very intriguing way to start out.

But from there, even as their love grows, their differences become obvious, mainly whenever in the presence of their family members or those who know the families.  The language differences, and certainly the politics of their homelands. The viewpoint is from the perspective of Liati, the Israeli; so it is she that we get to know best, it is her joys, opinions, and worries that are expressed.  Perhaps Hilmi was sympathetic because I saw him through her eyes -- quick witted, even tempered, talented, and very  likeable. 

Perhaps also the author is conflicted over a proper resolution to Israel's  problems; I know I only get more deflated whenever I  read about it. There is one intense argument in particular played out between Liati and Hilmi's brother over the fate of a divided Israel that ends in a stalemate.  It's so revealing.  So is the fact that this book has been banned from Israeli schools.

 

I think because some reviews compared this story to Romeo & Juliet, I felt a nervous tension throughout the story, wondering about the ending.  I grew very worried for their fates. I cared!  Truly a remarkable story.

I am grateful that the publisher asked me to read and review this very special book, which most likely otherwise would have escaped my notice.

The Perfect Stranger - Review

The Perfect Stranger  🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Megan Miranda
Publish 16 May 2017 by Simon Schuster

Finished 2 May 2017

The author has given us something even better than her debut, more thrills and mysteries, and NOT written in reverse, thank you very much.  The lead characters of Leah and Emma, both hiding  secrets from their pasts, are broken young women still learning how to make it in a world that can be cruel and suspicious.  They run off from Boston to small-town Pennsylvania to try to start over -- Leah, a former journalist now turned school teacher, and Emma... well, we don't know much about Emma and neither does Leah, just what Emma wants her to believe.  Around the time that a young woman gets attacked in this new locale, Emma and her boyfriend both disappear; and Leah and the police try to piece things together with very little to go on.  So little, in fact, that one wonders if Emma is real or just a creation of Leah's troubled psyche.  

With stalkers lurking in the woods, a dead body, noises beneath the house, and the intelligent musing about it all by Leah, I was easily pulled into this story.  I did feel always one step ahead of the action towards the end, but maybe that was intentional as Leah and I together figured out just how things were.   It usually bothers me when I can halfway solve the mysteries, but here, not at all. 

An entertaining read for which I thank NetGalley and Simon Schuster.

Marlena - Review

Marlena   🌟🌟🌟🌟

Julie Buntin 

Published April 4 2017 by Henry Holt and Company

Finished 4/28/2017

During our formative teen years, it's highly possible that one year out of all others will remain with us and shape our lives for better or worse.  Cat's year is her fifteenth, having just moved to Northern Michigan with her brother and divorced mom, when she meets the very intriguing, older (17 yo) neighbor girl Marlena.  From the outset we know that Marlena's homelife  is not typical -- her mother has left, her father is one you wish would go away too, and drug dealers are everywhere.  We also know from early on that Marlena's days are numbered, and Cat's narration will slowly reveal how one manages to drown in an inch of water.    Cat's loneliness and Marlena's neediness bring them together to form an odd couple-type friendship, but at Cat's young age she is vulnerable and easily immersed in Marlena's world.  

From those times in Michigan,  Cat moves to New York and is about to meet up with Marlena's  brother at his request after many years, sure to dredge up memories of the once vibrant and colorful Marlena.  But even without this memory prompt, however, you come to realize how Marlena's life and death are still haunting Cat all these years later. The story itself is haunting, very dark and pervaded with sadness. 

This author is one to watch.  Her talent is quite evident, and the dialogue and character development are exceptional.  Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy.  

Woman No. 17 - Review

Woman No. 17   🌟🌟🌟

by Edan Lepucki  

To be Published May 9 2017 by Hogarth  

Finished April 22, 2017

Writer Lady Daniels and artist S Fowler  (pseudonym for Esther Shapiro) share the spotlight of this story set in the Hollywood Hills.  Lady gives the first POV, and I  was struck at how bluntly honest and forthright she was with us readers.  She kept me engaged even though her life was extremely messed up, but I eventually realized that she is not as honest  as she pretends to be, unfortunately for her family.  

S, on the other  hand, is upfront about her trickery and deceipt, at least with us readers.  She, weirdly, has taken on the persona of her estranged mother, who, when S's  age, was an irresponsible  nanny and a drunk. S also matches hair color change and makeup choices to Mom circa 1985.  Weird that S would want to imitate such a phase  in her mother's  life, and that she actually knew so many details.  S is doing this for an  "art project."  I didn't get it.  When Lady hires S as nanny to her three-year old, Lady has no idea that S is playing a part (Who would do that, after all?) and no idea how her 18 year old son will react to the new live-in.   S goes on to another  art project, one that Lady is unwittingly swept into, and I started to get the why, but felt it still very strange indeed.   

These women are more alike  than initially apparent.  Mother issues on both their parts; their mothers even had mother issues.  Mother issues are a big factor. That I  got!  Complicated relationships and self-absorbed characters make this one that you have to occasionally stop and wonder about, sometimes asking, Who are these people?  Do I  care about what will happen to them?  The children, yes.  The adults, not so much.   I read an ARC provided by LibraryThings.com.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane   🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Lisa See
Published March 21 2017 by Scribner

Finished 4/13/2017

4.5 stars.

Lisa See has made me very happy.  She can always be trusted to provide historical pieces that both entertain and inform the reader.  So even though the only tea I care to drink is Arizona Zero Calorie Green with Ginseng, I now know more about making tea in China than I could ever imagine, and I loved reading about the ancient customs and superstitions of the  mountain people known as the Akha.  Li-Yan's Akha family spent their lives selling tea, her mother also using it for medicinal  purposes and hoping to pass her skills on to her only daughter. 

 Li-Yan was forced to leave her firstborn daughter with an orphanage, from which the baby was later adopted by white Americans.  Li-Yan was intent on making it as an educated tea seller, while always wondering about the baby she gave up.  Although most pages are dedicated to Li-Yan's  story, we also get to know the little girl as she matures into a young Chinese - American scholar, curious about her Chinese heritage and especially the tea cake  that accompanied her into the orphanage as a baby.  

I found many similarities between this book and Secret Daughter, which took place in India and America.  I thought that one had a disappointing  ending.  This book, though... The last chapter is sure to tug at your heartstrings.  A beautiful book!  Thank you to NetGalley  and the publisher. 

Everything Belongs to Us - Review

Everything Belongs to Us    🌟🌟🌟
by Yoojin  Grace Wirtz
Published February 28 2017 by Random House

Finished 3/24/17

Since I don't exactly keep abreast of what happens in South Korea, this story of student  protests in the 70s was interesting  at first. Halfway through, however, I felt a little lost and my interest waned.   The two female friends Jisun, rich girl studying life, and Namin, poor girl studying medicine, were refreshingly independent and intelligent. The two rebellious male characters did not engage me in the least. By the end, I was skipping pages and cared only what happened to Namin.  Her struggle to become someone was probably very typical. I am not sure what I  was supposed to glean from this story.  Everyone seemed so remote and distant from each other it was hard to feel anything for them.  

Thanks to Random House for a free review copy.