Review: The Summer Cottage (by Viola Shipman)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Viola Shipman is actually the pen name for male author Wade Rouse, who writes under his grandmother’s name as a way to honor not just her, but also all of the elders in his family.  In addition to the pen name, all his novels are inspired by both of his grandmothers’ heirlooms as well as the lessons they taught him and the lives they led.  At its core, his books are all “feel-good” stories that pay homage to family.  In his latest novel The Summer Cottage, Shipman finds inspiration in his grandparents’ log cabin in Missouri where he spent countless summers, a place where there was “nothing but an outhouse, fishing poles, inner tubes, books and each other.”  Despite the cabin’s simplicity, it was a “magical” place where the only rule his grandparents had was “to be happy.”  Though the log cabin was eventually sold after his grandparents’ deaths, Shipman later came across a cottage in Michigan that reminded him of that cabin and immediately fell in love with it, which prompted his decision to quit his job and move to Michigan, eventually settling there and becoming a writer.

In the book, Shipman expands upon this through the character of Adie Lou Kruger, a 40-something divorced mother whose affection for her parents’ summer cottage – dubbed the Creaky Cottage – draws her back to the happy place of her childhood where she eventually decides to start over and rebuild her life.  Armed with plans to convert the dilapidated old cottage into a bed-and-breakfast, Adie Lou encounters one obstacle after another, but through it all, she rediscovers the joy and strength that the freedom of pursuing her dreams brings. 

This is the third of Shipman’s books that I’ve read and while I found the story heartfelt and charming, I will admit that I didn’t love this one as much as I did his previous novel The Recipe Box.  Perhaps it was because that book had checked all the right boxes for me, from its endearing characters and heartwarming story to its engaging narrative revolving around food and the bonds of family, I had felt a connection to the story almost right off the bat.  With this book, I never really connected much with the characters and to be honest, the story felt like it moved a tad bit too slowly at times.  I also felt there wasn’t as much emotional depth to the story that his previous novel had and that I’ve come to expect from his works.  With that said though, I did love the descriptions of the cottage and its surrounding scenery, which Shipman did a great job of bringing alive for me, almost as though the cottage itself was a character in the story.  This is one of the things I actually enjoy most about Shipman’s novels – his way of storytelling that is able to bring the inanimate object at the center of the story to life. 

Overall, I would say that I liked this book, but didn’t love it.  Out of Shipman’s 3 books that I’ve read, The Recipe Box is so far still my favorite.  I have yet to read his first novel, The Charm Bracelet, but hope to do so at some point, preferably before his next novel comes out.  This is an author I will definitely continue to read, as I appreciate the fact that with his books, I always know what to expect -- a light-hearted, feel-good story that is at times a bit too saccharine and maybe even too simplistic, but a comforting read that celebrates family, love, hope, friendship, and, most important of all, happy memories!  With the world we live in currently, sometimes we need books like this to escape into and to remind us (even if only for a brief moment), the important things in life and that it’s possible to find joy even in the small moments.

Received ARC from Harlequin / Graydon House Books via NetGalley

Review: Descendant of the Crane (by Joan He)

My Rating:  4 stars

 

First off, let me say that I am not the target audience for this book, as this is classified as a YA fantasy and I am neither a Young Adult nor do I read fantasy novels all that often.  I have nothing against either genre of course, it’s just that at my age, I sometimes feel a bit self-conscious reading books that are clearly meant for a younger audience, as I feel  that perhaps I’m too old for the story and with all the characters mostly in their teens, I probably won’t be able to relate to any of them.  In terms of the fantasy genre, it has always been a hit or miss for me – depending on the type of story, the world-building in fantasy novels can often become too overwhelming for my tastes, so I end up struggling through the story, which is rarely ever a pleasant experience.  Based on the above, it might seem that Joan He’s YA fantasy debut novel Descendant of the Crane shouldn’t appeal to me -- to be honest, if I were just looking at genre alone, I probably would not have chosen to read this one.  But then again, this is exactly why I don’t choose books based on genre alone…rather, I always read through the summary and do my own research before I make the decision to pick up a book (unless it’s an author I’ve read before or a favorite author whose books I already know I will want to read).   In this case, in addition to the summary and research, what influenced my decision most in picking up this book was the “Chinese-inspired fantasy” element, which to me, is important given the fact that Chinese-themed stories are a rarity in the genre (and technically in the mainstream literary community as a whole as well) -- and of course, being Chinese-American myself, I was curious as to how my culture would be represented.  Also, I understand the difficulties that writing a Chinese-themed story (and a fantasy one at that) for a largely non-Chinese audience entails, so I applaud Joan He’s effort in doing so and wanted to support it.  Going into this with so many expectations, I wasn’t sure what impact it would have on my reading experience, but it turns out I needn’t have worried, as I ended up enjoying this book way more than I thought I would.  Perhaps it is my background, growing up in a household where I was often immersed in Chinese pop culture (television, movies, books, magazines, etc.), the familiarity with the culture made it easier for me to connect with the story, the characters, and even the world that the author built, more than I initially anticipated.

The story itself revolves around Princess Hesina, who is suddenly thrust into the role of ruler over the kingdom of Yan after her father, the king, is found inexplicably murdered.  Determined to find her father’s killer, Hesina consults with a soothsayer – in her kingdom, an illegal act punishable by death – and launches an investigation in the hopes of bringing the perpetrator to justice.  Meanwhile, as she takes up the responsibilities of being queen to an unstable kingdom, she must learn to reconcile who she is as a person versus who she needs to be as a ruler, even if it means sacrificing her own convictions for those of the people.  As the trial progresses and Hesina gets closer and closer to the truth of who killed her father, she is also thrust deeper and deeper into a complicated world of danger and deception, a world that leads her to question whether even those closest to her can be trusted.   In the end, Hesina must decide whether the cost of seeking justice for her father is worth the sacrifices she must make, both for herself as well as for her kingdom.

This book was a fun, exhilarating read for me, one that surprised me in so many ways.  The story was quite creative, with well-developed characters and plenty of plot twists that kept me engaged and completely immersed to the point that I didn’t want to put the book down.  I found Hesina to be a very interesting character, as there were different layers to her personality and it was fascinating to watch how her character evolved as she adjusted to her position as queen – the author did a good job depicting Hesina’s constant struggle between her personal beliefs and those instilled in her by her father versus her duty as the ruler of the kingdom to consider the greater good and will of the people.  All the other characters were also multi-layered in that there was an ambiguousness to them and you could never tell where their loyalties lie – in other words, the lines between good versus evil, friend versus enemy, moral versus corrupt, were constantly blurred.  Plot-wise, there was a lot going on and the story actually covered a lot of ground – from a murder mystery that encompassed palace intrigues, political machinations, family dynamics, love and friendship, loyalty and betrayal, lies and deception, to action-packed fight scenes, cleverly written court scenes, and the various cultural elements woven seamlessly throughout the story.  The writing was good as well, though I did notice some pacing issues, especially in the first half of the book, that made parts of the story feel a bit slow and drawn out.  Other than that though, the plot was intriguing enough that it was easy to lose yourself in the story – in fact, I was so engrossed at certain points that I almost forgot I was reading a YA novel, except that some of the language used was a bit amateurish, which jarred me into remembering at those points.  To be honest, I actually think the story would work well as an adult novel too, as long as the language is cleaned up a bit and the characters’ ages are adjusted up a few years. 

This is the type of story that I feel would be perfect for adapting into a TV series or movie.  In fact, as I was reading, each scene played out visually in my mind as though I actually WAS watching one of those Chinese costume drama series that I would binge-watch in my younger days (though admittedly, I still watch my fair share of Chinese dramas on a consistent basis, even now).  Also, based on the way the book ended, the stage is set for a sequel and who knows, there might even be more books down the line as well.  Regardless of how many there will be, this is definitely a series that I will be following.  Sign me up for the next book please!

As a bonus, I recommend going onto the author’s website and checking out the sketches of the main characters there.  This book has a huge visual element to it so browsing through the artwork – which complements the beautiful cover perfectly – definitely played a role in making the story and its characters come to life for me.

Received ARC from Albert Whitman & Company via Edelweiss

Review: The Mother-in-Law (by Sally Hepworth)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

The Mother-in-Law is the second book I’ve read by Sally Hepworth (the first one being last year’s The Family Next Door) and just like with that book, I found this one to be a quick, entertaining read that kept my attention well enough, though I honestly would categorize this more as a domestic suspense than a thriller, as it didn’t have the “edge-of-your-seat” twisted thrill ride feel to it.  The story does start out gripping enough, with the death of Lucy’s mother-in-law Diana from an apparent suicide, though under circumstances mysterious enough to warrant an investigation into other factors possibly at play.  The subsequent chapters then go back and forth in time from past to present, with the narrative alternating primarily between the voices of Lucy and Diana, revealing bit by bit the backstory of the various members of the family, eventually leading up to the truth about Diana’s death.  As the details of the family’s struggles began to emerge and we (as readers) started to get caught up in all the drama and conflicts between the characters, this was where I felt the story started to veer a bit off course in that it became easy to forget that there was an actual mystery to be solved (Diana’s death and the circumstances surrounding it).  With that said though, we do learn quite a bit about Diana and Lucy and we also get a good understanding of the dynamics of their relationship – seeing how the same situations could be viewed so differently from the mother-in-law versus the daughter-in-law’s perspective, I actually felt this exploration of family relationships was the most interesting aspect of the story.  The ending I actually didn’t see coming in that I wasn’t able to figure it out early on (definitely a good thing, as it meant the plot wasn’t too predictable), but unfortunately, I felt the buildup wasn’t as strong as it could have been, which made the truth of Diana’s death when it was finally revealed in the end a bit anti-climactic for me. 

I don’t want to say too much else about the plot so as not to spoil the story for those who haven’t read this one yet.  For me, this book worked well as a domestic drama, a story exploring contemporary family dynamics and relationships.  Even though my family background is very different from the family in the book, I was able to appreciate some of the relationship elements that were explored and though the story didn’t go too deep, it still gave me some interesting insight and food for thought.  The part that didn’t work for me was the suspense/thriller element, as despite the “cliffhangers” at the end of practically each chapter, I felt like it wasn’t enough to establish the suspenseful mood that I’ve come to expect from stories classified under this genre.  I would definitely still recommend this one, just be mindful of the expectations going into it.   

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley