Review: The Hidden Child (by Louise Fein)

My Rating: 4 stars

I'm a little torn on how to rate this one.  While I liked the story overall, some parts of it frustrated me in ways that I find difficult to articulate. From the get go, I understood that this would not be an easy read by any means, as I knew from the summary that the subject matter revolved around the burgeoning eugenics movement at the end of the 1920s in Europe.   With eugenics forever linked to the Holocaust in my mind, I had mixed feelings going into this book and to be honest, wasn't too sure if I was up for a story (albeit a fictional one) about the beginnings of a movement associated with one of the most horrific war atrocities in history.  With that said, I had read this author's debut novel and liked it overall, so I figured I would give this one a try.  

After having finished this one, I will say that I'm glad I took a chance on it, as it gave me better insight into the historical context behind why people back then had the attitudes and beliefs they did (even though I disagree with them completely).  I also appreciated the writing, which I felt was well done overall (though some of the narrative did meander a bit, but not to the point of hugely impacting my reading experience). 

My frustrations with this book were mostly with the characters — specifically the 2 main characters whose alternating perspectives the narrative was told from.  Edward and Eleanor Hamilton are a wealthy, happily married couple in England who are both proponents of the eugenics movement for their own personal reasons, but Edward is a stronger believer due to his profession.  When their sweet and beautiful four-year-old daughter Mabel starts to experience epileptic seizures, with each one more frequent and severe, their perfect lives shatter.  The decision is made that Mabel, with her shameful illness, must be hidden away in order to protect the family's honor as well as Edward's work in eugenics.  But things get worse from there, to the point that Edward's and Eleanor's marriage teeters on the verge of collapse.  

To be perfectly honest, I found both Edward and Eleanor very difficult to like — not just because of the views they espoused, but also their personalities and the way they behaved throughout the story, annoyed for about 75% of the story.  At certain points, I felt there was a lot of time spent by both of them attempting to justify their views and it got to be a bit too much in my opinion.  I was hoping there would be more focus on Mabel, since her illness was technically the catalyst of the entire story, but there wasn't as much on her as I expected. While both characters did end up having redeeming qualities that came into play later on, I think by that time, my frustration with them was too palpable to overcome.

Having said all that, I think the story overall was a good one and it's obvious the author, Louise Fein, was meticulous in her research.  While I did have issues with some aspects of the story, it was still an eye-opening read, one that I feel was well worth the effort.  I heard that Fein is working on her third novel, which I'm definitely looking forward to reading!  

Received ARC from William Morrow via NetGalley.

Review: If We Were Villains (by M.L. Rio)


My Rating:  3.5 stars

This was a book club read for me and I have to say that if it hadn't been chosen as the month's read, I probably would not have picked it up on my own.  The format of the book (in terms of chapter titles) is setup similar to a play, which is fitting given that the story is about a theater troupe at an art college devoted entirely to Shakespeare.  There is a short prologue at the beginning of each "Act" that takes place in the present, where thirty-two year old Oliver Marks, who has just been released from prison, starts to recount parts of his story to Detective Colborne — the man who put him in prison in the first place.  From there, we are taken back to 1997, where 7 young actors, all theater majors, are finishing up their fourth year at Dellecher Classical Conservatory in the small town of Broadwater, Illinois.  As these actors study Shakespeare and reenact his various plays, playing roles that more or less mirror their real-life personalities (or not), there comes a point where the "acting" spills over into reality and soon, one of them ends up dead. As the investigation starts up, each of the remaining students becomes a suspect at some point and the quest to find out the truth, especially amongst a group of elite actors, becomes a near impossible mission.  

Even though I was able to figure out the "mystery" as well as the ending way early on, this was by no means a traditional suspense thriller.  It wasn't an easy read either — not necessarily because of the subject matter, but more because I had to put my "scholar" hat on in order to wade through much of the text, which I wasn't expecting.  For nearly 50% of the book, nothing much seemed to happen aside from scene after scene of Shakespeare re-enactments.  There were also a lot of quotes and references to Shakespeare's various works that I felt at times were a bit excessive, especially for someone who may not be as familiar with his repertoire.  Most of the beginning sections of the story actually went over my head and I felt lost because I didn't understand the references for one, and two, I had no idea what the author was trying to do or where the story was trying to go. It wasn't until a little after the halfway mark when things started to pick up a bit and I finally figured out what was going on, that I become more engrossed in the story.  By the time I got to the end, I finally understood how cleverly this story was actually written and while I did appreciate it, I was a bit too exhausted by the point to care as much as I probably should have.  

Don't get me wrong though — I definitely feel that this was worth reading, it's just that I probably was not the best audience for it. I think if I had been more of a fan or a "scholar" of Shakespeare's works, this would've been a much more immersive read and I probably would've gotten more out of it.  As it is, the only Shakespearean play I had studied in depth back during my school days was Romeo and Juliet (which is probably why I enjoyed the scenes in the book related to that play the most) — majority of the other ones mentioned in the book I had heard of and might have even read at some point, but never actually studied (which is perhaps why I don't remember most of them).  For me personally, I probably would've enjoyed this more if it had fewer Shakespeare references and quotes (and focused more on the "murder mystery" perhaps), but then again, it likely would've become an entirely different story then. Regardless of my experience though, I feel that this was a strong debut and the right audience will definitely love it.  

Review: Three Sisters (by Heather Morris)

My Rating:  3.5 stars

In her third novel, Heather Morris once again brings us a tale of tragedy, heartbreak, and survival through the story of Slovakian sisters Cibi, Magda, and Livi Meller.  When they were only a few years old, the three sisters made a promise to their father that they ended up keeping for the rest of their lives:  that the three of them would always take care of each other and watch out for one another no matter what happens in their lives. Several years later, their beloved father is dead, but the promise they made to him continues to live on.  When Livi, the youngest of the sisters at 15 years old, is ordered to Auschwitz, 19 year old Cibi decides to go with her.  Though Magda is spared due to being away while the Nazis make their rounds, she is captured a few years later and also sent to Auschwitz.  Together again, the sisters not only fulfill the promise to watch after each other, they also make another promise — the fierce will to live and survive the horrors of the camp, no matter what.   During the death march, the sisters are able to find a way to escape, but after they return home, they realize that their lives will never be the same.  

While I like the story and appreciate Morris's efforts in relaying the Meller sisters' experiences through each of their perspectives, I felt that the writing was bit too simplistic and oftentimes felt detached from the narrative.  I found it difficult to engage with the story on the emotional level that I was expecting to, primarily because the writing lacked depth and so the emotional scenes felt like they had less impact.  I don't know if what I'm conveying makes sense, but after having read both of Morris's previous novels (both of which had moved me deeply), I unfortunately didn't feel the same connection to this one, despite how much I wanted to.  The way some parts were written I felt bogged the story down, to the point that I actually ended up skimming some sections instead of actually reading each word like I normally would.  

Having said all that, I do appreciate what Morris tried to do here, which was to relay the sisters' courage and resilience in surviving the camps and rising above the tragedies they experienced to ultimately live full and flourishing lives.  This third book definitely has a more hopeful and uplifting tone than the previous two, which I also appreciated.  The sisters' story is amazing on its own merit and absolutely a must read, especially given how few Holocaust survivors remain who are willing to share their stories.  Despite the issues I had with the writing, I'm glad I got the chance to be introduced to the Meller sisters and no doubt I'll be seeking out more of their story on my own.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Review: Oh William! (by Elizabeth Strout)

My Rating:  4 stars

Lucy Barton is back!  This time around, we are reunited with Lucy during the later years of her life, when she is in her sixties.  Her two daughters Chrissy and Becka are both adults now and married with lives of their own, while her ex-husband William (the father of her daughters) has now moved on to marriage number three.  Despite having separated decades ago, Lucy and William continue to be good friends and are always there for each other during all of life's ups and downs.  This is why, when a dramatic change occurs in William's life at the same time that he discovers a long-buried secret about his mother, the first person he thinks of to call is Lucy. Together, they embark on a "journey" of sorts back to his mother's past — throughout which, in true Lucy Barton form, leads to an introspection on life, love, and family (both her own as well as her husband's).

While I loved this one overall, I have to admit that it did not have as huge of an impact on me that My Name is Lucy Barton did (for me, that book was a 5 star read all the way through!).  It's hard to describe exactly — perhaps because there seemed to be more focus this time around on details about other peoples' lives and less on Lucy reflecting about her own life.  Or perhaps the connected stories format from the first book as well as the shorter chapters that gave glimpses into various aspects of Lucy's life just worked better for getting the message across.

Either way though, this was definitely a worthwhile read and I absolutely enjoyed getting to reunite with Lucy, even if it was only for a short while.  Between the Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge books, Elizabeth Strout has definitely solidified her status as one of my favorite authors.  In addition to reading the rest of her backlist, I'm of course also interested in seeing what else Strout may have in store for us down the road.   I will essentially read anything she writes at this point! 

Received ARC from Random House via NetGalley.

Review: My Name is Lucy Barton (by Elizabeth Strout)



My Rating: 5 stars

After reading both of the Olive Kitteridge books a few years back, I immediately put Elizabeth Strout on my list of favorite authors.  As I had mentioned at that time, I've had most of Strout's works on my TBR for a while, but hadn't gotten around to reading all of them.  Now I am slowly working my way through her backlist and decided to pick up My Name is Lucy Barton next, mostly because I got approved for an ARC of Strout's newest book publishing this month and it is a more direct sequel to that book (though technically the third in the entire series) so I want to make sure I read it first. 

I was actually surprised by how short this book was (less than 200 pages), yet it packed such a punch in terms of depth of the story as well as its characters.  Strout is a masterful writer and just like she did with Olive Kitteridge, she once again creates a realistically flawed yet highly memorable character in the form of Lucy Barton.  While recovering in the hospital from what she thought would be a simple operation, Lucy is surprised to see her mother, from whom she had been estranged for many years, go visit her and sit by her bedside for several days.  Together, mother and daughter reminisce and gossip about various friends from Lucy's childhood growing up in Amgash, Illinois (though they are careful to skirt around the specific issues that had caused Lucy to escape her troubled family and move to New York after marriage).  The visit from her mother, though brief, leads Lucy to reflect upon various aspects of her life — from recognizing the impact of the poverty and abuse that she grew up with, to seeing the vulnerabilities present in her marriage, to realizing her desire to become a writer, to understanding that even her unconditional love for her own two daughters does not guarantee that love will always be reciprocated.   

Many of the struggles that Lucy reflects upon are ones that many of us can relate to, regardless of differences in background and status.  With that said, Lucy's role as a daughter and the nuances of her relationship with her mother resonated the most with me, as there were quite a few moments where I recognized aspects of her relationship with her mom (and with her family as a whole) that were similar to what I had experienced.  One particular conversation that Lucy had with her mom especially jolted me — the one where Lucy uses a certain word that surprises her mother, who in turn, comments that she must have learned to use that word after moving to the big city, to which Lucy replied that she didn't have to move to a big city to learn such things.  In that moment, Lucy could've called her mom out on her "willful ignorance" of the things that were happening under her roof at the time (things that contributed to the strain in their relationship all these years), yet she chose to keep her mouth shut.  Reflecting on this moment later, Lucy writes "I suspect I said nothing because I was doing what I have done most of my life, which is to cover for the mistakes of others when they don't know they have embarrassed themselves."  In reading this, I realized this is exactly what I've been doing with people in my own life, but especially with my mother whenever she says things (often in front of others) that are hurtful or insulting — in that one sentence, Strout (through Lucy) helped put words to something I've struggled with for a long time.  It is the power of being able to experience resonant moments like these that motivates me to be a lifelong reader — constantly learning, understanding, and reflecting on various aspects of my own life.

I know Strout wrote another book, Anything is Possible, that is a continuation of Lucy's story in a sense, though she is only a small part of that book in that she returns to her hometown to visit her siblings, but mostly it is a collection of short stories about people she reunites with there. While I do intend to read this second book at some point, I'm actually more excited to read her newest book, Oh William!, where Lucy tells her first husband's story.  Definitely can't wait!

Review: Cloud Cuckoo Land (by Anthony Doerr)

My Rating: 4 stars

Anthony Doerr's masterpiece All the Light We Cannot See is one of my all-time favorite books.  I read it with my book club several years ago and the beautiful writing as well as the captivating storyline absolutely blew me away.   The reading experience I had with that book remains one of the most memorable for me, even after the dozens of books I've read since then.

Given the above, it should of course come as no surprise that when I heard Anthony Doerr would have a new book out this year (his first since the above-mentioned masterpiece), I absolutely knew I had to get my hands on it.  A few months ago, when I was approved for an ARC of the book, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to read it, despite the fact that, upon reading the summary, I knew that segments of the story wouldn't interest me (specifically the "science fiction" parts, since that's a genre I don't typically enjoy). The fact that this one would be long (600+ pages) also didn't help things, since I already had a huge list of books that I was hoping to get to this month.  

Well, I finally decided to pick this one up last week and while there were definitely parts of it I enjoyed, I was actually a bit underwhelmed overall, especially in comparisons to All the Light We Cannot See. Of course, the writing was excellent (which was expected), but I felt that there was way too much going on in terms of story arcs, which made this too exhaustive of a read for me.  In addition to the narrative alternating between 5 different characters who each have their own separate but interconnected storylines, the timelines and settings were all different as well, so structure-wise, there was a lot of jumping back and forth, both going forward in time as well as backward, to explain various events that were happening.  On top of that, there was also the ancient story of Aethon (the titular "Cloud Cuckoo Land" story) that was interwoven throughout all 5 threads that, in a sense, connected all 5 story arcs together to form a 6th storyline.  All of these threads going on simultaneously made it hard to keep track of everything but I think most difficult of all was the jarring experience of being plucked from one world and placed into another, then a couple pages later, it happens again, over and over.  It also didn't help that much of the story (in terms of theme) revolved around various aspects of science, technology, ecology, climate, geology, space exploration, etc., which there is nothing wrong with of course, it's just that "science-y" stuff has never interested me, so when there is an overload of it, even in a masterfully written work such as this one, I still found it extremely difficult to engage with the story.

Needless to say, I struggled with how to rate this one, as I did enjoy a large part of this, especially the last third or so when each story arc started to pick up speed and converge, making the connections between some of the threads more apparent.  With that said though, the ending left me with more questions than answers — to be more specific, I actually didn't "get" the ending (despite reading it twice), which doesn't happen often, but is absolutely frustrating when it does.  On a separate note, I did love the way the characters were written, all of them so well-developed with distinctive voices that made them seem so real to me — I think if the story had been structured differently, in a way where I would've been able to engage more with the characters, my reading experience would've been very different.

This was a very ambitious book and I definitely admire what Anthony Doerr tried to do here.  While I'm glad I read this and it was absolutely worth the time spent, I unfortunately didn't love this like I was hoping I would.  In the hands of a more literary reader, I'm sure the reaction would likely be different.  This one didn't blow me away like Doerr's previous work did, but it was still a worthwhile read that I definitely recommend, though with the caveat that, depending on your level of interest in the subject matter, will probably require a certain amount of patience as well as time to read.  

Received ARC from Scribner via NetGalley